The Rain, The Park & The Cowsills

I love the flower girl;  Was she real or just a dream to me... The Cowsills - The Rain the Park & Other Things

I have always loved The Cowsill's song The Rain, The Park & Other Things.  I heard the song as a child and also remember it being in the Dumb and Dumber movie.  I heard it recently and for whatever reason it hit me with it's hooks and it was like hearing the song anew.  I guess I never really listened as close before, but I paid attention to the lyrics, the harmonies and the instrumentation (which was all classic 60's style).

I guess I knew the Cowsills were a family band and were the inspiration for The Partridge Family.  I remember listening to the Continental Drifters in the 90's.  They were an Americana super band that featured former members of The dB's, The Bangles & The Dream Syndicate, as well as Susan Cowsill (of the Cowsills).  

The Cowsills

Born to Read

Glory days, yeah they'll pass you by, glory days;  In the wink of a young girl's eye... Bruce Springsteen - Glory Days

I was in my early twenty's when Glory Days came out.  It seems like yesterday and it has passed in a wink.

I have been reading the new Springsteen biography Born to Run and just wanted to say that it is fascinating to hear the history of E Street.  Some of the stories are familiar, but I feel like I am hearing them anew because they are in context with the related events.  If you are a fan, reward yourself and read the book.

The River Runs Through Louisville

All day you've been working that hard line, now tonight you're gonna have a good time... Bruce Springsteen - Out in the Street

I had a great weekend in Louisville, Ky, a beautiful city at The River's edge along the Ohio River.

http://fluhrcre.com/

The downtown area was fun to visit and walk around with nice restaurants and scenery.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/38065965@N03/5538935082

I was in town was to watch the heart-stopping, pants-dropping, house-rcoking, earth-quaking, booty-shaking, viagra-taking, love-making, the legendary E Street Band!       
Bruce an the gang played the great venue The YUM! Center in down town Louisville.

The show was special, not only did they play the entire The River album, but an additional 15 songs to boot.  The band seemed to be in great spirits, really enjoying themselves.

http://www.backstreets.com/setlists.html

Setlist:
Meet Me in the City
The Ties That Bind
Sherry Darling
Jackson Cage
Two Hearts
Independence Day
Hungry Heart
Out in the Street
Crush On You
You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)
I Wanna Marry You
The River
Point Blank
Cadillac Ranch
I'm a Rocker
Fade Away
Stolen Car
Ramrod
The Price You Pay
Drive All Night
Wreck on the Highway
Badlands 
No Surrender
Lonesome Day 
Because the Night
She's the One
Human Touch 
The Rising
Thunder Road
* * *
Born in the U.S.A.
Born to Run 
Dancing in the Dark
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Shout
Bobby Jean

The Making of a Song About The Making of a Murderer

Where the mice of men are chained and bruised, Where to stand accused is to admit you lose... The Arcs - Lake Superior

I am really digging the new Arcs song Lake Superior.  The song was influenced by the Netflix blockbuster 10 episode documentary Making A Murderer.  The show is an up-close,  fascinating look at crime, police work and our court system.

From Consequence of Sound:

"...The Arcs return with new music once again in the form of the hazy, psychedelic “Lake Superior”. The track was reportedly inspired by the new Netflix documentary series Making a Murderer, which tells the real-life story of Steven Avery, “a DNA exoneree who, while in the midst of exposing corruption in local law enforcement, finds himself the prime suspect in a grisly new crime.”

In a statement, the band explained how the show gave rise to the song:

“It’s like Billy Childish says, ‘We live in troubled times.’ Last week, we got a sneak peek at what goes on behind the curtains of our criminal justice system. A few sleepless nights later we gathered in the studio and wrote this song. Written, recorded, mixed and mastered in 2 days.”

... All profits from the track benefit the Innocence Project, a nonprofit that helps to exonerate wrongly convicted people through DNA testing."

Great Moments in Rock Captured On Video (7)

The eagle picks my eye, The worm he licks my bone; I feel so suicidal just like Dylan's Mr. Jones... The Beatles - Yer Blues 

As per wikipedia "The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus is a film released in 1996 of an 11 December 1968 event put together by The Rolling Stones. The event comprised two concerts on a circus stage and included such acts as The Who, Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithfull, and Jethro Tull. John Lennon and his fiancee Yoko Ono performed as part of a supergroup called The Dirty Mac, along with Eric Clapton, Mitch Mitchell, and Keith Richards."

 

2014: Best of the Year

And we cannot reach any higher, If we can't deal with ordinary love... Ordinary Love - U2 

2014 for me was a very strong year in Music.  Maybe the best in several years.   As I repeat myself each year, I love year end "best of" music lists and here is mine:

SONGS OF THE YEAR:

1. U2 - Ordinary Love 
2. U2 - Invisible 
3. Broken Bells - Perfect World 
4. Old 97s - Longer Than You've Been Alive 
5. Bruce Springsteen - Frankie Fell In Love 
6. Broken Bells - Holding On For Life 
7. Pharrell Williams - Happy 
8. U2 - Raised By Wolves 
9. Jeff Tweedy - I'll Sing It
10. U2 - The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone) 

ALBUMS OF THE YEAR:

1. U2 - Songs of Innocence 
2. Broken Bells - After the Disco 
3. The Black Keys - Turn Blue 
4. Bruce Springsteen - High Hopes 
5. The New Basement Tapes - Lost on the River 
6. Jeff Tweedy - Suikerae 
7. Jack White - Lazaretto 
8. Various Artists - Looking into You- A Tribute to Jackson Browne 
9. Old 97's - Most Messed Up 
10. Tom Petty - Hypnotic Eye 

ARTIST OF THE YEAR - U2

U2 released Ordinary Love in late 2013 (my favorite song of the year)..  They followed up with a free ITunes download of their next single, Invisible on Super Bowl Sunday (my #2 favorite song). Money donated and later from sales went to (RED), an organisation co-founded by Bono, to fight AIDS.  Then in September the band released it's long awaited follow up to 2009's No Line On the Horizon as a free from ITunes dowload, their 13th studio album Songs of Innocence(my favorite album of the year).

CONCERT(S) OF THE YEAR 

Paul McCartney - Louisville, KY, KFC Yum! Center (October 28) - Out There Tour

Jack White, Jason Isbell, Band of Horses and others - Louisville, KY, (July 17) - Forecastle Festival

John Fogerty - Cincinnati, OH, Riverbend Music Center (July 25)

Chicago - Pikeville, KY, East KY Expo Center (September 27) - Now Tour

Great Rock Moments Captured On Video (6)

Listening to you, I get the music...The Who - Listening To You 

The Woodstock Festival took place on August 15, 16, 17 & 18, 1969.  It was held on a 600-acre dairy farm in the Catskills in up-state New York  The festival was billed as 3 days of peace and music (although it spilled over to a 4th day) and over 400,000 young people attended.  The festival was filmed and released as a movie that millions have seen.  The Woodstock Music Festival is one of the most important concert events in the history of rock.  It was the culmination of the music and youth explosion of the 60's. The festival included a who's who of the eras music, including: Jimi Hendrix, Credence Clearwater Revival, Jefferson Airplane, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, The Band, Sly and the Family Stone, The Grateful Dead and many others including The Who.

The Who already stars in England.  With the release of their rock opera Tommy in May of 1969 and their performance at Woodstock, The Who established themselves as world rock stars in 1969.

Great Rock Moments Captured On Video (5)

Get back, get back, get back to where you once belonged... The Beatles - Get Back 

On 30 January 1969, The Beatles played their final set together... in an unlikely place... on the rooftop of Apple Heaadquarter at 3 Savile Row.  The band along with keyboardist Billy Preston played 9 takes of 5 songs; Get Back, Don't Let Me Down, I've Got a Feeling, One After 909 and Dig a Pony.  The 42 minute set was broke up by the Metropolitan Police Service.  Footage from this event was later used in the 1970 "documentary-film" Let It Be.

Great Rock Moments Captured On Video (4)

I'm not trying to cause a b-big s-s-sensation (Talkin' 'bout my generation; I'm just talkin' 'bout my g-g-generation (Talkin' 'bout my generation)... The Who - My Generation 

In 1967 The Who was introduced to America via The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. The Who’s performance was wild, powerful and explosive (literally). The Who played their punk rock anthem My Generation with passion and with wreckless abandon… well just watch.     

Great Rock Moments Captured On Video (3)

I know a pretty little place in Southern California down San Diego way; There's a little café where they play guitars all night and all day... Bruce Springsteen - Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) 

Bruce Springsteen was at the peak of his musical genius in the 1970's. The video below is from The Darkness on the Edge of Town Tour and filmed on July 8, 1978 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, Arizona. The video captures the fun and power of these Springsteen shows.