From: owner-the-landing-digest@smoe.org (the-landing-digest) To: the-landing-digest@smoe.org Subject: the-landing-digest V2 #226 Reply-To: the-landing@smoe.org Sender: owner-the-landing-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-the-landing-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk the-landing-digest Wednesday, September 29 1999 Volume 02 : Number 226 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Waits ["Ryan Sargent" ] Leon Redbone, etc. ["Dave Doll" ] RE: Waits [Dawn Carr ] Off topic pitter patter and some Bowl of Fire ["theresa mccart" ] RE: Waits [Dawn Carr ] Last post from me on Waits for a while (unless prompted) No SNZ [Dawn C] RE: Waits ["rev. bob pigeon" ] Look! An SNZ topic! [Jarrad Jalbert ] Re: Off topic pitter patter and some Bowl of Fire [Andy Harman ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 04:26:58 PDT From: "Ryan Sargent" Subject: Waits Did anybody else catch Tom Waits performance on letterman last night? ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 06:43:49 PDT From: "Dave Doll" Subject: Leon Redbone, etc. Hey everybody, I found the following bio at UBL.com. "While his gravelly baritone and omnipresent fedora, dark glasses and Groucho Marx moustache made him one of the more distinct and recognizable characters in popular music, little is known about the neo-vaudeville crooner Leon Redbone. Throughout his career, he steadfastly refused to divulge any information about his background or personal life; according to legend, Redbone's desire to protect his privacy was so intense that when he was approached by the famed producer John Hammond, the contact number he gave was not his own phone, but that of a Dial-A-Joke service. Because Redbone first emerged as a performer in Toronto during the 1970s, he was believed to be Canadian; his work, a revival of pre-World War II ragtime, jazz and blues sounds, recalled the work of performers ranging from Jelly Roll Morton and Bing Crosby to blackface star Emmett Miller. He made his recording debut in 1976 with On the Track , which featured legendary jazz violinist Joe Venuti as well as singer/songwriter Don McLean; his 1977 follow-up Double Time even reached the U.S. Top 40 charts, largely on the strength of his frequent appearances on television's "Saturday Night Live." After 1978's Champagne Charlie , Redbone began recording only sporadically; following 1981's Branch to Branch , he waited four years before re-entering the studio to cut Red to Blue . Invariably, his albums featured guest appearances from a eclectic cast of luminaries: while 1987's Christmas Island included a cameo by Dr. John, 1994's Whistling in the Wind included duets with Ringo Starr and Merle Haggard. Despite his low profile, Redbone also earned a certain measure of fame as a fixture in various television advertising campaigns." On the subject of Joe Venuti, I think some of his best stuff was the early sides he cut with guitarist Eddie Lange. Being a guitar player myself, I'm somewhat biased though:) If you like jazz violin, and it's obvious a lot of you do, I highly recommend " Stephane Grappelli - Live At The Blue Note" (1996, Telarc). Even at eighty seven years old, the man sure could play! Peace, Dave ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 13:26:16 -0400 From: Dawn Carr Subject: RE: Waits Ryan wrote: Did anybody else catch Tom Waits performance on letterman last night? I did! He performed Chocolate Jesus and spoke with DL for about 5 min. I also saw him three times last week at the Beacon Theater in NY. Each night I attended a pre-and post-show gathering of Waitsfans at a nearby watering hole and if I have ever had a better time in my life I don't remember it. Thursday I sat in the 10th row but there are benefits to sitting in the back: For Saturday's show, I was back row on the aisle right where Tom enters the theater. Tom was standing right next to me as the spot came down, megaphone blaring: "ladies aaaand gentlemen..." and I was prepared -- I showered the man in a handful of confetti and then his confetti fell around me. Well, I kinda liked that. I am also on the Tom Waits e-mail list. They get on average 40 posts a day (!) and have a more structured system (everyone is asked to post an intro before posting to the list and if the message contains no mention of Tom Waits, we put (no TW) or (!TW) next to the topic in the subject line. I not suggesting, just reporting. But I will suggest that you dash out and pick up some TW CDs if he is not known to you. Swordfishtrombones, Rain Dogs, Franks Wild Years and Black Rider are my favorites. Cheers all. =dc= ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 14:09:44 -0400 From: "theresa mccart" Subject: Off topic pitter patter and some Bowl of Fire The only thing that I can honestly say about Tom Waits is that he totally blew me away in the film "Shortcuts". He and Lily Tomlin were a great pair. One of my favourite Altman movies. Speaking of mailing lists in general, I do find this one pretty structured without being fascist. I'm on an Alan Cumming list and there are some major no no subjects that a person cannot write about. This namely being his sexuality. If we dare mention it the list moderators (there are around seven) email the culprit with threats. Then, if it continues, the person gets banished. It's quite Lord of the Flies ish. I'm also on a Watership Down mailing list which generates no mail (I want to talk about Fiver goddamnit!!) , a Ralph Fiennes list that generates way too much and a Kate Winslet list that is a no go. Oh yes, a Ben Folds Five one too which is quite vicious. I got my Andrew Bird Bowl of Fire press kit in the mail today. I got it off of Ebay. It's a very nice photograph with a pretty synopsis of the band. I would have told you guys about the auction, however, I'm extremely greedy and didn't want competition. Take care and enjoy the weather, Theresa. (whose nice and cold and can't wait for the snow in Quebec) >I am also on the Tom Waits e-mail list. They get on average 40 posts a day >(!) and have a more structured system (everyone is asked to post an intro >before posting to the list and if the message contains no mention of Tom >Waits, we put (no TW) or (!TW) next to the topic in the subject line. > >I not suggesting, just reporting. > >But I will suggest that you dash out and pick up some TW CDs if he is not >known to you. Swordfishtrombones, Rain Dogs, Franks Wild Years and Black >Rider are my favorites. > >Cheers all. >=dc= > > > ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 12:10:57 PDT From: "Ryan Sargent" Subject: RE: Waits I have heard of the name Tom Waits before (and his comparison's to BOF), but never heard his music. I always thought he was some rock guy. His appearance on letterman was great though! That band really had (like bowl of fire) the sound of the wood (that gritty, gutbucket, raw sound). And the background music sounded just like something off Thrills. Is all his music like that? ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 16:04:41 -0400 From: Dawn Carr Subject: RE: Waits Tom Waits has a huge catalog and has gone through several transformations as a writer/musician/performer. Most people know him through his songs that have been recorded (not always so well) by others: Jersey Girl- Bruce Springstein, Downtown Train- Rod Stewart, Strange Weather- Marianne Faithful, Ol '55- the Eagles etc. For a general feel, I'd check out his truly astonishing concert movie, Big Time, available at your finer video rental establishments. For those with an ear for BOF, I'd suggest TW's Rain Dogs or Black Rider. I'll Shoot the Moon alone is worth the price of admission and you also get to hear William S. Burroughs sing a little ditty. His album Rain Dogs is perhaps more accessible than Black Rider and a better place to start. Every song on that album is gold. You will not be disappointed. Waits songs are like little movies with words hanging on a bizarre architecture of sounds. He uses rusty pipes and car fenders along with conventional instruments and that strange and wonderful voice that appears prominently on the soundtrack of my life. If you have something interesting to trade I could put together a little Waits sampler, but better to just run out to your nearest candy shop and pick yourself up Rain Dogs. =dc= > -----Original Message----- > From: Ryan Sargent [SMTP:rms573@hotmail.com] > Sent: Tuesday, September 28, 1999 3:11 PM > To: the-landing@smoe.org > Subject: RE: Waits > > I have heard of the name Tom Waits before (and his comparison's to BOF), > but > never heard his music. I always thought he was some rock guy. His > appearance > on letterman was great though! That band really had (like bowl of fire) > the > sound of the wood (that gritty, gutbucket, raw sound). And the background > music sounded just like something off Thrills. Is all his music like that? > > > > > > > > ______________________________________________________ > Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 16:21:35 -0400 From: Dawn Carr Subject: Last post from me on Waits for a while (unless prompted) No SNZ From the NY Daily News: Waits Is Still the Wizard of Odd Jim Farber Songs come from strange places," announced Tom Waits at the Beacon Theater Thursday. Some stranger than others. For Waits, songs seem to rumble directly out of the unconscious, bubbling up as mutant strains of blues, rumba, swing, folk-rock, musique concrète, scat, opera and a hefty dose of whatchamacallit music. The rackety result has made Waits one of pop's great eccentrics and, thus, an unlikely star to be enjoying a career renaissance. Somehow Waits' latest album, "Mule Variations," has become one of his best sellers. Maybe the long layoff had something to do with it. The 49-year-old star hadn't issued an album in six years and he hadn't played New York for 12. His four Beacon shows, scattered over the weekend and ending tonight, sold out in a flash. Waits instantly set the surreal mood by mounting the stage from the audience, tossing confetti like a drunk Rip Taylor and yelling circus barker banter into a bullhorn. Then he yelped out the song "Jesus Gonna Be Here Soon" in his most startling late-stage-lung-cancer voice. Here, Waits played wino, evangelist, comic and huckster, a composite of entertaining characters each trying to scam his way to salvation. To flesh out the mood, Waits broke his songs with odd spoken interludes, full of beatnik non sequiturs. He described one song as coming "from an old family recipe for pork. But be careful because I left out a few key ingredients." Numbers from "Mule Variations" dominated. They tend toward deconstructed blues, finding an improbable link between Robert Johnson's rural recordings and John Cage's experimental noise poems. A four-man band backed Waits, highlighted by Smokey Hormel's shattered and animated guitar. Even here, surprises abounded. At one point, all four players manned xylophones. Though Waits played for 2 hours and 15 minutes, he sang none of his most widely known numbers. And he rarely dipped into his pre-'80s catalogue, though he did offer 1977's "Invitation to the Blues." For all his work's clatter and clang, there's an improbable beauty to it - especially the ballads, like 1992's "A Little Rain." "You must risk something that matters," Waits sang in the song. And so he has with his music, proving just what a gorgeous payoff creative risk can bring. Original Publication Date: 09/25/1999 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 18:06:17 -0400 From: "rev. bob pigeon" Subject: RE: Waits >And the background >music sounded just like something off Thrills. Is all his music like that? probably the only popular musician who gives off a heavy kurt weill influence. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 21:37:18 -0400 From: Jarrad Jalbert Subject: Look! An SNZ topic! ... sorta. I was wondering if anyone knew (I know it's still very very early... but hey) if Mr. Bird was to play on the new Squirrel Nut Zippers album when they begin recording? Jarrad * * * * * * * * Jarrad Jalbert - Musical Examiner Extraordinair (Sits around and listens to music) AOL IM screen name - Jahrid ICQ number - 17159315 Email - avariel@earthlink.net ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 23:06:33 -0400 From: Andy Harman Subject: Re: Off topic pitter patter and some Bowl of Fire At 02:09 PM 9/28/99 -0400, you wrote: > >Speaking of mailing lists in general, I do find this one pretty structured >without being fascist. I'm on an Alan Cumming list and there are some major >no no subjects that a person cannot write about. I run two lists myself, and the only thing I will not tolerate is personal flames and deputy moderators. Topic drift usually goes away on it's own and I usually chastise the self-appointed listcops before I'll pick on the drifters. Has worked well... the lists run with an iron hand are now... ummm... probably 3-4 different lists now :-) My SNZ list died from lack of interest after this one came along so I scuttled it... at least we have one loose & free list for SNZ and related topics. Andy ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Sep 1999 01:53:20 -0400 From: Andy Harman Subject: Guess Who Got The Gold :-) :-) Ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch!! Time to put more train stuff for sale on Ebay to recover damages!! I can't think of a better SNZ artifact... although ironically it went for the same price as Ken was asking for his beater Conn bari sax a few months back. My all time favorite album... with my favorite sax player's name on it! Now where's that homeowner's insurance policy.... Andy ------------------------------ End of the-landing-digest V2 #226 *********************************