This is such a blend of blues, soul and rock (yeah, I know Morrison is from Northern Ireland) and I wonder if this genre has come to its end. Is there anything approximating it now? Have we lost this? Og, I hope not.
In the last episode of “The Sopranos,” this version of “Comfortably Numb” was featured: Comfortably Numb
It has an edgy quality that the David Gilmour version (my favorite) doesn’t have but was suitable for The Sopranos.
Please, please, please! I don’t want to lose this. Is it all over?
The only guitar instructor I ever got lessons from was Danny Caron, who played and led Charles Brown’s band (blues pianist - in the RRHoF). Charles’ band was hired by Van when he produced Hooker’s Don’t Look Back. He said Van was great to work with - he really just wanted to feel the music and therefore stripped out much of the “tech” that was originally intended for the production (e.g., pitch-correcting, recording in separate rooms, etc.). You can hear Danny’s lead on their cover of Red House.
Yes, there is plenty of this type of stuff out there; with the Internet and new forms of music distribution, you just have to learn new ways to find it. Try folks like
> Derek Trucks - brilliant slide player, mostly bluesy, but ventures into rock/pop and even a Middle Eastern influence (and his wife Susan Tedeschi is a brilliant guitarist and bluesy singer/songwriter, too)
> Kathleen Edwards - Back to Me. Enough said.
> Lucinda Williams - not much R&B influence, but enough
> Neko Case - there are two kinds of people in the world: people who love Neko and people who don’t know good music - again, limited R&B influence, but great stuff
> Duke Robillard - jump blues, so a bit closer to a cross between the Blues Brothers and John Lee Hooker. Get Duke’s Blues
> Brian Setzer Orchestra - again, not as much soul, but the swing element more than makes up for it…
Tons more but I gotta run. There’s a Who vs. Zep thread waiting for me!
I’m sorry that I can’t find a good photo either. Rent the flick. The first song, which is also the last, is a screaming energy driven super good time. Many ofthe guest stars are quite tedious and the Van is decked out like a disco love god, I swear.
WordMan, did I ever tell you Duke was Tom Waits’ lead guitarist when I saw Tom on tour last year? I was disappointed at first that Mark Ribot wasn’t on the road with him, but Duke was amazing.
I love the bit at the end when Van tells John Lee to take a solo: “play guitar, John, play guitar” and with his voice it just sounds like it belongs there. Years ago I saw him live and what amazed me was that he would sing instructions to the band and just stick them in the lyrics as though they were part of the song. They always seemed to fit but I’d think later, there’s no bit in there where it goes, “pick it up, pick it up now, pick it up” or “come on, easy now” or “take it home, take it home.”
Oh - and **straykat123 ** - check out Bettye Levette:
She’s old school, but this is a new recording and brilliant soul/blues
and also: Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings:
The Dap Kings were Amy Winehouse’s backing band on Rehab (which, by the way, works in this category, too). Sharon Jones is an amazing vocalists, more raw soul/gospel vs. AW…
I meant to bring this up in a previous thread, but you know your stuff and it does my heart good to hear another Doper mention Derek’s name. I know twickster and Dfrnt Breign are on board, but I don’t see his name much here. I think Derek is by far the most moving and powerful guitar player out there.
This is one of life’s strange coincidences. I’m listening to Susan Tedeschi for the first time right now. I’m impressed enoug to buy more. The ‘less bluesy’ stuff reminds me of Bonnie Rait. The ‘more bluesy’ stuff is very impressive. I’ll buy another CD or two of hers, I think.
JAY-sus, is he! Man, listening to the 3rd track on his DTBand CD **Bloodlines ** - the one that gets all Middle-Eastern on you while you listen? Perfection! He sounds like a wailing muezzin calling the faithful into prayer - on a freakin’ slide guitar! And then he mixes it in with straight up blues and blues rock on the rest of the disc…versatility plus. I hear he is a huge Coltrane fan, too…
He and Jack White are real heroes of mine in terms of current players. And since Trucks gets to play his stuff, stuff with his wife, tour with the current incarnation of the Allman Brothers with his uncle Butch on drums AND play Duane Allman to Eric Clapton on Slowhand’s most recent tours and you have a recipe for brilliance.
Songlines. The piece WordMan is talking about - arguably the best thing they do - is a medley of two Sufi chants called Maki Madni and Sahib Teri Bandi.
