Andrew Weissman

Back in the day when I was a fixture on the Asbury Park...

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 09:18:00 -0400

Back in the day when I was a fixture on the Asbury Park boardwalk, I’d often stop and talk to Madam Marie as she sat on her folding chair outside the Temple of Knowledge.

I’d sit across from her on the metal guard rail bordering the beach, and watched as she led the day trippers into the small back room where she would unlock a few of the mysteries of their future. She always told me mine looked pretty good - she was right.

—Bruce Springsteen

(photo)

Richard Thompson, Oops! … I Did It AgainCovers Friday ....

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 08:33:21 -0400

Richard Thompson, Oops! … I Did It Again

Covers Friday . . Richard T covers Britney Spears . .. . of course with much better guitar work

Electric Roulette:Who?Kim Gordon, man, you know her?...

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 07:34:52 -0400

Electric Roulette:

Who?
Kim Gordon, man, you know her? She’s the most rockinest woman on the planet. She’s part punk-brat, part garage rock fiend and all bombshell… and I mean that in the literal sense.
Where can you find her?
You ain’t findin’ her anywhere buddy… she’s not in your league. Maybe she’d refute that (in fact, o’course she’d refute that what with her punk creds) but she’s hangin’round some serious hipsters, probably in some NYC art gallery loft gig thing. Fact is, you jus’ ain’t gonna be in the same place as she is. Ever.
Style
Spawn of a seamstress, Kim digs clothes. She’s either decked out in some hip-finery or failing that, a pair of rip jeans and a Parisian revolter top. She’s crack meets champagne. She’s a Kool Thing.
Quote
“Last night I dreamed I kissed neil young If I was a boy I guess it would be fun”

Antony and the Johnsons, Knockin’ On Heaven’s...

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:12:53 -0400

Antony and the Johnsons, Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door

Antony totally kills it on this one, a great vocal.

Dan Bern is a hero.tuneage:Dan Bern - “Jerusalem”In an...

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:08:11 -0400

Dan Bern is a hero.

tuneage:

Dan Bern - “Jerusalem”
In an evening full of remarkable and unusual events, I found myself in a backyard on a hill with three musicians and guitars. This is not to say that all of the musicians were guitarists but the talent pool was deep. One young man remarks about how he only knows two songs… but they are both in the same key and use the same chord progressions. During a brief silence he begins to strum. Slowly and hesitant at first but as his confidence increases so does his ability. He begins to sing…
“…When I tell you that I love you, don’t test my love. Except my love.”
There is something about the song that sucks you into this convoluted tale about love (or a lack thereof), religion and olives. It is so heartfelt and real that it makes you wonder if perhaps it isn’t a work of fiction but a real, true life story and Bern actually has come to save us all from ourselves.
Bern’s bio proclaims, ”He’s frequently been compared to Bob Dylan, because like the young Dylan, he’s funny and smart and has a regally Semitic nose.” And I couldn’t agree more.

The Asbury Park fortuneteller known as Madam Marie, who became a...

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 07:27:06 -0400

The Asbury Park fortuneteller known as Madam Marie, who became a figure of rock ’n’ roll mythology thanks to Bruce Springsteen, died on Friday. She was in her mid-90s.

Her death was announced by her great-granddaughter Sally Castello.

Billing herself as a psychic reader and adviser, Marie Castello had told fortunes on the Asbury Park Boardwalk since the 1930s.

She became famous worldwide in 1973 when Bruce Springsteen paid homage to her in the song “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy).”

His lyric “Did you hear the cops finally busted Madame Marie for tellin’ fortunes better than they do” cemented her fame.

(NY Times)

Iron Knowledge, Showstopperacid-proto-metal funkLittle known...

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 06:31:28 -0400

Iron Knowledge, Showstopper

acid-proto-metal funk

Little known about this band, seems like mid 70s rawk. But good.

“I made up a lot of the songs I sing. It’s like you hear a...

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:17:54 -0400

“I made up a lot of the songs I sing. It’s like you hear a record or something or other. Well, you pick out some words out of that record that you like. You sing that and add something else onto it. It’s just like if you’re going to pray, and mean it, things will be in your mind. As fast as you get one word out, something else will come in there. Songs should tell the truth… When I play– if you pay attention, what I sing the guitar sings, too. And what the guitar say, I say.”

Mississippi Fred McDowell (via Naturalismo)

orangesunshine:Lost In The Flood, Bruce Springsteen, Berkeley...

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:41:00 -0400

orangesunshine:

Lost In The Flood, Bruce Springsteen, Berkeley Community Theater, March 2, 1973
1973-74 were the golden years for Springsteen, methinks. Before he became “the future of rock n roll” he simply was trying to be the greatest, but the world didn’t recognize him as such yet. As a result, his performances have an edge, a loose edge, and a passion that was not the passion to live up to expectations but the passion of a kid trying to get recognized.
This is one of the top 3 or 4 Springsteen performances I have ever heard - his vocals are great and have the nasal twang he lost in later years and playing bigger arenas. The force with which he sings Lost In the Flood is remarkable, and David Sancious on organ provided a soulful sound needed, in the closing section.

The Feelies, It’s Only LifeReuniting this week, first...

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:09:22 -0400

The Feelies, It’s Only Life

Reuniting this week, first shows in 17 years:

The Feelies’ re-emergence is determinedly low-key. Members with day jobs are keeping them. The band has no manager, no recording contract and no tour dates planned beyond Independence Day, though that is likely to change. They have learned three dozen songs and are writing more, with the goal of recording again.
“We were never very proactive,” Mr. Mercer said. “Things would present themselves to us, and we would either go with it or not.“
Behind his glasses he ventured a half-smile. “There’s no game plan,” he said. “We don’t want to jump in too far into the deep end. Just to wade toward it.”

Hawkwind, Silver Machine1972

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:50:12 -0400

Hawkwind, Silver Machine

1972

Hippie Kid Stories is a Web site with unedited interviews of...

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 16:53:12 -0400

Hippie Kid Stories is a Web site with unedited interviews of children of hippies displayed as short video clips that you choose how to view. Participants answered the same 20 questions with no interviewer prompting them as they looked at the camera. Hippie kids, now in their 30s and 40s, were chosen as an example of how an interesting subject could be explored in a way that encouraged viewers to explore media and come to their own conclusions. Hippie kids were picked as a subject because of my personal experience.

Hippie Kid Stories

When Ambassadors Had Rhythm, Louis Armstong, Cairo, 1961

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 16:48:40 -0400

When Ambassadors Had Rhythm, Louis Armstong, Cairo, 1961

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2008-6-29)

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 14:55:12 -0400

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2008-6-29):

Imported from Last.fm Tumblr

“Sometimes, when I go to a concert, I can’t wait for...

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:00:40 -0400

“Sometimes, when I go to a concert, I can’t wait for it to be over. I buy the tickets, pay the TicketMaster surcharge, have a vodka dinner, put on comfortable shoes, and skip off to the concert hall, secretly hoping it won’t go on too long. I want one great encore, not three desperate ones. I don’t want to be a lab rat for new songs; I want to hear my favorite songs—and maybe an obscure B-side or cover of a Talking Heads or Beyoncé tune.” Hailey Eber

yvynyl:Arthur Magazine needs $20,000 by July 1 or it will die.

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:07:59 -0400

yvynyl:

Arthur Magazine needs $20,000 by July 1 or it will die.

Cover day - Jerry Garcia does Jimmy...

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:13:04 -0400

Cover day - Jerry Garcia does Jimmy Cliff.

orangesunshine:

Harder They Come, Jerry Garcia Band, 11-28-7

It’s a wonderful record and a great cover too.yvynyl:The...

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:27:09 -0400

It’s a wonderful record and a great cover too.

yvynyl:

The album fairly overflows with images of greenery and the natural world, as Wienk’s lyrics abound with fiddlehead ferns, waves of seafoam, various forest critters, and romantic beds of pine needles and moss. Throughout the album, however, a dark undercurrent of trouble and dissonance lurks beneath these deceptively placid idylls. (via Fern Knight: Fern Knight: Pitchfork Record Review)

Badfinger, Day After DayAnother top 10/all time song.

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 10:02:00 -0400

Badfinger, Day After Day

Another top 10/all time song.

Black Rebel Motorocycle Club, Ain’t No Easy WayThese guys...

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 06:58:37 -0400

Black Rebel Motorocycle Club, Ain’t No Easy Way

These guys clearly want to be rock stars, they think big and far, don’t always succeed but when they do it’s amazing, like this song.