Johnny Cash - American Outtakes 1993.

Johnny Cash was approached in 1993 by producer Rick Rubin and offered a contract with Rubin's American Recordings label, better known for rap and heavy metal than for country music.

Under Rick Rubin's supervision, Johnny Cash recorded the album 'American Recordings' in Rick's living room, accompanied only by his guitar.

For years Cash was often at odds with his producers after he had discovered with his first producer, Sam Phillips, that his voice was better suited to a stripped down musical style. Most famously he disagreed with Jack Clement over his sound, Clement having tried to give Cash's songs a "twangy" feel and to add strings and barbershop-quartet-style singers. His successful collaboration with Rick Rubin was in part due to Rubin seeking a minimalist sound for his songs.

A number of out-takes CD bootlegs have circulated, the following comprises a sizable amount of what has surfaced and importantly the 'copy' quality is very good

Source: Soundboard.

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@192kbps

Genre: Country

Set: Rehearsal Session

Session List:

01 For Heaven's Sake
02 I'm A Drifter
03 I Witnessed A Crime (with Billy Gibbons)
04 Banks of The Ohio
05 The Next Time I'm In Town
06 Breaking Bread
07 To Beat The Devil
08 Friends In California
09 The Caretaker
10 The Wonder of You
11 East Virginia Blues
12 Bury Me Now
13 I'm Just An Old Chunk Of Coal (But I'll Be A Diamond Someday)
14 Go On Blues
15 If I Give My Soul

plus from a separate source in Nero music files.

16. Bad News
17. All Gods Children Ain't Free

Links: Official site HERE.

Comments: These out take recordings are reported to have taken place between the 17th and 20th May 1993. As mentioned above the location was Rick Rubins living room, clearly professional recording equipment was used. The stripped down 'bare' feel of the official album release is also captured here on these wonderful intimate recordings.

Reloaded - 29/May/2015 - download link in comments. 

Buy: - MP3's at Amazon.co.uk Johnny Cash

Beehive Recommends - Two From Cheap Lullaby Records

Cheap Lullaby Records have released a couple of fascinating albums in the last week or so both very different and also superbly crafted.

Josh Ottum are from Seattle, USA and have just released 'Like The Season'. It's not just the Beehive that's giving them a rather large thumbs up and unashamed plug, The Seattle Weekly recently stated - "Like the Season is one of the more adventurous musical offerings to come out of Seattle in years".

I'm not going to draw comparisons with other bands, Josh Ottum have a pretty distinctive sound and for me sit somewhere between Indie and Alt Rock maybe even a few country 'tinges' here and there. Thankfully you can check them out below!

Listen:
'It's Alright'



Website: MySpace.
Buy: Cheap Lullaby Store. MP3's at Amazon Josh Ottum

We seem to have escaped from Brooklyn regarding new music (just browse the recent recommendations & spot the trend) and 'remain' in Seattle for our second choice this week which is Ivan and Alyosha.

I really hope you take the time to give them a listen, particularly if you have a liking for uplifting indie or good old pop music. Citing influences from the extremes of Elvis Presley to ELO, or The Beatles to Bing Crosby, they are a real buzz. The promo adds 'Smooth, soaring guitar pop from Seattle duo that is plaintive and pristine' I tend to agree.

The new album 'The Verse, The Chorus' has just been released and will comfortably be in my personal top twenty for 2009.

Listen:
'Beautiful Lie'



Website: MySpace.
Buy: Cheap Lullaby Records. MP3's at Amazon:Ivan & Alyosha

Jeff Buckley - The Music Faucet 1992

By the time Jeff Buckley performed on WFMU's The Music Faucet in October 1992 some of the songs that would appear on his debut album Grace less than two years later were already well developed albeit with a few notable differences to what would become the final studio versions.

His love for performing covers from an incredibly diverse range of artists and styles has been well documented and throughout 1992 those fortunate enough to catch him at cafe's and clubs in Lower Manhattan may have heard him perform an eclectic selection of covers from a range of artists including Led Zeppelin, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Bob Dylan, Édith Piaf, Elton John, The Smiths, Bad Brains, Leonard Cohen, Robert Johnson and Siouxsie Sioux.

This is Jeff Buckley live on WFMU New Jersey on the 11th October 1992.

Source: Soundboard.

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@320kbps

Genre: Alternative Rock, Folk.

Set: Full set.

Set List:

01. Lost Highway
02. Eternal Life
03. Please Send Me Someone To Love
04. The Way Young Lovers Do
05. Satisfied Mind
06. Hallelujah
07. Mama You've Been On My Mind
08. Alligator Wine
09. Chat - Calling You (aborted)
10. Unforgiven
11. We All Fall In Love Sometimes
12. Curtains
13. Dinks Song
14. Corpus Christi Carol

Links: Official site HERE.

Comments:

In 1991 Jeff Buckley had began co-writing with Gary Lucas resulting in the songs "Grace" and "Mojo Pin",and by late 1991 he began performing with Lucas' band Gods and Monsters around New York City. After being offered a development deal as a member of Gods and Monsters at Imago Records, Jeff moved back to New York to the Lower East Side at the end of 1991. The day after Gods and Monsters officially debuted in March 1992, Jeff Buckley decided to leave the band.

By the summer of 1992, limos from executives eager to sign the singer lined the street outside Sin-é. Jeff signed with Columbia Records, then home of Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, for a three-album, essentially million-dollar deal in October 1992. This recording captures Jeff on the cusp of change, however the intimate feel of this radio studio gig and his connection with his audience, thankfully continued as Jeff's popularity increased. Two cover versions of songs from Elton John's Captain Fantastic album are included as is a song entitled 'Unforgiven' that would later become 'Last Goodbye'.

Reloaded - 29/May/2015 - download link in comments. 

Buy: Mp3's at Amazon.co.uk - Jeff Buckley

Colosseum - Live In Boston 1969

Colosseum were one of the bands that passed me by in the late sixties & early seventies. I was probably a little to young to appreciate their music and with an overload of choice some bands just stayed off the radar screen.

Colosseum were formed originally in 1968 by drummer Jon Hiseman, saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith and bassist Tony Reeves, all of whom had previously been in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, and played on his acclaimed "Bare Wires" album. The group was completed by keyboard wizard Dave Greenslade and guitarist/vocalist James Litherland. Colosseum were immediately signed to the Fontana label who released the bands debut "Those Who Are About To Die Salute You" which became the first of four album chart successes for the band. A change to the newly formed Vertigo label in 1969 accompanied the bands second album "Valentyne Suite". The title track was a twenty minute rock classic written by Greenslade/Hiseman/Heckstall-Smith which showcased the individual talents of the musicians within a heart-stopping elegiac and beautiful tapestry of sound.

This is the band live on the 22nd February 1969 at The Boston Tea Party, in Boston, USA.

Source: Soundboard.

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@320kbps

Genre: Prog Rock, Jazz & Blues Influenced Rock.

Set: Full set.

Set List:

01. Butty's Blues
02. The Machine Demands A Sacrifice
03. Valentyne Suite 1
04. Valentyne Suite 2
05. Valentyne Suite 3

Band Line Up:

Dick Heckstall Smith: saxophones
John Hiseman: drums
James Litherland : guitar, vocals
Dave Greenslade. keyboards
Tony Reeves : bass

Links: Wikipedia entry HERE.

Comments:

I did get to see one of the bands that formed in the aftermath of Colosseum that of Greenslade, and I having now listened to this concert I can hear Dave Greenslade's influence in the bands performance. I guess lengthy drum solos are pretty dated these days, however the band take us back to a time when for many musicians experimentation and crafted musicianship were considered as or more important than image and marketing. Colosseum were probably upstaged in terms of media publicity by the likes of The Nice and King Crimson, they are however a very good reference point for that era.

Download links (two) in comments below.

Buy: Mp3's at Amazon.co.uk: Colosseum

Beehive Recommends - A Variety Of Acts & Styles !

Right then ! The inbox has been filling up with some great new or newish artists and albums so here is a quick pick of the best that has taken my attention in the last few days...

Kicking Off with Bottle Up And Go whose 'darker louder' hi energy blasts into your ears from the opening chord. Their Press says 'Crush up some shards of broken whiskey bottles and colorful confetti and put in a cannon and what bursts out is the raucous, uncaged bunch that is Bottle Up and Go. Comprised of singer and guitarist Keenan “Hot Pants” Mitchell, drummer Fareed “The Prince” Sajan, and saxophonist accompanist Andrew Carrico, Bottle Up and Go are a two-and-a-half-piece, lo-fi blues-punk band from primitive Brooklyn, NY'. Not a bad description at all!

Listen:



Website: MySpace.
Buy/More: (Mp3's at Amazon)Bottle Up & Go

Also heralding from NYC are Jupiter One who are currently touring with Regina Spektor (until the 12th November). The band have an excellent new album called 'Sunshower' in fact as I type I am enjoying a mixture of great and quite catchy indie pop and rock tunes that make up this new release.

Their biography reads - A Sunshower can be a rare occurrence, but when these opposing forces meet, magic and allure is in the air. This is exactly why Jupiter One chose the title (inspired by the Japanese short film, Dreams, by Akira Kurosawa) for their newest Ryko release, which hit the streets on September 15. Their far-out freshness mixed with timeless musical inspirations meshes together in a bittersweet indie-pop rock concoction—produced by the group and noted engineer Chris Ribando (Diamond Nights, The Black Crowes, The Fever).

This young quartet consisting of K Ishibashi (lead vocals), Zac Colwell (lead guitar), Dave Heilman (drums) and Pat Dougherty (bass), has a knack for unifying their contemporary style with a range of musical influences. Sunshower is the result of Jupiter One's experienced ear. For instance, the dancefloor-friendly “Simple Stones,” filled with handclaps and soulful riffs, boasts a bass line for all ages while blending ‘80s Rolling Stones and MGMT. The epic opener “Volcano” resurrects the youthful spirit of the Beach Boys with The Flaming Lips, while delivering one of the disc’s best choruses. And if Ishibashi conjures The Shins on “Find Me a Place,” then he drops vintage, finger-picking folk on “People in the Mountain”. Lastly but certainly not least, their current single “Flaming Arrow,” a shimmering acoustic folk tune, shoots through with a bumping bass line and New Orleans inspired drum groove. This genre-bending approach creates a hook-heavy opus well suited for our A.D.D. times.

Listen:



MP3: HERE.
Website: MySpace - Official.
Buy/More: Sunshower

OK so we are definitely stuck in New York at the moment indeed back to Brooklyn for Peter Squires whose debut album 'Woe Is Me' contrasts totally with the above featured bands. Stripped back to guitar, vocals and a littler percussion his indie folk sound is both as refreshing as it is intelligent. His press rightly states - Peter’s direct and honest vocal delivery will make you think of contemporaries like Kimya Dawson and Luke Temple… or even legacy artists like Cat Stevens or minimalist composer Steve Reisch subtle productions while playing with emotions in the way Morrissey would or The Cure. Each song creaks beyond your shield and into your soul creating an album that is all heart, laid bare for our aural pleasure. The up-front honestly, heart on a sleeve Woe Is Me was recorded in Peter Squires Brooklyn bedroom. This stark look at one man’s journalistic view of heartbreak, complete with dark imagery and tender moments too, leaves us listeners with some amazing folk gems.

Full of soul, fear, laughs, tears, broken dreams – Woe is Me is the perfect album for your own woe’s, your own story, your own life as you choose your own adventures.

Listen:



MP3: HERE.
Website: Official
Buy/More: Check out his website above you might be pleasantly surprised.