White Man Stew

Lys Assia – “C’était ma vie” – Switzerland, 1956 (First ‘Eurovision’ Winner)

Croz — Fri, 24 May 2013 12:26:32 +0000

On this day in 1956 the winner of of the first Eurovision Song Contest was announced and here it is performed by Swiss singer Lys Assia (songwriting credits linked there). How times have changed. I won’t even link to this year’s winner. Such depressing, generic pop bullshit.

You can listen to all the 1956 contestants here (YT audio/slideshow, an hour and 20 mins)

Kate Bush f. David Gilmour – “Running Up That Hill” – SPB, 1987

Croz — Fri, 24 May 2013 12:03:56 +0000

The aforementioned morning show is inspiring this morning’s posts. They just played a snippet of this classic. Kate Bush is a rare presence on the stage so this is a treat and doubly so to have DG on licks and backing vocals.

Somebody help me: what the fuck is “SPB”? Google fails me… Anyway, this is by far the best quality of the three versions of this on YT.

Genesis – “Turn it On Again (Medley)” – London, 1987

Croz — Fri, 24 May 2013 11:10:31 +0000

It’s “Race Weekend” here in Ottawa which means people running all over the place in races from 5k up to a full marathon. So this morning the early radio show is asking “What is your favourite running tune, the tune that really gets you going?” Well, last time Croz ran was to catch a bus (hey, I ride my bike!) but for some reason this tune popped into my head right away. Although with the weird time changes in the bridge I can see gaggles of runners stumbling all over each other. Haha!

A lovely show-closing medley from Wembley. If not for running at least to get the weekend off on the right foot.

Grateful Dead – Truckin’ up to Buffalo – Buffalo, 1989 (Full show)

Croz — Fri, 24 May 2013 00:00:33 +0000

Aren’t I doin’ good not swamping you with the Dead? Well, that’s about to come to an end with this epic video, and a very personal one for me.

This is the third-last Grateful Dead concert that I attended, and by far the biggest in terms of the crowd and the scene. July 4th weekend, 1989. Cheap motel rooms with bathtubs full of beer and ice, trudging down rainy, muddy roads through a scene that had been growing increasingly more intense and vaguely frightening in the couple of years since the success and subsequent fandom explosion that followed In the Dark and that fateful single, “Touch of Grey”.

We were about as far as you can get from the stage and in a space like Rich Stadium it felt like a mile. The boys were insects on a distant stage. And whoa, those insects put on one hell of a show. This was a healthy time for Jerry and the band and they were tight and having a great time.

The gig clocks in at over two-and-a-half hours and features fantastic playing and jamming all over a lovely, if pretty standard, set list:

Set 1
Bertha
Greatest Story Ever Told
Cold Rain and Snow
Row Jimmy
When I Paint My Masterpiece
Stagger Lee
Looks Like Rain
Deal

Set 2
Touch of Grey
Man Smart, Woman Smarter
Ship of Fools
Playing in the Band
Terrapin Station
Drums
Space
I Will Take You Home
All Along the Watchtower
Morning Dew
Not Fade Away
E: U.S. Blues

This concert was selected for official release and is available as Truckin’ up to Buffalo on both CDs and DVD (<-- non-affiliate Amazon links) and I encourage you to check those out and to visit the Dead’s official online store for more Grateful Goodies.

So sit back, imbibe or not as is your wont, and when you see the view from the stage look for Croz at the back of the stadium, far, far away from stage right.

Never had such a good time…

Neil Young – In Concert at The BBC – London, 1971 (30 minutes)

Croz — Thu, 23 May 2013 17:46:26 +0000

Let’s hop back into Canadiana and another wonderful broadcast from the BBC. Here’s Neil promoting Harvest with eight songs over half an hour. Simply brilliant. As with the Joni post you can get direct links to the tunes by going directly to the YouTube page.

Ella Fitzgerald – “Hey Jude” – Montreux, 1969

Croz — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:08:51 +0000

On May 23, 1964, Ella Fitzgerald entered the UK charts with her cover of the Beatle’s “Can’t Buy Me Love”. Ella was the first artist to have chart success with a Beatle tune. Who’d a thunk it?! I couldn’t find a live performance of that song but here’s Ella bringing her unique style and magnificent pipes to “Hey Jude”. Cool, er… groovy… er, awesome!

Joni Mitchell – In Concert at The BBC – London, 1970 (30 minutes)

Croz — Thu, 23 May 2013 01:23:22 +0000

Let’s stick with wonderful Canadians and 1970. A perfect broadcast of a famous Joni live set. There are timed track links on the YouTube page.

The Band – Syria Mosque, Pittsburgh, 1970 (Four songs)

Croz — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:14:33 +0000

Well ain’t this a treat! The full-show soundboard of this gig is one of the best The Band soundboards (available here) of the several I have been lucky to obtain over the years and here we have four tunes professionally filmed: “Time to Kill”, “The Weight”, “This Wheel’s on Fire” and “Up on Cripple Creek”.

Bob Dylan – “The Times We’ve Known” – New York City, 1998

Croz — Wed, 22 May 2013 12:43:01 +0000

Happy 89th birthday, Charles Aznavour!

My introduction to Aznavour was via this cover version of “Les bon moments” as “The Times We’ve Known” by our man Bob during that fantastic year of nineteen and ninety-eight. I count myself very lucky to have attended a Bob show that year, in a club, no less. He was in grand form. This is a fan-shot and edited video with a nice audience recording. Certainly worth a watch (and even an audio rip if you don’t have this gem in your music library).

Cheers to Steve in the UK. I hope the move went well! I’ll be moving myself at the end of the month.

Jacques Loussier Trio – Jazzwoche Burghausen, 2007 (Full show)

Croz — Tue, 21 May 2013 22:26:58 +0000

I’ve posted some jazz but not yet dipped back into the classical pool. Here’s a big fat transition post: an hour and a half of the brilliant Jacques Loussier Trio. M. Loussier has made a place for himself by jazzifying classical works of all kinds. I love his takes on the Mozart concertos (YT search result).