Captain America Is Dead (1941 - 2007)
Captain America is dead.

If, like me, you grew up as a kid loving comic books -- and those published by Marvel Comics in particular -- then you already know the name of Captain America. And even if you didn't, the image of the red, white, and blue clad superhero should be a familiar one. From the time of the first Captain America book -- published in 1941, just nine months before Pearl Harbor was attacked -- Captain America has been a unmistakable part of America's cultural landscape.

Like other comic book superheroes who emerged during the time of World War II --such as DC Comics' Superman -- Captain America symbolized patriotism, virtue, and everything that was supposed to be good about America. His character was both a reminder and a reassurance to an America grappling with it's own place in a world that was spinning out of control and into war.

But it was the theme of patriotism that was most central to this character. From his red, white and blue costume and matching shield to the enemies he faced down in issue after issue -- they included everyone from the evil Red Skull to Adolf Hitler himself, who was sometimes under a mask as the villanous Hate Monger -- Captain America was the original go-to guy.

Whether battling for the causes of truth and justice as a solo act, or with the group of superheroes he led called The Avengers, Captain America was a guy who had the entire country's back. And he certainly never questioned the actions of his president or his government.

But that was then, and this is now.

In the current Captain America storyline titled "Civil War," the good Captain has taken up arms against both his government and even fellow superheroes like Iron Man, over the issue of something called the Superhero Registration Act. The issue becomes problematic for Captain America because it would require him to reveal his secret identidy of Steve Rogers -- but more importantly, because he strongly believes the Act to be a violation of civil rights.

Although Marvel Comics has always stood out from it's comic competitors for often weaving current events into its stories, Captain America hasn't been involved in a plotline so relevant to its current time since way back in the World War II days. Dating back to the sixties, Captain America's once soaring popularity made way for newer, younger, and hipper heroes like Spiderman who themselves were presented as more complex, multi-dimensional characters than their forties counterparts.

With the political theme of the current "Civil War" storyline, some have speculated that Marvel is itself making a political statement about the current administration. After all, here we have Mr. Mom And Apple Pie himself at odds with his own government.

Writer Jeph Loeb (who also works on the hit TV series Heroes) for the most part isn't talking. Although he does admit that ''He wears the flag and he is assassinated -- it's impossible not to have it at least be a metaphor for the complications of present day.''

That assassination takes place in the issue which hits the streets -- when else? -- the day after Independence Day. In the story, Captain America is struck down by a rooftop sniper while finally surrendering himself to authorities at a federal courthouse in New York. At his funeral, he is laid to rest at Arlington Cemetery in a casket carried by pallbearers including Iron Man and the Fantastic Four's Ben "The Thing" Grimm.

While in the comic book version of the story it is an assassin's bullet which fells the superhero icon, in real life Captain America is more likely the victim of both our changing times, and the changing political climate in America and the world.

Rest In Peace Captain America.

Pearl Jam At The Gorge Is A Great Live Boxed Set

Music Review: Pearl Jam Live At The Gorge (7 Disc Boxed Set)

I guess you've got to live in the Northwest to really appreciate The Gorge.

Located in Eastern Washington's farming and wine country -- high above beautiful rolling hills overlooking the natural beauty of Washington State's Columbia River -- The Gorge Ampitheatre is one of the best places to see an outdoor concert in the United States.

Touring musicians have of course known this for years now. Notoriously concert-shy perfectionists Steely Dan made a live album there. Sting has been known to sing its praises to his peers in the record business. The Dave Matthews Band has an annual ritual of doing a three night stand there over Labor Day Weekend. They even made a live album and DVD out of one of those weekends.

I've seen a number of memorable shows there myself over the years -- from Radiohead to Neil Young to Santana to Coldplay -- whose Chris Martin seemed particularly stunned by the Gorge's natural beauty when I saw them there a few years back.

The past few years however have seen some rough times for the venerable Gorge. The drive is some three hours over the mountains from Seattle. The concessions and bathroom facilities there are also in dire need of a facelift. And when the Muckleshoot Indian tribe opened their own White River Ampitheatre a mere forty minutes from Seattle a few years back, a lot of the Gorge's summer concert business went with it.

White River's "convenience" notwithstanding, it still takes a lot more time to get in and out of there -- driving in standstill traffic along a two lane highway -- then it does to drive across the state to get to the Gorge. Besides, for my money the pristine setting of the Gorge remains unmatched. There is nothing quite like taking in some great music under the night sky overlooking the mountains and the river there.

Living in the Northwest themselves, Pearl Jam knows this.

While bands like Radiohead and Coldplay may have taken their last tours to White River for their Northwest stops, Pearl Jam is a band that plays the Gorge in the summer months every chance it can.

Pearl Jam is also a band that has increasingly developed a reputation as a must-see live band. Whether playing before a stadium of fans, or in an intimate setting like the set they played at Easy Street -- a record store located just a few blocks from where I live in West Seattle -- Pearl Jam is a band you know you can count on to deliver the goods in a live setting. In that respect, they are like clockwork.

As a result they have made scores of live albums out of sheer necessity. Unlike many bands who have reached the same level of success, Pearl Jam does not rely on playing the same setlist night after night -- but rather will change things up at the drop of the proverbial hat. There is even an entire record label sanctioned official "bootleg series" of live shows they did from a tour several years back.

Like Bruce Springsteen and the Grateful Dead, this is a band whose fans trade taped shows amongst each other with a ferocity only the truly obsessed could understand. What those same fans also know, is that when Pearl Jam plays a hometown gig at the Gorge, the chances are better than good you'll be getting special.
Such is the case with this seven disc boxed set recorded over the course of three shows at the Gorge -- one in 2005, and back to back shows from just last year. As boxed sets go, there is also a decidedly no frills nature about this one. There are no extensive booklets or extras here (which probably accounts for the relatively low price -- about forty bucks at Amazon -- for a seven disc boxed set).

Instead, Pearl Jam let the music do the talking here. And there is a lot of it. At three complete concerts clocking in at some seven and a half hours, the setlists of each vary a lot. There are the well known Pearl Jam songs like the rarely played these days "Jeremy," "Given To Fly," and "World Wide Suicide" from their most recent self-titled album. There are also some great cover songs, from The Who's "Baba O' Reilly," to good friend Neil Young's "Fuckin' Up."

The common thread here though, is just how tight Pearl Jam has become as a band. They may not sell the records they did back in the heyday of Seattle's nineties grunge explosion. But they do show why they have developed a well earned reputation as one of the best live rock and roll bands in the world here.

And make no mistake.

Pearl Jam is a great rock and roll band -- even though Eddie Vedder might just knock me over the head with his wine bottle for threatening his "punk credibility" by saying that. The fact is these guys are of the few bands out there able to straddle that line. For every reluctant -- unintended as it was -- classic rock staple like "Alive," Pearl Jam responds with the punk rock energy of "Spin The Black Circle" on this set.

I've always said that these guys had a lot more Bad Company than Sex Pistols in them -- what between Vedder's rock and roll soul vocals, and the dual guitar attack of Stone Gossard and Mike McCready. And let us not forget ex-Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron. The other thing Seattle does besides producing coffee and computer geniuses, is grow great drummers.

The other thing about Pearl Jam that this boxed set captures is the unique connection this band makes with their audience. Like Springsteen's live shows during songs like "Thunder Road," the audience quotes entire lyrics in unison during a particularly frenetic version here of "Why Go."

Playing before an adoring hometown crowd, under the beautiful starlit skies at the Gorge, you almost wish you could have been there -- at least for one of these nights -- listening to the seven plus hours documented here.

Even for fans who have all of Pearl Jam's numerous live releases, this boxed set represents something special.

The Aftermath Of The Chris Benoit Tragedy

Tonight, on World Wrestling Entertainment's ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling) program, WWE chairman of the board Vince McMahon did something he rarely does. He apologized. Well, at least he more or less did. The words "I'm sorry" were never actually spoken. But the dead serious tone of McMahon's voice spoke volumes.

What he was referring to in his words which opened tonight's ECW show, was Monday night's nationally televised three hour tribute show to wrestler Chris Benoit, who was found dead along with his wife and son in Atlanta -- also on Monday.

In a short, tersely worded statement, McMahon acknowledged the previous night's tribute, then said that in light of events that had become known "26 hours later" that "there will be no mention of Chris Benoit" on the show. It was a marked contrast to the emotional celebration of the wrestler's life that was broadcast on national television just one day prior.

McMahon added that "this evening marks the first step of the healing process."

When I first had the unfortunate instance of reporting the story on the deaths of Benoit and his family late yesterday evening for this website, none of us knew all the details yet. The truth is, we really still don't, and probably won't for days and weeks to come.

I also doubt very much that the WWE knew everything that has since come out today. Otherwise, I can't possibly see that they would have gone on with the three hour Benoit tribute show. If that wasn't clear prior to tonight's ECW broadcast, it certainly is so now.

For most of us who heard the initial story, before all of the gruesome details revealed today, our initial reaction was one of shock, and of sympathy for Benoit's family. Hence the piece eulogizing Benoit you read here. I would venture to say this is also what prompted the tribute show by WWE last night.

Listening to the more gruesome details of this story today driving around as part of my "day job" -- as they unfolded in hourly reports on my car radio -- my initial shock turned to a mostly dumbstruck sense of horror.

I can't possibly fathom what posesses a man to strangle his own wife and seven year old son over the course of a weekend, and then take his own life by hanging himself a day later -- as Atlanta police believe Benoit did. Until today, Benoit was by all accounts known as a man devoted to both his family and his craft.

What now seems to be clear -- at least on the surface -- is that there were some unseen cracks in Benoit's image as a devoted family man. I am not going to go into those personal demons here. The respected professional wrestling newsletter, Wrestling Observer has been updating this story all day, and you can find all of the latest details there.

One thing we do know, is that Atlanta police are reporting that there were prescription anabolic steroids found at the crime scene. This has led to speculation that Benoit may have killed his family and himself in a fit of what has been called "roid rage." Whether this is true or not, (and as I said above, we really don't know everything yet), the tragic curcuimstances of this apparent double murder/suicide should serve as a final wake up call to the professional wrestling community that steroids are still a very real problem for it's athletes.

I use the word "still" because the abuse of steroids and other performance enhancing drugs are not something new to this industry. In fact, "the juice" has been wrestling's dirtiest little secret for years now. The mortality rate amongst young wrestling performers who have suffered premature death under what are believed to be steroid related curcuimstances over the past fifteen years or so, is staggering.

The names of wrestlers whose deaths are believed to be related to the use of performance enhancing drugs reads almost like a second WWE Hall of Fame. It includes names like Brian Pillman, Curt Hennig, Rick Rude, Road Warrior Hawk, Davey Boy Smith a.k.a. The British Bulldog, Eddie Guerrero, and Bam Bam Bigelow. And now, possibly Chris Benoit and Nancy "Woman" Sullivan.

I hope that Vince McMahon was really as serious as he sounded tonight, when he spoke of the "first steps of a healing process."
If he was, I'd like to respectfully suggest that it start with two things. The first, would be to drop the "Vince Is Dead" angle/storyline that was central to WWE television as recently as a week ago. This angle has to be considered beyond tasteless at this point.

And the second would be to mount a serious investigation into the use of performance enhancing drugs among his athletes, and to then clean his house by adopting an absolute policy of zero tolerance.

If the tragic events of the last few days don't serve as a wakeup call, I honestly can't imagine what, if anything, ever will.

Rest in peace Nancy, Daniel, and Chris.

R.I.P. Chris Benoit: WWE Wrestler And Family Found Dead Today In Atlanta

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) today made the announcement on their website that wrestler Chris Benoit, along with his wife Nancy, and their son Daniel were found dead today at their home in Atlanta, GA. Benoit was 40 years old.

No other details regarding the circumstances of this discovery have been released by WWE or by the Atlanta police. Just this past weekend, Benoit had been scheduled to wrestle for the vacant Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) World Championship against C.M. Punk at WWE's Vengeance pay per view show. Benoit abruptly pulled out of the scheduled match just days prior, to attend what was called a family emergency in Atlanta. The match took place with another wrestler, Johnny Nitro, substituting for Benoit. In the match, Nitro won the ECW title.

Although he lacked the big, musclebound look of fellow WWE stars like Hulk Hogan, and the flashy microphone skills of Ric Flair and The Rock, Benoit was a favorite of diehard wrestling fans because of his aggressive, no-nonsense style in the ring. This style earned him many nicknames over his twenty-year career, including "The Rabid Wolverine" and "The Canadian Crippler." His most famous wrestling moves were a textbook flying headbutt off of the top turnbuckle, and the "Crippler Crossface," a punishing submission move that more often than not would cause his opponents to tap out.
During his twenty-year career, Benoit enjoyed success in all of the "big three" wrestling promotions, WWE, ECW, and the now defunct World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He also wrestled in Japan, where he enjoyed success wearing a mask as the Pegasus Kid. His most noteworthy matches included an ECW match against Sabu which ended in a broken neck for his opponent.

Another notable bout was a falls count anywhere in the building match against Kevin Sullivan for WCW. In an ironic real life twist, Benoit ended up marrying Sullivan's wife Nancy, who was a valet manager working under the name Woman. Benoit also enjoyed considerable success in WCW as a member in one of the final incarnations of the legendary Four Horsemen, the faction of heel wrestlers headed up by Ric Flair and Arn Anderson.

Chris Benoit won numerous championships during his career -- including tag team gold in both ECW and WCW -- before finally winning his first world championship in WCW in a match against Sid Vicious. He was stripped of that title however, when he defected to WWE, along with fellow WCW wrestlers Dean Malenko, Perry Saturn, and the late Eddie Guerrero.

Once arriving in WWE, Benoit made an immediate impact with fans, and eventually finally won a world championship he could keep, by defeating both Shawn Micheals and HHH at Wrestlemania XX.

Tonight's edition of WWE's flagship show Monday Night Raw on the USA Network will be a three-hour tribute to Chris Benoit. Ironically, the show had been scheduled to revolve around the scripted angle of the presumed "death" of WWE chairman Vince McMahon. That plan has for the moment been scrapped, in order to pay tribute to Chris Benoit and his family.

Raw airs on the USA Network at 9:00 PM in most time zones. Chris Benoit will be missed by wrestling fans throughout the world. Our prayers go out to his family.

Echo & The Bunnymen Bring Out The "Dancing Horses" On Live DVD

I used to really like Echo & The Bunnymen back in the eighties. But I also used to get really frustrated with them.

What first drew me to this band was early records like Heaven Up Here and Porcupine. The overall mood on these albums was mostly one of doom and darkness, but it was always balanced by other songs that rocked. On songs like "All My Colours," "Over The Wall," and "Higher Hell," lead vocalist Ian McCullough would drone his way through the doomy lyrics, while Will Sergeant's guitar cut through the din like shards of glass.
Mostly though, these songs -- almost always written and played with dark sounding minor chords at the forefront -- put a more modern spin on the long since forgotten psychedelic excursions of sixties bands like the Doors. McCullough's voice and mysterious stage persona were even compared to Jim Morrison back then.

However, as the band later gained popularity through MTV videos and airplay on "modern rock" radio, the music increasingly took on more of a pop sheen. This was epitomized by the late eighties hit "Lips Like Sugar." There were still occasional flashes of the darker beauty of the earlier Bunnymen on some of the latter eighties albums-- most notably on songs like "The Killing Moon" and "Thorn Of Crowns" from the brilliant Ocean Rain album.

But you could see that Echo & The Bunnymen were rapidly developing something of a split musical personality. One which would eventually cause the band to split up as McCullough attempted to parlay his MTV stardom into a solo career.

The video below for "Lips Like Sugar" is taken from Echo & The Bunnymen's great new live concert DVD Dancing Horses. Even though this concert was filmed as recently as two years ago, even here you can still see the band's musical duality at work:


McCullough still comes off as every bit the mysteriously dark pre-goth 1980's new waver in his corkscrew hair and ever present shades. Meanwhile, in musical terms it is Will Sergeant's guitar that gives the song its darker tonal colors. Still, this is a paint by numbers pop tune -- albeit a damned good one.

The good news here, is that the band (who reunited a few years back), looks and sounds great on the rest of this DVD. Filmed at England's Shepherds Bush Empire during Echo's tour behind the 2005 release Siberia, the look of the stage on this DVD is often a dark one -- which is certainly one befitting these guys. As usual, McCullough looks his bored and cool best, chain smoking cigarettes throughout the performance.

The twenty song setlist is also a real strong one, which carefully balances the newer material from Siberia with the classics like "Bring On The Dancing Horses" and of course, "The Killing Moon." Probably the most beautiful song the band has ever written, "Killing Moon" sounds as gorgeous as ever here. McCullough doesn't always hit all the high notes -- although he usually does. Sergeant's psychedelic raga runs on guitar are also augmented by some nice sounding string flourishes, played on keyboards by Paul Fleming.

In one of the most rocking parts of this performance, the newer song "Scissors In The Sand" sits perfectly between the better known Bunnymen rockers "All That Jazz" and "Back of Love." Sergeant shreds through these three songs like a man posessed, as drummer Simon Finley pounds away on the skins without missing a single beat. For its own part, "Scissors" -- which is from the Siberia album -- sounds like something which could fit right in with the harder songs on the much earlier Porcupine.

On another of the newer songs from Siberia, "Stormy Weather," Sergeant's dark guitar sounds play in perfect counterpoint to the brighter hues of Fleming's keyboards. There's even a part played on xylophone here. I passed on Siberia when it first came out two years ago. But hearing the songs from that album here in the live context, gives me serious pause to reconsider that decision.

But back to the classics -- because this show is basically bookended by two of them. "With A Hip," from Echo's second album Heaven Up Here finds McCullough's voice sounding as menacing as ever. It's still easy here to see why he was compared to Morrison all those years ago. On "The Cutter," which closes the show (well, before the encores anyway), McCullough adds just a touch of raspiness to his vocal (all those cigarettes, no doubt), as Sergeant's guitar wails pierce through the air.

Of particular note on this DVD is the Dolby digital 5.1 sound mix, which is excellent throughout the performance. In other words, this is one you need to play really loud. The extras here on the other hand are few, but there is a revealing interview with both Ian McCullough and Will Sergeant.

So did the real Echo & The Bunnymen finally stand up here?

Much as I occasionally found myself still yearning for these guys to more fully embrace the gloomier aspects of their musical "dark side," I found this DVD -- somewhat to my surprise -- to be thoroughly satisfying. The current band is tighter sounding than any I can remember.

Most importantly, the performance rocks.

Echo & The Bunnymen's live concert DVD Dancing Horses will be released this upcoming Tuesday June 26.

Music Review: Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 & 3 Reissued As The Traveling Wilburys Collection




You know how they say absence makes the heart grow fonder?

When The Traveling Wilburys' debut album came around the first time in the eighties, I all but ignored it. Not that the idea of people like George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, and Tom Petty getting together for an all-star dream jam wasn't one to salivate over, but for me, the spoiler factor (at least at the time) was the involvement of Jeff Lynne.


Now, of course, I realize that all great producers from Phil Spector to Rick Rubin tend to have a way of leaving their own unique mark on the artists they produce, but to me, the records that Lynne — who at that time, was in great demand as a producer — oversaw all sounded more like his own records than those of the actual artist.


Which again, is okay if you are Phil Spector producing the Ronettes or The Crystals. But when Lynne produced Tom Petty's Full Moon Fever for example, what my ears heard was more Lynne than Petty. At the time, the post-ELO sound Lynne seemed to be going for sounded more to me like a kind of second rate Dave Edmunds circa the album Repeat When Necessary.

Seriously, I know that album is hard to find now, but if you ever get the chance, listen to Edmunds' "Queen Of Hearts" from Repeat When Necessary, and Petty's "Running Down A Dream" from Full Moon Fever back to back, and you tell me that there are not some similarities there.

I'm surprised Lynne didn't just ask Dave Edmunds to become a Wilbury.

But anyway, like I said above — absence, or in this case the passage of time, does indeed make the heart grow fonder. Well, that and the fact that every time I've heard the song "Handle With Care" on the radio since, I've become more upset with myself for not getting the album way back then. I've also long since come around as far as Jeff Lynne goes, and that includes his work on Petty's Full Moon Fever.

So Rhino has gone and released both Traveling Wilburys records — Vol. 1, the original one with all the well-known hits; and the lesser known, but equally good Vol. 3 — together as The Traveling Wilburys Collection. The package also includes a DVD with all the Wilbury videos and a history of the band, as well as a number of rare bonus tracks. For the record, there never was a Traveling Wilburys Vol. 2.


For the casual fan, the big draw here is obviously going to be the first Wilburys disc, as it contains all the songs that fans know best. These include "Handle With Care," one of the best, and most effortless sounding pop tunes of the eighties — and maybe one of the best ever. The way Harrison's voice here blends effortlessly with those of Orbison, Petty, Lynne — and even Dylan — are really what make this song the true gem it is. Also here are other MTV and radio favorites of the time like "End Of The Line" and "Last Night."


Harrison, Orbison, Petty, and Lynne are in fine voice throughout this album. But again, the biggest surprise here is Dylan. At the time this album came out, Dylan was in both a creative and commercial slump. Although I think the fine Oh Mercy album might have come out somewhere around this time, Dylan's other eighties output on releases like Knocked Out Loaded is mostly forgettable. On the Wilbury's debut, Dylan on the other hand seems to be completely energized by playing with these guys on such songs as "Dirty World" and especially "Tweeter And The Monkey Man." Bonus tracks here include the previously unreleased "Maxine" and "Like A Ship."

On Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3, things start out on a considerably more rocking note with "She's My Baby." This song begins as a bit of a rave up — with Lynne and Petty trading off verses — and ends up with Dylan growling out his parts in a voice that predates his current work on records like Modern Times. The rock groove continues with "Inside Out," before settling into the more familiar down home pop of the first album with "If You Belonged To Me," a track powered along by mandolin and Dylan's harmonica.
Tom Petty gets his chance to shine on "The Devil's Been Busy," a track that has a Byrds like twang, but otherwise sounds like it could have come from Full Moon Fever. Dylan, Harrison, and Lynne all get their turns here of course. But for the first time on the record you start to really miss Roy Orbison's presence. Orbison, of course had already passed on by this time.

"Seven Deadly Sins" has a nice 1950's feel to it, and kind of reminds me of that "two silhouettes on the shade" song. The original artist on that one escapes my memory at the moment. "Poor House" has the most country twang of anything here, and comes close to the feel of Ringo Starr's turn on the Beatles version of "Act Naturally." The closing "Wilbury Twist" — probably the closest thing to a hit on the album — is to quote the lyrics, just plain falling down on your ass fun.

Like the first Wilbury's record, there is really not a bad track on Vol. 3, which almost makes you wonder why the record didn't produce the hits that Vol. 1 did. If anything, there is a lot more variety in the mix on the underated Vol. 3. Bonus tracks here include the rarely heard "Nobody's Child" and a cover of Del Shannon's "Runaway."

The Rockologist: All Strawbed Out In The Seventies -- And Again Today

It was with considerable excitement that I recently learned that the classic lineup of the Strawbs -- one of my favorite bands from the seventies prog-rock era -- would be heading out on tour this summer. You may recall me writing a bit about the Strawbs in a previous Rockologist column, where I talked about some of my favorite bands from those years who remain largely unknown or forgotten today.

Late last year, the Strawbs celebrated their twenty fifth anniversary as a band by releasing A Taste Of Strawbs, a massive four disc box set containing over five hours of Strawbs music. For those lucky enough to get their hands on one of the first thousand sets pressed, there is also a fifth disc containing rarities.

The Strawbs started out in the sixties as The Strawberry Hill Boys, a mostly acoustic english folk group in the same tradition as such brit-folkies as Fairport Convention and Pentangle. However, by the seventies they had morphed into the more electric prog-rock oriented outfit the world came to know as The Strawbs.

The Strawbs songs back then -- mostly written by the group's creative leader David Cousins -- were often characterized by Cousins distinctly British, yet often gloomy world view. Consider for example, these decidedly apocalyptic lyrics, from the title track of the album Grave New World:
"There is hate in your eyes,
I have seen it before.
Planning destruction behind the locked door,
Were you the coward who fired the last shot?
May you rot.
May you rot.
May you rot,
in your grave,
new world.

There is death in the air,
with the lights growing dim.
As those who survive,
sing a desperate hymn.
Pray that God grants you one final request,
May you rest.
May you rest.
May you rest,
in your grave,
new world."

I mean holy armageddon, right? Somebody get this guy a chill-pill quick.

But beyond all the gloom and doom of some of Cousin's lyrics (and in fairness, not all of his songs were that dark), many of the Strawbs songs were absolutely drenched in washes of choir-like vocals created by an instrument called the mellotron. A keyboard instrument that serves mainly to synthesize symphonic sounding things like strings and voices, today the mellotron has -- sadly, in my opinion -- mostly gone the way of that other staple of sixties and seventies rock, the wah-wah pedal.

Since keyboards, and the mellotron in particular, were central to the Strawbs sound, the band went through keyboard players like Spinal Tap goes through drummers. Some of the band's more celebrated alumni include Rick Wakeman, who went on to join Yes; and Blue Weaver who would tickle the ivories for the Bee Gees during the Saturday Night Fever years.

But it was neither of these guys who manned the keys in what I consider to be the classic lineup of the Strawbs. That man was John Hawken, and he is back touring this summer with that same lineup who produced such albums as the classic Hero And Heroine. That lineup also includes Cousins; guitarist/vocalist Dave Lambert; bassist Chas Cronk; and drummer Rod Coombes.

So the Strawbs never sold all that many records -- at least not here in America. But they did have a few modest hits in the mid-seventies with the classic lineup and albums like Grave New World, Ghosts, and the great Hero And Heroine. They also enjoyed a very devoted cult following--mostly consisting of geeky, music obsessed record store jockeys like me.

Back in the seventies, I used to join one of my fellow record store geeks and a few other friends about once a month in his studio apartment (conveniently located just above the record store where we both worked) for what we affectionately called our "Strawb-outs."

During these Friday night events, we would basically sit around this guy's apartment, consume ungodly amounts of booze, and smoke equally copious quantities of marijuana. With our attitudes appropriately adjusted, we would then dig deep into the music of the Strawbs, and other prog-rock acts of the day like Genesis, Yes, and Renaissance.

During these pseudo-intellectual "Strawb-outs", we would get into lengthy conversations about the "depth" of these records. Was it basically a lot of stoner bullshit going on in that apartment? Sure. But to this day, I have very fond memories of those "Strawb-outs."

The first and only time I saw the Strawbs live they shared a bill with Gentle Giant, who were another prog-rock band of the day with an extremely devoted cult following. Now despite the fact that both bands fell under the banner of so-called "progressive rock," musically they couldn't be further apart. Gentle Giant's specialty was blinding displays of dizzying technoflash, mostly played in complex time signatures at the rate of thousands of notes per second.

In a live setting, the more subtle and nuanced flourishes of the Strawbs were simply no match for the technical bombast of Gentle Giant. The crowd that night basically ate the Strawbs alive. It was one of the few times that I remember where I actually felt sorry for the band I was watching. Unfortunately, I won't be getting a second chance to see these guys this summer, as the Strawbs are only doing a handful of dates--none of which are anywhere near the West Coast where I live.

In the meantime, I'll just have to make due with A Taste Of Strawbs, this absolutely marvelous boxed set they've put out. As complete as this box set is -- and wading through all five hours here will be a challenge to digest even for an old fan like me -- they did miss a few key tracks here. I'd have loved to see the "Autumn" suite, and "Lay A Little Light On Me" from Hero And Heroine for example. The latter track ends with the coolest droning guitar riff this side of the Beatles "I Want You (She's So Heavy)."

The original version of "Down By The Sea" from Bursting At The Seams is also a glaring omission, although they do include a lovely live version on the bonus disc, where those old mellotron voices are faithfully recreated front and center. Speaking of live, there are several other great live tracks here, including the title track of Hero And Heroine.

Anyway, they didn't miss much here. The band's entire musical legacy, from the early folkie influences through their proggier stuff is all meticulously covered on these five discs. Most of the great songs from Hero And Heroine like "Shine On Silver Sun" and "Round & Round" are here in never before heard alternate versions.

The best stuff from Grave New World and Ghosts, including the great title tracks from each of those records are also here. The remastered recordings also reveal multiple new dimensions to these songs. For example, in what is apparently an alternate take of "New World," the mix brings out the fire in Cousins' voice like never before. The mellotron generated strings, and the guitars are also a lot crisper.

In all, there are 73 tracks here. 66 of these are previously unreleased, and 12 of them have never been heard before. The box also comes with one of the most complete booklets I've ever seen. Besides the tons of rare photos and memorabilia here, the band's history is gone over without leaving out a single detail. Honestly, this thing reads more like a scholarly history paper than the sort of fluff you normally find in these box sets.

Here are the Strawbs summer tour dates:

June 21 The German House, Rochester, NY
June 22 The Regent Theatre, Arlington, MA
June 23 Towne Crier, Pawling, NY
June 24 Sellersville Theater, Sellersville, PA
June 25 Stephen Talkhouse, Amagansett, NY
June 26 The Strand, Lakewood, NJ
June 27 BB Kings, Manhattan
June 30,
July 1 The Stan Rogers Folk Festival, Canso, Nova Scotia
July 3, 4 Hugh's Room, Toronto Ontario
July 5 Centre In The Square, Kitchener, Ontario

Video Playlist: Why Porcupine Tree Is A Band That Matters

One of the most pleasant musical surprises I have come across in many a moon is the band Porcupine Tree. I honestly cannot understand why it is that this band --who have apparently been around since the early nineties--has not reached a larger audience than the small, but rabidly devoted cult following they currently enjoy.

I discovered them completely by accident myself when I wrote a review for Blogcritics about another prog-rock band--Marillion--that I had recently rediscovered after having long since forgot about them. Several people responded to that review by imploring me to check out Porcupine Tree, and recommended several albums.

So far, I have purchased six of them--including two double CDs--as well as a live DVD, which is where many of the P Tree clips you'll see below come from.

So how do I describe this? Truth is, I don't, since every record sounds so different from the other. On albums like Fear Of A Blank Planet and Deadwing, P Tree go from ethereal sounding textures to bludgeoning metal--sometimes within the confines of a single song. On earlier records like The Sky Moves Sideways, there is a trippier, more psychedelic feel that sounds like it is coming from a completely different band. The title track alone goes for something like 36 minutes, and moves from lush Pink Floydian soundscapes to some of the most insane guitar work I have ever heard.

I don't know--call it "New Prog" I guess. Judge for yourself by watching the clips I have assembled below. It begins with a seven minute long video montage of the entire Fear Of A Blank Planet album. All I know is I dig these guys. A lot.

Springsteen & Sessions Band Raise A Ruckus On 'Live In Dublin'

Music Review: Bruce Springsteen With The Sessions Band - Live In Dublin (Deluxe CD/DVD Edition)

As big a Bruce Springsteen fan as I am — and I've seen the man in concert 32 times — I was not exactly crazy onboard for the Seeger Sessions project when it was first announced last year. I just figured that after a year of Springsteen doing the acoustic thing on the Devils & Dust album and tour, that he'd got the folk bug out of his system. Like a lot of Springsteen fans, I was ready for some E Street Band action.

So, the last thing I wanted or expected in 2006 was what sounded suspiciously at the time to me like another round of Springsteen getting his folk on. To me, it seemed too much like another "vanity project." But when I voiced that opinion over on the message boards at Backstreets Magazine, I was damn near chased out of town by angry Springsteen fans.

Seems some of those folks knew something I didn't. And it turned out, they were right.

One listen to the joyous noise made on the track "O' Mary Don't You Weep," and any doubts I had about The Seeger Sessions were wiped clean off the map. In a gruff voice reminiscent somewhat of a born again Tom Waits, Springsteen summons all the fire and brimstone of Moses himself as he belts out the lines about how "Pharoah's army got drownded" while his gospel army of singers and musicians wail on in rapturous delight.

Live In Dublin, the new concert CD/DVD document from last year's Seeger Sessions tour is worth owning for the inclusion of that track alone. Although this album comes in both CD and HD-DVD only versions, your best bet is to spring for the deluxe version which includes the entire 23 song performance on both the DVD and 2 CDs. This is a concert that needs to be seen as much as heard.

The setlist here runs the gamut from the Springsteen Songbook to the Smithsonian. You get the "Seegerized" versions of Springsteen classics like "Atlantic City," "Blinded By The Light," and "Growin' Up." You also get well chosen covers from the folk tradition like "We Shall Overcome," straight up Dixieland jazz in the form of "When The Saints Go Marching In," and even spirituals like "This Little Light Of Mine."

In performing these songs, The Sessions Band (shortened here from its original "Seeger Sessions Band" moniker) draw from multiple uniquely American music traditions including New Orleans Jazz, Southern Gospel, and even Roadhouse Blues to create a ruckus that is quite unlike anything you have ever heard.

In their own way, these guys make every bit the noise with their banjos, trombones, and fiddles that the E Street Band does with their own guitars and drums. Like those legendary E Street shows, the crowd also gets into the act quoting entire song verses in unison. And Springsteen himself appears to be having the time of his life here.

The highlights on this set are too numerous to mention. They include a reworking of Springsteen's "Open All Night" where the stark number from Nebraska becomes a boogie-woogie workout, complete with a mid-section featuring four female vocalists (led by Patti Scalfia) trying to out doo-wop four male vocalists doing their best to keep up. Bruce gets into his best tent-revival preacher's mode here leading the call and response.

"Long Time Comin" from Devils And Dust gets a surprisingly straight treatment here - albeit with a full band featuring horns, fiddles, and the rest. One of the best songs from that album, it sounds great here in a full-on band arrangement which has me whetting my lips to hear it again with the E Street Band. By the time of "Pay Me My Money Down," the crowd is eating out of Bruce's hand, continuing to sing even after the song has ended. The DVD also has an impromptu, uncredited backstage performance of "Cadillac Ranch."

The Seeger Sessions tour never played my hometown of Seattle, making it the first Springsteen tour I've missed since I first saw him on the 1975 tour for Born To Run. Experiencing this great performance on both CD and DVD makes me realize just how great a show I missed. It also shows a side of Springsteen that has never before been revealed.

Live In Dublin really does need to be seen as well as heard.

Big Mac Goes Back To Basics On "Memory Almost Full"

Music Review: Paul McCartney - Memory Almost Full

Paul McCartney's Memory Almost Full officially comes out today - just about forty years to the day after the Beatles' monumental Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was released in June of 1967. And although Big Mac's place in music history is beyond question, his days of making music with that same kind of impact are long behind him.

I have to admit that I had mixed feelings about this CD going in.

I saw McCartney on his "US Tour" in 2005, and even from the nosebleed seats it was an amazing three-hour marathon run. McCartney looked and sounded great, displaying more energy than most guys half his age. It reminded me of one of Bruce Springsteen's shows based on the endurance factor alone. But even though songs like "Jenny Wren" from his then-current Chaos And Creation In The Backyard sounded just fine, predictably it was the classic Beatles and Wings tunes that brought the crowd to its feet.

So, Memory Almost Full isn't going to change the world the way Sgt. Pepper, or even Band On The Run did. Let's get that out of way first. But McCartney still has a way with crafting great little pop tunes like very few other songwriters. This new release is full of them.

McCartney's new album kicks off with the simple, light pop of "Dance Tonight," which is also the album's first single. With a basic hook played on a mandolin wrapped around a metronomic bass drum beat, this track almost reminds you of "Let Em' In," another simple pop tune with an irresistibly infectious hook that opened Wings Speed Of Sound album.
From there, it's on to "Ever Present Past", another gem with a typically fluffy sounding pop hook. It's not quite "Silly Love Songs," but its bouncy, uptempo feel comes as close as you are likely to get in 2007. "See Your Sunshine" sounds like it could have come off Revolver, with a mix that puts McCartney's bass — which sounds as great as ever — front and center for the first time on the album. "Only Mama Knows" picks things up a notch with one of the album's few straight ahead rockers.

"You Tell Me" is a gorgeous sounding ballad that sounds kind of like a cross between "Yesterday" and "And I Love Her." McCartney's voice is augmented by a lovely acoustic guitar and some background harmonies straight out of Abbey Road territory. "Mr. Bellamy" is one of those very British sounding story songs where McCartney centers his lyrics around an equally British, presumably fictional character. Perhaps the character is a distant cousin of Eleanor Rigby or that customer getting shaved at the Barber Shop in "Penny Lane." The arrangement here is kind of George Martin-light as strings swirl around the vocal chorus of "steady, lads."

If there is such a thing as a "second side" in this age of CDs and MP3s, it begins here with track number eight, as the song "Vintage Clothes" begins a suite of short songs that carries through to the end of the album. Here the album's recurring theme of clinging to the past comes up amidst another of those string arrangements that glides between rock and pop. This segues into "That Was Me," which sounds like a slightly skewed version of "Mean Mr. Mustard" with the bass line again at the forefront, and McCartney building his vocals up to that famous "rock" voice of his.

In this suite of songs there is in fact a feel quite similar to the second side of Abbey Road.

The "suite" continues with the poppy "Feet In The Clouds" and the more melancholy sounding "House Of Wax," which features a nice little guitar solo in the middle, and another particularly more gnarly sounding one toward the end. This is played against a beautiful orchestral arrangement and Mac once again breaks out the rock voice here.

The suite closes with "The End Of The End," which again begs comparison to Abbey Road's second side closing "The End," although here McCartney seems to be trying to put a happy face on the subject of death. As if not to close the album on a downer, Paul adds on "Nod Your Head," another rocker, as an extra song after the "suite" to actually end the side.

Paul McCartney is said to have actually started this album back in 2003, and then put the project on hold to record 2005's Chaos And Creation In The Backyard, only to come back to complete it this year. The title also supposedly represents some sort of anagram for his late wife and soul-mate Linda. Ouch! Take that, Heather.

Much of the lyrics here also seem to reflect both a yearning towards the past, and the realization that it is directly connected to the present. Likewise, the music here also seems to draw from the past — particularly The Beatles Abbey Road and Wings Speed Of Sound albums in this case — like no other McCartney release has in recent years. The good news is rather than simply retreading those waters, this album is also connected very much to the present in musical terms.

Memory Almost Full won't change the world the way those milestone albums from Paul McCartney's legendary past once did. I'm also not wild about the idea of its release on a label bankrolled by Starbucks to be honest. But this is McCartney's overall best sounding release in years, and some of the best sounding new stuff I've heard from an ex-Beatle in a very long time.

Reconsidering Genesis "Middle Years": From Prog To Pop

Music Review: Genesis - And Then There Were Three & Duke (Remastered & Enhanced CD/DVD Versions)

2007 is shaping up to be a very big year for Genesis. A big reunion tour has been booked for this year featuring the version of the band that sold the most records--which would be the trio of Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks, and Phil Collins--minus those other two guys, guitarist Steve Hackett and vocalist/frontman Peter Gabriel.

Personally, I predict that the tour will do decent, but not great business. Here's why.

I base this prediction on the fact that even though this version of the band unquestionably sold a buttload of albums, the fanbase itself was more casual in nature. There was never the sort of intense fan devotion that was involved in earlier incarnations of Genesis.

The following that this band had during it's early, so-called "progressive rock" years may have been smaller than the millions who gobbled up albums like Invisible Touch and We Can't Dance. But they were a rabidly devoted lot. Much more so I would say, than what I would call the more transient fans who picked up albums by the Phil Collins' led Genesis of the "pop years," right alongside their purchases of Journey, Loverboy and REO Speedwagon.


But I digress.

I guess that I just don't see the memory spans of those fans matching that of those queueing up for the other big ticket reunion tour this year by the Police. Now if this reunion was with the band featuring Hackett and Gabriel doing The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway for example? Different story entirely. But only time will tell if I was right or wrong on this.

But anyway, like I said it's looking to be a big year for these guys either way.

As part of the Genesis reunion hoopla, Rhino/WEA has released Genesis: 1976 - 1982, a boxed set covering the albums released during that period in new remastered and enhanced CD/DVD versions. They have also reissued each individual album by itself as a double remastered and enhanced CD/DVD.

These albums are interesting mostly because they serve as a bridge between the old, prog-rock version of the band, and the hit machine they became in the eighties. They are bookended by Trick Of The Tail and Wind & Wuthering--the first two post-Gabriel albums where the band simply continued doing the prog-rock they were then best known for--and Abacab, the album which completed the band's transition to more commercial fare.

Landing right in the middle of that are these two albums, and for that reason alone they may be the most noteworthy of this entire period. On And Then There Were Three and Duke, Genesis were a band caught between directions, that couldn't seem to decide which way it wanted to go. On these albums, what you hear is a clear case of a band with one foot in and one foot out. It's fascinating to be able to re-explore them in their newly remastered and enhanced context, knowing what has now come to light historically.

With Steve Hackett out of the band on the appropriately titled And Then There Were Three, you can hear Phil Collins begining to really assert creative control. The drums are mixed a lot higher for one thing--and on this remastered version they sound pretty amazing.

And let's face it, Phil Collins was and is one hell of a drummer. It's just too bad that what he really seemed to want to be was more of a song and dance man. Here, this first manifests itself in "Follow You, Follow Me," which despite it's nice, sugary enough pop sensibilities, sticks out like something of a sore thumb on this album.

Fortunately, Rutherford and Banks still made up the other two thirds of this band at this juncture, creatively speaking as well as in name. And for that, you get the soaring keyboard swells of "Snowbound" and the romantic textures of "Many Too Many." The band also flexes it's progressive rock muscles on tracks like "Down And Out," "Deep In The Motherlode," and even "Say It's Alright Joe" which builds from a slow rock ballad to a nicely layered crescendo of crashing keyboards and guitars.

But on the seven minute "Burning Rope," Genesis really remind you just why they were considered one of progressive rock's greatest bands. Banks and Rutherford build a virtual wall of layered sound on this track, and Collins just plain drums his ass off here. On this new remastered version it sounds even better than I remembered it.

By the time of Duke, Collins--by now, a commercial success as a solo artist--was well on his way to taking over the drivers seat in this band completely. Duke stands as the last gasp of the band's former progressive sound. By the time of the next album, Abacab it would be replaced pretty much entirely by the fusion jazz and big drum leanings of Collins. Which wasn't so bad, because the full-on schlocky pop/R&B of later albums hadn't yet completely reared it's ugly head. However, it was still lying in wait and lurking just around the corner.

On Duke, there are for the first time two bonafide pop singles--the bouncy "Turn It On Again" and the more romantic sounding "Misunderstanding." Again, two great songs from a band by now nonetheless moving further and further away from it's former self. The best remaining evidence of the band's prog-rock sensibilities captured here, lies in the grand sweep of "Duchess/Guide Vocal" and the closing drum driven jazz-rock of "Duke's Travels/Duke's End." Again, the remastered sound here does both great justice, especially on the grandly layered keyboard swells of "Duchess."

The remastered versions of these two albums each include some great extras on the bonus DVD. Duke, most noteworthily features a decent sized chunk of video from a 1980 live concert in London. And Then There Were Three also has live footage, plus new interviews with band members--including Steve Hackett, who explains his departure-- conducted just this year.

Taken together, both of these records close one chapter of Genesis history. They capture the final moments of a band clinging to it's legacy as one of progressive rock's most innovative and original sounding bands, right before they rode a wave of hits to become, well that "other band" in the eighties.