New (Old) Music : CCR 40th Anniversary Remasters

September 28, 2008 by · Leave a Comment
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The music of your youth seems to be one of those things that gets indelibly burned into your memory for life. Creedence Clearwater Revival‘s string of albums from 1968 to ’70 were one of dominating sounds of radio well into the early seventies, and the fact that my parents owned all of their records made their music a constant presence. It’s a continuous run of hit singles matched by few bands of any era. Listening to the new 40th anniversary remasters was like taking a trip back in time, they sound amazing, with that same vibrancy that leapt off the vinyl of my parent’s stereo back then. From the epic Suzie Q in all it’s guitar solo glory from their first record, to the politically charged Fortunate Son, right on through to Have You Ever Seen The Rain from the underaprreciated Pendulum album, it’s all there in pristine remastered sonic glory. If you haven’t picked up any of these records on CD yet you’ll definitely want to grab these as they’re also expanded with bonus b-Sides and live tracks form the band’s heyday.

Release Date is this Tuesday, September 30th.

Creedence Clearwater Revival :
John Fogerty (chief songwriter, vocalist and guitarist)
Tom Fogerty (guitar)
Stu Cook (bass)
Doug Clifford (drums)

Creedence Clearwater Revival [1968]: This album included CCR’s first smash hit, the Dale Hawkins song “Suzie Q,” plus the classic cover of Screaming Jay Hawkins’ “I Put a Spell on You.” The reissue contains four bonus tracks: “Call it Pretending” (the B-side of the band’s first single), the band’s first recording of a cover of Bo Diddley’s “Before You Accuse Me” (later re-recorded for Cosmo’s Factory), a live version of “Ninety-Nine and a Half” recorded at the Fillmore Auditorium in 1969, and a full-length live version of “Suzie Q.” Almost famous former Rolling Stone editor Ben Fong-Torres wrote the notes.

Stream I Put A Spell On You [Windows] [Quicktime]

Bayou Country [1969]: Creedence Clearwater’s second album was chock full of hits and much-played album tracks: “Proud Mary,” “Born on the Bayou,” the Little Richard cover “Good Golly Miss Molly,” the seven-minute “Graveyard Train” and the eight-minute “Keep on Choogling.” The reissue also contains a longer alternate take of the album track “Bootleg,” live versions of “Born on the Bayou” and “Proud Mary,” and a psychedelic blues jam recorded live by San Francisco’s seminal KSAN-FM called “Crazy Otto.” Annotator was San Francisco Chronicle pop music editor Joel Selvin.

Green River [1969]: Green River contained the hits and notable album tracks “Green River,” “Bad Moon Rising” and “Lodi” plus a cover of Ray Charles’ blues standard “Night Time is the Right Time.” Bonus material includes “Broken Spoke Shuffle,” the instrumental track to a song John Fogerty never finished, another unfinished track called “Glory Be,” plus three live tracks: “Bad Moon Rising” from the 1971 Berlin concert, “Green River/Suzie Q” from the 1971 Stockholm show, and “Lodi,” recorded in Hamburg. Liner notes by the esteemed critic Dave Marsh.

Willy & the Poor Boys [1969]: Willy came out in 1969, when, as annotator Ed Ward writes, “a period when Creedence, surely the most anomalous band in the San Francisco explosion of the late ‘60s, was also proving its most commercial seller of them all.” The album contains the anthemic “Fortunate Son” along with “Down on the Corner” and a cover of the traditional folk song “The Midnight Special.” Bonus tracks include live versions of “Fortunate Son” and “It Came Out of the Sky,” plus an unreleased studio version of “Down on the Corner” recorded with Booker T & the MGs for a TV special at the band’s Berkeley rehearsal hall. The song features John Fogerty trading licks with guitar hero Steve Cropper.

Stream Fortunate Son (Live In Manchester) [Windows] [Quicktime]

Cosmo’s Factory [1970]: Cosmo’s Factory was the fourth and biggest of the string of five Top 10 albums Creedence Clearwater Revival released in 1969 and 1970. Included were “Travelin’ Band,” “Lookin’ Out My Back Door,” “Who’ll Stop the Rain,” “Run Through the Jungle” and covers from Marvin Gaye (CCR’s signature take on “I Heard it Through the Grapevine”), Bo Diddley, Roy Orbison and Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup. Bonus material includes a bare bones, horns-free remake of “Travelin’ Band,” a live version of “Up Around the Bend” from the 1971 European tour, plus an unreleased version of “Born on the Bayou” emanating from the CCR/Booker T & the MGs summit which took place in 1970 at Cosmo’s Factory studio. Notes were penned by Robert Christgau.

Stream Travelin’ Band (remake 2) [Windows] [Quicktime]

Pendulum [1970]: Creedence by this time was the top-selling rock band in the world, coming off seven consecutive Top 10 hits. The album contained the hits “Have You Ever Seen the Rain,” “Hey Tonight” and “Molina.” Bonus tracks include a live “Hey Tonight” plus “45 Revolutions Per Minute (Parts 1 & 2), the rarest of CCR collectibles, which was packaged in a plain white sleeve alluding to the Beatles’ White Album. Produced under the spell of the Fab Four’s “Revolution No. 9,” the tape montage tries to impart the elusive Creedence humor with the help of Bay Area DJ Tom Campbell. Joel Selvin wrote the liner notes.

Buy Creedence 40th Anniversary Remasters

5 On A Friday : Taking Sides ?

September 26, 2008 by · Leave a Comment
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Hey, I heard there’s a debate tonight. You know, there’s always two sides to every story.

1:The Jayhawks – People In This Place On Every Side
Find The Bunkhouse LP
2: Jason Falkner – Both Sides Now
Buy Everyone Says It’s On
3: Wilco – Side With The Seeds
Buy Sky Blue Sky
4: Spoon – The Two Sides Of Monsieur Valentine
Buy Gimme Fiction
5: The Someloves – Back On Side With You

Buy Something Or Other

HOT : Roky Erickson / Black Angels Tour Dates

September 24, 2008 by · Leave a Comment
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The Black Angels and Roky Erickson are heading out together for a few tour dates in Texas and the West Coast, I’ve seen both bands recently and man, the combination of the two together is going to generate some amazing nights of music for you lucky westerners.
Black Angels will be opening the shows and then backing up Roky for his portion of the set. DO NOT miss this one if you’re anywhere near, it will be incendiary.

Roky Erickson / Black Angels Tour Dates
October 4th – The Granada Theatre, Dallas, TX
October 28th – The Showbox at The Market, Seattle, WA
October 29th – Wonder Ballroom, Portland, OR
October 31st – El Rey, Los Angeles, CA
November 1st – The Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA
November 2nd – The Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA

Roky Erickson [WEBSITE] [MYSPACE]
Black Angels [WEBSITE] [MYSPACE]

BOS Presents : NY vs PHL at The M Room With Cheers Elephant,Butane Variations,Creeping Weeds, and I Am The Heat

September 24, 2008 by · Leave a Comment
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Forget about the Phillies and The Mets, all the Philly vs New York action you need will be at The M Room in Philadelphia this coming Sunday, September 28th. Come on out and cap off the first official weekend of fall with a grand slam of amazing music featuring New York’s I Am The Heat, Philadelphia’s Creeping Weeds, New York’s Butane Variations and wrapping the night up with Philly’s Cheers Elephant.
[PHOTO BY Tina Lovely]
I Am The Heat are the fire that burns in the place where fuzz guitar fueled sixties garage rock meets frenetic modern indie rock. Their just released The Future Doesn’t Need Us EP is five smoking songs that live up to their name.

I Am The Heat – What Would Lou Reed Do
Buy The Future Doesn’t Need Us

[WEBSITE] [MYSPACE]
Hot off a summer east coast/midwest tour with Seattlites BOAT, Creeping Weeds bring their amazing swirling indie-psychedelic sound to the stage. Their latest CD ,We Are All Part of A Dream You’re Having was among the Bag Of Songs Top 25 for 2007. Currently in the midst of recording their follow-up record, recent shows have showcased some new songs that are even better yet.

Creeping Weeds – Eternity Is Along Time
Buy We Are All Part of A Dream You’re Having
Creeping Weeds – I’m A Donkey For Your Love (BOAT cover)

[WEBSITE] [MYSPACE]

I think this quote from their myspace page sums up Butane Variations perfectly : “Butane Variations are 4 people from New York, New York. They play garage-punk-country that may weave avant-intricate compositions with hooky pop tunes. Sometimes the beat sounds like a tennis match and sometimes the songs wear argyle socks. There’s 4 people in the band so they can all fit in the same car.” Great stuff, and hey, they’ve been on Daytrotter, way coolness.

Butane Variations – Airforce One
Buy Butane Variations
Butane Variations – Jackie (Live on Daytrotter)

[WEBSITE] [MYSPACE]

Closing out the night will Cheers Elephant who have gone from a month long residency at The Khyber back in January to playing high profile summer shows like Philly’s Popped! Festival and XPoNential Music Festival. They blend influences like The Kinks, Beatles and sixties psychedelia into a thoroughly modern sound and back it all up with a super high energy live show. I’ve seen them about seven or eight times now over the past year and they just keep getting better and better each time. A must see.

Cheers Elephant – Here We Are
Buy Here We Are
Cheers Elephant – Cocaine
Buy Here We Are

[MYSPACE]

Sounds Like Ryan Adams Cardinology

September 21, 2008 by · 2 Comments
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By now I’m sure you’ve seen the press release information about the new Ryan Adams & The Cardinals album, Cardinology, as it seems to have been posted everywhere the past couple days. In case you haven’t though, here’s the lowdown, the projected release date is October 28th with a digital single for the song Fix It being released this Tuesday September 23rd.

And because no one likes to wait,with big thanks to the Live Music Archive here’s a live taste of a few of the new songs. Enjoy!

Cardinology Track listing:
Go Easy
Fix It +
Magick +
Cobwebs
Let Us Down Easy
Crossed Out Name *
Natural Ghost
Sink Ships +
Evergreen
Like Yesterday
Stop

BONUS : a track not listed as being on the new album
The Color Of Pain +

Source Shows
* 09.04.08 Scotiabank Place Ottawa CA
+ 09.07.08 Bank of America Pavilion, Boston MA

5 On A Friday : The Legendary Norman Whitfield

September 19, 2008 by · Leave a Comment
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[PHOTO CREDIT]

Paying tribute today to one of the many musical losses of 2008, Norman Whitfield, who passed away earlier this week. Norman’s musical influence on sounds of the 60’s and 70’s is undeniable. The songs he penned with his writing partner Barrett Strong, and the production work he did helped define the sound of Motown and Soul music as we know it today. Here’s just a small sampling of his work today.

1: The Temptations – Cloud Nine
Buy Hitsville U.S.A., The Motown Singles Collection 1959-1971

2: Gladys Knight And The Pips – I Heard It Through The Grapevine
Buy Hitsville U.S.A., The Motown Singles Collection 1959-1971
3: The Undisputed Truth – Smiling Faces Sometimes
Buy Hitsville U.S.A., The Motown Singles Collection 1959-1971
4: Edwin Starr – War
Buy Hitsville U.S.A., The Motown Singles Collection 1959-1971
5: The Temptations – Just My Imagination

Buy Hitsville U.S.A., The Motown Singles Collection 1959-1971

New Music : The Major Labels – Aquavia

September 17, 2008 by · 2 Comments
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It’s probably pretty obvious by now that here at Bag Of Songs we have soft spot for sugary harmony laden power pop and lately we’re really digging on the new Major Labels record, a “supergroup” project of sorts composed of Mike Viola, Bleu and Ducky Carlisle, all great artists in their own right. Imagine throwing some McCartney, Queen, ELO, Cheap Trick, and Nick Lowe all into a musical blender together, the result would be The Major Labels. Their new record, Aquavia, a loosely conceptual record about the record business is a progressive power pop gem and is ear candy of the finest variety.

Catch them tonight in Philadelphia at the M Room and a few more select cities in the near future. Don’t miss it.

The Major Labels – Don’t Hear A Single
Buy Aquavia

Tour Dates
Sep 17 2008 10:00P M Room with Hypernova Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Sep 18 2008 11:30P The Mercury Lounge New York, New York
Sep 21 2008 10:00P FNX -New England Product- on the radio… Boston, Massachusetts
Sep 27 2008 11:00P The Lizard Lounge Cambridge, Massachusetts
Oct 10 2008 9:00P Yoyogi Zher The Zoo – Mini Set Tokyo
Oct 11 2008 9:00P Lounge Vio – Mini Set Nagoya
Oct 12 2008 9:00P Club Wonder – Mini Set Osaka
Oct 13 2008 8:00P La Cana – Mini Set Tokyo
Oct 28 2008 9:00P Red Devil Lounge San Francisco, California
Oct 29 2008 10:00P King King Hollywood, California
Nov 1 2008 10:00P Lestat’s San Diego, California

[MYSPACE]

Hot Live Pick :Girl About Town Presents At The M Room This Thursday

September 16, 2008 by · Leave a Comment
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Looking for something to do this Thursday, come hang out with my friends from Girl About Town at the M Room as they have put together an excellent night of music to kick off the back to school season in style, featuring Austin TX’s Brothers And Sisters, Philly’s own Adam & Dave’s Bloodline,New York’s Phonograph and Baltimore’s Impossible Hair. It’s going to rock for sure. I’ll be there.

Brothers And Sisters – You’re Gone
Adam & Dave’s Bloodline – Runt
Phonograph – In Your Mind
Impossible Hair – My Little Brother

9 PM
Thursday September 18th
M Room
15 W Girard Avenue
Philadelphia PA

5 On A Friday : Better Late Than Never

September 13, 2008 by · Leave a Comment
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Sorry for the lack of posts this week, it’s been a bit too busy around here with non blog related things. Better late than never, or so the saying goes, so a bit late today, here’s this week’s 5 On A Friday for you.

1: World Party – Is It Too Late ?
Buy Best In Show
2: Lindsey Buckingham – Not Too Late
Buy Under The Skin
3: Murder Mystery – Sooner Or Later
Buy Are You Ready For The Heartache…
4: Carole King – It’s Too Late
Buy Tapestry
5: Jackson Browne – Late For The Sky

Buy Late For The Sky

New Music : Power Popping With The Bellfuries

September 8, 2008 by · Leave a Comment
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Austin, TX,The Bellfuries started out as three piece roots rock trio, and like many of their predecessors before them, began to feel stylistically confined by the limitations of the genre music they were playing. Branching out to a more melodic pop sound was their obvious next step. Reworking their songwriting style and band lineup seems to have done the trick. The end result is Palmyra, a dozen songs that follow closely in the power pop tradition of bands like NRBQ, Rockpile with Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds, and Marshall Crenshaw. Check out the handclap and harmony laden Give It Get It and you’ll be singing along in no time. Like a lot of great power pop, it’s not really something you haven’t heard before, but the familiar sugary hooks will keep you coming back time and again. Watch for it. The release date is November 4, 2008

The Bellfuries – Give It, Get It
Buy Palmyra

The Bellfuries
Joey Simeone – Lead vocal, rhythm guitar
Shecky Seaver – Bass, vocal
Bobby Trimble – Drums, vocal
Jeff Herring-Guitar, vocal

Palmyra track listing

1. Welcome to the Club
2. Sung By Someone Lonely
3. The Only Ghost There Is Me
4. Give It, Get It
5. Death of An Idol
6. Cheerleader
7. There Could Only Be One You For Me
8. All My New Friends
9. Heaven Isn’t Mine Anymore
10. This Love Ain’t So Bad
11. Big Surprise
12. Into the Arms of My Baby

[MYSPACE]

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