Townes' voice can be an acquired taste but if you're able to get beyond that you're in for a real treat as I do believe he's one of the best songwriters who ever lived. I also highly recommend seeing this documentary (click on the image for more info): I haven't heard this yet but many people I know have strongly suggested it: ...and, of course there's this (which I still haven't purchased yet). However, Steve did put on one hell of a show in Carrboro last week and told many very moving (and often humorous) anecdotes about his times with Townes.

The No Depression website is having a contest to win copies of the Reckoning remaster (along with the deluxe edition of Murmur) as well as an uncut sheet of the LP artwork signed by the band. You can read more about it here.

Thanks for that. It's nearly an hour long but it's a quick hour. Highly recommended for anyone that's a fan of Rush.

Dylan. His shows can be uneven at times but even Dylan on his worst night is going to be better than Def Leppard or Poison at their best. I do love me some Cheap Trick though. Lord knows why they aren't the headliners.

First song I ever recall hearing by him is Doctor, Doctor. Can't say I was ever much of a fan of his 80s work (with or without Power Station). If I'm not mistaken, he's backed by most (if not all) of Little Feat on his Sneaking Sally Through the Alley album.

Everything my friends have said about this movie is true. It's definitely worth seeing. However I must say it was more on their recommendations that I went to see it. Thank goodness because the near endless hyping of it on VH1 Classic nearly kept me away. Yes, the hype is worth it to encourage people to see the movie but I believe the ad campaign started in late '08 and hasn't let up since. I think that's because Viacom or whoever owns the VH1, MTV, CMT franchise these days also has some sort of financial interest in the movie. Fan or not, it'll make you wanna buy one of their CDs just to help them out.

I'm familiar with John Trudell. Years ago, I think Dylan mentioned AKA Graffiti Man in one of those Rolling Stone year-end polls. Trusting Dylan's taste in music I tracked it down. I liked some of it well enough but I was never really able to get into the whole spoken word thing. Even so, when I saw his Johnny Damas and Me record in the cut out bin quite a while back I snatched it up. I don't think I've ever even listened to it though.

Doing country isn't anything new for Elvis. In addition to his Almost Blue album he's also done duets with Lucinda Williams, Emmylou Harris, George Jones and many others. He's playing here tomorrow and I'd love to see him but it's out of the question right now.

Mountain Jam - 6/1/2008 The Living Bubba A Ghost to Most Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife 3 Dimes Down Puttin' People on the Moon Ronnie and Neil Home Field Advantage Marry Me That Man I Shot Checkout Time in Vegas Tales Facing Up Guitar Man Upstairs Let There Be Rock Lookout Mountain

I loves me some Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers. I just wish they would have gotten around to filming their movie Gone With the Weed back in the 70s.

There's tons of them out there but in the current musical climate, which is largely controlled by Clear Channel, Live Nation, etc. they will never be heard. I'm no fan of the Jonas Brothers either but I also don't see the need in getting so worked up about them. When I was growing up it was Bobby Sherman, the Partridge Family, Leif Garrett, Shaun Cassidy, etc. I simply didn't listen to it. Their music wasn't that hard to avoid. As long as there's teenage girls and hormones, there's going to be musical artists such as The Jonas Brothers that are popular with them.

While it's not a live performance, the Nine Lives box set does include a DVD. There's also a Robert Plant and the Strange Sensation DVD of their performance on PBS' Soundstage.

I think that Fine Print cover may be my favorite by Wes Freed yet.

Drive-By Truckers Polish Up Unreleased Songs For New Album The Fine Print (A Collection Of Oddities and Rarities 2003-2008) CD, Double Vinyl and Digital Download Available September 1, 2009 LIVE FROM AUSTIN, TX CD / DVD AVAILABLE ON JULY 7, 2009 Features Complete Concert Filmed For PBS-TV's Acclaimed Austin City Limits. Filmed in Hi-Def and in 5.1 Surround Sound Los Angeles, CA - Drive-By Truckers (DBT) have been making music together for 13 years resulting in 7 critically acclaimed studio albums which could not contain all of the songs written by the band. DBT recently dug into the New West Records vaults, with guidance from longtime producer Dave Barbe, and put finishing touches on a selection of songs that were never quite completed. "For me, it's been a fun stroll through memory lane and a chance to tie up some loose ends" says Patterson Hood. The result of the collaboration is The Fine Print (A Collection Of Oddities and Rarities 2003-2008), a 12-track album of previously unreleased and rare songs, available September 1, 2009. This summer New West will also release Drive-By Trucker's entire Austin City Limits performance as a CD / DVD combination pack as a part of the Live From Austin, TX line. The Fine Print (A Collection Of Oddities and Rarities 2003-2008) features songs written by band members past and present, including Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley and Jason Isbell. 7 of the twelve songs come from The Dirty South era... a highly creative time for DBT. Hood explains "That was an especially fertile period for the band, as we more or less wrote that album and the one before it, Decoration Day, as well as my first solo album all in a three year period as we were recording and touring behind Southern Rock Opera." The record also contains four covers including "Rebels" by Tom Petty, which the band recorded originally for the TV show King Of The Hill and "Like A Rolling Stone" by Bob Dylan which provided Shonna Tucker with her first ever lead vocal performance on a DBT recording. Drive-By Truckers graced the Austin City Limits stage on September 26, 2008 while touring for their last studio album Brighter Than Creation's Dark. A CD/DVD combination package featuring the entire performance will be available on July 7th, 2009. The 13 songs, which were filmed in Hi-Def and recorded in 5.1 Surround Sound for the critically acclaimed PBS show, include a mix of new songs from Brighter Than Creation's Dark alongside the classics "Let There Be Rock" and "18 Wheels Of Love" (off their first album Gangstabilly) and "Marry Me" (from Decoration Day). The band line-up featured is Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley, Shonna Tucker, John Neff, Brad Morgan and Jay Gonzalez. The Fine Print (A Collection Of Oddities and Rarities 2003-2008) 1. George Jones Talkin' Cell Phone Blues 2. Rebels 3. Uncle Frank (alternate version) 4. TVA 5. Goode's Field Road (alternate version) 6. The Great Car Dealer War 7. Mama Bake A Pie (Daddy Kill A Chicken) 8. When The Well Runs Dry 9. Mrs. Claus' Kimono 10. Play It All Night Long 11. Little Pony And The Great Big Horse 12. Like A Rolling Stone Live From Austin, TX 1. Perfect Timing 2. Heathens 3. A Ghost To Most 4. The Righteous Path 5. I'm Sorry Huston 6. 3 Dimes Down 7. Puttin' People On The Moon 8. Space City 9. The Living Bubba 10. Zip City 11. 18 Wheels Of Love 12. Let There Be Rock 13. Marry Me

First of all, mentioning an all star arena rock outfit such as Chickenfoot in the same breath as Dylan, McCartney and Ringo is blasphemous at best. I've never been the biggest fan of McCartney or Ringo's solo work but even the worst of it is better than what Chickenshit is liable to produce and that's said with all due respect to Hagar and company. I like some of Sammy's work but I've never been a big fan of his either. Whatever the case, he's never been in the same league as Dylan. His musical talent (or lack thereof) aside, what I most admire about Sammy is his laidback, carefree attitude. As for Dylan's voice, it's always been an acquired taste. Yes, it's even more so now but I think it suits his current work well. Who better to sing such weathered, well worn sounding songs than someone with a weathered, leathery and well worn voice? Considering his last four records have been so well received I definitely wouldn't say he is past his "musical prime". Same for McCartney, particularly the recent Firemen album. Sometimes it takes something out of left field like that to remind us of what a tremendous talent he is still capable of being. Hell, even some of Ringo's recent work hasn't been that bad. I never considered him on a par with his bandmates in the Beatles from a songwriting perspective anyway but I do like a great deal of the work he's done over the years. Who knows what will become of this collaboration between Dylan, McCartney and Ringo? Better not to put the cart before the horse and decide ahead of time that it's going to suck when no one really knows what it will sound like.

Perhaps but I gathered from your statement that Jones "has no inclination to play with anyone other than his musical soul mates RP and JPJ and possibly Jason". You said nothing whatsoever about Jones having no inclination to play in a band again. That's why I mentioned his interest in the potential project with Page and Jason Bonham. It's obvious he has much more of a desire to actively participate in music in general than Page at this point. That participation may be producing others or sitting in on various projects (live, studio and otherwise) but the interest is most certainly there and has been for quite some time now.

Sound of the City: London 1964-73 (aka Rock City) I had never seen this until it aired on VH1 Classic last night. It's not something I'd go out of my way to track down but it did have it's moments. Not to mention, it appears it's never been released on DVD (or maybe even VHS, I'm not sure). This review (circa 1981) from the New York Times pretty much sums it up.

While I agree that Led Zeppelin made an indelible impact on music that will be felt for a long time to come, I've found many, many other artists I like just as much and sometimes more than Zeppelin. I'm not talking about technical virtuosity or even the undeniable chemistry of a band like Zeppelin but music that moves me in general. No, there will never be another Led Zeppelin just like there will never be another Beatles or Bob Dylan and I'm perfectly ok with that. There's an entire world of music out there to discover and enjoy, I've never limited myself (and I'm not saying you have) to just one style or genre.

It's interesting you say that as one day back in the late 70s as I was listening to the first Van Halen album, a friend of one of my older brothers walked by and asked, "is that Jimi Hendrix?" I have no idea if Eruption was playing at the time but it was definitely the first record.

John Paul Jones has been playing with (as well as producing) lots of artists in recent years: Uncle Earl, Sara Watkins, the Mutual Admiration Society, the Duhks, Sonic Youth, etc. He's also put in appearances at MerleFest and Bonnaroo. While he expressed an interest in the project with Page and Jason Bonham, he's by no means limited himself to just that. In fact, he recently appeared on TV performing in Sara Watkins' band. He also took part in the Merce Cunningham Dance Company project along with Sonic Youth in NYC recently. That indicates to me that he indeed does have a desire to perform with others. Many others in fact.

It was also posted in this thread last year.

Surprises In Store on Big Surprise Tour An Old Fashioned Revue Featuring Old Crow Medicine Show, Dave Rawlings Machine (Feat. Gillian Welch), The Felice Brothers, and Justin Townes Earle. By Blurt Staff It's a rolling thunder traveling Americana revue. Born out of a deep running comradery built on countless tours and ties between a host of excellent musicians comes THE BIG SURPRISE TOUR, a traveling show of epic collaboration and good times. Kicking off in Hampton Beach, NH on August 4th, THE BIG SURPRISE TOUR is not your standard up down up down line up. Shows will be composed of two 90-minute sets broken up by an intermission. In a free form ramshackle flow the bands and artists will share the stage, taking part in each other's songs, resurrecting old standards, and playing newly written collaborative material as they go. Each evening is sure to be a unique experience as they all put their many combined years of musicianship and knowledge of song-craft and American music into play for these sessions. Click here to read the rest of the article.

This reminds me of people that travel to foreign countries only to stay within the confines of a gated community once there. What not just stay the fuck home and watch the Travel Channel or just go to Epcot Center? I'm no world traveler but I did go to Costa Rica back in '99. I went not for a vacation but for an adventure, which is exactly what ended up happening. Was I concerned for my safety? Of course I was, and did the research on that before leaving. There's more incidents of violence on a daily basis in the U.S. than there is down there. Yes, it's a third world country and yes, it is dangerous but better to have visited than staying home and being scared to even go. It reminds me of something I read (or saw) about New York City recently. The media tends to paint such a dire picture of such places that people are scared to go but those that do actually find out it isn't nearly as bad as the media likes to depict it. Just use some common sense and watch your ass. You could just as easily be gunned down in a drive-by on the streets of the U.S. than you are to die in some foreign country. Violence isn't just confined to one place, it happens everywhere (sadly).

I'm curious what is any of this has to do with Led Zeppelin. As for Eruption, I don't think it was ever intended to be a stand alone song, it is a solo piece for the most part and seems to be more of an intro to You Really Got Me. I saw Van Halen in '79 when they only had two albums out. It was a great performance but to be honest nearly every song sounded just like the other one. I remained a fan throughout the DLR years and still love their early work. Is it anything earth shattering? Not particularly but EVH's guitar playing was considered pretty innovative for the time. Of course it spawned an entire new generation of imitators which makes it hard to look at his playing objectively now. Still, like AC/DC and similar bands, if I just want to hear some good, straightforward rock n' roll, Van Halen is what I reach for.