thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard

Freebie Friday – Public Service Broadcasting

Posted by thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard on May 16, 2014

Posted in: Freebie Fridays. Tagged: Public Service Broadcasting. Leave a comment

I received the following message from Public Service Broadcasting this week:

Regular readers will know that we released a limited edition 7” Elfstedentocht for Record Store Day 2014. We had a few queries from fans either a) unable to obtain a copy, and / or b) surprised to find that it had no download code. We’ve run some formulae here at PSB Towers and have come up with a + b = x, where x is a free download. It’s partly to say sorry to those who missed out, and partly as a bonus for those who didn’t.

Here’s the link for the free download….

Free Public Service Broadcasting Download

Enjoy!!

In case you’re interested here’s a little background information about Elfstedentocht from Wikipedia…..

The Elfstedentocht is an almost 200 kilometres (120 mi) long skating tour which is held both as a speed skating match (with 300 contestants) and a leisure tour (with 16,000 skaters). It is held in the province of Friesland in the north of the Netherlands, leading past all eleven historical cities of the province. The tour is held at most once a year, only when the natural ice along the entire course is at least 15 centimetres (6 in) thick; [1] sometimes on consecutive years, other times with gaps that may exceed 20 years. When the ice is suitable, the tour is announced and starts within 48 hours.

I’m betting my friend Gerard can tell us more.

Thursday Interviews – Gordon Lightfoot

Posted by thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard on May 15, 2014

Posted in: Rock Interviews. Tagged: Gordon Lightfoot. Leave a comment

Up first today is a short interview with Gordon Lightfoot. The interview was conducted last year at his church, St. Paul’s United in Orillia, Ont. I think it gives you some great insight into the man behind the music. Enjoy…..

To close out this post here is another interview with Gordon from the same time frame….. More great insight into the man

The song snippet that he played in the last interview is from A Passing Ship. Here’s a performance of the whole song by a younger Gordon followed by the song lyrics.

A passing ship
I have found the open ocean
Give me no lip
The waves roll by as I pass on
A sunlit sea
On the first day of April
How fresh the wind
Will you miss me when I’m gone
How many words
How many songs still unwritten
How many ships
Of the line have come and gone
In the good old days
May they never be forgotten
They had heavy wind
Or they had no wind at all

A passing ship
It is midnight on the ocean
Had a real long trip
I have been at sea all winter
When my ship came in
I was givin’ up the ghost
I think I should be
Leavin’ those passing ships alone

When the sea runs high
The sea runs wild and I’m unsteady
And I think of you
In the warmth of your home and family
When love is true
There is no truer occupation
And may this gale
Blow us to the ones we love

Another day
Another ocean
Give me no lip
But stand aside as I pass on
A sunlit sea
On the last day of October
How fresh the wind
Will you miss me from now on
I guess I should be
Leavin’ passing ships alone

Some of the words to this song give me chills: Give me no lip but stand aside when I pass on…..will you miss me from now on? My answer to this lyrically posed question is…..Gordon I will miss you forever when you pass on!

NO – New Music That Doesn’t Suck

Posted by thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard on May 14, 2014

Posted in: Add These To Your Playlist Now, New Music, New Music That Doesn't Suck, Overlooked Music, Rock Interviews. Tagged: NO. Leave a comment

I first told you about NO in a post on February 9 of last year. Since then the group has released their debut LP, El Prado,…..very much worth picking up if you like their sound. In case you missed last year’s post and don’t know about the group, here’s a great NO live performance at KEXP. Really good stuff…….

Yesterday and Today (Gordon Lightfoot)

Posted by thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard on May 13, 2014

Posted in: Canada Music Celebration, Forty Years Ago Today, Rock History, Yesterday and Today. Tagged: Gordon Lightfoot. Leave a comment

As readers of this blog know, Gordon Lightfoot is a honored member of my holy trinity of Canadian Music (Neil and Joni are the other members) so it was an easy choice to feature him in my second Yesterday and Today post.

My favorite Gordon song is probably Canadian Railroad Trilogy, an epic song that he wrote in just three days. It tells the story of the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway and was performed for the very first time on New Year’s Day in 1967 as part of Canada’s centennial celebration. To me this song is Canada!

Each of the three parts of the song has it’s own tempo. The first and third parts have a faster tempo and focus on the progress of the railroad across the continent. The middle part of the song slows to focus on the railroad workers (navies) that did the back breaking manual labor required to lay the tracks. I’ve always heard something else in the tempo changes. If you’ve ever ridden on a steam train, it’s doesn’t take too much imagination to hear the steam train in the tempo.

To kick things off tonight, here’s a great live performance of the song from 1972………

Over forty years after the 1972 performance, Gordon is still singing this great song. He’s older, the voice has changed over time, but the performance is no less amazing. Join with me in celebrating Gordon’s continuing ability to amaze and entertain us at the age of 75.

Thursday Interviews – Greg Lake

Posted by thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard on May 8, 2014

Posted in: Going Solo, Great Rock Stories, Rock History, Rock Interviews. Tagged: Greg Lake. Leave a comment

I don’t know about you but I just can’t have too much Greg Lake so……….this week I’m resurrecting the Thursday Interview post. Here’s a recent two part interview with Greg which happens to include a couple of great performances woven into the interview. The first part of the interview also has a great story about Lucky Man that you absolutely don’t want to miss.

Before this interview I had never heard Greg speak. I have to say I’m very impressed with his eloquence. If I wasn’t already a huge fan, this interview would have made me one. The second part is just as good….enjoy!

Yesterday and Today (Greg Lake)

Posted by thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard on May 6, 2014

Posted in: Cool Concert Chatter, Forty Years Ago Today, Going Solo, Under Appreciated Singer/Songwriter, Yesterday and Today. Tagged: ELP, Greg Lake. Leave a comment

Today we introduce a new recurring post called Yesterday and Today where we celebrate rock heroes from the 60s and 70s that managed to survive fame and fortune and are still entertaining us today. To kick off these posts I’m featuring a singer that I like to refer to as “The Voice”…..Mr Greg Lake (pictured above at an Emerson, Lake and Palmer concert from the 70s). Let’s listen Greg performing C’est La Vie at a concert in Montreal in 1977…..

Greg is still with us today and still performing. Like the rest of us he doesn’t look the same as he did forty years ago but… if you listen closely… the voice is still there.

C’set La Vie indeed…..

Vonder and Bloom – Some Great Dutch Music

Posted by thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard on May 4, 2014

Posted in: Add These To Your Playlist Now, International Songs, New Music, New Music That Doesn't Suck. 2 Comments

My friend Gerard gave me a tip this weekend about a group from the Netherlands, Vander and Bloom. He and his daughter attended one of their concerts in Ultrecht last week and really enjoyed the show. After listening to a couple of their songs I can understand why….they have a really nice nice folk sound and have written some great songs. It doesn’t hut that they are also quite attractive :-).

As you can tell from the pictures above the group has been paying their dues by traveling around the Netherlands in a van and playing small concerts. You have to appreciate that kind of commitment! They have released two albums, as best I can tell. You can find them on Amazon. Let’s listen to a song from each…..

Brilliance Of You from Simple Peace Of Mind (released 20010)

Not Like You from Shouldn’t Say This (released 2012)

I think Vonder and Bloom has a shot at hitting it big. What about you?

If you aren’t convinced yet….look for them on YouTube and listen to a few more songs. I think you will change your mind.

Hopefully we can convince Gerard to comment on this post and share a little more information about the concert he attended.

Friday Showdown #1 – Animated Dum Dum Girls vs. The Archies

Posted by thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard on May 2, 2014

Posted in: Friday Showdown. Tagged: The Archies, The Dum Dum Girls. Leave a comment

First up in today’s show down is an animated version of The Dum Dum Girls performing their song Rimbaud Eyes. I know, I know I featured this song in a post already but their official video that was just released is so cool I had to give them just a little more exposure.

Challenging The Dum Dum Girls for animation domination today is the Archies, a fictional group that was featured on a Saturday morning cartoon show in the late 60s and early 70s. The Archies actually had huge radio hits with songs like Sugar Sugar (voiced by Ron Dante who I have posted about several times on this blog) so let’s give them a listen….

And the winner is….after a well fought battle of the bands…..The Dum Dum Girls, of course. Why, well it’s been my experience that a real girl always beats a fictional girl…case closed!

Two’fer Tuesday – Songs From The Movie (Bonus Edition)

Posted by thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard on April 29, 2014

Posted in: Add These To Your Playlist Now, Life Lessons From Music, New Music, New Music That Doesn't Suck. Tagged: Mary Chapin Carpenter. Leave a comment

Singer/songwriters are able to paint pictures with their words.

My very favorite singer/songwriters manage to paint moving picture, i.e. movies, with their songs.

Mary Chapin Carpenter has consistently managed to do exactly that throughout her career. Let me give you an example via the lyrics for her song I Am A Town.

I’m a town in Carolina, I’m a detour on a ride
For a phone call and a soda, I’m a blur from the driver’s side
I’m the last gas for an hour if you’re going twenty-five
I am Texaco and tobacco, I am dust you leave behind

I am peaches in September, and corn from a roadside stall
I’m the language of the natives, I’m a cadence and a drawl
I’m the pines behind the graveyard, and the cool beneath their shade, where the boys have left their beer cans
I am weeds between the graves.

My porches sag and lean with old black men and children
Their sleep is filled with dreams, I never can fulfill them
I am a town.

I am a church beside the highway where the ditches never drain
I’m a Baptist like my daddy, and Jesus knows my name
I am memory and stillness, I am lonely in old age; I am not your destination
I am clinging to my ways
I am a town.

I’m a town in Carolina, I am billboards in the fields
I’m an old truck up on cinder blocks, missing all my wheels
I am Pabst Blue Ribbon, American, and “Southern Serves the South”
I am tucked behind the Jaycees sign, on the rural route
I am a town

Every time I hear this song it triggers not only a movie….. but a movie of my life….I know the places of which she so eloquently sings.

Based on the above, I really wasn’t surprised when I heard late last year that Mary was going to release a new album, called Songs From the Movie, consisting of some of her best songs re-recorded with full orchestration. After listening to this album for the past couple of months I’m happy to tell you that it’s a thing of great beauty. Although I already have have all of the original versions of these songs in my music collection, the new orchestrated versions compliment Mary’s great cinematic lyrics and make them essential additions to my music library. Here are three great songs from that album to let you experience what I’m trying to describe…..

Only A Dream

I Am A Town

Ideas Are Like Stars

Jason Isbell – New Music That Doesn’t Suck

Posted by thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard on April 24, 2014

Posted in: Add These To Your Playlist Now, Album Of The Week, New Music, New Music That Doesn't Suck, Southern Rock, Uncategorized. Tagged: Jason Isbell. 3 Comments

I’ve waited way to long to discuss Jason Isbell’s, Southeastern, album that was released last year. It has been on heavy rotation in my car over the past several months.

Jason grew up very close to where I live in North Alabama so I feel compelled to support him based on just that but let me tell you……he deserves my support, and yours, based on raw talent. He is, without a doubt, one the favorite new singer/songwriters that I have discovered in years.

Jason may be best known as a member of Drive By Truckers but for the last 6-7 years he has focused on his solo career. His hard work paid off with the release of Southeastern which was, and continues to be, a huge hit. Tonight I have two of my favorite songs from that album for you. First up is Traveling Alone followed by a live performance of Different Days.

Traveling Alone

Different Days – Live

As always, let me know what you think!

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