Going to see Steve Earle and the Dukes do Earle's debut album Guitar Town in its entirety tonight. At Town Hall in New York City.
Never seen Earle live before, so I am totally stoked. And of course he will also be dueting with Shawn Colvin on songs from their great new record.
But what I didn't know until just now is that yet another special guest at the show will be...wait for it...Graham Nash.
Attentive readers may be aware that I'm a psychotically enthusiastic Hollies fan and I've never seen him live before either
If I live, less hyperventilated postings will resume on Tuesday.
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17 comments:
I was on a road trip last weekend, and "I Used To Be A King" came on. I've always liked "Songs For Begginers", and have come to realize it was about Joni Mitchell's refusal to marry him. ("River" is her reply)
I'm not a Hollies fan, so only yesterday I realized he was referencing "King Midas In Reverse". It only took me 4 decades.
I had never heard "King Midas". That is a great song.
Enjoy the show, Steve. Looking forward to your review.
BBJ: how can you not like the Hollies?
Ken --
The Posies -- who were genetically bred to cover Hollies songs -- do "King Midas."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjsjSVCx3bY
steve, you never saw any combination of C-N, CSN, or CSNY?
Dooooood.
Gummo -- nope.
Steve, funny I was thinking of band that would have done great covers of it as soon as I heard it. That Posies version is great. I was actually envisioning Neil Finn and Crowded House playing it.
Ken
I am highly allergic to Graham Nash, and about the only Hollies song I like is "Long Cool Woman" (which I adore). But hey, good live music is one of the things that makes life worth living, so...very glad that you are seeing acts you like, and enjoy the show!!!
As long as you brought up 'Long Cool Woman,' I'll take it up... It's always been one of my favorites in spite of being an anomaly in the Hollies canon. The riff is straight out of CCR and instead of the patented Hollies harmonies we get Allan Clarke via Echoplex. Still, one of the great spy-guy songs a la 'Secret Agent Man.'
Hey, Rhymes With: Lucky you. And I have to come down solidly in favor of "King Midas" over "Long Cool Woman"...that was just *such* a CCR ripoff. The Hollies lost me when they lost Graham Nash.
I agree "Long Cool Woman" is really an anomaly for the Hollies. In another way too: I have read that it was Allan Clarke playing the guitar, not Tony Hicks! When else did we ever see him playing the guitar? Who knew he could not just play, but play like that?
On the other hand, I've never heard anything by Steve Earle I wanted to play again.
The Hollies always seemed 10% less bubblegum than Hermans Hermits. In the same neighborhood as The Bee Gees.
The one thing that The Bee Gees have that The Hollies don't is an album that can compete with the big boys. For The Bee Gees, that's ODESSA, which is one fine album.
I disagree, Mark. The Hollies "Butterfly" and "Evolution" are among the best albums of their era.
Will find both and listen to them as albums. I remember being surprised as hell when I came across ODESSA in 1969 or 1970. The Bee Gees? A whole album idea?
Three dip shits for the price of one.
Nash's last solo album worth listening to was his debut. That was 1971, and some songs are wildly dated. He made a pass at me once at a photography show. Right in front of his long suffering wife (now-EX). I told him I wasn't fond of guys who wrote waltzes.
Equivocal about the Hollies. Sometimes too whiney and chipmunkish. Lacking huevos. Most of the hits were well crafted and produced. But there is a lot of chaff in the catalog. For years all I had were the two greatest hits collections on Imperial and Epic. Bought Hollies Live circa 1977 and liked it. Since then, I got too rich and bored and became a fucking completist. Lots to recommend, lots to avoid. It's a goddamned mine field. "Wiggle That Wotsit" anyone?
RE: Long Cool Woman. First time I heard it was in a guy named Big John's souped up 1970 Mach I. It was when the Top 40 format started creeping onto the FM dial. The station was KKDJ. My first reaction was that it was an awkward and stiff take on Creedence. They didn't play it on my underground faves KPPC and KMET, either. Then a girl I knew brought the Distant Light LP over and had me put the track on a mix 8-Track tape I was making for her. She used the barter system and paid me for my services with the album and an exotic French dildo her mom had ordered her through the mail.
OK, so I'm high, have the Koss Pro 4A's on and am actually "hearing" Long Cool Woman In a Black Dress for the first time. I dug it and still do. Clarke does some very un-Hollie-like guitar work and the production is marvelous. Strange that the single was released in the USA nearly a year after he left the band. It became their only USA Number One hit, albeit on Cash Box (#2 Billboard).
The fact that for Senior Song Dedications, I was given Long Cool Woman may have helped. I tried to live up to it. :-)
The early Hollies seldom made it out west. I never saw them and that's saying something. I did see them in the Rikfors period and they weren't as bad as I thought they'd be. More balls live than on record.
VR - just one look you'll be a bad mess
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