Tuesday, December 26, 2006
AROUND THE WORLD WITH THREE DOG NIGHT now available on CD
Forgive my pop group upbringing (the Beatles were considered a pop group by the way), but Three Dog Night in their day did release two live albums. The first called CAPTURED LIVE AT THE FORUM has been available on CD for better than a decade. The performances are tight, amazingly so, but the sound quality is mediocre to bad. It's also very short, originally a single vinyl disc.
FINALLY, in the UK, one can pick up one of my favorite all time albums on CD, the latter live AROUND THE WORLD WITH THREE DOG NIGHT (originally a double disc vinyl release). I've see it on cduniverse.com and cd-wow.com (also cd-wow.us). Unfortunately it's part of a double album live/studio set; you have to buy SEVEN SEPARATE FOOLS (also 3DN of course) along with it.
Honestly, I would have paid the price of both albums just to get AROUND THE WORLD. It's a great "show" culled from numerous performances. The companion studio album is one of their strongest...so it's a bit of a deal, even if you have to buy it via import. Both the above (and I'm sure many other )web sites are reliable in my experience.
Treat yourself to the combo if you have any love of 3DN in their hey-day. Long before digital sound processing and "backup tapes" these SEVEN musicians cranked it out beautifully night after night. Finally the legacy can be heard by those of you not lucky enough to have been there, and relived a bit if you were. I was!
Rock on Three Dog Night in your current form and Chuck Negron in your solo work; you are both great...a couple of decades ago, and together, you were truly awesome!
Zeph, out
Forgive my pop group upbringing (the Beatles were considered a pop group by the way), but Three Dog Night in their day did release two live albums. The first called CAPTURED LIVE AT THE FORUM has been available on CD for better than a decade. The performances are tight, amazingly so, but the sound quality is mediocre to bad. It's also very short, originally a single vinyl disc.
FINALLY, in the UK, one can pick up one of my favorite all time albums on CD, the latter live AROUND THE WORLD WITH THREE DOG NIGHT (originally a double disc vinyl release). I've see it on cduniverse.com and cd-wow.com (also cd-wow.us). Unfortunately it's part of a double album live/studio set; you have to buy SEVEN SEPARATE FOOLS (also 3DN of course) along with it.
Honestly, I would have paid the price of both albums just to get AROUND THE WORLD. It's a great "show" culled from numerous performances. The companion studio album is one of their strongest...so it's a bit of a deal, even if you have to buy it via import. Both the above (and I'm sure many other )web sites are reliable in my experience.
Treat yourself to the combo if you have any love of 3DN in their hey-day. Long before digital sound processing and "backup tapes" these SEVEN musicians cranked it out beautifully night after night. Finally the legacy can be heard by those of you not lucky enough to have been there, and relived a bit if you were. I was!
Rock on Three Dog Night in your current form and Chuck Negron in your solo work; you are both great...a couple of decades ago, and together, you were truly awesome!
Zeph, out
CSNY maybe finally a live DVD/CD...maybe???
According to the "News & Rumors" section of 4waysite.com (link appears to your right and high on this page), there just might be a CSNY live album and a concert film in 2007. Unfortunately Crosby is quoted as saying it will be all from the just finished tour.
Anyone paying attention to Crosby Stills Nash & Young over the years knows there were two great tours before the 2006 "Freedom of Speech" tour that could also be released (and should have been). Again a different set of backup musicians and new material is said to be the reason for the more current (possible) release.
I just hope the emphasis is NOT from Neil Young's LIVING WITH WAR material, that I must repeat is a boring drone no matter where you fall on the political spectrum. Still's new MAN ALIVE! material however IS worth hearing live I think, and might really add to any live document.
Young is in fact this month re-releasing a "raw" version of LWW with added material...another way to sell you the same pablum. And if the entire album (they did all but 1 tune on the 2006 tour) is part of the (alleged) new live album, well we are SO lucky, we will get to buy the same songs for a THIRD time.
Please, if by some miracle anyone close to CSNY reads this, realize a new live CD or DVD (which I have waited over a decade for) will stand up much better if it's a bit timeless. So produce it that way friends and I'll likely love it.
If I ever see it. Trust ME, I love their music (with the exception of LWW), but promised albums seem to take centuries with these guys!
Zeph, out
PS: Oh, believe what you want, but CSNY did not unseat the USA Congress; just like every time, the voters did and I have never voted one way or another "for a song," and I doubt you do either.
According to the "News & Rumors" section of 4waysite.com (link appears to your right and high on this page), there just might be a CSNY live album and a concert film in 2007. Unfortunately Crosby is quoted as saying it will be all from the just finished tour.
Anyone paying attention to Crosby Stills Nash & Young over the years knows there were two great tours before the 2006 "Freedom of Speech" tour that could also be released (and should have been). Again a different set of backup musicians and new material is said to be the reason for the more current (possible) release.
I just hope the emphasis is NOT from Neil Young's LIVING WITH WAR material, that I must repeat is a boring drone no matter where you fall on the political spectrum. Still's new MAN ALIVE! material however IS worth hearing live I think, and might really add to any live document.
Young is in fact this month re-releasing a "raw" version of LWW with added material...another way to sell you the same pablum. And if the entire album (they did all but 1 tune on the 2006 tour) is part of the (alleged) new live album, well we are SO lucky, we will get to buy the same songs for a THIRD time.
Please, if by some miracle anyone close to CSNY reads this, realize a new live CD or DVD (which I have waited over a decade for) will stand up much better if it's a bit timeless. So produce it that way friends and I'll likely love it.
If I ever see it. Trust ME, I love their music (with the exception of LWW), but promised albums seem to take centuries with these guys!
Zeph, out
PS: Oh, believe what you want, but CSNY did not unseat the USA Congress; just like every time, the voters did and I have never voted one way or another "for a song," and I doubt you do either.
Monday, December 11, 2006
David Crosby & Carl Gottlieb
SINCE THEN
HOW I SURVIVED EVERYTHING AND LIVED TOO TELL ABOUT IT
This is the first book review I’ve done on the site, so stick with me, especially if you are a fan of any of the various incarnations of "the Croz's" career. First, the book is written like a documentary film script, complete with fade-outs and set changes and the like. It is a no-compromise first (and second and third) person account from those close to Crosby on why he is still alive. But the payoff comes when he discusses how lucky he is and what makes him happy. I especially enjoyed his account of meeting the Dalai Lama and how that encounter made the author cry. What a joy to get in Crosby’s head, on that particular day.
The tome reads very rapidly, easily a beach or weekend book. The language is simple; the points are direct. And the overall story is short…perhaps a bit too short, with less description and background than I for one would have enjoyed. Nonetheless, I recommend it as a very enjoyable way to spend a few days reminiscing with a founding father of the music I love.
Note please, if it isn’t obvious to anyone who reads this page from time to time, that I largely do not agree with Mr. Crosby’s politics (or lifestyle); his music is precious to me and many others as are the stories he tells with it, and the conclusions he draws. This book is nothing less than the rant of a left wing liberal, with no apology. To give you one subtle but glaring example, in the “Cast" section (I told you it reads like a screenplay), all manner of singers and writers and others are mentioned with a small blurb about who they are. Stephen Stills is listed as "Singer-songwriter/longtime singing partner." However Ted Nugent is listed as “Guitarist/ex-Amboy Dukes/conservative." Well excuse me…why is not Stills listed as ‘Singer-songwriter/longtime singing partner/liberal?’ Moreover how about the dozens of other politicians and musicians? Even Richard Nixon is listed as solely, “US President."
Crosby annoys me (as do much of the media) of approaching conservatism as some sort of affliction or worse. He is right-on when he underlines the arrogance of some conservatives. So many of them (you all know) think theirs is the only "right" way to think or to behave. Again, sir, excuse me…any objective reading of your words puts you in the same quasi self-evident/self-righteous category. Liberals, especially liberals who ride in limousines to big-buck gigs, despise the label ‘liberal.’ Conservatives in my view are largely proud of the title. The fact is there are arrogant individuals in all camps. There are arrogant and self-righteous groups of all stripes.
And please don’t get testy with my limo-liberal comment. More than once in the book, Crosby decries concert tours (especially with the offshoot CPR) necessarily being done on the cheap and him having to stay in less than upscale hotels. In fact he implies that had he not stayed in one particular mid-range Times Square hotel and opted for a more regal accommodation, his last brush with the law (and felony conviction in the State of New York for firearm possession) might not have happened.
Let me surmise that the perhaps special consideration he got in New York City for that gun/MJ arrest, (being held away from the general population, being sneaked out of court past the media etc.), might have been given him by (in my experience) some very conservative officers in that great city. And moreover, he broke the law, period…and had no jail time. In fact he played his very next gig, saying little of the event on stage (read the book for the reason for that). I think Crosby was very fortunate in this case.
On his PhD in drug abuse, well he has paid the price…and his admission to recent MJ use (brought to the news in NYC above) is sad, maybe tragic. He tries to make the argument MJ is not the same as hardcore drugs; I agree. He then tries to say he can "handle" dabbling in soft drugs…forgive me, but that would make him more than exceptional. It also makes him a bad example…especially as a liver transplant recipient. You really do feel for him, as he enters hospitals for legitimate medical care and is need of pain medication and the doctors/nurses are reluctant to give him what he needs, given his hedonist history. Those medical professionals need to get a PhD in compassion. Absorb the pages yourself and make your own judgment. I for one wish Crosby all the best, and pray he stays off all street drugs and gets only what he needs (no more no less) from his doctors.
Just one more nit pick: Stephen Stills is not mentioned as extensively as I would have expected in the book. What is mentioned is less than flattering in a personal way. Being a long time Stills (solo) fan, I am a bit disappointed here. I wish there would have been a few paragraphs quoting Stills about some mutual event with Crosby (and maybe Nash and Young). It’s nowhere to be found. I suspect some hard feelings, but seeing the two on stage together, you’d never know it. Crosby should explain this, if the paperback version ever comes out.
But I didn’t read, nor enjoy the book for the politics, or the liberalism displayed. Crosby really does not complain, much, given the enormity of experiences (good, bad and very very bad) he has endured. I read it to enjoy spending time using ancient technology, in a virtual way, with among the most gifted writers and musicians of my generation. For that reason alone, any fan should read and perhaps someday re-read this narrative. For people like myself, it is simply a gift. I hope Stills and Nash and Young will join Crosby some day soon as authors of similar manuscripts.
BOTTOM LINE: 4/5 stars…you can put it down, but not for long!
Zeph, out
PS: Long May You Rock, David!
SINCE THEN
HOW I SURVIVED EVERYTHING AND LIVED TOO TELL ABOUT IT
This is the first book review I’ve done on the site, so stick with me, especially if you are a fan of any of the various incarnations of "the Croz's" career. First, the book is written like a documentary film script, complete with fade-outs and set changes and the like. It is a no-compromise first (and second and third) person account from those close to Crosby on why he is still alive. But the payoff comes when he discusses how lucky he is and what makes him happy. I especially enjoyed his account of meeting the Dalai Lama and how that encounter made the author cry. What a joy to get in Crosby’s head, on that particular day.
The tome reads very rapidly, easily a beach or weekend book. The language is simple; the points are direct. And the overall story is short…perhaps a bit too short, with less description and background than I for one would have enjoyed. Nonetheless, I recommend it as a very enjoyable way to spend a few days reminiscing with a founding father of the music I love.
Note please, if it isn’t obvious to anyone who reads this page from time to time, that I largely do not agree with Mr. Crosby’s politics (or lifestyle); his music is precious to me and many others as are the stories he tells with it, and the conclusions he draws. This book is nothing less than the rant of a left wing liberal, with no apology. To give you one subtle but glaring example, in the “Cast" section (I told you it reads like a screenplay), all manner of singers and writers and others are mentioned with a small blurb about who they are. Stephen Stills is listed as "Singer-songwriter/longtime singing partner." However Ted Nugent is listed as “Guitarist/ex-Amboy Dukes/conservative." Well excuse me…why is not Stills listed as ‘Singer-songwriter/longtime singing partner/liberal?’ Moreover how about the dozens of other politicians and musicians? Even Richard Nixon is listed as solely, “US President."
Crosby annoys me (as do much of the media) of approaching conservatism as some sort of affliction or worse. He is right-on when he underlines the arrogance of some conservatives. So many of them (you all know) think theirs is the only "right" way to think or to behave. Again, sir, excuse me…any objective reading of your words puts you in the same quasi self-evident/self-righteous category. Liberals, especially liberals who ride in limousines to big-buck gigs, despise the label ‘liberal.’ Conservatives in my view are largely proud of the title. The fact is there are arrogant individuals in all camps. There are arrogant and self-righteous groups of all stripes.
And please don’t get testy with my limo-liberal comment. More than once in the book, Crosby decries concert tours (especially with the offshoot CPR) necessarily being done on the cheap and him having to stay in less than upscale hotels. In fact he implies that had he not stayed in one particular mid-range Times Square hotel and opted for a more regal accommodation, his last brush with the law (and felony conviction in the State of New York for firearm possession) might not have happened.
Let me surmise that the perhaps special consideration he got in New York City for that gun/MJ arrest, (being held away from the general population, being sneaked out of court past the media etc.), might have been given him by (in my experience) some very conservative officers in that great city. And moreover, he broke the law, period…and had no jail time. In fact he played his very next gig, saying little of the event on stage (read the book for the reason for that). I think Crosby was very fortunate in this case.
On his PhD in drug abuse, well he has paid the price…and his admission to recent MJ use (brought to the news in NYC above) is sad, maybe tragic. He tries to make the argument MJ is not the same as hardcore drugs; I agree. He then tries to say he can "handle" dabbling in soft drugs…forgive me, but that would make him more than exceptional. It also makes him a bad example…especially as a liver transplant recipient. You really do feel for him, as he enters hospitals for legitimate medical care and is need of pain medication and the doctors/nurses are reluctant to give him what he needs, given his hedonist history. Those medical professionals need to get a PhD in compassion. Absorb the pages yourself and make your own judgment. I for one wish Crosby all the best, and pray he stays off all street drugs and gets only what he needs (no more no less) from his doctors.
Just one more nit pick: Stephen Stills is not mentioned as extensively as I would have expected in the book. What is mentioned is less than flattering in a personal way. Being a long time Stills (solo) fan, I am a bit disappointed here. I wish there would have been a few paragraphs quoting Stills about some mutual event with Crosby (and maybe Nash and Young). It’s nowhere to be found. I suspect some hard feelings, but seeing the two on stage together, you’d never know it. Crosby should explain this, if the paperback version ever comes out.
But I didn’t read, nor enjoy the book for the politics, or the liberalism displayed. Crosby really does not complain, much, given the enormity of experiences (good, bad and very very bad) he has endured. I read it to enjoy spending time using ancient technology, in a virtual way, with among the most gifted writers and musicians of my generation. For that reason alone, any fan should read and perhaps someday re-read this narrative. For people like myself, it is simply a gift. I hope Stills and Nash and Young will join Crosby some day soon as authors of similar manuscripts.
BOTTOM LINE: 4/5 stars…you can put it down, but not for long!
Zeph, out
PS: Long May You Rock, David!
