B-Side of the Week: The Black Crowes

This week's b-side comes from the sessions for The Black Crowes 2001 release, Lions. "Last Time Again", like most Crowes b-sides, could easily have been included on the LP.

The Black Crowes - "Last Time Again"

Buy The Black Crowes' music here.

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Check out the archived B-Side Of The Week posts by clicking the label "B-Side Of The Week" below and the link on the right side of the page under 'Return To Oblivion'.

Cover Of The Week: The Black Crowes do Dylan

The Black Crowes proudly wear their influences on their sleeves while managing to make music uniquely their own. Bob Dylan is obviously a huge influence on the Crowes' music, and back in the day they recorded this Dylan tune as a b-side for the "Hotel Illness" single off of their classic album, The Southern Harmony And Musical Companion.

The Black Crowes - "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35"

Buy The Black Crowes' music here.

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Previous Covers Of the Week:

M.A.C.C. - "Hey Baby (Land Of The New Rising Sun)"
Gov't Mule - "30 Days In The Hole"
Veruca Salt - "My Sharona"
Soundgarden - "Come Together"
Pearl Jam - "I've Got A Feeling"
Gomez - "Getting Better"
Muse - "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You"
Cast - "The Seeker"
Manic Street Preachers - "Been A Son"
Steve Earle - "Breed"
Sheryl Crow - "Keep On Growing"
Nine Inch Nails - "Dead Souls"
Kathleen Edwards - "A Face In The Crowd"
Catherine Wheel - "Spirit Of Radio"
Stanley Jordan - "Stairway To Heaven (live)"
Stereophonics - "Something In The Way"
Mark Kozelek - "If You Want Blood"
Blake Babies - "I Wanna Be Sedated"
Kristen Barry - "Don't Cry"
Buffalo Tom - "All Tomorrow's Parties"
RATM - "The Ghost Of Tom Joad"
Turin Brakes - "Breaking The Girl"
Brandi Carlile - "Hallelujah"
Screaming Trees - "Tomorrow's Dream"

B-Side Of The Week: The Black Crowes

It's been too long since my first Black Crowes b-side post, so I thought it was high time I put another one up. "Darling Of The Underground Press" was on the "Remedy" singles released for 1992's stellar The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion. It's been a part of live sets from time to time, and it features a nifty little acoustic slide guitar riff.

The Black Crowes - "Darling Of The Underground Press"

Buy music from The Black Crowes here.
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Previous B-Sides Of the Week:

Centro-Matic - "Not Like Anyone Would Mind"
Nirvana - "Even In His Youth"
Radiohead - "Bishop's Robes"
Catherine Wheel - "Capacity To Change"
The Black Crowes - "Waitin' Guilty"
Jeff Buckley - "Thousand Fold"
Idlewild - "Good Times Wasted"
Foo Fighters - "Baker Street"
Muse - "Fury"
Screaming Trees - "Silver Tongue"
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - "Loaded Gun"
Stereophonics - "Carrot Cake And Wine"
Oasis - "Let's All Make Believe"
Guns N' Roses - "Shadow Of Your Love"
Ryan Adams - "What Sin Replaces Love"
Chris Cornell - "Sunshower"
Feeder - "Bruised"
Snow Patrol - "Post Punk Progression"
Jeff Buckley - "Strawberry Street"
Rainer Maria - "Automatic"
Radiohead - "Coke Babies"
Gomez - "Shot Shot (Folk Shot)"
Foo Fighters - "A320"
Turin Brakes - "Balham To Brooklyn"
Pearl Jam - "Long Road"

Best of 2006

It seems like an obligation that I have to fulfill...the requisite "best of" list for 2006. I enjoy skimming other bloggers' lists to see what folks enjoyed this year, but once beyond the initial skim, they're all fairly predictable. Obviously, if a record made someone's best-of list it's going to receive some praise, usually heaps of it. So I'll try to hold back and limit myself to a couple of sentences per album. After all, you know I like these records...

At the end of the post I'll include links to a mix I made for friends and family of some of my favorite performances of the year. Some of the songs on the mix come from the albums I mention here, and some do not. If you found music on this blog over the course of the year that you liked, chances are you'll enjoy the mix.

Here we go...

SWEET OBLIVION's ESSENTIAL ALBUMS FROM 2006
(in alphabetical order by artist)

Brandi Carlile - Brandi Carlile

Technically, this one was released in 2005, but I didn't pick up on it until the beginning of this year and it was re-released during 2006. Imagine Patsy Cline, Roy Orbison, Radiohead and Jeff Buckley all hanging out making music together and you'll come close to Carlile's sound. The Bends for the singer/songwriter set. Buy it here.

Centro-Matic - Fort Recovery

Listening to this record feels like driving along a dusty road watching a magnificent western sunset in the distance - a great thing. Peaceful & disturbing, tender & rocking, always melodic and soulful, if you like your rock with roots and a taste of Nirvana, Fort Recovery will treat you right. Buy it here.

Chris Cornell - Unplugged In Sweden

That's right, kids, a bootleg is one of my favorite releases of 2006. I don't care if it breaks some kind of blogger "rule" regarding official releases, this live set is so good that it deserves recognition. Cornell never sounded better, and his powerful, soulful vocals take center stage when accompanied only by his acoustic guitar. The fact that the recording quality is outstanding and the set includes covers, Soundgarden songs, Audioslave songs, and Temple Of The Dog songs elevates this boot to "best of" status. Download it here as MP3s or here as a torrent for FLAC files.

Drive-By Truckers -
A Blessing And A Curse

Impossibly honest, intelligent, heartfelt southern rock anthems about love, pain and the triumphant struggle of life forged by the band's three talented singer/guitarists. And what a live show... Buy it here.

Gov't Mule - High And Mighty

I never thought Warren Haynes' outfit could return to form like this, but here they are putting out what might be the best record of their career. It's dense, intense, lyrically potent, and of course dominated by the powerhouse one-two punch of Haynes' guitar riffs and vocals. A modern classic-rock masterpiece. Buy it here.

Muse - Black Holes And Revelations

Muse takes another step forward with this album, albeit not quite the grand leap that was 2004's Absolution. Grandiose, apocalyptic and rocking songs are Muse's trademark, but this record grooves more than their previous efforts. Buy it here.

My Morning Jacket - Okonokos

A phenomenal live album from one of the best live bands around. The songs from 2005's Z feel like they belong on It Still Moves when played in a live setting, which is about the biggest compliment I can pay the band. It's good enough and different enough from their studio albums to almost feel like their next proper record. Buy it here.

Rainer Maria -
Catastrophe Keeps Us Together

The swan song from these indie-faves is the best record of their 10-year career. It's full of majestic indie-pop anthems, and bassist/singer Caithlin De Marrais's vocals soar over the top of the band in ethereal fashion. Buy it here.

Roddy Woomble - My Secret Is My Silence

Idlewild's singer puts together a stunning record of folk music, infused with Scottish influences and Woomble's trademark poetic lyrics. A musical stroll along the Highlands indeed. Buy it here.

The Black Crowes - The Lost Crowes

Two previously unreleased albums from the Crowes. Need I say more? The Band half of the record could sit comfortably alongside their best studio work, and it's criminal that these songs didn't see an official release until now. Buy it here.

The Twilight Singers - Powder Burns

Dreamy, lusty, dark, seedy, and hopeful all at once, this is Greg Dulli's best work to date. Recorded in New Orleans both before and after Hurricance Katrina hit, this powerful collection will seduce you quickly, put you through an emotional ringer, and spit you out uplifted on the other side. Buy it here.

Thom Yorke - The Eraser

Radiohead's singer takes his music to the next level on his first solo effort. The songs sound like Kid A and Amnesiac but with sparser arrangements and possibly stronger melodies. After hearing Yorke perform "The Clock" on acoustic guitar, one can't help but think that this might've been one of Radiohead's best albums if it'd been recorded by the band in 1998. Buy it here.

Tool - 10,000 Days

How is it possible that Tool continues to be this good? Their latest is a bludgeoning tour de force, full of long songs, thundering drums & bass, awesome guitar riffs, and singer Maynard James Keenan's versatile vocals holding it all together. The individual songs are strong enough to suggest that this album rivals their masterpiece, 1996's Aenima. Buy it here.
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Sweet Oblivion's Best of 2006 Mix
(in four parts b/c of Savefile size restrictions)

Volume I: Rock (part 1)
Volume I: Rock (part 2)
Volume II: Roots (part 1)
Volume II: Roots (part 2)

Tracklist:

Volume I: Rock

01 Pearl Jam - "World Wide Suicide"
02 The Twilight Singers - "Bonnie Brae"
03 The Lemonheads - "Become The Enemy"
04 Muse - "Starlight"
05 Rainer Maria - "Already Lost"
06 Army Of Anyone - "Disappear"
07 Tool - "The Pot"
08 Thom Yorke - "Analyse"
09 Gomez - "How We Operate"
10 Foo Fighters - "Over And Out (live)"
11 Some Girls - "He's On Drugs Again"
12 Gov't Mule - "Brighter Days"
13 Snow Patrol - "Open Your Eyes"

Volume II: Roots

01 Centro-Matic - "Covered Up In Mines"
02 The Black Crowes - "Thunderstorm 6:54"
03 Brandi Carlile - "What Can I Say (live)"
04 Roddy Woomble - "If I Could Name Any Name"
05 Isobell Campbell & Mark Lanegan - "Revolver"
06 Neko Case - "Hold On, Hold On"
07 Gob Iron - "Death's Black Train"
08 Eddie Vedder - "Here's To The State Of Mississippi (live)"
09 Chris Cornell - "Wide Awake (live)"
10 My Morning Jacket - "Mahgeetah (live)"
11 Drive-By Truckers - "Space City"
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If you like checking out "best of" lists, Largehearted Boy has a running tally of blogs that have chipped in their lists for 2006.

B-Side Of The Week: The Black Crowes

The Black Crowes write a ton of songs and release lots of b-sides. Hell, they even put out two full albums worth of unreleased material this year alone! During the seemingly endless tour that began when they rejoined in 2005, they started busting out this old tune. Needless to say, their fans rejoiced, so I thought "Waitin' Guilty" was appropriate for my first Crowes b-side of the week. The song was released on different versions of the "Jealous Again" single in 1990, including a cassette single. Ah, cassingles...takes me back.

The Black Crowes - "Waitin' Guilty"

Buy The Black Crowes' music here.

Check out these other B-Side Of The Week posts:

Centro-Matic - "Not Like Anyone Would Mind"
Nirvana - "Even In His Youth"
Radiohead - "Bishop's Robes"
Catherine Wheel - "Capacity To Change"

The Black Crowes 10-31-2005 BC/DC

I meant to post this on Halloween last week but I couldn't find the CD anywhere. As usual, I found it in plain sight after the fact. On Halloween 2005, The Black Crowes took the stage dressed in costume as BC/DC and performed these three AC/DC covers before their regular set. Good times.

The Black Crowes
10-31-2005
Chicago, IL
BC/DC Pre-Show Set

Rock N' Roll Damnation
Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be
Highway To Hell

Buy the Crowes' latest, The Lost Crowes.

Jimmy Page & The Black Crowes: 07-08-2000 Camden, NJ

Back in 2000, Jimmy Page recruited Sweet Oblivion faves The Black Crowes to join him on tour. They played Led Zeppelin tunes along with a few Crowes songs and a smattering of covers. I was fortunate enough to catch one of those shows when the group played in nearby Camden, NJ.

It was amazing to hear the Led Zeppelin songs live with three guitarists and a keyboardist. When Zep took the stage back in the day, Page was the lone guitarist playing an interesting mishmash of the layered parts he'd recorded in the studio. To hear all of the recorded layers played with the energy of a live performance was a real treat. Some said Page's playing on this tour was the best of his career. That's up to folks who've listened to many more hours of live Zep than me to decide. I'm content to enjoy this snapshot of a magical moment in rock history when Page managed to find a band talented and ambitious enough to bring the spirit of Led Zeppelin back to life for a summer.

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Jimmy Page & The Black Crowes
07-08-2000
Camden, NJ

(Celebration Day was played, missing here)
The Wanton Song
Misty Mountain Hop
Hots On For Nowhere
No Speak No Slave
Sick Again
What Is And What Should Never Be
Horsehead
Oh Well
Ten Years Gone
In My Time Of Dying
Your Time Is Gonna Come
Remedy
The Lemon Song
In The Light
Shapes Of Things
Nobody's Fault But Mine
Heartbreaker

Encores:

Bring It On Home
She Talks To Angels
Out On The Tiles
Whole Lotta Love

Page and the Crowes released an official recording from the shows they played at The Greek Theater in Los Angeles. You can buy that 2CD set here.

Get your official live Led Zeppelin CDs here and here. Buy their phenomenal 2DVD official live set here.

Buy The Black Crowes' outstanding new 2CD set of "unreleased" material, The Lost Crowes, here.

Black Crowes 02-07-1997

My first live concert post was a Black Crowes show, so it's about time I got around to posting another. They are my favorite band, after all...

This show from 1997 in Madrid is a soundboard recording of the group in their heyday before lead guitarist Marc Ford left the band. The set includes great versions of "Thorn In My Pride" and "Nonfiction", as well as two choice covers - "One Hundred Years From Now" (The Byrds) and "Silver Train" (Rolling Stones). Supposedly they played "Jealous Again" at the end of the encore, but no one seems to have a recording of it. So here's the full show minus "Jealous".

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The Black Crowes
02-07-1997
Madrid, Spain

One Mirror Too Many
Black Moon Creeping
Could I've Been So Blind
Downtown Money Waster ->
Share the Ride ->
Gone
Girl From A Pawnshop
Jam -> Thorn In My Pride
Blackberry
One Hundred Years From Now
Evil Eye
Nonfiction ->
Nonfiction continued...
Hard To Handle
- encore -
Good Friday
Silver Train
Jealous Again

The Crowes are selling soundboard recordings of their latest gigs from Instant Live, and you can now order shows as downloads. If this post appeals to you then be sure to check out their current shows. They're really on fire now, perhaps better than back in the good ol' days of '96 - '97.

"With Special Guest ______" - The Opening Band Dilemma

I've always had mixed feelings about opening acts. On the one hand, I'd like to consider myself open enough to new music to be able to listen to an opening band with welcoming ears. I've discovered a few acts that I really enjoy when they played as unknown (to me) openers. On the other hand, there have been plenty of openers that simply killed 30-40 minutes of my life while I was waiting for the headliner I came to see to take the stage.

Ah, the classic opening band dilemma. It's usually considered a great "opportunity" to play for an act with an established following, fans with whom, presumably, your music will connect. But you have to be awesome every night just to appease a crowd that generally isn't there to see you play and would, at times, rather you took the night off so they could see the band they love play an extended set. And if you blow the audience away? If your opening set is outstanding, most audience members will only remember that you didn't suck. Some will be impressed enough to buy your CD or check you out online later, but I bet the great majority of concert-goers don't remember the opening band's name after the gig. If the audience was even in attendance for the opener's set, that is... I've been to plenty of shows that are less than half full for the opener but are jam-packed by the time the headliner goes on. I've even been one of those late arrivals on purpose.

Cynical? Perhaps. There's no denying that being an opening act is a difficult challenge. That's true even for established acts that choose to open for one of their heroes, as a kind of nod to the headliner's venerable career or as a notch on the career belt of the established opener. Maybe suffering the "special guest" slot is a rite of passage that all up-and-comers have to endure in order to "earn" a sweet headlining tour and build that coveted following. More likely, it's a way to keep cash flowing for the opener, even if it's just a trickle, while making a living out of making music. Just about every band you and I love started as an opening act for someone that was more popular or experienced, so I guess in the end there's no dilemma. The good ones, and a lot of the craptastic ones too, will succeed in clearing the hurdle of being the dreaded "opener" and go on to have their own headlining show.

So get out to the venue early, because it sure is fun to be able to say to your fellow music snobs - "Yeah, they're great now...but I saw them when they opened for _______."

Some Of My Favorite Bands In Random Opener Slots:

Led Zeppelin opened for Country Joe And The Fish in 1969

The Rolling Stones opened for the Everly Brothers and Bo Diddley in 1963

Pearl Jam opened for the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Smashing Pumpkins in 1991

Radiohead opened for Catherine Wheel in 1992

The Black Crowes opened for Robert Plant in 1990

Catherine Wheel opened for INXS in 1993

Juliana Hatfield opened for Aimee Mann in 2002

Nirvana opened for Mudhoney in 1992

Jeff Buckley opened for Juliana Hatfield in 1995

Gov't Mule opened for The Black Crowes in 1996

Soundgarden opened for Guns N Roses in 1991

More New Black Crowes Songs

I had the pleasure of seeing the Black Crowes perform at The NorVa in Norfolk, VA last night. The show was a fan's geeky dream - an acoustic 1st set, and electric 2nd set, two new songs, an "unreleased" song, a slew of cool covers, a b-side, great playing from Marc Ford, etc... The full set is here.

I posted earlier about the new songs that the Crowes are unveiling on tour now. The two I heard last night are below along with recordings of the other new ones that have surfaced.

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Cold Boy Smile 07-14-2006
Magic Rooster Blues 07-14-2006
It Takes One To Know One 07-12-2006
Late Nights Again 04-14-2006
Cut From The Shadow 04-14-2006

Black Crowes: 2006 Tour Song Debuts

I got to see the Crowes in Pittsburgh at the Chevrolet Amphitheater on Sunday night, and though the set wasn't particularly extraordinary, the show was awesome as usual. During the course of their seemingly endless current tour, the Crowes recently played “Dirty Hair Halo”, a track from the forthcoming release, The Lost Crowes, for the first time ever. Along with that song, they played the Shake Your Money Maker-era b-side “Waiting Guilty” for the first time since 1996. Good stuff for Crowes fans.

During the brothers Robinson's acoustic tour in April, a few new songs(!) and a few more tracks from The Lost Crowes were performed. I've included them below with the aforementioned tracks, as well as an acoustic rendition of the The Southern Harmony And Musical Companion-era b-side "Darling Of The Underground Press".

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Waiting Guilty 05-27-2006
Dirty Hair Halo 05-26-2006
My Heart's Killing Me 04-15-2006
Darling Of The Underground Press 04-15-2006
Late Nights Again 04-14-2006
Cut From The Shadow 04-14-2006
Wyoming & Me 04-14-2006
Thunderstorm 6:54 04-14-2006

Recordings have only surfaced for two of the Brothers Of A Feather acoustic shows, and it'd be fantastic to hear some others. The Robinsons played new tunes "Cold Boy Smile" and "Magic Rooster Blues" along with b-sides "Peace Anyway" and "Smile" in other sets. Anyone out there have recordings of these from the acoustic shows?

The Crowes are selling excellent quality live recordings from most of their recent and upcoming tour dates through Instant Live. I'd recommend the 06-16-2006 set from Las Vegas. It includes both "Waiting Guilty" and "Dirty Hair Halo" in pristine quality.

Black Crowes Open The Vaults

From the official Black Crowes website comes this press release:

Twice The Black Crowes have recorded albums that were never officially released: Tall in 1993 and Band in 1997. While a few songs from these lost albums were rerecorded and released on studio albums, many have emerged only through the band’s legendary live shows. The Black Crowes recently went into the vault, collecting the best moments from those abandoned sessions for a special treat for their longtime fans. Titled THE LOST CROWES, it is a two-disc set of unreleased music that has been remixed for its public debut on Rhino. The compilation will be available August 29 at all retail outlets and at www.rhino.com for a suggested retail price of $24.98. The same day, the band’s 1992 home video, WHO KILLED THAT BIRD OUT ON YOUR WINDOW SILL, will make its DVD debut on Rhino Home Video for a suggested retail price of $14.99.

In fall of 1993 vocalist Chris Robinson, guitarists Rich Robinson and Marc Ford, drummer Steve Gorman, bassist Johnny Colt, and keyboardist Ed Harsch recorded more than 30 songs at Conway Studios in Los Angeles. Working on the follow-up to Southern Harmony And Musical Companion, the band descended into an emotional, startlingly heavy creative patch that became a stepping-stone to the 1994 album, amorica.

Named after an old jazz term for getting high, the Tall sessions contain a total of 16 unreleased tracks that offer an unflinching glimpse into rough and beautiful music born from turmoil and tension. THE LOST CROWES includes early versions of seven amorica songs such as “A Conspiracy,” “Descending,” “Wiser Time” and “Cursed Diamond.” The collection also features the undiscovered classics “Tied Up And Swallowed,” “Feathers,” “Thunderstorm 654” and “Lowdown,” a sad lost anthem that became “Ballad In Urgency.”

Four years later, the band came off the road after headlining the Furthur Festival and went into a Nashville studio to record songs for a planned follow-up to 1996’s acclaimed Three Snakes & One Charm. Where Tall thrives on the mayhem of their young Los Angeles days, Band confidently probes some of The Black Crowes’ most mature, thoughtful work.

The Band sessions contain 10 songs including a different version of the B-side “Peace Anyway,” plus “If It Ever Stops Raining,” a song that would become the title-track to the 1999 album By Your Side. The compilation also spotlights the taut riff rock of “Paint An 8,” the windblown ache of “Wyoming & Me” along with the freaky-longhaired-Mother Earth grooves of “Another Roadside Tragedy,” “Grinnin” and “Life Vest.”

Paul Stacey has remixed all of the music on THE LOST CROWES, which also includes liner notes spotlighting the stories behind these legendary lost sessions as told by the Robinsons.

The Black Crowes released its first home video, WHO KILLED THAT BIRD OUT ON YOUR WINDOW SILL, in 1992 while touring for the band’s sophomore album. Rhino Home Video will release a remastered and expanded version of the video on DVD that features live performances, interviews, backstage and studio footage, videos from the group’s first two albums, and additional bonus features.

THE LOST CROWES

Track Listing
Disc 1: The Band Sessions

1. “Paint An 8”
2. “Grinnin”
3. “If It Ever Stops Raining”
4. “Wyoming & Me”
5. “Predictable”
6. “Never Forget This Song”
7. “Life Vest”
8. “Another Roadside Tragedy”
9. “My Heart’s Killing Me”
10. “Peace Anyway”

Disc 2: The Tall Sessions

1. “A Conspiracy”
2. “Evil Eye”
3. “Cursed Diamond”
4. “London P25”
5. “Dirty Hair Halo”
6. “Hi-Head Blues”
7. “Feathers”
8. “Nonfiction”
9. “Tied Up And Swallowed”
10. “Wiser Time”
11. “Sunday Buttermilk Waltz”
12. “Descending”
13. “Lowdown”
14. “Tornado”
15. “Songs Of The Flesh”
16. “Thunderstorm 6:54”

Odds And Sods From The Blog World

Heather at I Am Fuel, You Are Friends posted 19 "live and unreleased" Ray LaMontagne tracks as a teaser for his forthcoming new album. She also recently put up two new Black Crowes songs from the brothers Robinson's acoustic mini-tour. You can find "I Got The Late Nights Again" and "Cut From The Shadow" here.

Cable and Tweed has a great set of pre-Boy U2 demos posted, called "Contract Demos '78-'80". Don't know if all the uber-fans already have that stuff but it seems like a gold mine.

My Ex Best Friend has some Coldplay rarities up. "Ladder To The Sun" is a full track, and there are also snippets of the boys covering Aqua's "Barbie Girl" and Nelly/Kelly Rowland's "Dilemma".

Also posted at My Ex Best Friend is an MP3 of Radiohead covering Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" that can be found here. I did a little research and it's actually Sparklehorse with Thom Yorke singing some of the vocals. Apparently he called in his vocal part over the phone and you can hear his TV on in the background.

Speaking of Radiohead, Hello Gina posted a version of "Creep" as covered by Damien Rice on Today FM in Ireland on 06-22-05.

Ear Farm has a fantastic series of live concert posts updated every weekend. Live sets from Sublime, Spoon, Ween, The Unicorns, My Bloody Valentine, New Order, Sufjan Stevens, Neutral Milk Hotel, Sonic Youth, Explosions in the Sky, The Smiths, Morphine, Talking Heads, The Stone Roses, The Cure, PJ Harvey, Pulp, The Decemberists, Blur, Nine Inch Nails, Johnny Cash, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Led Zeppelin, Islands, Echo and the Bunnymen, Morrissey, and The Durutti Column are available.

Muzzle Of Bees has an acoustic set from Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie that aired in 2003 on KEXP.

Ben Gibbard appears again at You Ain't No Picasso covering Michael Jackson's "Thriller". Belle And Sebastian cover "Billie Jean" as well.

Live Concert Post #1: Black Crowes VH1 Storytellers

I've decided to post a full live show once and a while, as frequently as I can. Because they're one of my favorite bands of all time and they're about to embark on their first acoustic tour, I thought it was appropriate that the inaugural concert post should be a Crowes acoustic gig. This is the Crowes performing for VH1's Storytellers on 08-27-1996 at The Bottom Line in New York.



From the era when the Crowes were at the peak of their live powers, the show began with only the brothers Robinson on stage, gradually joined by the rest of the band. Hope you enjoy this great moment in Black Crowes concert history.

Nonfiction*
Good Friday*
Under A Mountain**
Story 1
Thorn In My Pride**
Jealous Again
Story 2
Wiser Time
Story 3
She Talks To Angels
Story 4
Hard To Handle
Story 5
Ballad In Urgency
Story 6
Descending
Story 7
Remedy
- encore -
Story 8
She (Gram Parsons cover)
Nonfiction
Torn And Frayed (Rolling Stones cover)

Chris & Rich only *

Chris, Rich, Steve & Eddie only **

The rest was played by the entire band except Johnny.

Black Crowes Acoustic Tour!

That's right, kids, the brothers Robinson are playing a few acoustic gigs in select markets in April. From the press release on the band's website:

Pete Angelus, manager of The Black Crowes, confirmed today that Chris and Rich will be performing a collection of their catalogue, influential covers as well as new material. Billed as “Brothers Of A Feather: An Acoustic Evening With Chris & Rich Robinson of The Black Crowes,” all show will be in a very intimate setting and will be recorded for a possible acoustic release at some point in the future.

Although The Black Crowes have performed a few acoustic numbers in their electric sets in the past, this will be the first time the infamous brothers have ever performed full-length acoustic sets in their 16-year career.

Confirmed tour dates:

Thu 4/13 Brooklyn, NY Warsaw (on sale: Fri 2/24 @ Noon)
Fri 4/14 New York, NY Frederick P. Rose Hall- Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center- Broadway at 60th Street (on sale: Fri 2/24 @ Noon)
Sat 4/15 New York, NY Town Hall (on sale: Fri 2/24 @ Noon)
Mon 4/17 Austin, TX Cactus Café (on sale: Fri 2/17 @ Noon) **
Tue 4/18 Austin, TX Cactus Café (on sale: Fri 2/17 @ Noon) **
Thu 4/20 San Francisco, CA Swedish American Hall @ Café Du Nord (on sale: Fri 2/24 @ Noon)
Fri 4/21 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore (on sale: Sun 2/26 @10:00 AM)
Sat 4/22 San Francisco, CA Bimbo’s 365 Club (on sale: Fri 2/24 @10:00 AM)
Mon 4/24 Los Angeles, CA The Roxy (on sale: Fri 2/24 @ 11:00 AM)
Tue 4/25 Los Angeles, CA The Roxy (on sale: Fri 2/24 @ 11:00 AM)
** denotes two shows per night, 7:00 and 10:00 PM

Gotta post some acoustic Crowes in honor of this historic occasion.

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Cursed Diamond (acoustic)

Black Moon Creeping (acoustic)

Good Friday (acoustic)