Comments on: ROCK!

ROCK!

jbickers — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:25:36 -0800

Bruce Springsteen, 1973. Stevie Ray Vaughan, 1984. Jimi Hendrix, 1968. King Crimson, 1969. Warren Zevon, 1982. Dio, 1984. The Band, 1974. Santana, 1975. Elton John, 1970. The Rolling Stones, 1978. For classic rock fans it's a drink from the firehose at Wolfgang's Concert Vault, the web archive of rock promoter Wolfgang Grajonca, better known as Bill Graham. If you want to download any of these shows it'll cost you ("Based upon all the information that is available to us, we believe that performers can earn between four and six times more from Wolfgang's Vault per download than they currently receive from their record companies"), but you can stream all of them at no charge. (Previously)

By: DU

DU — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:29:27 -0800

Hendrix...Crimson...Elton John...Stones....it's like a grand nexus of every 25 minute long, whining song I ever hated with a blinding passion.

By: caddis

caddis — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:31:57 -0800

Always a stinker in every music thread who thinks they are too cool for your music. Loser.

By: papakwanz

papakwanz — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:37:05 -0800

Your favorite comment sucks.

By: stupidsexyFlanders

stupidsexyFlanders — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:38:20 -0800

every 25 minute long, whining song I ever hated with a blinding passion. Others find pleasure in things you despise I lo-o-ve the Mefi life

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:38:51 -0800

Hendrix, King Crimson, both rule. Elton John sucks no matter what era, and the Stones have sucked since the mid 70s. You're welcome.

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:41:30 -0800

OMG, how could you not mention the Flock of Seagulls shows! Awesome! Sorry, I'm home sick and slightly delerious. I think I'll go and lie down now.

By: DU

DU — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:41:41 -0800

I'm not cool by any measure and I am well-known, especially by myself, for having bad taste in music. I just hate "classic rock". In fact, why is music from the 70s considered the "classic" rock? Wouldn't the 50s and 60s be better candidates for that term?

By: boo_radley

boo_radley — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:42:26 -0800

DU:

You can't always get what you want You can't always get what you want You can't always get what you want But if you try sometimes you might find You get what you need

By: davejay

davejay — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:51:14 -0800

Sadly, I've come to the conclusion that when people diss things that I like, they're probably right and I'm probably wrong, so I'm going to start adjusting my lifestyle to suit their preferences. Thanks to everyone for making it easier to figure out what I should like.

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:51:17 -0800

DU, you should really check out what's on offer here. The Clash from 1979; a U2 show from 1981 that reminds me what all the inital fuss was about; Neil Young from 1975.... and I've just barely stratched the surface. Thanks for the post, jbickers.

By: octothorpe

octothorpe — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:53:01 -0800

Double

By: Divine_Wino

Divine_Wino — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:53:16 -0800

While I suspect that the Stones didn't start sucking till the mid 80's, I still thank you because this is awesome.

By: Bearman

Bearman — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:55:02 -0800

Thank you.

By: ND¢

ND¢ — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:57:37 -0800

If there is not a single concert you want to listen to for free on this list: 1.Bruce Springsteen 03/02/1973 2 The Allman Brothers Band 06/27/1971 3 Lynyrd Skynyrd 11/06/1975 4 AC/DC 10/16/1979 5 Jimmy Buffett 10/24/1974 6 Stevie Ray Vaughan 04/15/1984 7 Derek and the Dominos 10/23/1970 8 Fleetwood Mac 06/08/1968 9 The Band 08/16/1976 10 Jimi Hendrix Experience 10/11/1968 11 The Allman Brothers Band 01/29/1971 12 Genesis 01/24/1975 14 Bob Marley and the Wailers 11/30/1979 15 Booker T. & the MG's 06/08/1968 16 Bruce Springsteen 12/15/1978 17 Led Zeppelin 04/27/1969 18 Led Zeppelin 01/11/1969 19 Bruce Cockburn 11/02/1984 20 Stevie Ray Vaughan 08/17/1984 21 Randy Newman 11/10/1974 22 The Who 04/06/1968 23 Traffic 11/18/1970 24 The Allman Brothers Band 12/31/1973 25 Cream 10/04/1968 26 Bob Marley and the Wailers 06/08/1978 27 Pink Floyd 04/29/1970 28 The Who 10/22/1969 29 Neil Young & Crazy Horse 03/06/1970 30 The Allman Brothers Band 09/26/1973 31 Traffic 01/26/1973 32 Ry Cooder 07/07/1974 33 Rod Stewart 12/05/1978 34 Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers 03/07/1980 35 Eric Clapton 02/12/1978 36 Dio 10/05/1983 37 King Crimson 12/14/1969 38 Grateful Dead 12/31/1988 39 Little Feat 09/01/1988 40 Black Sabbath 08/05/1975 41 Miles Davis Quintet 03/07/1970 42 James Taylor 05/29/1970 43 Muddy Waters Blues Band 11/04/1966 44 Muddy Waters Blues Band 11/06/1966 45 Elvis Costello & the Attractions 06/07/1978 46 Rush 09/21/1984 47 Warren Zevon 10/01/1982 48 U2 05/06/1983 49 The Rolling Stones 07/06/1978 50 The Pretenders 05/30/1980 51 Elton John 09/16/1988 52 Genesis 10/15/1986 53 The Band 02/14/1974 54 Moby Grape 02/26/1967 55 Jimi Hendrix Experience 10/11/1968 56 Quicksilver Messenger Service 11/07/1968 57 Emerson, Lake & Palmer 11/20/1977 58 The Bee Gees 12/20/1976 59 Taj Mahal 09/19/1969 60 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young 06/06/1970 61 Van Morrison 11/01/1978 62 The Kinks 02/18/1977 63 Humble Pie 05/06/1973 64 Jethro Tull 09/08/1984 65 Iggy Pop 03/07/1977 66 Ozzy Osbourne 05/11/1981 Music Hall 10 50:22 4.63 67 Emmylou Harris 11/25/1975 68 Genesis 10/22/1978 69 Dio 08/25/1984 70 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young 06/04/1970 71 Mountain 12/31/1970 72 The Paul Butterfield Blues Band 10/14/1966 73 The Band 01/14/1974 74 The Marshall Tucker Band 09/26/1973 75 Santana 03/23/1975 76 J. Geils Band 06/27/1971 77 Ten Years After 04/30/1971 78 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young 06/06/1970 79 Little Feat 09/01/1988 80 David Bowie 07/13/1983 81 Bruce Springsteen 07/03/1988 82 Grateful Dead 05/15/1970 83 Grateful Dead 07/02/1971 84 Tracy Chapman 05/27/1989 85 Grateful Dead 04/28/1971 86 Dickey Betts 12/14/1974 87 Elton John 11/12/1970 88 Heart 09/01/1977 89 Peter Frampton 03/24/1975 90 The Rolling Stones 12/01/1981 91 Warren Haynes 05/13/1993 92 Santana 05/25/1975 93 Eric Clapton 04/22/1985 94 The Charlie Daniels Band 01/30/1982 95 The Doobie Brothers 10/26/1975 96 Quicksilver Messenger Service 06/07/1968 97 10cc 11/11/1975 98 The Band 02/13/1974 100 David Crosby 04/08/1989 then you must just not like sound in general. Great post. Thanks.

By: Merik

Merik — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:58:11 -0800

Thanks, nice find; Im enjoying the smooth sounds of 1975 hifi recording of the Jerry Garcia Band. I just finished watching the bleak movie "Threads" as a result of the discussion in the recent apocalyptic fiction post. And boy did I need some care-free hippy music right now.

By: ND¢

ND¢ — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:59:24 -0800

Also, Stevie Wonder from 1973. Kiss my ass.

By: kickback

kickback — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:59:42 -0800

sifl and olly, the sifl and olly show, sifl and olly, the sifle and olly show, ROCK! sifl and olly ...

By: HeroZero

HeroZero — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 12:02:27 -0800

The '73 Springsteen concert is revelatory. Springsteen is still finding his singing voice. He lays on the Woodie Guthrie-esque stuff pretty thick (he actually plays an early, extended version of "Wild Billy's Circus Story"). It's all wonderful. I love listening to great artists early, somewhat fumbling material sometimes. Great post.

By: jbickers

jbickers — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 12:04:50 -0800

Double No it's not. At the time of that post, all the site did was sell posters and t-shirts. The concert vault is rather new.

By: rocket88

rocket88 — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 12:05:26 -0800

....and I still have yet to read a DU comment I agree with. Thanks for at least being consistent.

By: ahimsakid

ahimsakid — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 12:06:50 -0800

Thanks Jbickers, great post. I used to attend the Fillmore East back in the day and I loved redicovering the handbills . . . Nobody presents triple bills like BG did!

By: nicolin

nicolin — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 12:06:57 -0800

Great. BTW, ever heard of http://www.dimeadozen.org/ ; of www.bootcity.org ; of www.thetradersden.org , or http://bt.etree.org ? These are great trackers with only non-official material to download via bittorrent. (I forgot : zappateers, for zappa freaks). Quality ranges from real bad to excellent, material is taken from concert audiences, radio or tv broadcasts, soundboards.. In order to download those torrents : to me, azureus is the best. All these websites only offer non commercially released music : everything official is carefully removed by the moderators. They try to discard material when an artist isn't tape-friendly too.

By: caddis

caddis — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 12:10:13 -0800

The concert downloads would be more appealing if they were CD quality instead of mp3. So to play them in my CD player I am going to upconvert them back into wav files and burn CDs? For ten bucks they could at least provide a lossless compression. Otherwise, I like this marketing idea. I hope they have actually worked out all the contractual issues so that they don't just get shut down.

By: caddis

caddis — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 12:14:16 -0800

I hear you nicolin, but the hassle factor is high. Shows go up and stay around for only a short while. You have to keep going back every few days to keep up to date on what is available. Here you can just go into the whole rather large catalog, find what you want and be done, plus your favorite artist gets a few bucks.

By: Fupped Duck

Fupped Duck — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 12:20:42 -0800

In Audio Hijack I trust...

By: wemayfreeze

wemayfreeze — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 12:21:02 -0800

Goddamn, that Bruce show is aces. Those early songs really pop live and the accordion on Bishop Danced is so so great. And to think I've stood on that stage (and that the principal sang "I Believe I Can Fly" on that stage ...)! Thanks!

By: liam

liam — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 12:43:48 -0800

Your favorite band thinks your favorite record sucks.

By: Sailormom

Sailormom — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 12:52:51 -0800

I was there! I was only 10 at the time but I have fond memories. Thanks jbickers for the post.

By: Alvy Ampersand

Alvy Ampersand — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 12:53:25 -0800

Can we please have a music thread without mentioning Dio?

By: Roman Graves

Roman Graves — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 12:54:45 -0800

Jesus. The Springsteen, Chuck Berry, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Clash, Booker T, Van Morrison...nevermind, I can't even list all the foot-tapping I've done so far. Thanks much for this.

By: The Straightener

The Straightener — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 13:23:11 -0800

Sweet, I begged and begged my dad to take me to that Dio concert and he wouldn't do it. Now I can live the magic that almost was.

By: drjimmy11

drjimmy11 — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 13:46:29 -0800

Elton John sucks no matter what era Painfully wrong. Great songwriter, if we're being honest. There are only two musical jokes on that list, and their names are "Santana" and "Stevie Ray Vaughan." Especially SRV. What a piss-poor, soulless rip-off of Hendrix.

By: Civil_Disobedient

Civil_Disobedient — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 14:02:53 -0800

Woah, Big Brother and the Holding Company at the Fillmore in '68. Very decent Summertime in there. Sweet.

By: tremspeed

tremspeed — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 14:04:12 -0800

i never cared much for srv. but at least his bassist was in tune. listen to the first 30 seconds of spanish castle magic from the 68 show linked above. good lord, noel redding, luckiest man in rock and roll.

By: CKZ

CKZ — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 14:04:45 -0800

There are only two musical jokes on that list, and their names are "Santana" and "Stevie Ray Vaughan." Especially SRV. What a piss-poor, soulless rip-off of Hendrix. Wow, this must be the stupidest comment I've ever read on MeFi. Ever hear of "Riviera Paradise"? "Lenny"? "Lotus"? "Love, Devotion, Surrender"? "Abraxas"? Either you're deaf or just being silly.

By: ND¢

ND¢ — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 14:16:17 -0800

Holy Shit! Flying Burrito Brothers!

By: buzzman

buzzman — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 14:36:14 -0800

Dio "Thank you ... Elvis"? (End of Mob Rules)

By: ND¢

ND¢ — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 14:39:50 -0800

Listening to Hank Williams Jr. cover "Lawyers, Guns and Money" is a bit surreal.

By: bardic

bardic — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 14:46:23 -0800

Hah! AC/DC playing Towson! In 1979! Awesome! (If you've ever lived in Baltimore, you'd understand that.)

By: dbiedny

dbiedny — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 15:38:04 -0800

Stevie Ray, souless? Jesus Christ on a popsicle stick, the children have taken over MeFi. Better break out the Twinkies and pop. I suppose King Crimson didn't play fast enough, and Jimi was out of tune. That piano player in ELP, why the hell does he insist on sticking those knives in that organ? Are we supposed to be impressed? Damn Rush drummer, what the hell does he need all those tomtoms for, anyway?! That chick in the White Stripes, look at what she does with the most minimal kit. Kickass! No matter how much you love your music, always know that there's someone out there who hates it with as much passion. Damn kids, GET THE HELL OFF MY LAWN!

By: dbiedny

dbiedny — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 15:38:39 -0800

Oh, and great fucking post, jbickers, I've enjoying it big time!

By: Roman Graves

Roman Graves — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 16:09:18 -0800

Either you're deaf or just being silly. More like deaf or fucking retarded. If you can't hear the distinct difference between SRV and Hendrix...well deaf or fucking retarded pretty much says it.

By: Democritus

Democritus — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 16:24:06 -0800

This Springsteen concert is so bad ass! Thank you SO much!

By: jmd82

jmd82 — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 16:34:58 -0800

This site rocks my face off! Guess it's time to hook my computer back up to the stereo. I personally vouch for the 78' version of The Boss. The description says it best: This is powerful rock 'n' roll revivalism and Springsteen makes the heat rain down upon the assembled Winterland parishioners. After watching him in Dublin on PBS this weekend, good to see he hasn't lost it. On the same note, I love the posted concert commentary. Shit like that makes me giddy.

By: lupus_yonderboy

lupus_yonderboy — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 17:15:01 -0800

I can see both sides of the SRV controversy. He's a fine musician, but nothing special. I'd be perfectly happy if I'd have ended up at one of his shows, but I find him somewhat unmemorable, he doesn't have a unique voice in my mind. Not like Hendrix, who is an elemental force. It must be hard to be an electric guitarist after Hendrix. People like Fripp and May and on the more experimental side Torn and Frith managed to create their own unique voices, but everyone else stands in Hendrix' shadow.

By: lupus_yonderboy

lupus_yonderboy — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 17:18:41 -0800

Oh, and the first concert I listened to was amazing (King Crimson 69)! But the price is too high -- $10 should get me a CD -- it's particularly hard to pay because I can just listen to the site for free. If you're listening -- $5, guys! At $5 I would have bought probably 10 of these shows -- at $10 I'm buying none, it's just where my price break occurs and not some punitive thing (in fact, I do want them to succeed...)

By: caddis

caddis — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 17:42:10 -0800

Well, most CDs cost me between 5 and 15 dollars so 10 is in the sweet spot. If they offer up the wav files at 10 bucks I am probably in for about 15 to 20 of these shows, but then I make too damn much money. Nevertheless, I probably represent the middle aged earner who is their sweet spot customer. We don't want no damn mp3s though. That is the big hole in their business model. Save the Beck Arcade Fire etc. for the mp3s, as though we like them, the big audience is younger and they don't know from sound quality.

By: RussHy

RussHy — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 18:37:23 -0800

Now that's best of the Web! Great post, jbickers. DU, why don't you and your little friends go out and play on the highway for a while?

By: papakwanz

papakwanz — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 20:15:08 -0800

SRV has some great stuff, when he's trying to be SRV and not Jimi. His first album is really good, soulful rock-blues, with a southern twist. Santana, while he has turned into an embarrassment, has done some amazing shit in his life. Santana III is one of the most kick-ass rock records ever, and one that most people, even Santana fans, don't know.

By: Devils Rancher

Devils Rancher — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 20:35:19 -0800

Especially SRV. What a piss-poor, soulless rip-off of Hendrix. Wow. I have this theory about music -- how it represents the harmony and rhythm of the universe, how everything is waves, and how they're all moving forward in time. Music, to me, in this way is sacred, and it's greatest practitioners are in a way Shamen, calling forth the spirit and power of universal waves, interacting in harmony against the backdrop of the 4th dimension, time. Stevie was a holy man in this respect -- he was wakan... he had great power. I'm sorry you're unable to see that.

By: biscotti

biscotti — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 21:38:15 -0800

...SRV controversy. He's a fine musician, but nothing special. I'd be perfectly happy if I'd have ended up at one of his shows, but I find him somewhat unmemorable, he doesn't have a unique voice in my mind Wow indeed. I'm gobsmacked that someone could actually say this about SRV, but then I guess that's what different strokes are all about. I think SRV has about the most unique voice (on guitar, not vocals) I can think of...I first heard him (*coughcoughcough* years ago) on the radio in the car late one night, playing live, and I sat in the freezing cold absolutely unable to stop listening until it was finished, I had never experienced anything like that before, hearing him made me understand for the first time what people meant when they said that music "spoke" to them. I love all kinds of music, but Stevie is something deeply special to me, he spoke my language in a way I'd never heard before, and haven't heard since (except maybe for Derek Trucks sometimes). And SRV's versions of Hendrix are not "rip offs", he went to great (and obvious) pains to both make Voodoo Chile his own while simultaneously expressing deep respect for Hendrix - Stevie was among the most humble of musicians when it came to remembering those who came before him. And what Devils Rancher said, exactly.

By: Justinian

Justinian — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 22:07:40 -0800

I don't think I like music. There are lots of songs that I enjoy listening to, but nothing that I'd ever go out of my way to see in concert. Actually, "go out of my way" is understating it. I can't imagine a situation where I'd want to go to a concert at all. Maybe I have no soul.

By: The Straightener

The Straightener — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 22:33:08 -0800

"Do you know why my heart is breaking tonight? Because I can't eat all that San Antonio pussy tonight!" -- Vince Neil, 12/01/1983

By: madamjujujive

madamjujujive — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 00:42:11 -0800

Thanks so much, jbickers - I am enjoying this so much tonight. Groovin on some vintage Ry Cooder right now. Life is good.

By: ceiriog

ceiriog — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 04:46:25 -0800

There goes the weekend. Lynyrd Skynyrd in Cardiff? Sweet.

By: any major dude

any major dude — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 06:17:30 -0800

this site is the reason Al Gore invented the internets. For the record Stevie Ray Vaughn was beyond awesome. Saying he was just a clone of Jimmy Hendrix is akin to saying every band that existed after the Beatles was a Beatles clone. When someone comes along to redefine the genre no one who comes after is unaffected.

By: pax digita

pax digita — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 06:48:23 -0800

Would've liked to have found a Joe Jackson performance in there. Oh, well....

By: RussHy

RussHy — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 09:57:52 -0800

Allman Brothers XMAS 1973 *eyes rolling up in head* Dionysian Trance Rock!

By: afflatus

afflatus — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 16:12:42 -0800

I tend to divide my guitarists into greats, gods and hendrix (whom I classify as an alien). SRV, to me, is a god. He has the power to strike me dumb and command my body to move involuntarily. Listening to the subtle work on Chitlin's Con Carne just makes parts of my body spasm because they are all trying to move and keep up and can't quite coordinate that fast. The Sky is Crying makes me viscerally hurt in such a pleasant way its indescribable. It cries and murmurs and screams. But all of it is very very human. Hendrix, now, Hendrix was something else. I can't really say what. He is the left field. Not just coming in from out in left field. Its rare that things are revolutionary rather than evolutionary and he just did things fundamentally different. And not just different to be different. This archive is just gorgeous. Thank you. I agree with the description on the Big Brother show...Summertime, when it was still fresh, is a thing to behold. Currently listening to some of the CSNY from the Filmore when they still all seemed to like each other and got off on laughing with the crowd. That's some nice stuff. Much much more listening to be had.

By: thrakintosh

thrakintosh — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 17:22:03 -0800

"Based upon all the information that is available to us, we believe that performers can earn between four and six times more from Wolfgang's Vault per download than they currently receive from their record companies" Um... Somehow I'm not too sure of that. What if the artist owns the label?