A new Grateful Dead LP collects previously unreleased live songs from the early to mid-Nineties that envisioned a potential track list for an unrecorded final studio album.
Band archivist David Lemieux curated the nine-song Ready or Not, which arrives November 22nd on CD, limited-edition double-LP and digital formats. Dead.net will offer an exclusive colored vinyl edition of the 2-LP (with one red and one blue disc), limited to 2,000 copies.
Ready or Not features late-period Grateful Dead songs debuted onstage in 1992 and 1993 by their final lineup: singer-guitarist Jerry Garcia, drummer Mickey Hart, drummer Bill Kreutzmann, bassist Phil Lesh, singer-guitarist Bob Weir and then-new keyboardist Vince Welnick. The versions on the LP run up through April 1995, four months before Garcia died from a heart attack.
Notable selections include the Garcia/Robert Hunter composition “Days Between”; Bob Weir’s collaboration with Rob Wasserman and blues icon Willie Dixon, “Eternity”; and two songs written by Weir and Hunter, “Corinna” and “Easy Answers.” One track from the project, a live version of “Lazy River Road” recorded March 25th, 1993 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, is now streaming.
The band issued their 13th and final studio album, Built to Last, in 1989, and they were unable to complete studio versions of the subsequent Nineties live cuts before Garcia’s death.
“Ready Or Not has been a long time coming,” Lemieux said in a statement. “It’s an album we’ve been working on for many, many years. This batch of ‘new’ Grateful Dead songs has never been compiled in one place and given its proper due as a huge part of the Dead’s late-era legacy.
“Many of these songs can easily stand alongside some of the Dead’s oldest, most-loved songs as bona fide classics despite their short tenure in the repertoire,” he continued. “We’ve dug deep into the archive and listened to countless live versions of these songs to find the best, most definitive live performances. When the Grateful Dead were ‘on’ in their later years, their live concerts were as good as any era in their history. The nine songs on Ready Or Not exemplify how good the Dead could be in their later years of touring.”
The album’s announcement arrives weeks after Hunter’s death at age 78.
Marilyn Manson turned heads with the 1994 breakout release Portrait of an American Family, continued the momentum with the 1995 EP Smells Like Children, but truly catapulted toward stardom with 1996’s Antichrist Superstar, the first portion of an album trilogy that saw Manson truly grow into an artist.
Manson continued his friendship with musical mentor Trent Reznor, heading to Reznor’s Nothing Studios in New Orleans to work on the album. Reznor served as producer on the effort, while a number of his associates — producer Sean Beavan, guitarists Robin Finck and Danny Lohner and drummer Chris Vrenna — all lent assistance both musically and behind the board.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Manson revealed that the idea for Antichrist Superstar began with one of his vivid dreams. He explained, “I started having dreams and visions of the world being destroyed and me being the only one left. It was like an ultimate retribution for all of the things that have happened to me growing up. One dream took place some time in the future — it may have even been in Fort Lauderdale. Entertainment had gone to such an extreme that they had taken people and made them into zombies almost just for entertainment’s sake. And I had this strange vision of these women who were completely brain dead — there were just dancing in cages, and their jaws were wired shut so that they wouldn’t bite off the d–ks of all these guys that were around them masturbating. It was a complete Sodom and Gomorrah. And then somehow I was there and I was like either presenting the whole event or performing in it or something. That was probably the first appearance of what will be Antichrist Superstar rearing its ugly head.”
Manson took the title of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Jesus Christ Superstar and gave it his own unique play on words. Digging into some of the ideas from his dreams, he plotted out the album as a scathing social critique about a supernatural being who seizes power and leads the world toward destruction. He would tell Kerrang that part of the inspiration came from German philosopher Friederich Nietzsche.
In addition to the outside influences, Manson also found himself struggling with his own identity in the world and that plays into the album as well. The vocalist stated at the time, “Sometimes I wonder if I’m a character being written or if I’m writing myself. It’s confusing.” One of the songs on the disc, “Little Horn,” delves into the aforementioned dream and what exactly is reality. He explained, “If you thought about it long enough, you could pose the question: Did Antichrist Superstar create Marilyn Manson as a vehicle for it’s rise to power? I really feel like where I’m at now is where there’s no line between what’s on the album and what’s in reality. They work together and one just feeds off the other. The album talks about us being the biggest rock band in the world, and that is going to happen.”
While Reznor may have produced the album, Manson’s closest confidant may have been guitarist Twiggy Ramirez. “The only person I can relate to is Twiggy,” revealed the rocker. “I’ve always felt ignored and starved in relationships. But it’s especially true now. It would be hard to relate to someone who hasn’t been in front of thousands of people screaming their name, or who hasn’t been up for three days and doing drugs and s–t, or who hasn’t had to go to sleep at night on their back because their entire chest was bleeding from broken glass.” Ramirez adds that he feels their pairing was meant to be, stating, “The day I met him, I knew that we would work together. As the band gained popularity locally, I thought it was my place to either be in the band or destroy it.”
As it turned out, Ramirez was prophetic, serving as Manson’s musical partner through the course of the trilogy before exiting after the support of 2000’s Holy Wood album. The trilogy, which also included 1998’s Mechanical Animals disc, actually played out in reverse chronological order, with Antichrist Superstar viewed as the conclusion, while the other two discs served as prequels of sorts.
As for Antichrist Superstar, the album arrived on Oct. 8, 1996, through Reznor’s Interscope brand Nothing Records. The first song fans heard was the title track, a promotional single for the album, In the overall concept of the album, the song centered on the point where the abused victim took on the identity of the Antichrist Superstar, preparing to destroy everything in his path. Manson would often perform the track from a podium onstage. The song didn’t really register at radio, but did become a solid part of Manson’s live show.
The first true single off the album was “The Beautiful People.” Manson penned the track about what he described as “the culture of beauty.” The chugging, aggressive beat has made it one of Manson’s most recognizable tracks. He told Kerrang, “It was somewhere in the South [when I came up with it], which is ironic. I remember playing the drum beat on the floor and then having my drummer duplicate that on the drum machine. It happened in one day pretty much.”
Manson had one of the more popular and striking videos of his career with “The Beautiful People,” a clip directed by Floria Sigismondi. The video would be nominated for a pair of MTV Video Music Awards, including a nomination for Best Rock Video. In one of the most memorable performances of the song, Manson took the stage in 1997 VMAs flanked by faux Secret Service Agents as he stepped up to a podium and stated, “My fellow Americans, we will no longer be oppressed by the fascism of Christianity! And we will no longer be oppressed by the fascism of beauty. As I see you all sittin’ out there trying your hardest not to be ugly, trying your hardest not to fit in, trying your hardest to earn your way into Heaven, but let me ask you: Do you want to be in a place that’s filled with a bunch of a–holes?”
The other major single from the album was “Tourniquet,” a track derived from another of Manson’s dreams. The darkly sultry but at times aggressive song did crack the Mainstream Rock chart nearly a year after the album was released. Other standout cuts on the disc included the distortion-filled “Cryptorchid,” the groove and beat-driven “The Reflecting God” and the frenetic album opener “Irresponsible Hate Anthem.”
The disc would debut at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart and went on to be certified platinum. But of more importance, Antichrist Superstar saw the emergence of a true artist in the making. Manson told Rolling Stone shortly after the album was released, “Every once in a while, I’ll step out on the balcony and think about jumping. I’ll think, ‘Is this the final thrill, because I’m numb to everything else?’ But I feel I have more to accomplish. I think I have a lot more in store that people really won’t expect. I mean, besides the end of the world.” Turns out, he was correct as Manson is still thriving in modern day.
Lana Del Rey had promised something special for last night’s show at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, California. The surprise came early: Joan Baez appeared on-stage and duetted with Lana on “Diamonds & Rust,” from her 1975 album of the same, before playing a solo cover of Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right.” Later in the set, Lana brought out Leonard Cohen’s son Adam to revive their cover of “Chelsea Hotel #2.” Check out the website below for videos. https://pitchfork.com/news/watch-lana-del-rey-bring-out-joan-baez-to-cover-dylans-dont-think-twice/
Posted inUncategorized|Comments Off on Lana Del Ray Brings Joan Baez up on Stage to Sing Diamonds and Rust
Reports surfaced this past week that Cream drummer Ginger Baker was “critically ill,” and now it has been revealed that Baker has passed away at the age of 80.
A brief statement on Baker’s social media page Sunday (Oct. 6) revealed, “We are very sad to say that Ginger has passed away peacefully this morning. Thank you to everyone for your kind words to us all over the past weeks.”
Ginger Baker had suffered a number of health setbacks over the years. He underwent open heart surgery in 2016, also suffering swollen legs and feet after a fall that same year. Baker also claimed in 2013 that smoking had given him chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, while degenerative osteoarthritis saddled the drummer with chronic back pain.
Baker was born in Lewisham, South London in 1939. His big break as a musician came in 1966 when he founded the band Cream with Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton. Their union was brief but fruitful, as they issued four albums over a two year period, yielding such classic hits as “White Room” and “Sunshine of Your Love.” Though their run was brief, their impact was massive, with the group gaining Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 1993. In 2006, the band received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement award.
After Cream’s run ended, Bruce was part of another well-known late ’60s supergroup, continuing to play with Eric Clapton in Blind Faith. The group’s other members included Traffic’s Steve Winwood and Ric Grech. Together, Blind Faith released a 1969 self-titled album which generated the classic track “Can’t Find My Way Home.”
Kofi Baker, Ginger’s son and a fellow drummer, stated, “The other day I had a beautiful visit with my dad…we talked about memories and music and he’s happy that I’m keeping his legacy alive. Our relationship was mended and he was in a peaceful place. Thank you all for the kind messages and thoughts. I love my dad and will miss him always.”
Will Johns, a nephew of Eric Clapton, recalled, “I have really fond memories of Ginger. When I was a kid, he would play games with me and was always a lot of fun when I would see him at Eric’s house. I can remember always asking Pattie, ‘where’s Ginger, where’s Ginger??’ He was cool and I loved him.”
Malcolm Bruce, son of the late Jack Bruce, added, “Much love and peace to Ginger’s family and respect to him. He leaves an incredible and innovative legacy. He always explored across the boundaries of creativity, collaborating with musicians from other cultures before the term ‘world music’ was adopted by others, and had a truly musical ability and a natural sense of what was true and beautiful. Rest in peace. It has been an honour to know you!”
Steve Winwood, Ginger’s bandmate in Blind Faith, stated, “A very sad loss, and my condolences to his family and friends. A loss also for his contribution to music. He was well-grounded in jazz from very early on, and later managed to combine this with African and rock music to create his own inimitable style of playing.”
He continued, “I was lucky to play with him in Ginger Baker’s Air Force, and to meet and work with such luminaries as Phil Seamen, Harold McNair and Graham Bond. And also in Blind Faith with Eric Clapton and Rick Grech. Although his appointment was very unorthodox (he showed up on the doorstep and said, ‘Here I am’) – he made a great contribution to the Blind Faith album which has withstood the test of time. Beneath his somewhat abrasive exterior, there was a very sensitive human being with a heart of gold. He’ll be missed.”
Post Blind Faith, Baker founded Ginger Baker’s Air Force and issued a number of solo albums. He also appeared on albums from Fela Kuti, Hawkwind, Public Images LTD, Masters of Reality and others.
An evening of story, song and guitar fireworks with one of the nation’s leading solo performers, Jacob Moon. Invite your friends and watch their jaws drop!
Very special guests The MacQueens and Ali Matthews.
Date And Time
Sun, March 3, 2019
7:00 PM – 9:15 PM
Location
The Registry Theatre
122 Frederick Street
Kitchener, ON N2H 2L9
Posted inUncategorized|Comments Off on Jacob Moon: Singer. Songwriter. One Man Band.
Join us Thursday March 28th for a special FREE concert featuring Kitchener-Waterloo’s own Danny Michel.
With nominations for three JUNOs, the Polaris Prize, The CBC “Heart Of Gold,” plus a pile of albums under his belt, Danny Michel is one of Canada’s finest songwriters. His thoughtful lyrics and earnest performances have earned him a devoted fan base. Danny is a musical chameleon, able to slip into many genres with ease. He is masterful at striking a balance between unpredictability and meeting expectations, leaving you wanting more as soon as the show is over. Come and experience this incredible performer.
Date And Time
Thu, March 28, 2019
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location
Kitchener Public Library Central Library
85 Queen St. N
Kitchener
Posted inUncategorized|Comments Off on Songs & Stories with Danny Michel at Kitchener Public Library
