Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs : Under The Covers Vol. 1

stereogum: Cinnamon Girls By The Dozen
(via Cinnamon covers and My Old Kentucky Blog: Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs : Under The Covers Vol. 1)

Sid & Susie - Cinnamon Girl (Neil Young Cover)

Awesome Neil Young cover by Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs!

From CD booklet notes:

"We both love Neil to the extreme, and his two-part harmonies work great for us here. Plus, it's a chance to rock! For a moment Sid even thought about changing the word girl to bird. Says Susie, "I love the idea of a cinnamon girl, spicy yet sweet [no pun intended]. Someone you could be "happy with for the rest of your life" as it says in the song. I've always aspired to be like that!"

Also check out Sid & Susie's cover of Neil Young's "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" and other sample MP3's of Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs : Under The Covers

stereogum: Cinnamon Girls By The Dozen:

# Boyd Tinsley - "Cinnamon Girl" (MP3)
# Dream Syndicate - "Cinnamon Girl" (MP3)
# Hole - "Cinnamon Girl" (MP3)
# Kashmir - "Cinnamon Girl" (MP3)
# Radiohead - "Cinnamon Girl" (MP3)
# Tarik Y La Fábrica De Colores - "Cinnamon Girl" (MP3)
# The Constantines - "Cinnamon Girl" (MP3)
# The Replicants - "Cinnamon Girl" (MP3)
# The Smashing Pumpkins - "Cinnamon Girl" (MP3)
# Type O Negative - "Cinnamon Girl" (MP3)


From the Decade album, Neil writes: "Wrote this for a city girl on peeling pavement coming at me thru Phil Ochs eyes playing finger cymbals. It was hard to explain to my wife."

Furthermore, according to album Decade's liner notes, Neil wrote "Down by the River", "Cinnamon Girl", and "Cowgirl in the Sand" all in a single afternoon -- while sick with a 103 degree temperature. Also, recorded after being together with the band Crazy Horse for only 2 weeks. Amazing. And definitely one of the coolest song exits ever with the feedback meltdown.

On Radio Paradise, Ladyj posted:

"While Young does repeat a single note in several places on the song "Cinnamon Girl" - with an odd 1/2 note down open tuning - the rhythm guitar and bass of Crazy Horse, along with the hauntingly evocative lead work of Neil on this piece and also on 'Down By The River' are remarkably unique. Never before or since have I heard the complexities of this remarkable album as Neil Young and The Crazy Horse explore pertinent directions within the unique framework of these two songs."

More on Phil Ochs - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

New Neil Young Album: Living With War

The new Neil Young album "Living With War"has already set off a firestorm. And it hasn't even been released yet.

Details on Thrasher's Wheat: Neil Young News.

Bruce Springsteen's The Seeger Sessions

Bruce Springsteen's upcoming The Seeger Sessions has a preview video of "John Henry".

The CD is titled We Shall Overcome and covers a range of folk icon Pete Seeger's songs. Not all Bruce fans are thrilled about an album of folk covers as we have noted before.

Over on Blogcritics, The World Wide Glen replies to a review post on artists challenging their audiences:

"Bruce Springsteen's greatest strength as an artist is as a songwriter. The E-Street Band is great and Bruce is a better guitarist than he is given credit for but the reason I care is because of the songs. He has written some of the best songs in rock music history. There are a lot of fine singers out there in need of quality material. They should do Seeger albums. Springsteen can supply his own material. Springsteen should provide his own material.

As for this Seeger Sessions Band ... it does not roll off the tongue quite as well as The E-Street Band. In the end, that is what most of Springsteen's fans were likely hoping for with this new album. They wanted Bruce and the E-Street Band to make a new record and tour it. Of course, most of them would then want him to play nothing from the new album instead choosing to do 57-minute versions of "Racing in the Street."

It is the challenge most veteran artists with loyal fan bases face. Artists get scourged if they stray too far from what made them popular and get hammered if they stay the same. It is a no-win proposition. I believe I am willing to give him more latitude than some of his fans but in the end I want what I want. Just like everyone else."

But it is interesting to see the revival of some folk heros like Woodie Guthrie by Billy Bragg and Jeff Tweedy. On Son Volt's 2005 "Okemah and the Melody of Riot" Jay Farrar channels Woody Guthrie to startling effect.

Will Bruce's cover spark a similar reappraisal of Pete Seeger?

More on Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young: The Difference in Greatness.

Video: Cowboy Junkies Cover Neil Young's "Tired Eyes"

The Cowboy Junkies do an appropriately downbeat cover of "Tired Eyes" from Neil Young's junkie ditchie album Tonight's The Night.

The video is hosted on Live @ Orange Lounge and is the last song of the studio set (song #6).

More on The Cowboy Junkies covering "Helpless" and Neil Young's doper ditch classic Tonight's The Night

Thanks for the link e2f!

Neil Young :: Under The Covers

Over on An Aquarium Drunkard, some Neil Young MP3 covers from the 1989 Bridge Tribute album.

DOWNLOAD:
MP3: Pixies :: Winterlong

An Aquarium Drunkard also has MP3 covers for:

Sonic Youth :: Computer Age
Victoria Williams :: Don't Let It Bring You Down

More on Neil Young Tribute for The Bridge School Album (review) and other bands covering Neil Young's songs .

Crosby, Gils & Nash

From David Gilmour | The Voice and Guitar of Pink Floyd | Official Site:

"The US leg of the On An Island tour opened in a spectacular fashion, with special guests David Crosby and Graham Nash bringing the house down at Radio City Music Hall. As you can imagine the show was very special (see today's Fan Fare page for the full setlist), but the addition of Crosby & Nash took the musicianship to new heights. Rapturously received by the rabid NY audience, David and Graham added their mellifluous trademark harmonies to not only the On An Island title track, but also The Blue, and even Shine On You Crazy Diamond.

As if that weren't enough, they stunned the already delirious hordes by returning to the stage one final time in the encores, in between Wish You Were Here and Comfortably Numb. They performed Find The Cost Of Freedom, acappella with David Gilmour, on the first live occasion ever as the three of them. Find The Cost Of Freedom is a Stephen Stills composition, best-known for its inclusion on Crosby Stills Nash & Young's 2-LP live set Four-Way Street. Let's hope it won't be the last live airing from the new three kings of harmony."

A cool photo here.
Thanks for the link Pete & HwyCDRrew!

BobFest YouTube Video: "My Back Pages"

"My Back Pages"
Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Neil Young
October 16, 1992
Madison Square Garden, New York City

Musical history was made for the Bob Dylan's 30th Anniversary tribute in 1992. Here's a clip on YouTube of "My Back Pages". Even the video intro backstage is historic stuff.


YouTube Video of "My Back Pages" at BobFest -
TO PLAY DIRECTLY: Click Icon in Center Above

And of course, check out our man Neil's solo!

More on Bob Dylan and Neil Young's musical influences.

Arctic Monkeys Concert Webcast on NPR

photo by Joel Didriksen for kingpinphoto.com

The super-hyped Arctic Monkeys came to Washington, DC's 9:30 Club last week. Did they live up to all the overwrought praise? Well, how could any band that has press using Beatles comparisons possibly succeed?

From NPR:

"The band's one and only album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, debuted at number one on British charts in January, selling more copies than all the other top-20 albums combined.

The UK music magazine New Musical Express calls the Arctic Monkeys' CD one of the top five British rock albums of all time."

So judge for yourself. The NPR Radio webcast is now up and streaming. The performance was the latest in a series of live concerts from NPR Music's All Songs Considered.

Photo gallery, interviews and setlist are available of the concert.

Here are some reviews of other NPR concert webcasts [search].

Six Points Music Festival 2006

The third annual Six Points Music Festival will take place Thursday, April 6 through Saturday, April 8, 2006 throughout the Washington, D.C. area, showcasing 40+ bands at 13 venues including DC9, IOTA Club and Café, Jammin’ Java, Rock N Roll Hotel, Staccato Lounge, The State Theatre, Strathmore, Velvet Lounge, Whitlow’s On Wilson and other to-be-announced venues.

Jeff, over at Last Second Thoughts, recommends a couple of bands not to miss: Army of Me is headlining the Black Cat show - they just got signed to Atlantic Records. Their stuff is British-tinged rock (though they're from the US), catchy and hook-ridden, with very cool vox. Also, catch Junkfood at Jammin Java. Junkfood is described as catchy, riffy guitar rock.

More festival information on Six Points Music Festival.

Also, here are podcasts of the last year's 2005 Six Points Music Festival:

• Six Points Podcast #1


• Six Points Podcast #2


• Six Points Podcast #3

Thanks to Jeff over on Last Second Thoughts!