Tom Waits new Record "Bad as Me," Out 10/24 Two Singles Released from Anti

So......It turns out that it's true. Waits has a new record coming out on Anti and judging by the two singles already released it seems as though it's going to get the usual reaction. The hard core fan base will go ape s**t, "New record of all original material! First in 7 years!" Meanwhile, "Bad as Me", the title track, which seems most closely related to "Phillipino Box Spring Hog" (Cool Story, Uncompelling Track) is the first single released and will make it easy for the critics and haters to say that this new release is just more of the same old Waits: "Cliche, deranged caricature of his former jazzbo self," etc., etc., you know the lines. Waits is one of those characters in popular culture that evokes such a wide range of strange commentary. From intellectuals attempting to show off their personal knowledge of brake drums and piano strings whipped against dumpsters to rock classicists who haven't changed their opinions on the guy since 1972. Sure, he loves to feed this fire and fights to control his ridiculous fabled persona by attempting to keep it that way via any means necessary including not authorizing biographies or even interviews these days, but critics write about him like he's John Cage. They just don't know what the f**k is going on. Personally, I'm way more in to this here ballad, "Back in the Crowd", than "Bad as Me" at this time, but the other little snippets that fly out of the vintage stereo equipment and the ratty old car in the "Private Listening Party" video, which included something that sounded like a new rockabilly track reminiscent of "Lie to Me," have me ready to fork over some dough for a hard copy and maybe even the LP.

Jack of Hearts (Bob Dylan Tribute) take AZ

The Jack of Hearts band erupted in Arizona this past weekend with two explosive shows performed at two completely different venues. The first set was performed in Chandler, Arizona, a neighbor of Tempe and a part of the larger urban area of Phoenix. The boys took the main stage at the Ostrich Festival, a great family event put on by Universal Fairs and including: Live music, Ostrich racing, Medieval Jousting, Pig racing, a Seal show, local venders, rides, and more. The sound set-up was as good as one could ask for at such a large outdoor event and the band was in top form performing an hour set of Dylan's best tunes from '65-'76. Standouts included "Tangled up in Blue," "Quinn the Eskimo," and "Like a Rolling Stone," which frontman Jamie Israel has become accustomed to introducing as "The greatest rock-n-roll song of all time." The crowd was a mixture of older folks standing and sitting to enjoy the Bob Dylan song repertoire and a large group of young tweeny-boppers lined up in front of the stage to have good seats for the next act, The Ready Set. While, the youngsters up front weren't really there for us, they did cheer (or scream and pull out their hair) enthusiastically and yell out about which band members were the cutest. The two bands couldn't have really been farther from each other in style, but it did make for a nice mix of patrons and the overall size of the crowd was definitely a big positive for the group and Universal Fairs.

Next it was a trip further south to Bisbee, Arizona, a beautiful little town nestled in the mountains near the border. Bisbee is an old mining town, which changed into more of a tourist attraction and artist's haven in the 70's and is now a melting-pot of extremely eclectic and artistic people who love their small community and it's rich history. Local, Dylan Charles, set the boys up at the Old Bisbee Repertory Theater and together with Nowhere Man and Whiskey Girl he performed Pink Floyd's The Wall in it's entirety. The pull of Bob Dylan helped boost that of Dylan Charles and The Wall and together was enough to pack the house and leave a few fans to listen outside. The crowd was insanely attentive for the entire program and gave both band's standing ovations. At one point I commented from the drums that they were a great crowd to which a kind lady yelled, "You're in Dylan country." Perfect. Post show we went down to the Grand for wonderfully cheap and stiff cocktails and then back to the house of local DeadHead musicologist "Steve" where we traded songs and harmonized over tequila, beer, and conversation. Thanks again to everyone involved with everything....Dylan, Universal Fairs, Jamie and Ali, Mr. and Mrs. Israel, K. Kerfoot, Nowhere Man and Whiskey Girl for the crash pad, Steve, and Uncle Dave. Possible vids and audio to come.....

RVOW: Desire by Bob Dylan (1975)

RVOW is back and this week I'm spinning Desire, Bob Dylan's second straight Album of the Year (1975's Blood on The Tracks and Desire in '76) according to Britain's New Musical Express Magazine. Blood on The Tracks is universally heralded as Dylan's best work of the decade; complete with "Tangled Up in Blue," "Shelter from the Storm," and "Simple Twist of Fate," but Desire did top the charts in the U.S. for 5 weeks and is a record that I can never go too long without revisiting. One main reason is the band. Howie Wyeth on drums and Scarlet Rivera on "gypsy" violin are instrumental standouts in this traveling ensemble and show known as "The Rolling Thunder Revue," (see The Bootleg Series Vol. 5). More widely praised, but then less known, is the beautiful face and marvelous voice from Gram Parsons recordings and tours before his tragic death a few years prior, Ms. Emmylou Harris. The duets can't really hold up to Parsons and Harris' country balladry, but Emmylou and Dylan do light up the entire record (Harris is only absent from "Isis," and "Sara," the passionate autobiographical "letter" to Dylan's then recently divorced ex and mother of Jacob Dylan of Wallflowers fame). The best duets are undoubtedly "Joey," the story of the then recently deceased New York gangster "Crazy" Joe Gallo, and "Oh, Sister," which concludes side one. The end of side one also holds the most beautiful and integral violin performances in both the afore mentioned ballad "Oh, Sister," and the arabesque "One More Cup of Coffee." The true power and skill of the band are best represented on "Black Diamond Bay," and the opening epic; "Hurricane," a strophic poem told in "cinematic" storytelling style about the wrongful arrest and conviction of boxer Ruben "Hurricane" Carter. Carter was eventually released on appeal some twenty years later, but was never exonerated for the murder of two men and one woman in Patterson New Jersey in 1966. The song was the biggest hit of the record peaking at 33 on the Billboard charts and remains the most well-known track on the record. It even appeared in "Dazed and Confused," and that scene has since been referenced on shows like "The Family Guy." The last collaborator on this record that absolutely must be mentioned and who could easily be referenced as the most important is co-writer to every track save "Sara," Mr. Jacques Levy. Dylan and Levy have contributed brilliant A-B-A-B rhyme schemed couplets on tracks like "Isis," and the Tex-Mex "Romance in Durango," which stand up next to any lyrics in the entire Dylan catalogue. This record has it all for Dylan fans and together with the live recordings represented on the 1975 edition of the Bootleg series mentioned above represents the height of the 70's and one of the highest peaks of Dylan's career as performer and songwriter. It feels good to have this now certified double-platinum album on vinyl and be able to let it cruise around the needle the way it was originally intended to. Go dig.