M. Ward is recognized as a guitar virtuoso, particularly for his finger-picking style. He attributes his distinctive wisp of a voice to practice and recording habits as a child when he tried to sing without waking his parents.
via All Songs Considered
Listen to M. Ward (with The Shins and The White Stripes) live in concert
Friday, September 30
Wednesday, September 28
Monday, September 19
The Bostonians #6 : Bob Colby
Bob "the boob" Colby has been a witness of the Boston musical scene since the seventies. He has kept his enthusiasm to discover new and interesting sounds until now. Like Jonathan and many of us, the Velvet Underground triggered his taste in music. Notoriety caught him when his friend John Felice composed and dedicated him a song, a favourite of the Real Kids repertoire, called "do the boob !". Bob has been kind enough to answer my questions at length, so this interview will be published in several parts. He is the first person I know who actually saw the Modern Lovers live, the original ones ..
- How was the music scene in Boston in the seventies ?
When I first came to Boston in 1970 (at age 18), there
was very little of the much-hyped "Bosstown Sound"
left. I think I saw one of the last shows the Beacon
Street Union played (and sometime later saw the
onetime leader of Ultimate Spinach playing in an awful
blues band called Crossroads). For the most part, it
was a wasteland for original rock music.
One little exception was a show I saw sometime in the
winter of '70/'71, at the YMCA in Cambridge. I had
gone because of the reputation of Peter Green, former
lead guitarist of Fleetwood Mac (before their
pop-success days), who was headlining. Even though my
tastes were still pretty hippieish (with the exception
of all the VU, MC5 and Stooges I'd gotten into shortly
before leaving home), I was not too impressed by the
hour-long guitar solo that constituted his entire set.
Much more interesting was the opening act, The Highway
Dance Band, featuring this guy who was like nothing
else I'd seen. His plainly-told tales of teenage
relationships were a marked contrast to everything
else around. And as a Velvet Underground fan, I
couldn't help but notice the influence, and appreciate
it.
Of course, my hippie friends had exactly the opposite
reaction - they loved the hour-long guitar solo, and
hated the non-hippie with the compact, funny songs. It
was an early clue that I was beginning to go a
different way than the rest of my generation.
I was too shy to go up and talk to that man, and since
I didn't know his name, or that of any of his
bandmates, or any of their songs, I filed it away in
the back of my mind and almost forgot all about it.
- That was the earliest line-up of the Modern Lovers, did you see them again ?
Local music continued to not be all that exciting,
although I tried to like what I heard because there
wasn't much of an alternative. Until one day in '72 (I
think), when I was attending an antiwar rally on
Boston Common. I had had about all I could take of
laid-back folk-blues for one day, so I turned my back
on the stage and was heading home when behind me a
blast of astonishing sound erupted from the speakers.
It was everything I'd been missing in rock, all
wrapped up in one package. I immediately rushed back
to the stage, and there was that guy from the YMCA!
But now his band was called The Modern Lovers.
I don't know exactly what songs they did that day
(except that they ended with "Don't Let Our Youth Go
To Waste"), and I'm not sure if John Felice was
onstage - I was too busy being completely taken over
and awestruck. Finally, there was something in town
worth following.
And I did. Just about all of the gigs I saw in that
period were at the Stone Phoenix coffeehouse (I think
that was somewhere near Berklee), although I'm pretty
sure I saw at least one Cambridge Common set. There
were usually about 25-30 people there, and I felt I
had stumbled upon this incredible secret. How could
people not know this was the most exciting band in the
world? (Somewhere in this period, WBCN began playing
"Roadrunner", but I never noticed a big effect on
crowd size.)
the Howard J. FENWAY near route 128
But if you looked around, you knew that there was a
buzz growing that was reaching far beyond this town. I
always got there early enough to grab a front-row
table, and ended up sharing that table with some
fairly significant out-of-towners. One night there was
David Geffen from Arista (now a billionaire, but
looking more like a homeless person on that particular
night), and another night Kim Fowley (sporting a huge
afro).
- How do you recall that period of time now, considering how Jonathan changed in his way of singing ?
That was a true Golden Age for me, even if it was only
one band - I didn't need much more. As everything
does, it ended. By the time the Cale-produced album
came out, Jonathan had decided that the volume in his
music might hurt young childrens' ears, and the
electrifying intensity of those gigs was replaced with
a much more gentle approach. I came to appreciate that
approach over time, but it when it happened it was
disconcerting. I've seen him a number of times over
the years (although not in recent years), and I like
what he does, but *for me* it can never have the same
impact as that day on the Boston Common, and the days
that followed.
- some of us had been dreaming of a Modern Lovers reunion , even the Velvets did it, do you think it could happen ? (I asked directly Jonathan once some years ago, he did not answer, just smiled..)
I know some people would like to see the "classic"
Lovers lineup reformed (even if just for one night),
but Jonathan is in a very different place now, and I
don't know if he could give it all his heart. And if
not, why bother?
(to be continued ..)
Pic courtesy of Linda G.
- How was the music scene in Boston in the seventies ?
When I first came to Boston in 1970 (at age 18), there
was very little of the much-hyped "Bosstown Sound"
left. I think I saw one of the last shows the Beacon
Street Union played (and sometime later saw the
onetime leader of Ultimate Spinach playing in an awful
blues band called Crossroads). For the most part, it
was a wasteland for original rock music.
One little exception was a show I saw sometime in the
winter of '70/'71, at the YMCA in Cambridge. I had
gone because of the reputation of Peter Green, former
lead guitarist of Fleetwood Mac (before their
pop-success days), who was headlining. Even though my
tastes were still pretty hippieish (with the exception
of all the VU, MC5 and Stooges I'd gotten into shortly
before leaving home), I was not too impressed by the
hour-long guitar solo that constituted his entire set.
Much more interesting was the opening act, The Highway
Dance Band, featuring this guy who was like nothing
else I'd seen. His plainly-told tales of teenage
relationships were a marked contrast to everything
else around. And as a Velvet Underground fan, I
couldn't help but notice the influence, and appreciate
it.
Of course, my hippie friends had exactly the opposite
reaction - they loved the hour-long guitar solo, and
hated the non-hippie with the compact, funny songs. It
was an early clue that I was beginning to go a
different way than the rest of my generation.
I was too shy to go up and talk to that man, and since
I didn't know his name, or that of any of his
bandmates, or any of their songs, I filed it away in
the back of my mind and almost forgot all about it.
- That was the earliest line-up of the Modern Lovers, did you see them again ?
Local music continued to not be all that exciting,
although I tried to like what I heard because there
wasn't much of an alternative. Until one day in '72 (I
think), when I was attending an antiwar rally on
Boston Common. I had had about all I could take of
laid-back folk-blues for one day, so I turned my back
on the stage and was heading home when behind me a
blast of astonishing sound erupted from the speakers.
It was everything I'd been missing in rock, all
wrapped up in one package. I immediately rushed back
to the stage, and there was that guy from the YMCA!
But now his band was called The Modern Lovers.
I don't know exactly what songs they did that day
(except that they ended with "Don't Let Our Youth Go
To Waste"), and I'm not sure if John Felice was
onstage - I was too busy being completely taken over
and awestruck. Finally, there was something in town
worth following.
And I did. Just about all of the gigs I saw in that
period were at the Stone Phoenix coffeehouse (I think
that was somewhere near Berklee), although I'm pretty
sure I saw at least one Cambridge Common set. There
were usually about 25-30 people there, and I felt I
had stumbled upon this incredible secret. How could
people not know this was the most exciting band in the
world? (Somewhere in this period, WBCN began playing
"Roadrunner", but I never noticed a big effect on
crowd size.)
the Howard J. FENWAY near route 128
But if you looked around, you knew that there was a
buzz growing that was reaching far beyond this town. I
always got there early enough to grab a front-row
table, and ended up sharing that table with some
fairly significant out-of-towners. One night there was
David Geffen from Arista (now a billionaire, but
looking more like a homeless person on that particular
night), and another night Kim Fowley (sporting a huge
afro).
- How do you recall that period of time now, considering how Jonathan changed in his way of singing ?
That was a true Golden Age for me, even if it was only
one band - I didn't need much more. As everything
does, it ended. By the time the Cale-produced album
came out, Jonathan had decided that the volume in his
music might hurt young childrens' ears, and the
electrifying intensity of those gigs was replaced with
a much more gentle approach. I came to appreciate that
approach over time, but it when it happened it was
disconcerting. I've seen him a number of times over
the years (although not in recent years), and I like
what he does, but *for me* it can never have the same
impact as that day on the Boston Common, and the days
that followed.
- some of us had been dreaming of a Modern Lovers reunion , even the Velvets did it, do you think it could happen ? (I asked directly Jonathan once some years ago, he did not answer, just smiled..)
I know some people would like to see the "classic"
Lovers lineup reformed (even if just for one night),
but Jonathan is in a very different place now, and I
don't know if he could give it all his heart. And if
not, why bother?
(to be continued ..)
Tuesday, September 13
tour dates update- Autumn 2005
note: see sidebar for known current tour dates
Fri Sep 30 Denton TX rubber gloves rehearsal studios
Sat Oct 1 Austin TX The Cactus Cafe
Sun Oct 2 Austin TX The Cactus Cafe
Tue Oct 4 Birmingham AL Moonlight Music Cafe
Wed Oct 5 Memphis TN Hi-Tone Cafe
Thu Oct 6 Nashville TN 12th & Porter
Fri Oct 7 Athens GA 40 Watt
Sat Oct 8 Asheville NC The Orange Peel Social Aid & Pleasure Club
Mon Oct 10 Baltimore MD The Funk Box (8x10)
Tue Oct 11 Philadelphia PA Theater of the Living Arts
Wed Oct 12 NYC NY Bowery Ballroom
Thu Oct 13 Providence RI The Hi-Hat
Fri Oct 14 Somerville MA Somerville Theatre
Sat Oct 15 Albany NY Valentine's
Sun Oct 16 Millvale PA Mr. Small's Theatre
Mon Oct 17 Athens OH Donkey Backstage
Tue Oct 18 Columbus OH little brother's
Thu Oct 20 Ferndale MI Magic Bag
Fri Oct 21 Bloomington IL The Castle Theater
Sat Oct 22 Chicago IL Abbey Pub
Sun Oct 23 Madison WI Orpheum Stage Door
Mon Oct 24 Milwaukee WI Shank Hall
Tue Oct 25 St. Paul MN Turf Club
Always confirm show info locally!
Jonathan and Tommy are touring with Vic Chesnutt
from rubber gloves:
Prolific, profound, and ever full of potty-mouthed piss-and-vinegar - Vic Chesnutt is Prometheus in a wheelchair with a battered guitar – a freak-folk trailblazer, spilling his heart and soul and spleen into the microphone, with a sly drawl, dripping humid, Southern gothic imagery in calamitous, sometimes comic songs worthy of a Greek tragedy.
Fri Sep 30 Denton TX rubber gloves rehearsal studios
Sat Oct 1 Austin TX The Cactus Cafe
Sun Oct 2 Austin TX The Cactus Cafe
Tue Oct 4 Birmingham AL Moonlight Music Cafe
Wed Oct 5 Memphis TN Hi-Tone Cafe
Thu Oct 6 Nashville TN 12th & Porter
Fri Oct 7 Athens GA 40 Watt
Sat Oct 8 Asheville NC The Orange Peel Social Aid & Pleasure Club
Mon Oct 10 Baltimore MD The Funk Box (8x10)
Tue Oct 11 Philadelphia PA Theater of the Living Arts
Wed Oct 12 NYC NY Bowery Ballroom
Thu Oct 13 Providence RI The Hi-Hat
Fri Oct 14 Somerville MA Somerville Theatre
Sat Oct 15 Albany NY Valentine's
Sun Oct 16 Millvale PA Mr. Small's Theatre
Mon Oct 17 Athens OH Donkey Backstage
Tue Oct 18 Columbus OH little brother's
Thu Oct 20 Ferndale MI Magic Bag
Fri Oct 21 Bloomington IL The Castle Theater
Sat Oct 22 Chicago IL Abbey Pub
Sun Oct 23 Madison WI Orpheum Stage Door
Mon Oct 24 Milwaukee WI Shank Hall
Tue Oct 25 St. Paul MN Turf Club
Always confirm show info locally!
Jonathan and Tommy are touring with Vic Chesnutt
from rubber gloves:
Prolific, profound, and ever full of potty-mouthed piss-and-vinegar - Vic Chesnutt is Prometheus in a wheelchair with a battered guitar – a freak-folk trailblazer, spilling his heart and soul and spleen into the microphone, with a sly drawl, dripping humid, Southern gothic imagery in calamitous, sometimes comic songs worthy of a Greek tragedy.
Monday, September 12
Boston show
Sid Sowder (Too Much Rock) has pictures and video from 16 June 2005 at The Middle East downstairs (Cambridge)
Sunday, September 11
the fans
Richman's fans are as fervent as KISS fans and as nice as your grandma, and that's saying something. Indeed, I saw a middle-aged man standing behind a speaker column the entire show -- dancing, pointing, shaking, lost in the music -- and from his vantage point he could never have even seen Richman's face.
-- Ryan S. Henriquez
Read the rest at PopMatters
-- Ryan S. Henriquez
Read the rest at PopMatters
little petals all around
Listen to "Down in Bermuda" (from Rockin' and Romance) mp3 at lastnight an mp3 saved my wife
Lyrics and chords here
Lyrics and chords here
Saturday, September 10
New Orleans Musicians
Our hearts go out to New Orleans and to everyone on the Gulf Coast who was affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Preservation Hall has set up a fund to help New Orleans musicians.
Listen to "People Say" by The Meters on Home of the Groove
HOTG also has a list of resource links for New Orleans:
via Modern Kicks
More resource links from House of Blues
Preservation Hall has set up a fund to help New Orleans musicians.
Listen to "People Say" by The Meters on Home of the Groove
HOTG also has a list of resource links for New Orleans:
The sites below all have forums or message boards with contact information, lists of musicians who are known to be safe and those unaccounted for.
via Modern Kicks
More resource links from House of Blues
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