From: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org (shindell-list-digest) To: shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Subject: shindell-list-digest V7 #254 Reply-To: shindell-list@smoe.org Sender: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk shindell-list-digest Sunday, October 30 2005 Volume 07 : Number 254 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [RS] Richard and Lucy at the Birchmere ["Chris Pressley" ] Re: [RS] RE: Northampton Show [Rongrittz@aol.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 30 Oct 2005 07:26:01 -0500 From: "Chris Pressley" Subject: [RS] Richard and Lucy at the Birchmere I have tickets to see Richard and Lucy at the Birchmere on Nov. 17. I've seen Richard several times but never with Lucy. I don't know her music either. Anyone know what I can expect? That is, will Lucy accompany Richard on stage or do her own set? If they (or she) perform some of her music, what I should listen to before the show? Surprises are fun too, but I like to know the music a little before I see it live. Thanks. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 30 Oct 2005 09:16:54 -0500 From: Adam Plunkett Subject: Re: [RS] Richard @ Passim part II (redux) and part III: Oct 28th It was great to meet Reinhard and Chris as well. Always nice to put faces to names! The reception was lots of fun and well worth the donation to the club. As for the new cover songs, having seen them performed once, and listened to the other two Passim shows, I really hope Aradian Driftwood (which I think will), Senor, Northbound 35, and one of the Silverio Rodriguez songs make the cut. I also hope that many of the great covers he has done over the years do as well. Someone (probably Chris or Reinhard) mentioned how great There Goes Mavis came out at Passims. I second that. Maybe it is because it is one of my favorite songs, but the version was amazing. On another note, I was listening to the radio yesterday and "The Weather" came on, which I know would make certain people here very happy. ;) On Oct 29, 2005, at 1:35 PM, Chris Foxwell wrote: > On 10/28/05, Reinhard Liess wrote: > >> But definitely the best thing was meeting shindell-lister Chris (and >> his >> friends) at the table where the Passim people had seated me. When >> looking >> at >> the small cards they put on the tables I recognized his name as the >> one of >> a >> regular posters. Fun. Oh I digress. > > Likewise, Reinhard! That was pretty great. I was with a party of > three--myself, one Shindell journeyman, and one complete rookie--at the > Thursday show, and Reinhard wound up being the fourth person seated at > the > table. We had a blast, it was my first experience attending a Richard > show > with a fellow "hardcore fan", if we do indeed qualify as such. And > during > the wine/cheese/fruit reception on Friday, the two of us met up with > Adam > Plunkett. It was a regular listserv party! Nice to meet you guys. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 30 Oct 2005 11:08:48 -0400 From: Bart Gallagher Subject: [RS] Dancing Queen is Sittin' On Top of The World Chris Foxwell wrote: > --During Thursday's show, there was some discussion of the tracks that > would appear on the new album, and he said that there would be several > surprises that we wouldn't see coming. The audience started making guesses, > and I was surprised to hear someone call out "Dancing Queen?", which was the > "no way in hell" tune that I tossed out on the listserver some weeks ago. To > my even greater surprise, Richard replied, in earnest and with intensity, > with "that's a very good song!", and to learn from another audience member > that Luka Bloom has actually covered it! Yeah, I heard Luka Bloom do "Dancing Queen" live on NPR, just voice and guitar. At first I started to laugh out loud. Then thought, hey he's really pretty good and it's quite a different rendition, still chuckling from time to time. Not a laughing at Luka kind of chuckle, but a 'this is neat' feeling. As for "Sitting On Top of the World", I see recent posts that attribute it to Doc Watson. I've always thought it was written by Howlin' Wolf (Chester Burnett), so I did some research... Sitting On Top of the World was written, music and lyrics, by Walter Jacobs and Lonnie Carter in 1930, and was recorded by them - The Mississippi Shieks. It was possibly adapted from a traditional song. "Sitting On Top of the World" has been covered and rehashed by many including Milton Brown, Bob Wills, Bill Monroe, Howlin' Wolf, Carl Perkins, The Grateful Dead, Ray Charles, Cream, Eric Clapton, Jack White, Doc Watson... and Richard Shindell. Howlin' Wolf's version spawned a string of covers by many, most notably by Cream. While Shindell's guitar and voice don't quite mimic those of Hubert Sumlin and Howlin' Wolf, the lyric and style I heard live some years ago is close to Wolf's. Perhaps Richard is now doing a version similar to Doc Watson's. Watson's take appears on 'Doc Watson' (1964) and on Doc's 2003 album 'Trouble in Mind', and the lyrics do differ a bit from Wolf's. Oh, there are also some other different songs with the same title. A pop version from the 1920's - Done by Al Jolson in 1926, and many others. There are also songs with different titles that derive from "Sitting On Top of the World". Bob Dylan "Pledging My Time". And, there's more, but enough for now. Bart ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 30 Oct 2005 15:00:21 -0500 From: Jamie Younghans / John McDonnell Subject: [RS] RE: Northampton Show Hi All, Went to the Northampton show last night. It started at 7:00 pm with Judd & Maggie, a brother and sister duo out of Maryland who were excellent--perfect harmonies, well-crafted and executed songs. Bought the CD. RS show was too short. There was a 10:00 pm show, so he had to be out of there by 9--got a little bit of the Joe's Pub bum's rush. The set list (no surprises from the posts on the Passim show): Acadian Driftwood Senor Lawrence KS Northbound 35 There Goes Mavis Cancion Sencilla What Do I Do Now (Silvio Rodriguez--I don't know the Spanish title) Che Guevara T-Shirt Fenario Reunion Hill Fishing Transit Are You Happy Now ENCORE Before You Go. He had the Bouzouki, a Spanish Guitar and the Taylor electric. He opened with the Bouzouki, and played it for the first three songs, went to the Spanish guitar for the next three, returned to the Bouzouki for the Silvio Rodriguez song, then finished out the set with the Taylor. There were some very slight lyrics problems--on Reunion Hill and AYHN--which he covered well, but he messed up Fishing, and right at the end, too. Nice version though, a little more stripped down and menacing. Let me just say this, and I don't want to offend anyone who may own, play or be otherwise attached to the bouzouki as an instrument, but it's got to go. I loved every song he played, and the Robbie Robertson one especially, but the bouzouki sounded like a crappy guitar. I know it has a rich tradition and I am used to it as an instrument, having first heard it almost thirty years ago at a Leonard Cohen concert, and becoming accustomed to its Irish incarnation in folk music, but as the sole accompaniment, I didn't like it. It's like capers: fine in a salad, but you don't want a whole bowl by themselves. I feel it's one of those instruments, like the banjo and the accordion, that while not quite the instrument of choice for the antisocial, needs other instruments around it to take the edge off. In fact, when he went to the Spanish guitar for the Jeffrey Foucault song, the contrast was astounding. Maybe it's a function of his virtuosity on the guitar--he just strummed the bouzouki--but the difference in the richness and warmth of the sound made me cringe when he went back to it. I know those first three songs have a stark quality about them, but the bouzouki was just grating. Having mentioned his virtuosity, on "There Goes Mavis" I heard some sounds that I just could not reconcile with what I observed. I sat just to the right of the stage--fairly close, and watched very carefully, but I swear he's finger-synching. John McD. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 30 Oct 2005 16:45:58 EST From: Rongrittz@aol.com Subject: Re: [RS] RE: Northampton Show >> He had the Bouzouki, a Spanish Guitar and the Taylor electric. He opened with the Bouzouki, and played it for the first three songs, went to the Spanish guitar for the next three, returned to the Bouzouki for the Silvio Rodriguez song, then finished out the set with the Taylor. << Do I take this to mean he didn't use a regular old acoustic guitar for ANYTHING? RG ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 30 Oct 2005 21:25:15 -0500 From: Jamie Younghans / John McDonnell Subject: [RS] RE: Northampton Show Hi All, RG wrote: Do I take this to mean he didn't use a regular old acoustic guitar for ANYTHING? You are correct, sir. John McD. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 30 Oct 2005 21:43:23 -0500 From: Ron Alderfer Subject: [RS] Richard & Lucy at the Birchmere Chris, Just sit back and enjoy the ride!! You don't know how lucky you are. They will probably do their own sets AND sing together. Ron A ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 30 Oct 2005 22:04:28 EST From: Rongrittz@aol.com Subject: Re: [RS] RE: Northampton Show I asked: >> Do I take this to mean he didn't use a regular old acoustic guitar for ANYTHING? << John replied: >> You are correct, sir. << I sez: Wow, I sure hope THAT'S something that doesn't become a habit. RG ------------------------------ End of shindell-list-digest V7 #254 ***********************************