Video of the Week: Darkness on the Edge of Town

In honor of the release this week of Bruce Springsteen's expanded and upgraded Darkness on the Edge of Town, quite possibly the high point of his recording career, Straight Lines Music offers this live bootlegged video circa 1978 of the title cut. His intro is brief, to the point, and a little dark. The E Street Band is tight, Little Steven's harmonies are clear, and Roy Bittan's keyboards provide just enough light. His vocals are rough but the music rings true: He's a young man with dreams that just might be fading. A nice clip from the most undocumented part of Springsteen's career.

Check back for a complete review of the whole box set -- blu-ray discs included.

Neil Young's 65th Birthday Present: Archives Avoid Fire Damage

Looks like Neil Young received his 65th birthday present three days early when almost all of his archival material stored in a San Carlos, CA, warehouse escaped serious damage from a fire that apparently started in Young's transformed Lincvolt electronic car. Young's representatives said the warehouse contained a lot of archival material including film, guitars and recordings -- and his transformed Lincvolt electronic car. Reports are more than 85% of everything housed in the warehouse escaped damage, with most of the damage centered in the car. Here's Young's statement, issued Nov. 10, two days before his 65th birthday:

"My wife Pegi and I would like to thank the Belmont-San Carlos Fire Dept for doing such an exemplary job at our recent warehouse fire. A lot of archival items were threatened and the fire department did a first class job protecting them. We are lucky to have these professionals in our area. We are thankful that no one was hurt in the fire. Rest assured that we have the very best fire rescue and protection in San Carlos and Belmont.Lincvolt was severely damaged in the fire. We are still investigating the exact cause although it appears to be an operator error that occurred in an untested part of the charging system.We do know that the car has been operating perfectly for almost 2 thousand miles and the system in question would not be in use while driving the car. We are investigating the components involved with plug-in charging.It is interesting to note that all of the components except the battery systems in Lincvolt are made in the USA. The only components we could not get domestically were the batteries and battery associated systems. We are still looking for a domestic source.There is a computer in Lincvolt. It may function like a 'black box.' It may be useful for gathering data. We will be removing it today and sending it to Lincvolt team member Perrone Robotics. While this is a setback for us we are planning ways to continue. We will begin cleaning and inspecting Lincvolt today."

In celebration today's entry offers three cuts from Young's groundbreaking Time Fades Away LP -- the first live release to include only new material. The LP has not be released on CD...

And on a related topic, consider this a Markowski for Young in the Straight Lines Music Poll for "greatest guitarist in the history of rock," though Hendrix should be a write-in too...

Standing On Your Doorstep: Bob Dylan & The Witmark Demos

With Volume 9 of The Bootleg Series Bob Dylan keeps us on the edge of our living room couch with the stereo cranked up, waiting to hear what will be revealed -- and what could have been released years ago. It should come as no surprise that someone who has recorded for almost 50 years has material in the vault worth hearing, but Dylan continues to astound with what he's held back.

The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964 is a great example (and thanks to CD technology we get to hear them. There is little doubt that these would not be available had we only LPs to listen to). The Witmark recordings are Dylan's (and his publisher's) efforts to make a little money because that's how things were done in the Olden Days. Prior to Dylan (and a few others from the same era) artists did one of two things: they either wrote songs or they sang them. Once a writer wrote a few songs he'd sit down and record them, the publisher would transcribe them, then the sheet music and demo recording were sent to other artists the publisher thought might be a good fit for that song. If the artist recorded the song the publisher and songwriter would make some dough.

That's what's going on in these sparse Dylan-only demo recordings. He's in a small room (you can hear the tight space), he's sitting on chair, and he's playing guitar (mostly) or piano, accompanying himself on 47 songs ranging from straight blues to talking blues to protest music to many of his best-known early masterpieces including "Blowin' in the Wind," "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall," "Masters of War," "Boots of Spanish Leather," "Girl from North Country," "The Times They Are A-Changin'," and "Mr. Tambourine Man." There's obscure music, too, some never released and some heard recorded only by others or on lousy-sounding bootlegs.

So what can you learn from The Witmark Demos? Well, not all that much, really, but that's no reason not to listen. Dylan is prolific, and that comes through. He's developing as a songwriter, and that comes through. He's exploding topically, moving from Woody Guthrie acolyte to protester to introspective chronicler of the soul, to mouthy and ribald frat boy and that comes through. He can (could) really sing, and that comes through loud and clear for tapes as old as these.

But the reason to listen to these demos is this is as close to pure, informal, relaxed Bob Dylan as we're likely to get. It's the heavily bootlegged St. Paul tape from May 1960 or the May 1961 Minneapolis Party Tape with much improved sound -- and with better songs and without the party. It's Dylan in your living room and he's just playing his music. Songs break down once in a while and he tells you why. One goes on for a time and he asks if you're sure you want him to continue "because it's kind of long." He coughs and keeps going. He repeats a verse then tags the correct verse on at the end and tells you what happened. Tempos speed and drag within the same song, and some songs he rushes through. Guitar playing ranges from simple strumming to the complex fingerpicking of "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" (which he fumbles at one point) and you can hear his guitar skills pretty easily. You can tell he likes some songs more than others but on the whole he just likes playing and singing what he's written.

So here's how to listen to this music: Close your eyes and imagine the doorbell rings. You open it to a windy night and find Bob Dylan standing on your doorstep.

"Oh, Hi Bob."

He looks a little uncomfortable, smirks a bit, and doesn't say anything.

"Come on in outta the cold. Wanna beer?"

He nods and steps in, setting down his guitar case and shirking his pea coat from his slight shoulders. You close the door and head to the kitchen to get a couple brews and when you come back there's Dylan sitting on a dining room chair turned toward your couch and he's got his guitar on his lap and he's tuning it. He's turned down the volume on the TV behind him but he left the picture. He takes a swig and sets the bottle on the floor.

"Got some songs I wanna play" and he starts in on "Man on the Street" while you just sit back and listen.

Video Of The Week: 30 Seconds To Mars And Kanye

The Straight Lines Video Of The Week this week is brought to you by 30 Seconds To Mars and rapper Kanye West. The band and the rap artist collectively recorded Hurricane in 2009 and recently performed it together at the 2010 MTV European Music Awards.

30 Seconds gave some extra time for Kanye to do his thing, and overall, the combo put on a very entertaining performance. Let us know what you think. Enjoy!!

Tune In Saturday Online for Patricia Barber

Idiosyncratic jazz singer, pianist, and hometown gal Patricia Barber, a mainstay at the Green Mill jazz club in Uptown, takes advantage of online technology by performing and streaming a show this Saturday night from Northwestern University's Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Not only is it Barber, whose silky, smokey tone, offbeat phrasing, and heady approach to jazz standards, pop covers, and her own compositions have made her a darling of critics and generated a rabid following, but she's playing at Pick-Staiger, one of the most acoustically sound venues in the Chicago area.

Barber is a patient singer and pianist, telling the story the song tells her. She takes her time and, as the live recording of "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) shows, it's a different tale than Lennon and McCartney had in mind. And check out the great piano playing on "Witchcraft," making it seem like she's happy to be under the spell. Her studio recordings are crisp, moody, sultry, quiet, fun, and energetic yet they hint at a pent-up energy she's trying to contain. It's her live recordings and concerts where she lets loose. And if that's not enough to get you there, consider this: Barber is performing with pianist Kenny Werner, unveiling a new collaboration.

Tickets are still available (and for only $18 from http://www.pick-staiger.org/) so get to Evanston if you can for what could be a once-in-a-lifetime event. And if you can't make it tune in to www.pick-staiger.org/webcasts which will start streaming live at 7:20 p.m.

Chicago Weekend Concert Info 11/5-11/7

Here is this weekend's Chicago concert information! Enjoy!

Schubas
11/5 - Violens, Reds And Blues, Dozens
11/6 - Azure Ray, James Husband

Lincoln Hall
11/5 - Lights, Jeremy Fisher, Smith Western, Mickey
11/6 - Junip, Sharon Van Ettes
11/7 - The Devin Townsend Project, TesseracT

Bottom Lounge
11/5 - The Pony's, Hollows, Lover!
11/6 - Brendan Benson, The Posies, Aqueduct, EOTO

Cubby Bear
11/5 - Mr. Bloto
11/6 - Filter, Middle Class Rut

Kings Of Leon Come Around

Kings Of Leon had a historic 2008 and 2009. For a band that has been on the scene since 1999, they were due for their big break. Turns out their big break may have just been the biggest break for a band in the last 10 years. The group's 2008 studio effort, Only By The Night, could have easily been the album of the year and it did win awards for song and record of the year. Tracks like Sex On Fire and Use Somebody tore up the charts month after month for most of 2009. Couple all of that with a world tour, a headlining slot at Lollapalooza, and the transformation from underground bar band to household name, and you get one of the most meteoric rises in recent rock history.

With success though comes expectations. But lets be honest. Would it be feasible for anyone to top the kind of success Kings Of Leon had in 2009? Unless you are Taylor Swift, probably not. So, lets just get it out there right away. Kings Of Leon's newest record, Come Around Sundown, is not as good as Only By The Night. It probably isn't even in the same universe as that record. But, that doesn't make it bad.

And it isn't bad. Come Around has some really great songs and fits together nicely as a 13 track record. It kicks off with a slower balladish tune in The End. It picks up for the next few with the first single, Radioactive, Pyro, and Mary. All three were songs that the group road tested towards the end of their 2010 summer tour. From their we get a "live it up" song in Immortals that features some great guitar playing from Matthew Followill. Matthew's guitar is prevalent on virtually every track and is a true high point of the album.

Other song highlights on the record include Back Down South, a country twanging ode to the "good ol days" in Tennesse (which is where the band members grew up). The albums best song is Pony Up, a tragic bar fight love tale. Lyrically, it is pretty simple and to the point, but musically, the various guitar riffs, stifling bass guitar, and patterned drums make it a very interesting and fun listen.

As a whole, Caleb Followill's lyrics are relatively simple all the way through the album. In songs like The End and Pickup Truck he reaches out for a little more and while he succeeds, its as clear as day he won't be becoming the Bob Dylan of our generation any time soon.

Come Around Sundown is a good album, but it is also a safe album. On this follow-up record, it is obvious Kings Of Leon was not interested in drawing a new line in the sand or expanding their musical focus. Come Around is a lot like Only By The Night in that it appeals to many ears and is easy to listen to. Why isn't it as good then? Because Only By The Night was the first of its kind and Come Around Sundown is a carbon copy. It would have been nice to see the Followill's take their music in a more challenging direction. After seeing Kings Of Leon twice in the past year, my fear always was that they would become a new version of an arena rock type band. Come Around Sundown lends more credibility to that fear.

As the years go on, we'll see exactly what kind of band Kings Of Leon morphs into. In the meantime, any follow-up to Only By The Night would have been highly criticized one way or another. Come Around Sundown can stare all the criticism in the eye as it is simply a fun and enjoyable record. Nothing more, nothing less.