Author Topic: Music News  (Read 220961 times)

Offline Front-Ranger

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 30,287
  • Brokeback got us good.
Music News
« on: May 03, 2006, 06:08:00 pm »
There is usually a big concert at Red Rocks on or near my birthday of July 17. Red Rocks is a big outdoor amphitheater that was built by the WPA during the Depression. It is nestled in a natural rock formation in the “hogback” of the Front Range of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. It has the best acoustics of any outdoor amphitheater (they say) and some legendary concerts have been held there.

This year there will be a reunion of the band Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. I am planning to go, and will get tickets as soon as they go on sale. Let me know if anyone's interested in seeing this concert. I am sure ticket prices will be astronomical though. I will be seeing them mostly to see Neil Young.

Other performers with BBM ties who will be coming to Red Rocks include Linda Ronstadt and the Allman Brothers. If I attend any other concerts this summer, though, it will likely be Bonnie Raitt who's appearing at Red Rocks in August. Raitt was the first performer I ever saw in concert, many moons ago.

In other music news rt has a post about the documentary on Bob Dylan being shot this summer at http://bettermost.net/forum/index.php?topic=1170.0. So he's a dj now on XM...always reinventing himself. I've been listening to two Dylan albums, Desire and Nashville Skyline, circa 1975. The duet with Johnny Cash that begins Nashville Skyline is incredible. If you haven't heard his early albums, you don't know Dylan.

By the way, though Dylan is credited with writing "He was a friend of mine" he just wrote it down. It's an old song passed from ear to ear over the decades.
« Last Edit: May 04, 2006, 12:29:40 pm by Front-Ranger »
"chewing gum and duct tape"

moremojo

  • Guest
Re: Music News
« Reply #1 on: May 04, 2006, 11:46:34 am »

By the way, though Dylan is credited with writing "He was a friend of mine" he just wrote it down. It's an old song passed from ear to ear over the decades.
That is good to know. I looked for this song in a book on Dylan's lyrics at the bookstore some months ago, and for the life of me could not find it. I was unfamiliar with this song before seeing BBM. I know I'll never be able to hear it now without thinking of Ennis and Jack, and it always brings a tear to my eye.

Offline Front-Ranger

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 30,287
  • Brokeback got us good.
Re: Music News
« Reply #2 on: May 06, 2006, 06:36:42 pm »
Bruce Springsteen has a new album out with songs by Pete Seeger. I think you can get it at Starbucks. I'll check to see if any BBM songs are on it.
"chewing gum and duct tape"

Offline Front-Ranger

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 30,287
  • Brokeback got us good.
Re: Soundtrack Question
« Reply #3 on: June 07, 2006, 10:19:37 am »
I should probably just PM Kirk or Bill about this, but maybe we can have a discussion. Many of the guitar duets on the BBM soundtrack feature acoustic guitar and, what I thought was a bottleneck guitar. But others have said that it's a pedal steel guitar (I'm not familiar with that type of instrument). What are your thoughts?
"chewing gum and duct tape"

gattaca

  • Guest
Re: Music News
« Reply #4 on: June 07, 2006, 10:32:43 am »
Front-Ranger -
It could be either, actually (it could be both, also). The two can sound very similar.
I have an old, old Emmons pedal-steel that I'm trying to recondition (I got at a garage sale and it was badly damaged in a fire) that I have played around with for a couple of years, but the playing techniques between the two instruments are quite similar - you fret with either a bottleneck or a steel bar.

http://www.steelguitar.com/

I also thought Wings had a 12-string acoustic in the mix as well, but that could also be 2-6 strings with a very short tape delay.

(edit)

Followup -

http://www.vervemusicgroup.com/product.aspx?ob=disc&src=art&pid=11401

I found some info on verve (no scoring) but the playlist seems to indicate that it was a "steel guitar":

Soundtrack 
Gustavo Santaolalla (1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 17) Guitar
Bob Bernstein (1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 17) Steel Guitar
Willie Nelson (2, 13) Vocal
Emmylou Harris (4) Vocal
Teddy Thompson (5, 10) Vocal
Rufus Wainwright (5, 16) Vocal
Steve Earle (7) Vocal
Mary Mcbride (eight) Vocal
Jackie Greene (11) Vocal
The Gas Band (13)
Linda Ronstadt (14) Vocal

It doesn't specifically state "pedal steel", however.

« Last Edit: June 07, 2006, 11:49:27 am by gattaca »

Offline Front-Ranger

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 30,287
  • Brokeback got us good.
Re: Music News
« Reply #5 on: June 07, 2006, 12:08:44 pm »
Thanks, Gatt! This is very interesting. Notice he left the answer a little ambiguous, everybody, so we can debate it some more! BTW, do you ever think of the acoustic guitar as representing Ennis and the steel guitar representing Jack (or vice versa??
"chewing gum and duct tape"

gattaca

  • Guest
Re: Music News
« Reply #6 on: June 07, 2006, 12:26:45 pm »
... do you ever think of the acoustic guitar as representing Ennis and the steel guitar representing Jack (or vice versa??

I'd have to give it some thought. Pedal steel elicits more sadness or sorrow (read: evokes minor chords) in a superior fashion to acoustic guitar IMO, so on the surface, I'd say I would tend to associate pedal steel with Ennis.

I found this:
http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?EAN=602498865859&z=y&btob=Y

Gustavo Santaolalla         Guitar, Pump Organ
Mike Turner              Guitar
Mickey Raphael         Harmonica
David Mansfield          Mandolin
Richard Ruttenberg       Piano
Bob "Boo" Bernstein     Pedal Steel Guitar

Which gives clear composition credit to Bernstein for "pedal steel guitar"

Offline Front-Ranger

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 30,287
  • Brokeback got us good.
Re: Music News
« Reply #7 on: June 07, 2006, 01:06:01 pm »
Yes, but isn't Jack more the tragic figure (tho they both are). Also, I think of the acoustic guitar as like Ennis because the notes are picked and they are precise and digital, whereas the bottleneck notes are analog and slidey...how do you like my command of musical terminology?  :laugh: And the acoustic guitar is what we hear at the beginning when we first see Ennis.
"chewing gum and duct tape"

moremojo

  • Guest
Re: Music News
« Reply #8 on: June 07, 2006, 01:17:50 pm »
Yes, but isn't Jack more the tragic figure (tho they both are).

I see Ennis as the more tragic of the two. Jack acquires a kind of ironic peace, while Ennis must bear his sorrow, loneliness, and regret for the duration of his life.

Offline Front-Ranger

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 30,287
  • Brokeback got us good.
Re: Music News
« Reply #9 on: June 07, 2006, 05:32:51 pm »
That is a good point, Scott. I will try to think "Jack/ironic peace" and maybe it will bring me some peace. I think that theme is contained in "Wings" too.
"chewing gum and duct tape"