Another great thing about 11-11-11 is it’s the birthday of Blasters’ alum and rockin’ blues man Dave Alvin. His latest album — “Eleven Eleven” — is his 11th and has 11 songs on it. I had the pleasure of catching him at the Folly this summer, and of trying to capture some of the flavor and feeling of that show with these. The YouTube clip is from the same tour. And these are followed by a couple of other concert batches — for a Sarah Jarosz show and the Concert for Bangladesh.
From July 9
Dave Alvin hits town
It’s American music
Rock, rhythm, and blues
He writes those stories
So real — of love, death, heartbreak
Of people he’s known
He sings those stories
Cigarettes-for-breakfast voice
And beer for dessert
He plays those stories
Electric and acoustic
With scorpion’s sting
You can taste the dust
See the waves of heat rise up
As he spins those tales
Waves of emotion
Build and crash — great work by Dave
And his three band-mates:
Silver-haired shaman
Of slide; Telecaster set
To “telepathic”
Bass man slick and tall
He could’ve been a Blaster
30 years ago
Powerhouse drummer
All the little touches, too
Like tick-tock woodblock
They rocked the Folly
KC’s century-plus gem
Right place, righteous act
It all added up
To one whale of a show on
A hot July night
Another concert batch of sorts, for the 40th anniversary of the Concert for Bangladesh. It also was Jerry Garcia’s birthday and the 30th anniversary of MTV.
From Aug. 1, 2011
August 1, a day
To recall a great concert,
Grateful guitarist
Harrison, Clapton
Ringo, Dylan and others
Joined Ravi Shankar
For Bangladesh, they
Rocked Madison Square Garden
Put on two good shows
“Because I was asked
“By a friend if I would help”
Is how George put it
Spiritual songs
And spirited music played
For 40,000
Guitars gently wept
Lyrics didn’t come easy
As Ringo found out
But Leon Russell
Blew the roof off the garden,
Dylan cast his spell
Billy Preston sang
“That’s the Way God Planned It,” and
Maybe he was right
40 years ago
Aid was slow to reach the poor
But hearts were lifted
40 years ago
They said help is on the way
Let’s say it again
And let’s remember
Jerry Garcia, who would
Have been 69
Trouble followed him
All of his life, but still he
Left a legacy
As a kid he lost
Part of a finger and then
He lost his father
Learned the piano,
Banjo, guitar, pedal steel
He was on his way
Smoked marijuana
As a teen in San Fran’s hills
Music, drugs, Jerry
String along, strung out
Artist, musician, oozing
Creativity
By one count the Dead
Played two thousand, three hundred
And fourteen concerts
It couldn’t have been
Easy amid the chaos
That was Jerry’s life
Three wives and four kids,
Diabetes, heroin
— But always music
Pass the methadone
And the Cherry Garcia
What a long strange trip
Let’s shed a tear, play
Some Dead, remember a soul
Who left us too soon
Something else that died
Too soon: MTV, first aired
30 years ago
Music video
Rightfully was all the rage
MTV led way
But somehow nonsense
And unreal realities
Slowly replaced tunes
And without the M
It’s just another channel
Just, you know, TV
One of the best shows I’ve ever seen was a little gig this year at the Record Bar. Having a front and center seat didn’t hurt. If you don’t know Sarah Jarosz and her two CDs, you should. The SHEL sisters are wonderful and charming, and they have a couple of EPs out and some good YouTube videos. Here’s the show recap.
From Aug. 3
Strings zing, voices blend
Some kind of magic happens
At the Record Bar
SHEL opens the show
Four sisters, classically trained,
Mini symphony
Mandolin, keyboards
Violin, djembe come
Alive in their hands
Heavenly voices
One, two, sometimes three join in
Divine harmonies
Greg's Hack-u 