A Poem Followed by a “CD/TAPE” Choice

THE DAY AFTER THE DEAD SHOW

madness, i was submerged in it
buses, vans
dancing girls in long brown dresses
starry eyed folks selling shirts
books, shrooms
“fungus?” they’d say
“want some brownies?” he yelled
“Got any blow?” she wandered

Volkswagen vans
tents and balloons
music won’t start for awhile
“the stage collapsed, there was a storm!”
i guess, they said Jerry’s spirit was truly alive!
venue after venue
grill to grill
in the open field

port-a-johns and water bottles
i found the experience
seeing the magic in everyone’s eyes
lots of walking and talking
you’re cool on top of the hill
listening to Robert Hunter off in the distance
reading his poetic words
talking to strangers

it’s the world’s biggest tailgate party
before the show even starts
Dylan packs a punch…he delivers
his raw but honest voice
roaring    piano    guitars
“Hard Rain Gonna Fall”
“Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright”
twisted a bit and thrown out with an edge

powerful sound    truly great

break

time for lemonade and pretzels
mustard and a t shirt purchase

they come out
crowd roars afoot
jamming right into it
as if 30 years never went by
“Let The Good Times Roll”
it begins
jams galore!
“St Stephen…Dark Star…Not Fade Away
The Other Ones”

new and old
two sets
thousands of balloons
crazy drums
“Sugaree” (a big hit)

i left early to beat the crowds
bought a copy of the show later on my computer
it was a soundboard recording of The Dead

then I listened to it
…one more time

 

LIVE “CD/TAPE” CHOICE

I own several of the Grateful Dead Dick’s Picks series, and I must say with most certainty that Volume 8 is my favorite. It was recorded at a little known college in New York in 1970, when they had their best lineup, IMHO. Pigpen was still there in his prime. He was one of their best keyboardists.

This gig opens up with an awesome acoustic set featuring exquisite versions of some Dead classics that you don’t hear much. (“Don’t Ease Me In”, “I Know You Rider”, “Dire Wolf”, “Black Peter”, and “Deep Elem Blues” are some real treasures here.

For the folks only familiar with popular Dead songs, cool versions of “Friend of the Devil” and “Uncle John’s Band” are included in this fine show. This first set is almost flawless – rarely will you hear the Dead this on-target and synchronized.

There is some tuning issues and bantering but i like it raw. But that’s not all, they come back on the second disc with almost 40 minutes of Cryptical Envelopment which starts off with St. Stephen, some Drums and of course, The Other One and finally concludes with Cosmic Charlie.

They follow that little marathon with the most supreme version of Casey Jones that I have ever heard before. On the third and best disc, Pigpen steals the show with his nice blues-version of a James Brown hit, “It’s A Man’s World.” It goes on for almost ten minutes. A really groovy version of “Morning Dew” follows (but I don’t think I have ever heard a bad version of this song)

The spotlight of this disc and the whole show is the glistening “Viola Lee Blues” that rises to not one, not two, but three peaks in an acid rush sense. Then eases down with a rather lengthy version of “We Bid You Goodnight” – most likely because the crowd just won’t let them leave. But after hearing this show, you’ll understand why.

If you even kinda like the Dead, then I totally suggest you hear this live show. I own lots of Dead, but this one gets played more than any of them. It shows them at their absolute most versatile. This is some of the best music you’ll ever dig. But of course it’s only my opinion.

The Beating Pulse of Music

The Story of My Pulse With Pink Floyd

Well I don’t know where to begin with the babble on Pink Floyd. I absolutely love this band. Ever since I was a kid in the 80’s, I was exposed to them. My dad played the records and I was awakened from whatever slumber I was trapped inside when I listened to their music. I just want to thank my father for opening up my mind to great music. We didn’t always have a lot of common ground but it was the notes coming from David Gilmour’s Fender Stratocaster that could potentially bring us both to tears. Any time the two of us took a drive in his pickup truck, it was almost a certainty that the band Pink Floyd would be emitting from the car stereo. Ever since I was about 10 years old; I UNDERSTOOD this unique, abstract, bizarre, spacey and progressive rock band. I was hooked.

Then just before I went into college, the 2 of us went to Soldier Field in Chicago and saw Pink Floyd perform one of their last live concerts ever! It was quite an awesome experience. In the summer of 1994, my dad surprised me and bought 2 tickets for us to go see Pink Floyd live. It was my first concert ever. I was 18 years old. I was so pumped. The band takes the stage. I am among a crowd of 50,000 people with my dad screaming and shouting. I have never been to a rock show as awesome as that one in my entire life…been chasing that high for 24 years…my dad raised the bar right out of the gate. I still have my ticket stub and I bought a T Shirt.

For me, the band became an obsession of mine. I never could ONLY be a casual observer and listener. “Another Brick In The Wall,” was my first encounter with the Floyd. Mom would take me to the grocery store with her when I was a small boy. I was probably five years old when I kept hearing that song on the radio. My imagination was quite vivid at that age of my youth. Sometimes you like what you are hearing without quite being aware of the meaning or having a complete understanding of its lyrics, structure and relevance to your own life

In high school, my dad bought this awesome Pink Floyd Box Set. When I gazed upon the cover, with nude figures soaring above the water, I surrendered to the abstract art which definitely made an enormous impression on me. 8 compact discs inside the box. A large book with stories, pictures, track listings and lyrics captivated my interest for several weeks. After school homework and on dull weekends as a teenager, I would gravitate towards the magic of Pink Floyd. The 8 cds consisted of 7 albums and a bonus cd from the early days when a man named Syd Barrett was their lead guitarist and singer. The others were chosen as highlights that represented the “FLOYD SOUND.”

A Saucerful of Secrets, Meddle, Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, The Wall, A Momentary Lapse of Reason and Animals were the chosen ones for this box set. My father loved this kind of stuff! He was big into bands like Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, CSNY and many others. But when it came to this artistic and experimental music from these four obscure British musicians, it was a whole new ball of wax. Moods were created. The atmosphere has that imagery of a street alley corner, an abandoned mountain peak, being lost in the desert and being inside a warm room looking outside at the cold neighborhood sort of feeling. Getting lost into that PINK noise.

Sometimes atmospheres and moods are hard to describe in detail. When I hear Roger Waters’ lyrics come to life in these Rock Operas, like THE WALL, I am left speechless because suddenly I have insane images in my head of worms, naked women in bathtubs, hammers marching, kids staring at airplanes up in the sky and getting thrown into a meat grinder by disgruntled teachers. The same holds true to all of their albums.

My dad and I would get into really long philosophical conversations about these guys, the meanings behind their politically charged and surreal lyrics and the imagination that they yielded. We would be working in the yard, painting the family room, or he would be helping me with my homework and have these awesome songs in the background.

While I was in college a couple of noteworthy things took place. One was that my dad met someone online that had a cassette tape of the Chicago performance we were at. It was a bootleg copy but still pretty cool. I swear there’s a part during the encore that I can hear my dad’s voice but one can only imagine. The second thing that happened was on Pay Per View, they were televising a live Pink Floyd concert during that “Pulse” tour. This guy paid for it and then charged everyone 5 bucks to hang out in his dorm room and watch the show. Some folks were tripping and others were stoned but everyone was having a good time.

Then came PULSE the CD in the summer of 1995. This live double disc set had a battery operated blinking light attached to the case to represent a pulse. The artwork on the packaging was stunning. Picture attached. Sound wise, it was a good representation of the music they played on the same tour as when we saw them. The only real difference was the second disc contained all of Dark Side of The Moon (they did not play all of the songs from this album at the show we were at). The encore was the same with “Comfortably Numb” and “Run Like Hell.”

PULSE is definitely on my list of favorite live albums. It takes me back to a memory of that experience where Mr Sight and Mr Sound hung out and played for two hours. They eventually released a DVD set for PULSE complete with special footage and awesome art. While I enjoy the live in Pompeii experience or the numerous other live recordings from the Wish You Were Here tour or even the mighty The Wall one, I still LOVE the PULSE double CD set most because it directly ties me to my experience going to see the band live.

Pink Floyd was always about the concept of Sight and Sound blending together. I think that folks who enjoy SOME of Pink Floyd’s music and not much of the more EXPERIMENTAL stuff should honestly hangout with my dad and I more often. It’s like unraveling a mystery. Solving a puzzle within an enigma. Exploring symbols, metaphors and digging deeper is part of the fun. There’s more to this music than what lies on the surface. Anyways, PULSE is so great because it’s extremely enjoyable and it isn’t really an acquired taste. Once you hear it then it becomes this emotional transposition from just appreciating their works to totally submerging yourself into the true genius behind David and the gang.

I owe it all to my dad! He solidified his coolness with me. Props to you papa! Shine On. I’m glad our special bond is timeless……

C-Note

 

Blue Car Music

PART 1

The day I bought a used 1992 Blue Plymouth Acclaim brought me such sheer joy for the next three and a half years. My dad and I did a good job picking it out. This was by far my favorite car I ever owned. I experienced the best memories in it. Driving to school felt much better than ever before. I took a lot of road trips and enjoyed many adventures in the Acclaim. Was it flashy? No. Did it have sub woofers in it? Not at all. My car was comfortable, drove really good and had cruise control in it. My best friend, Tony, and I took many scenic drives listening to a lot of music and smoked cigarettes all the time.

After the first few months going to work and to school in it, my dad stopped by the movie theatre one day (where I sold tickets in the box office) and needed to borrow my keys because he said that I needed the alignment fixed. Gullible me, said okay. He came back an hour or so later and handed the keys back to me and said, “we’ll see you later.” After I got off work in the afternoon I was supposed to meet up with the family for my birthday at an Outback restaurant. When I started the engine on and pulled out of the parking lot, I was enjoying “The Division Bell,” by the band Pink Floyd. Yet, I wondered, why was this particular song on the radio. Since I did not have a tape deck or a CD player, I was confused.

I went to adjust the volume and noticed a glowing red digital screen. A detachable face for a CD player was right in front of me. I was like, “huh?” Then I realized as I was almost to the restaurant that my dad had a new stereo installed. New speakers and CD player was now a part of my car. COOL! It was my birthday and I am not sure why I was so foolish not to get it right away. I told him thank you and couldn’t wait to get one of those visors that hold up to 12 CDs so that I can finally play what I want when I want to.

……more to come

Finding Meaning in College Through Music

What’s the most important band for me when I was in college?

Let’s first establish, in the form of a short poem, what college meant to me:

It was the celebration of my youth

colored by independence
on top of the world
making moments last forever
letting it loose
living just for one tonight
everyone’s my best friend
girls….what can I say? I knew many
eventually the merry-go-round stops
got to wait for the next one and hop on it
music was the anthem of my early life
I kept finding all the rides
live it up!

Finding Meaning in College Through Music

No bands mattered to me quite like the ones I heard in college. I’m currently looking back at my college years (with a damn sty in my left eye) and reminiscing, trying to figure out which band was the most important and influential. But I am also looking around me right now. I’ve listened to a lot of bands in college and since then, I keep getting exposed to more and more. “Back in the day,” was not so long ago in a dorm room far, far away…

My first roommate, Eric, was heavily into death metal. He scared the living shit out of my mom and dad when he brought in his huge tower of devil worshipping CD’s. Dressed all sloppy with dirty long red hair and reeking of cigarette smoke. Eric had a presence that was screaming “Shock Therapy!” However, we both liked bands like Primus, Slayer and the soundtrack to the film “The Crow.” It had groups like Nine Inch Nails, The Cure, Stone Temple Pilots, Helmet, and Pantera on that soundtrack as well as many more.

I remember that I also brought with me the movie, “The Crow” on videotape. That first weekend as dorm room buddies; we ordered a pizza, watched “The Crow” and listened to its accompanying soundtrack. We found ourselves connecting musically because we found common ground. Eric didn’t care for ALL my musical tastes and I certainly did not bang my head to Cannibal Corpse or Obituary but we managed to work it out.

You could say that my compact discs I brought with me to college were like my friends that I wanted to introduce to people. Some of them I let go of at used record stores and some I lost or got stolen from me. Still others stayed with me even up to this very day. But I did cherish “The Crow” soundtrack and movie. Not sure why I did so much. I even bought a t-shirt with “The Crow” symbol on it. I was apparently obsessed. Those tunes just hit the right nerves at the right time as I became exposed to great glimpses of an independent lifestyle.

I worked at a movie theater in the middle 1990’s and “The Crow” was the first film I got to see on my fifteen-minute break. Free movies were a benefit to working there. I loved that movie. But it was the soundtrack and dark atmosphere that pulled me in. Eric and I had that type of interest in common. However, that’s where our similarities pretty much ended. I am just the type of person that likes to explore my horizons deeper. College was that fun playground of multiple choices. So I eventually put my “Crow” addiction off to the side and began to discover new material.

As I met others on campus, my curiosity grew stronger with unique compositions. I started to make a lot of friends as the months passed. Bands like Pink Floyd, Monster Magnet, Tool, Type O Negative, Rage Against The Machine and Green Day began to consume more of my time. Even more than actually going to class. In the end, there was one single band that defined my college years absolutely the most of any musical group I heard during those days. In fact, every time I hear them, I get goose bumps.

How did I find this fantastic band you ask? Let me lay it out for you. I can trace the exact moment where this curious group of artists blew me away during my first college spring break. My best friends at the time, Tony and Matt, picked me up in an old rusty minivan one night for a joyride with a fresh sound playing in the background that was pretty awesome. Actually, for me it was in the foreground. Tony also made sure that I was paying attention to it by bopping and waving his arms around behind the wheel. Not that I recommend this, but he even stuck his left leg out the window. So I finally asked these idiot friends of mine, “What is this amusing music we’re listening to?” When I found out, I thought, “what an interesting name.”

There honestly has not been an alternative rock band that mattered to me more than Five Year Jacket. I was introduced to something special that changed my life forever. This band I heard instantly said to me, “It’s the perfect background music to any situation.” Continuing my story, the van broke down at the end of our evening “misbehaving” and we needed a ride home. So Tony called one of his buddies to come pick us up.

After 20 minutes or so, these two dudes pulled up in a car and picked us up. I was introduced to a man named Kevin, who was one of the guys in the car. He had intense blue eyes and was clean-shaven. The dark hair slicked back, the bomber jacket he wore and the cigarette hanging from the right corner of his lips all spelled out cool. Amazingly, he just happened to be the lead singer and guitarist of that band, Five Year Jacket.

I had no idea they were a local band from the Aurora/Sugar Grove area. They sounded like a group with hits on the radio. It was a mind-blowing experience. That was an evening that was truly meant to be. It was like a series of happy accidents. I made sure that I got a hold of one of his cassette tapes immediately. All of this just sort of happened out of the clear blue. There was no casual period of listening to them ahead of time. Just boom! It was like a volcano erupting and I was there in the middle of the lava.

I “got” their music and I don’t know how to explain it. It wasn’t musically or lyrically per say. It was like they were speaking this language I didn’t realize that I even knew. They spoke it brilliantly and fluently. When you had college majors that kept changing and your head was all over the map with the wild times that were filled with wonderful highs and astonishing lows you really appreciate a band that can stick with you through all of the emotions I have been through.

Five Year Jacket has been the soundtrack to some of the best moments that I have had not only in college but my life period. They have been with me on nights drinking with friends. Walking the streets of Naperville and downtown Aurora. Smoking cigarettes and taking nice afternoon cruises in my friend Josh’s car after class on Friday afternoons. Actually, Josh was with me at one my favorite gigs of theirs at a bar in Bolingbrook, he got all the guys to sign his newly purchased copy of their CD, “Hell For An Empty Heart.” I had the lead singer, Kevin, dedicate a song to me called “Undone” that reminded me of my first summer listening to Five Year Jacket with three good friends of mine at the time. We called ourselves the fab four.

I was falling blissfully in love with my life in 1995, which was my peak year for ingesting their terrific melodies and hooks. I don’t think I have ever been quite as happy as I was seeing them at the Thirsty Whale. There the four of us were, Tony, Kara, Pallu and I chilling out at this club and literally dancing to the groovy rhythm of the “Jackets.” Afterwards, we met up with the band at a Denny’s restaurant, I think, where for some strange reason, Tony was impersonating a woman wearing lipstick borrowed from Kara. Those were some weird times. I have this unusual but wonderful connection to them and I am not sorry for being associated with “artistic” or “eccentric” folks, while listening to music.

Five Year Jacket have also been the soundtrack of serious bouts of depression and they’ve lifted me out of panic attacks, “bad trips” and break ups. They kept me afloat when I didn’t know what else to hold on to. No disrespect to Kevin, but they’ve become that old sweater that I have worn so many times that there’s holes in the sleeves and it smells like YOU even when you take it out of the washer. They’re kind of like that. Even an old “Jacket.” I’ve had my favorites that I never wanted to let go of because they’re so friggin comfortable.

Over the past 18 years they have turned me into the man I am today, the guy with the sty in his left eye and a limp. Just kidding. No band, not even Pink Floyd, has quite the numerous stories and personal memories like these local guys that only my circle of friends can really appreciate. Eric didn’t “get” them but several acquaintances on campus enjoyed Five Year Jacket. I had that cassette tape with me constantly just as Linus did with his blanket. I played their songs at bonfires and at keg parties.

My last semester on campus, people were asking me left and right for a copy before I went back home. I arrived my freshman year with a “crow” and came home with a degree and a comfortable “jacket.” I had finally found substance in my college years through music. Thanks Kevin for being my friend, even on a social network like Facebook.

(Originally Published on September 8, 2012)