• All Lou Reed concerts are on sale through Monday for 20% off the regular price.
• Crawdaddy! is running a contest to give away some unique Velvet Underground and Lou Reed memorabilia.

While we don’t discourage you from diving right in to those two links and exploring on your own, we also put together this little guide to highlight some some of the Lou Reed material in Wolfgang’s Vault.

Lou Reed Concerts from the Dinky Dawson Archives
After recording his somewhat depressing (but perhaps his best) Berlin album, Reed adopted the “Rock n’ Roll Animal” persona, a caricature(?) of a resentful, self-deprecating, drug-fueled rock star. In sharp contrast, he assembled a band that presaged arena rock with the soaring guitars of Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner, swirling organ of Ray Colcord, and thundering rhythm section of Peter Walsh and Pentti Glan. Some say the band overpowered Reed but the interplay between their loud raucousness and Reed’s detachment is also the source for much of these concerts’ appeal. Dinky Dawson, the front of house engineer for this European tour, captured most of the performances from the European Rock n’ Roll Animal tour.

Probably the stand-out concert from this batch is the Birmingham, England show from October 3rd. Captured towards the end of the tour, the band sounded particularly inspired and Dawson’s work as a “7th man” with his active panning during some of the most outrageous jams makes for an especially interesting headphone listening experience.

You can read about Dinky Dawson’s recollections of the Rock n’ Roll Animal tour over on Crawdaddy! which, as you may expect, are hilarious. There are also reviews there covering material from around the same time period including a look at the film The Sacred Triangle: Bowie Iggy & Lou 1971-1973 and a retrospective consideration of 1975’s Metal Machine Music. Of course, if a picture is worth however many words, this iconic image captured by Michael Zagaris at a November, 1974 Winterland performance is about as iconic as you can get:

Lou Reed Concerts & Interviews in the King Biscuit Archives
The three Lou Reed shows in the Vault recorded for the King Biscuit Flower Hour radio show cover the late ’70s through the mid ’80s. The audio quality of these recordings is superior to those in the Dawson Archives, and the polished, professional sound suits the material well — the set-lists run like greatest hits collections padded with the singles from his then-current album.

The granddaddy of them all is a two-hour 1986 set recorded while touring in support of Mistrial. But, for its grittiness and because it’s in front of a hometown crowd, this 1977 show at New York’s Bottom Line is my favorite King Biscuit recording.

There are also two radio interviews from the King Biscuit Archives. In a 1982 chat between Reed and Lisa Robinson, Lou shares his thoughts on the problems with radio, and discusses his trouble relating to his past at a time when he was trying to settle down. And a 1989 interview with Scott Muni covers topical material like his New York album and his charitable work, but Reed also reminisces about Berlin and opines on artistic creation in general.

Okay, that’s it for now – here’s to hoping you enjoyed this little bit of Vault Digging as much as Lou Reed enjoyed flipping through Joe Sia’s book of Woodstock photography.

[Lou Reed: A Vault Guide is a post in From the Vault - The Wolfgang's Vault blog.]

The Springsteen craze busted into the Wolfgang’s Vault offices as well, and has been passed around like the aurally communicable contact high it is. For more on Darkness-era Bruce, check out an excellent review of The Promise over at Crawdaddy!, or give a listen to this marathon concert from Winterland recorded a week after the Houston performance included in the box set. But we’ve also been obsessing over his entire career, from his humble blue-collar beginnings along the Jersey Shore to the groups today that carry on the torch of American roots rock and roll.

GREETINGS
The King Biscuit Flower Hour was at Max’s Kansas City in January, 1973, on hand to record a few songs from the opening act, a 23-year-old Bruce Springsteen playing just weeks after the release of Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ. A few years ago, the Vault digitized and re-mastered the original multi-track recording and the results are stunning. Listen to this historical show as Bruce, Garry Tallent, Clarence Clemons, Danny Federici, David Sancious, and Vini Lopez perform tracks from their first album, and some that were never included on a studio album, for an intimate crowd who could have only guessed at what this music would come to mean.

GO FORTH AND MULTIPLY
From those humble but auspicious beginnings, we all know what happened: Bruce and the E-Street Band became American legends, influencing legions of die-hard fans as well as their musical peers. Check out this playlist of Springsteen Tunes to hear versions of Bruce-penned songs performed by country-rock, punk, and pop rockers. Whether they’re songs that Springsteen wrote with a certain artist in mind or plain old cover songs to pump up a New Jersey crowd, they work just as well. But that shouldn’t be surprising: the songs speak for themselves when your strength is writing timeless rock that tells the tales of everyday men and women’s struggles while drawing on a wealth of American roots music.

For the same reason, it should be expected that comparisons will keep popping up. Just as Springsteen wasn’t the new Dylan, calling up-and-coming acts the new Springsteen isn’t going to cut it, but the observations are inevitable when a band comes along that puts on adrenaline-heightening rock shows with songs drawing on folk, blues and Motown influences. Around the office, one of our favorite new bands we can’t help calling Springsteen-like is Dawes. Though based in L.A. and often categorized under the folk-rock movement that originated there with Buffalo Springfield and friends, the group plays passionate rock with earnest lyrics set against the backdrop of American towns.

Watch them in the video below to get a taste, then check out an entire concert recorded just over a year ago and see if you can hear the similarities.

Dawes: “When My Time Comes”

[The Sprawl of Asbury Park is a post in From the Vault - The Wolfgang's Vault blog.]

Before Patti Smith became an icon of the New York punk scene, her rock music reviews were published in a number of magazines, including Crawdaddy!, Creem and Rolling Stone.  She had several poetry chapbooks published before ever entering a recording studio. In her NY Times besteller “Just Kids, Smith speaks of her experience writing reviews during her early years as a bohemian in NYC for Crawdaddy! Here now is an excerpt from an article that Smith entitled: “Flying Saucers Rock n’ Roll” published in the June 1975 issue:

It was 1966 ‘67 ‘68. Every place I went it was somebody else. I could-not-live-today. Too plugged into sanguine rhythms past and the silver video we call future. Here I come future, coming to get ya. I see it all moving on an immense yellow highway. They come on like trumpets and violins — cars, armies of cars that move off the ground, glowing cigar shapes, and the radio just pumps like a fist. Brick roads, turnpikes, they drive me insane ’cause I can see what’s coming. ELP, ELO, nothing real ‘cept UFO. Got to be royal rock warfare cause it’s sitting in limbo. Not what was and not what will be. Rock got to move out of its stagnant moment. Pray for something bubbling under the sky’s canopy to rip open and rush like gas…I was the same old party. I put the whistle on the tray — it went reeling. It was happening again. I was overcome but it didn’t matter. I just did what the rest of my gggg-generation did — didn’t duck heads up and get creamed by the ’60s. Everything that happened it was somebody else.

(© Patti Smith 1975).

Listen now to the Patti Smith Group belt out “Gloria” a few years after that snippet was written from Concert Vault’s latest release of the “Indochinese Refugee Concert” at the Palladium, 1979:

Around this time, Smith was dating Allen Lanier, keyboardist for the band Blue Öyster Cult, which I mention to illustrate the connection with our next Crawdaddy! contributor, Albert Bouchard. For those not aware, Albert Bouchard is the original drummer for Blue Öyster Cult and, before they became a hit sensation, he was a frequent contributor to Crawdaddy! in the late 1960s.  Articles such as “The Loveliest Readymade”(Feb 1968, 1.13) and “A Sequential Evaluation of the Lovin’ Spoonful’s Everything Playing” (March-April 1968, 1.14) note his writing abilities. These articles can be found on the Crawdaddy! archives spanning 1961-1968.

From his article in the March-April ‘68 issue of Crawdaddy! on the Lovin’ Spoonful, Bouchard reviews each individual track from the album, Everything Playing. In the article he states:

Close Your Eyes- Who’s singing this? It’s pretty nice -sounds a little like Buckley with faster vibrato-the chords modulate upward and wow nice effect-nice echo on voice or whatever makes that underwater sound (aquatic tongue) just before the big break-those nice little dissonant chords signify the middle of the song like beadwork-that’s a nice chord coming out of it-as mellow and sweet as Smokey Robinson-this part of the song resembles the Bee Gee’s “To Love Somebody”-the way the voice sort of drowns in the volume of the big band giving sort of an anguish-pleasure-nighttime feeling-the Fender reverb on the guitar is nice but it could be a drag-this song leaves you hungry for more-it could be their announcement of the next album.

To salute Bouchard, listen to this Blue Öyster Cult favorite from the Palladium “Indochinese Refugee Concert” benefit from ‘79:

Patti Smith never stopped writing. She would continue to write rock music reviews for magazines such as Rolling Stone and Creem throughout the late 1960s and 1970s. She has released numerous books of poetry and her latest memoir-like book, Just Kids, illustrates Smith’s signature style of writing and embrace of oneiric detail. Albert Bouchard was a founding member of Blue Öyster Cult and was a prime component of the band through the band’s first decade. In 1981, Bouchard left the group and focused on working on what would become the Imaginos record. The “Imaginos” concept was originally begun by producer Sandy Pearlman (another former contributing writer for Crawdaddy!) in 1967, before BÖC was even formed. He continues to perform with numerous projects. Although Bouchard’s rock review days are well behind him, his rock n’ roll is going strong.

So, to Patti Smith and Albert Bouchard, we salute you with pen and amp!

[Writers Before They Were Rockers is a post in From the Vault - The Wolfgang's Vault blog.]

Crawdaddy’s Andrew Lau takes a comprehensive look at the album, some 11 years after the ex-Jefferson Airplane and Moby Grape multi-instrumentalist’s death. Lau explains Spence’s colorful history, explains the backstory behind the album, and even sits down with the album’s producer David Rubinson, who revealingly talks about what it was like to make the record and how hard he had to work to get the label release it. Recently celebrating its 40th anniversary, Oar retains an important place in the history of American folk music.

“It’s like Mozart writing the Requiem,” says Rubinson. “[Spence] had the clear light. He could see everything in absolute detail, in the sharpest illumination, in total relief, in the sense he could be cooking an omelette and turn around and say something so mind-bendingly clear and perfect; he would express it in incredible terms and it was obviously true. It was the trance medium process; he was the medium for the stuff coming through. It was that way with the clothes he wore, it was that way with the way he wanted to do business, the way he treated people.”

Read the rest of, Oar After 40 Years: Brilliant or Mere Ramblings? at Crawdaddy!

Listen to Spence in action with his group Moby Grape:

Like this article? DIGG it and sign up for our RSS feed!

[Oar After 40 Years: Brilliant or Mere Ramblings? is a post in From the Vault - The Wolfgang's Vault blog.]

Bob Marley

I must admit that when the assignment came to do a mini-book about Bob Marley and the Wailers for an app, I was unprepared.

Sure, I was an admirer of Marley’s. As a Sunday DJ on KSAN, back when it was the pioneer free-form rock station here in San Francisco, I played cuts from Catch a Fire and Burnin’ constantly. And I caught on to other reggae greats, like Jimmy Cliff and, especially, Toots & the Maytals.

But I’d never met or written about the man Wolfgang’s Vault’s concise writeup calls “the Godfather of Reggae.” I knew only the basic stuff, despite having such fine books as Catch a Fire, by Timothy White, Bob Marley, by Stephen Davis, and The Reggae Scrapbook by Roger Steffens and Peter Simon.

I soaked in as much as I could from those guys, from various CDs and DVDs, and, of course, online sources. I was only asked to do 2500 words on Marley, plus side pieces offering quotes by and about him, and some Bob Marley trivia. By deadline time, I was overflowing with tidbits on the man. Here are a couple of my favorites:

Bob Marley was of Sephardic Jewish descent on his father’s side.

In 1964, the Wailers’ recordings include a cover of “Go Jimmy Go,” a Jimmy Clanton hit, and “Teenager in Love,” first done by Dion and the Belmonts. In 1965, the group  covered the Beatles’ “And I Love Her,” Tom Jones’ “What’s New Pussycat,” and “White Christmas.”

Marley had a premonition in 1969. During a summer visit to Delaware, where his mother was living, he told friends, “I am going to die when I am 36.”

In October, 1973, the Wailers’ first American tour included a few opening gigs for Sly and the Family Stone. But after four shows, they were canned. One explanation was that Stone’s audiences didn’t get the Wailers, with their dreadlocks, heavy accents and offbeat music. Another was that the Wailers had done the unforgivable: they had upstaged the headliners.

Bob had thirteen children: Imani, Sharon, Cedella, Ziggy, Stephen, Stephanie, Julian, Makeda, Karen, Damian, Robbie, Ky-Mani and Rohan. Eight of his kids are illegitimate, two are adopted.

He is buried in a crypt near his birthplace, with his guitar, a soccer ball, a cannabis bud, and a Bible.

In 2004, Rolling Stone named its “Immortals,” the 50 greatest artists of all time. Bob Marley came in 11th, behind the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, the Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry, Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, Little Richard, Aretha Franklin, and Ray Charles.

One more thing: As a kid, Bob Marley displayed an ability to tell fortunes by reading people’s hands. But he brushed off suggestions that he might make a living as a soothsayer. Still, there was that premonition he had in 1969 about dying at age 36. Marley, born in 1945, died of cancer in 1981. Do the math.

[Getting to Know Bob Marley – Quick is a post in From the Vault - The Wolfgang's Vault blog.]

In typical Dinky style, the story doesn’t stop with some drunken debauchery. Just when it looked like the plane’s co-pilot was going to put the kibosh on one of Mr. Morisson’s favorite games — one that, by today’s FAA standards, may be punishable by death (let’s just say it involves throwing Swiss Army knives) — the co-pilot pulled off a move that shocked them all.

“You got him now, Clarence!” I yelled, “Get ’em!” One more throw, I figured, and Morrison would be done. Suddenly, the co-pilot walked into the lounge unannounced, and all activity stopped dead. He sternly looked at all of us.

“Enough!” he shouted with authority. “Time to calm down.”

“And you,” he said, pointing to the stewardess, “you are needed downstairs.” We were busted! Feeling guilty, everyone in the lounge grinned sheepishly at his rebuke, turning our eyes away from him, boys with their hands caught in the cookie jar.

Read the rest of Dinky Dawson’s “Clarence White and Jim Morrison Stretch on a 747″ at Crawdaddy!.

Also check out Dinky Dawson’s Dawson Sound collection of live recordings, featuring crystal clear, rare recordings of Bo Didley, Linda Ronstadt, Elton John, Bonnie Raitt, the Byrds, and many more.

[My Life Is The Road: Clarence White and Jim Morrison Stretch on a 747 is a post in From the Vault - The Wolfgang's Vault blog.]

Crawdaddy!’s Denise Sullivan takes an in-depth look at “Surrealistic Pillow.” What was the story behind the album? Who were the key behind-the-scenes personalities who helped shape the disc? What did the album mean to the author? And above all, what the hell is a Surrealistic Pillow? And who came up with that name? The answer might surprise you.

“Surrealistic Pillow was the first to demonstrate to me that songs, even songs without words, cannot only travel the distance of the journey, they can actually chart the course for the trip.”

Read the rest of Denise Sullivan’s look at Jefferson Airplane’s “Surrealistic Pillow.”

We’ve also got tons of live Jefferson Airplane music like this at our Concert Vault:

[Origin of Song: What is a Surrealistic Pillow? is a post in From the Vault - The Wolfgang's Vault blog.]

In this, his most recent piece, he tells us how he unexpectedly wrote the lyrics to the Byrds’ song “BB Class Road.”

“The plan was sound and everyone in the band was excited with the prospects. At Skip’s house, Roger said, “We’ll do it quickly and we’ll produce it ourselves—no Terry this time.” Songs began to emerge, not necessarily shared creations, but individual works from each member. They were writing at home and on the road.

“Hey, Dinky,” Gene said one night after a show. “We should do a song about roadies. I mean, every band has ‘em but no one, except us musicians, really know and appreciate what you guys do for us.”

“Well, mate,” I said thoughtfully, “maybe we can do that.” A few beers later, we had an idea—I scribbled some lyrics down on an envelope and Gene started humming a blues tune.

We had a great laugh and then I forgot about it. Meanwhile, the other band members began rehearsing their new songs intensively.

To read the rest of Dinky Dawson’s “1971 Byrds: Dinky Pens ‘BB Class Roads,’” click here.

You can also check out Dinky Dawson’s Dawson Sound collection of live recordings, featuring crystal clear, rare recordings of Bo Didley, Linda Ronstadt, Elton John, Bonnie Raitt, The Byrds, and many more by clicking here.

[My Life Is The Road: 1971 Byrds: Dinky Pens “BB Class Road” is a post in From the Vault - The Wolfgang's Vault blog.]

In Part I of his look at health care, Wyman introduces us to Lou Thomas, the author of the song “Noinsuranceland” and one of the many American musicians who was without health care and one accident away from financial Armageddon. The story centers around the bassist/songwriter/singer’s torn ACL that almost wiped him out completely.

In Part II, Wyman breaks down some of the jargon surrounding the debate. What does these words really mean, and how are they going to effect us going forward.

“When the insurance finally started, Thomas got the MRI, had the surgery he needed, and was forced into an unpaid month out of work to recover. ‘At this point, I had about five different agencies sending me bills: The surgeon, the surgery center, the anesthesiologists, the MRI, the physical therapist. One bill alone, for the surgery center I believe, after insurance, was still about $6,000, which at first they expected me to pay in three months. (No one told me this until after the surgery. Even at the surgery, a receptionist told me they would come up with an affordable payment plan and not to worry.) When you make barely more than minimum wage, and just had to take over a month off work, paying over $2000/month in medical bills was not going to work out.’”

To read Part I of Howard Wyman’s look at health care — “NoInsuranceLand: The Health Care Music Scene” — click here.

“It’s an interesting catch-22, in that so much art (music especially) resonates with people because they relate it to their own grind-intensive lives, even as society turns its back on those musicians trying to escape said grind in order to make the art that helps society deal with it. As such, most musicians (and fans) are left out of the debate, armed only with points about morals and ethics but lacking the competitive, big-picture agenda needed to sway “patriots,” captains of industry and others in power. Day by day as the health care debate rages on, we, the un-indoctrinated music lovers, are basically reduced to just sitting with baited breath, scanning the headlines, waiting to see who will make good on an ex-beauty queen’s flailing dementia, rising to the occasion of the low-hanging fruit she dangled out from that undeserved podium.”

To read Part II of Howard Wyman’s look at health care — “Part II: A Fakebook for the Health Care Debate” — click here.

[How does the health care debate affect the musician and the music fan? is a post in From the Vault - The Wolfgang's Vault blog.]

Denise Sullivan explores the deep importance of Lead Belly’s music in the shaping of what we know now as rock ‘n’ roll.

“I’m obsessed with him. He’s my favorite performer,” said Kurt Cobain. “No Lead Belly, no Beatles,” claimed George Harrison, and the same may as well be said for Led Zeppelin, as Jimmy Page was rocking “Cotton Fields” back in 1957. According to Van Morrison, “If it wasn’t for Lead Belly, I may never have been here.” And yet, Lead Belly—born Huddie Ledbetter near Mooringsport, Louisiana in 1888—is rarely the first traditional American musician historians credit with the creation of rock ‘n’ roll or the bands of the British Invasion. His contribution to rock is as fundamental and profound as those of Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters, so why is it we don’t hear that much anymore about his legend?

Read the rest of Denise Sullivan’s piece on Lead Belly.

[Hey Lead Belly, Bam Ba Lam is a post in From the Vault - The Wolfgang's Vault blog.]