Gov`t Mule - Blues Prog Rock (USA)

Gov't Mule (pronounced Government Mule) is an American southern rock jam band, formed in 1994 as a side project of The Allman Brothers Band by guitarist Warren Haynes and bassist Allen Woody. Fans often refer to Gov't Mule simply as Mule.

The band released their debut album, Gov't Mule, in 1995, and have since released an additional nine studio albums, plus numerous EPs and live releases. Gov't Mule has become a staple act at music festivals across North America, with both its members and frequent guests boasting members from other notable bands, adding various funk and blues rock elements to the band's sound.

Gov’t Mule was tasked with closing out the main stage with at The Peach Music Festival at Montage Mountain in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The jam titans used a late-night set to present their interpretation of the music of Pink Floyd with “Dark Side Of The Mule.” Fresh off a string of dates with The Avett Brothers and The Magpie Salute, Warren Haynes & Co. were coming in well-prepared for their tribute set that saw them dig in on the seminal psychedelic band’s catalog.

Gov’t Mule opened things up by delivering a lengthy seamless stretch from Floyd’s 1971 release Meddle looking to the record’s B-side first for a full rendering of “Echoes.” Mule then offered up “One Of These Days,” the album’s lead track, before closing out the run with “Fearless.” From there, the band would cherrypick selections from Pink Floyd’s songbook staying predominantly in the band’s 1970s output with help from Torbjörn “T-Bone” Andersson, Ron Holloway, Machan Taylor, Mini Carlsson and Sophia Ramos.

After a take on “Pigs On The Wing (Part 2)” from 1977’s Animals, Mule dug in on Wish You Were Here serving up “Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I – V),” “Have A Cigar” and “Welcome To The Machine.” Next came a run from Dark Side Of The Moon as they served the iconic release’s A-side in order. Mule than delivered the recently debuted “The Nile Song” from Floyd’s 1969 soundtrack for the movie More before transitioning back tp Dark Side for “Money,” “Us & Them” and “Any Colour You Like.” “Comfortably Numb” from The Wall closed out the set with Gov’t Mule tapping “Wish You Were Here” for their encore slot.

The Peach Music Festival [Dark Side Of The Mule]

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Pink Floyd - Moon Over Ocean

In a review of Pink Floyd’s concert in Atlanta, Georgia on April 18, 1972, local hip underground newspaper The Great Speckled Bird had this to say, “Pink Floyd is one of the few bands, perhaps the only one now, to maintain the integrity of electronic and psychedelic music, primarily because of their inventiveness.” The key word in there is inventiveness. The creation of Dark Side Of The Moon is most certainly the step forward in musicality and songwriting that really took Pink Floyd from cult act to mainstream Rock super-stardom. In my mind that’s why I enjoy the 1972 concert recordings so much. Who else would come out and play 45 minutes of new music that was not yet studio recorded? In fact it was not yet even ready, the band was continuing to flesh the piece out night after night. This year long gestation would allow the band to produce one of the most fluid pieces of music in the history of the medium.

This brings us to the latest release from the Golden Eggs label, a performance in Hollywood, Florida. There are two recordings that circulate for this date, the first and most complete was released some six years back on the Florida 1972 (Budgie 001/002) title. The recording is virtually complete, only missing the final song. The second recording features the tail of Dark Side and the entire second set. This new Golden Eggs title uses both recordings to present the complete concert. The first recording is easily very good, all instruments and vocals can be clearly heard and is very atmospheric. The tape sounds a bit distant and there is a bit of tape hiss present but this only adds to the warmth of an analog recording. The second recording was probably a bit closer to the stage and has more tape hiss with a more muddied sound yet clear enough that all instruments can be heard.

The audience is not settled as the performance begins, you can hear some sort of altercation between two attendees near the taper during Breathe, the band is not settled either. Based upon the liner notes, The Floyd did not like playing the concrete and metal buildings as it made it difficult to achieve the sound they liked. Dave is a bit rusty and flubs a line in Breathe but as they move into The Travel Sequence they hit a groove, the taper makes a mic placement adjustment and one can settle in and properly enjoy the performance. This recording picks up the sound effects nicely, the clocks come through clearly and get a small round of applause. Really like Nick Mason’s drumming in the song, very busy at the beginning and during the solo spot, his drums are captured well in the recording and even get a bit of punch to them at times. The Mortality Sequence is really dense, almost like a sensory overload, one could imagine having partaken in certain substances and hearing this in its quadraphonic glory, the voices, the animals…

The cash register sounds distant and Roger starts the iconic bass riff to Money with zero fan fare, typical for this time in history but boy how things would change (no pun intended). The song is well received, yet the audience seem to be getting restless, as the quiet beginning of Us And Them is playing, conversations are happening and the distant sounds of fireworks can be heard. Brain Damage and Eclipse are very strong and bring an end to the piece, the assorted lunatics in the hall give a nice ovation.

The blowing winds soundscape seems to get the audience moving and inspires them to clap along with One Of These Days as they settle in. The band plays a blistering version of the song, fast and corrosive and quite pleasing. The restless crowd talk and holler during the three minute tune up, Roger intros the piece as “This is an oldie, it’s called Careful With That Axe, Eugene…it’s got a very quiet beginning”. The tuning is our first taste of the second recording, the splice is seamless. Mason’s steady beat is interjected with sporadic fast cymbal work, Wright uses a swishing like soundscape sounding like someone trying to shush Eugene’s inner demons. Great scream, great jam afterwards and another patch from 6:49 to 7:23, as the song quiets back down, Richard plays a nice little flourish on the organ, very subtle. Another quick tune up patch for the tune up, the crowd is again restless at the beginning of Echoes as there was no real applause as the song begins, although once settled they get into it and it receives the biggest ovation of the evening. A twelve and half minute version of Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun is the final song, the crowd near the second taper are more well behaved and in tune with the Space Rock.

The packaging is beautiful, Hollywood, Florida is in the southern part of the state and is nestled between Ft. Lauderdale and Miami on the picturesque Eastern shore. The label uses band photos superimposed over a moonlit shore with a blue hue and a full moon, very visually pleasing. The inner jacket folds open to reveal liner notes from the Fish Bowl Swimmer. Golden Eggs has not only done justice to the performance but also the tapes themselves by presenting them in a naturally sounding fashion.

Moon Over Ocean (1972-04-15 - Sportatorium, Hollywood, FL)

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Yngwie Malmsteen - Progressive Metal (Sweden)

Only a few guitarists are known with only their first name. Yngwie is one of them.

With 'Blue Lightning', Yngwie Malmsteen highlights not only his enduring dexterity and diversity, but also pays homage to those from the blues and rock worlds who have fuelled his artistic spirit for so long.

Anyone who is expecting Malmsteen to copy exactly the way the original versions sound is in for a shock. Because that is not what he has done. He has masterfully transformed classics like Smoke On The Water, Purple Haze and While My Guitar Gently Weeps into his own inimitable style, and wrote and recorded 4 new tracks for this album.

The vinyl and Deluxe CD have 2 bonus tracks: Jimi Hendrix' Little Miss Lover, and the Rolling Stones' Jumpin' Jack Flash.

Blue Lightning (2019)

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Hits of 1965 - 1980 (Polydor Music)

Great selection of Polydor Music...

Hits Of... 65 & 66 [Polydor, 1992]

Hits Of... 67 & 68 [Polydor, 1992]

Hits Of... 69 & 70 [Polydor, 1992]

Hits Of... 71 & 72 [Polydor, 1992]

Hits Of... 73 & 74 [Polydor, 1992]

Hits Of... 75 & 76 [Polydor, 1992]

Hits Of... 77 & 78 [Polydor, 1992]

Hits Of... 79 & 80 [Polydor, 1992]

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Frank Zappa History - The Mystery Box - Chapter XXVIII

Mystery Box is a 1986 bootleg consisting of ten (ten!) albums. The material spans 1968-81, mostly live but some alternate studio takes and rehearsals.  And look at that artwork! Slide this one into your stacks next to the Old Masters official release and it looks perfectly at home. These guys really put some time into this one.

Zappa hated bootleggers. An unofficial release meant no money in his pocket, and Zappa was a shrewd businessman. In ’91 he tried to beat the weasels at their own game by bootlegging himself with the Beat the Boots box set, which consisted of official releases of bootlegs that were already in circulation. Pretty clever idea, but Mystery Box is better than Beat the Boots.

Other artists aren’t so uptight about bootlegs. Peter Buck collected R.E.M. bootlegs, for example. The big daddies were the Grateful Dead, who let audience members bring professional recording equipment to their shows. Literally thousands of Dead bootlegs are floating around, which means roughly 7 Dead songs.

I love bootlegs. Many are complete junk, but a good recording of a show or some unreleased studio time fills in gaps for me as a fan. They flesh out the story, show the ragged edges that led to the polished perfection of the official releases. Listening to a bootleg is like reading a rough draft in a way. (https://wimwords.com/2015/11/15/from-the-stacks-frank-zappa-mystery-box/)

Frank Zappa - Mystery Box

Pigs 'N Repugnant (Disc 1)

Recording Date & Location:

Tracks 01-02 - Appleton, Wisconson 05/23/69

Tracks 03-06 - California State College, Fullerton, 11/08/68

Son Of Pigs 'N Repugnant (Disc 2)

Recording Date & Location:

01 -  California State College, Fullerton, 11/08/68

02-03 - Appleton, Wisconson 05/23/69

04 - Copenhagen 10/03/68 (according to Patrick Neve on the Patio)

Beyond The Fringe Of Audience Comprehension (Disc 3)

Recording Date & Location:

01-08 unknown (my guess - possibley Aug 1970 Whitney Studios)

09-12 Jan 18/Feb5, 1971 Pinewood Studios, UK

13-15 December 1974 Caribou Studios

Zut Alors (Disc 4)

Recording Date & Location:

01 03/11/73, Texas Hall Auditorium, Arlington, TX 

03 & 05 02/03/76 Kosei Nenkin Kaikan, Osaka, Japan 

04 Unknown 1974 guitar solo from More Trouble Everyday

06 10/01/75, War Memorial Gym, Vancouver, BC, Canada 

07 10/28/76 The Mike Douglas Show, NBC TV

The Rondo Hatton Band (Disc 5)

Recording Date & Location:

01 - 03/20/73 Bolic Sound, Inglewood

02-06 - 11/08/74 Capitol Theatre, Passaic, New Jersey 

07-  06/24/73 Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, Australia

A Token Of His Extreme (Disc 6)

Recording Date & Location:

August 5/6, 1974 KCET-TV Culver City

Chalk Pie (Disc 7)

Dates & Locations:

SNL Appearances

01, 02 & 04 - 12/11/76  NBC Studios NYC

03, 05 & 06 - 10/21/78 NBC Studios NYC

07 - 12/07/81 Salt Lake City 

08 - 12/11/81 Santa Monica & 12/07/81 Salt Lake City

09 - 12/12/81E guitar solo from "The Black Page #2", San Diego

10 - 11/17/81 Ritz, NYC 

Crush All Boxes (Disc 8)

Recording Date & Location:

01 - Outtake

02-05 - Studio rehearsals

06 - Outtake

07 - June, 1981 Studio FZ on piano/vocal  

08 - Unknown outtake

09-12 - Side 1 of "Crush All Boxes"

Return Of The Son Of Serious Music (Disc 9)

Recording Date & Location:

01-05 - 05/19/63 Mount St. Mary's College, LA

10 - 05/20/84 FM Broadcast

11 - 06/16/84 "A Zappa Affair"

Randomonium (Disc 10)

Recording Date & Location:

01 - 1969

02 - February 1968 (Apostolic Studio NYC)/10/25/68 (London, Royal Festival Hall)

03 - Dec. 1967-February 1968, Apostolic Studios NYC

04 - 09/10/68, Sunset Sound, Hollywood,  

05-06 - Live 1971

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