You’ve had plenty of opportunities to catch Dawes on the road recently. They just wrapped up a string of dates on the second Daytrotter Barnstorming tour, and are currently on the road with Langhorne Slim that just played Madison last weekend. Their new album North Hills is one of the best albums of the year and I look forward to seeing these guys grow their fan base as a result. We caught up with Dawes who gave us a collection of 5 albums that they enjoy and wanted to share with our readers.

Taylor Goldsmith:

Sail Away – Randy Newman
This record is one of the best examples of a record depending on itself that I’ve ever heard. While every song is essential, no song stands out more than others. Each gives another quick example of Randy’s range and his consciousness of how to keep fresh his perspective as a writer. And yet he only gives you just enough to merely show what he’s capable of, rather than exhaust any of those talents by the end. This way, the record becomes yet another example of how much command he has over his craft, and also how much he likes fucking with his listeners. Along these lines, in every song, you find yourself doubting his honesty as a narrator. Each time you sense any sort of sentimentality or vulnerability, he makes sure to turn it on its head and make you feel like a fool for entertaining any of these loftier thoughts that Randy Newman only intends to play with and accept for their trivial nature.

From The Mars Hotel – Grateful Dead
Whenever I bring up how much I love the Grateful Dead, I tend to get laughed at. To a small extent, it’s starting to feel like ‘American Beauty‘ and ‘Workingman’s Dead,’ are finally being recognized as classic records by all these young roots-rock-loving-indie-kids, but even then, they treat it like it’s some kind of fluke in an otherwise typical tie-dyed psychedelic jam band’s career. It can be really frustrating for a fan like me. Despite the reputation that precedes them, they have a respect for the ‘song’ that equals any of the greats, in my opinion. While this is particularly clear on ‘American Beauty’ and ‘Workingman’s Dead,’ I’ve been listening a lot to ‘From The Mars Hotel’ recently and have been so blown away that even after 7 years after their first release, they’re still able to write some of their best material and stay true to their sound. A common criticism of the dead is that they tend to play a little too loose or a little too sloppy, and yet have one the greatest reputations as a live band in music. My theory on this contradiction is that their focus as a band (maybe consciously, maybe a product of the drug use) has been on simply the enjoyment and the expressive capacity of playing their instruments. And a phenomenon like that can be infectious. Rather than treating each song as an opportunity to prove to the listener how good he is at his instrument, each performance on ‘from the mars hotel’ seems to be a means for each member to explore his relationship with the rest of the band and how all together they can make the whole thing get up and go.

Griffin Goldsmith:

Drum Suite – Art Blakey
I have been thoroughly enjoying an album by Art Blakey called Drum Suite. You don’t have to be an avid jazz listener to enjoy this album. It is full of sick drumming and memorable melodies. His heartfelt intuitive groove is heavy in every track. His technique is lopsided which in my opinion is responsible for his unique charisma. It’s a good album to put on if you’re trying to groove, which is always a top priority.

Alex Casnoff:

Graceland – Paul Simon
Paul Simon’s album Graceland is cemented to my memory of childhood. I am an Alexander by birth; and while my name since has been shortened to its current state of Alex by my friends and most of my family, it is not uncommon for my Mother and Father to call me Al. I remember being slung over my Dad’s shoulder in the living room of our New York apartment and my Mom and him shouting the chorus to “You Can Call Me Al” at the top of their lungs. This usually continued until someone above or below us had had enough and stomped on the floor or hit the ceiling to let us know. I didn’t really understand the meaning of the song when I was Four, but I could feel its energy. Not a lot makes me feel as happy as that song does. Now at Twenty Two, I still don’t really understand what the song means, but I’m not sure that Paul does either, and I am sure that it doesn’t make a difference. In essence the song is nonsensical. He’s asking “Betty” if she’ll be his body guard, telling her she can call him Al, all while the verse is being narrated by some man seemingly concerned with growing old, getting a “beer belly”, losing his role models, and afraid of ending up a “dead cartoon”. While the song still makes me smile, it gives me a sort of sweet melancholy nostalgia now. Whether or not Simon meant it, I relate to the “Man walking down the street” and his fear of growing old, his lost innocence, and his desire for a protector. The album is no doubt a product of the Eighties. 1986 to be exact. “Dated” might be the word, but I think both the quality of the songs and the addition of all of the South African influences transcend the decade. The Synths and the South African musician’s poly-rhythms and instrumentation add a lightness and sense of whimsy to it. I think the “cheesyness” actually adds to my nostalgia, and that feeling of childishness.

As with any great record my favorite songs have often shifted. “You Can Call Me Al” to “Diamond’s on the Soles of Her Shoes“, Simon’s account of an affair he had with a the Daughter of a Diamond Mine Owner, and the way she pretended to be normal when there was really no escaping the enormity of her wealth. Recently, my favorite song has been the title track, “Graceland“, which was inspired by a visit he made to Elvis’ Memphis Mansion. I think I just recently moved on to this track because it doesn’t really remind me of my childhood. It reminds me of right now. It reminds me of being Twenty Two. It reminds me of wishing I was child again. It reminds me of Women, losing them, having them, wanting them. It makes me think about my entire life. I’ve been travelling a lot recently. It seems to be part of the deal, when you decide to join a band. “Graceland” reminds me of that too; like a day when your driving in the middle of the country which sometimes seems so Alien and you see a lake or something as simple as that and it makes you feel comfortable again. “There is a girl in New York City, who calls herself a human trampoline, and sometimes when I’m falling flying tumbling in turmoil I say ‘whoa’ so this is what she means, she means were bouncing into graceland”. This line always gets me, there’s something I’ve experienced in it. The song itself is like the gospel for an atheist like me. A cry for fulfillment. Whether you’ve never heard this album, threw it aside because of its “Eightiesness”, or just thought “You Can Call Me Al” was a fun but insubstantial jam, I strongly recommend that you pick it up and give it a second chance.

Wylie Gelber:

“Donny Hathaway Live” (1972) – Donny Hathaway
This record is one of the most insane records I’ve ever got my hands on, and definitely THE greatest live record I’ve ever heard. Side 1 recorded in Los Angeles (the Troubadour) and side 2 in Manhattan (the Bitter End). When you throw it on you’re reminded of what it means to be a bad ass. The level of musicianship is other-worldly. Bass player Willie Weeks sits so deep in the cut it’s overwhelming. A perfect performance. “Voices Inside (everything is everything)” is a 13 minute masterpiece. With the freshest bass solo ever put to tape. Fred White holds it down on the drums like the beast he is. Hathaway has never come more correct, the vocals, piano, arrangements and re-arrangements couldn’t be better. Since the first time I heard it, Track 7 is the only “Jealous Guy” I’ll ever listen to. Cornell Dupree, Phil Upchurch, and Mike Howard on guitar. Earl DeRouen on congas. This record is one of the main reasons I need a new car stereo. Listen to it loud or not at all.

Buy: Dawes – North Hills
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MP3: Dawes – “Love Is All I Am”

The Grateful Dead were known to bust out a cover song at most of their live shows. Many of them wrapped The Dead’s signature sound around an already popular composition. In anticipation of the The Dead’s upcoming shows at the Allstate Arena on May 4th & 5th, I chose songs from the past (’03, ’04) and currently in progress tour. By all accounts the band is hitting on all cylinders and getting along nicely with Warren Haynes on guitar/vocals. Per usual, their sets are consistently sprinkled with musical hat-tip to Dylan. Enjoy.

MP3: The Dead – “She Said, She Said” (The Beatles)
MP3: The Dead – “Queen Jane Approximately” (Bob Dylan)
MP3: The Dead – “Me & Bobby McGee” (Kris Kristofferson)
MP3: The Dead – “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall” (Bob Dylan)
MP3: The Dead – “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” (Bob Dylan)
MP3: The Dead – “Samson And Delilah” (Reverend Gary Davis)
MP3: The Dead – “All Along The Watchtower” (Bob Dylan)
MP3: The Dead – “Turn On Your Love Light” (Bobby Bland)
MP3: The Dead – “In The Midnight Hour” (Wilson Pickett)
MP3: The Dead – “Hard to Handle” (Black Crowes)

Previously: Grateful Dead :: Covers
Previously: Grateful Dead :: Covers II

The Grateful Dead were known to bust out a cover song at most of their live shows. Many of them wrapped The Dead’s signature sound around an already popular composition. Today, I thought I would pull some favorites and new discoveries from the Live Music Archive. While there is a plethora of covers, dates, and versions to choose from, we’ll start you out with the ones below. Due to the large number and variety, it’s likely we’ll do several rounds of posts like these.

MP3: Grateful Dead – “You Win Again” (Hank Williams)
MP3: Grateful Dead – “You Ain’t Women Enough” (Loretta Lynn)
MP3: Grateful Dead – ” Hey Bo Diddley” (Bo Diddley)
MP3: Grateful Dead – “Hard To Handle” (Otis Redding)
MP3: Grateful Dead – “La Bamba” (Traditional)
MP3: Grateful Dead – “Ballad Of A Thin Man” (Bob Dylan)

Previously: Grateful Dead :: Covers

The Grateful Dead were known to bust out a cover song at most of their live shows. Many of them wrapped The Dead’s signature sound around an already popular composition. Today, I thought I would pull some favorites and new discoveries from the Live Music Archive. While there is a plethora of covers, dates, and versions to choose from, we’ll start you out with the ones below. Due to the large number and variety, it’s likely we’ll do several rounds of posts like these.

MP3: Grateful Dead – “Johnny B. Goode”
MP3: Grateful Dead – “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”
MP3: Grateful Dead – “Day Tripper”
MP3: Grateful Dead – “The Mighty Quinn (Quinn The Eskimo)”
MP3: Grateful Dead – “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road”
MP3: Grateful Dead – “Gloria”
MP3: Grateful Dead – “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door”
MP3: Grateful Dead – “All Along The Watchtower”
MP3: Grateful Dead – “Hey Jude”
MP3: Grateful Dead – “Bobby McGee”
MP3: Grateful Dead – “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”
MP3: Grateful Dead – “Big River”
MP3: Grateful Dead – “Mama Tried”
MP3: Grateful Dead – “Wake Up Little Susie”
MP3: Grateful Dead – “Werewolves of London”

Listening to the Pink Floyd’s Peel Sessions from 1970 has reignited my interest in the group that had experienced a significant lag over the last decade. During high school and early college years they were in heavy rotation on my headphones, and later, my dorm room. Unlike my contemporaries at the time who held Dark Side Of The Moon and The Wall as their favorites, mine were, and remain, Atom Heart Mother and Meddle.

“The studio recording of “Careful with That Axe, Eugene” is featured on Relics, while a live version can be found on Ummagumma. The song was originally released as the B-side of their single “Point Me at the Sky.” Pink Floyd re-recorded the track for Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni’s film Zabriskie Point. The song is retitled “Come in Number 51, Your Time Is Up” on the soundtrack album for the film.

One of the most popular Floyd myths states that “Careful With That Axe, Eugene” was a reference to Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia, who famously lost a portion of his right-hand middle finger in a childhood wood-chopping accident. Thus, the title refers to Garcia’s older brother (who was responsible for the accident), wryly instructing him to be more careful with his “axe” (presumably, the axe that severed part of Jerry’s finger). While the story behind Garcia’s missing finger is true, there is no connection between the childhood accident and the song, as neither Garcia, the Dead, nor the story of the childhood accident were widely known when this song was written. Furthermore, Garcia’s older brother was named Clifford.”

Discuss: Anyone want to discuss Pink Floyd today? What are some of your favorite studio recordings? What about some of your recommended live releases, both official and unofficial? Please leave your favorite albums, live show experiences, etc in the comments.