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Pop Rock Nation

Author: Jenny

  • Exciting news for fans of the Allman Brothers Band

    Exciting news for fans of the Allman Brothers Band

    The 1971 Fillmore East Recordings
    The 1971 Fillmore East Recordings

    I just found out some exciting news for fans of the Allman Brothers Band and I can’t wait to share it!

    One of the best live albums ever, The Allman Brothers Band’s At Fillmore East, has been expanded into a new and completely remastered box set! The new box set, entitled The 1971 Fillmore East Recordings, will come in three different configurations: six CDs, four LPs, or three Blu-rays.

    Fillmore East was rock promoter and impresario Bill Graham’s iconic concert venue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was open from March 8, 1968 until June 27, 1971 and served as an eastern companion to Graham’s Fillmore Auditorium and later Fillmore West venue in San Francisco, California. Fillmore East was famous for hosting some of the hottest rock acts of the time and The Allman Brothers Band were a much celebrated guest there.

    The expanded Fillmore East box set comes from recordings made over the weekend of March 12-13, 1971, as well as the entire Allman Brothers Band performance on June 27, 1971, Fillmore East’s closing night. Bill Graham handpicked the Allman Brothers Band to headline that night because of their phenomenal ability to play live gigs.

    The 1971 Fillmore East Recordings box set will also include a 36 page booklet with detailed notes written by Allmanologist John Lynskey, as well as fifteen previously unreleased tracks. These concerts have been remastered in 5.1 surround sound from the original multi-track recordings. They should sound great on whatever machine you want to use to play them!

    I am very excited about this new box set because I have been a big Allman Brothers Band fan for years. While I’ve always enjoyed their studio recordings of such classic hits like “Ramblin’ Man” and “Statesboro Blues”, I especially enjoy their live tracks. I think one of the best measures of a band’s collective talent is how good they are live or on live recordings. The Allman Brothers Band is consistently top notch in a live venue; they are well-known for their effortless, innovative jams. And I do love a good live jam!

    So, if you love live music by the Allman Brothers Band, mark your calendar for July 29th. That’s when you can get your hands on this brand new box set!


    An ad for The 1971 Fillmore East Recordings…

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  • My dad’s music…

    My dad’s music…

    Today’s post is about my dad’s music… because his music influenced my music…

    Last week, I wrote about how I was in the market for funeral songs. At that time, my dad was on his death bed. He has since died and I’m left remembering him. The full impact of grief has not yet hit me. Intellectually, I know he’s gone and not coming back and yet I just saw him eight days ago. I haven’t had time to miss him yet, I guess. As I wrote in my last post, my dad was very much a music lover and he passed a lot of his passion on to me. We did not share the same musical tastes once I got old enough to determine what I liked and what I didn’t like. I do remember listening to some of his music in the car when I was very young.

    My dad introduced me to the fluffy sweetness of Olivia Newton-John’s voice. He used to play her cassettes in the car and for some reason, I just adored her. She was pretty and had a great style, or so five year old me thought, anyway. In those days, Olivia was a country star.


    I remember this song from Olivia Newton-John’s 1974 album, If You Love Me Let Me Know.

    About a year ago, I went looking for Olivia’s deep cut “Mary Skeffington” and learned that it was also sung by Gerry Rafferty. As I listened to Gerry’s version, I ran into a British musician on YouTube who covered it. We’ve sort of become correspondents since then. I listen to his music and he listens to mine. And all because my dad exposed me to Olivia Newton-John back in the day.


    I need to listen to more Gerry Rafferty… He’s done more than “Baker Street” and “Right Down The Line”.

    The Carpenters were another musical act I shared with my dad. He loved Karen Carpenter’s clear vocals and Richard Carpenter’s virtuoso piano playing. I didn’t appreciate The Carpenters until I was a lot older. But my dad owned a couple of their albums and he’d play them on road trips.


    “Sometimes” was written by Henry Mancini, Felice Mancini, and Bob Seger. The words came from a letter written to Henry Mancini by his daughter.

    The song “Sometimes” seems very poignant to me right now. It’s about the importance of remembering loved ones while you still can and appreciating them for who they are.


    “You” was another great sleeper hit on The Carpenters’ 1976 album, A Kind of Hush.

    A lot of The Carpenters’ hits were kind of saccharine and overwrought. And yet, there was no denying their talent. My dad was a big fan and he passed his appreciation on to me, even as I can see why some people thought they were a bit too square to be hip.

    My dad liked Jim Croce. He had a couple of Croce’s albums on 8-track that he’d play sometimes. While I never got as much into Croce as my dad did, I did find a few of his songs very beautiful.


    One of my favorite Jim Croce songs is “I Got A Name”. There is something majestic and strong about this song that moves me every time.


    This song always makes me laugh. I have a friend who changed the lyrics to something naughty and I think of the revised lyrics every time I hear this.

    And… very strangely, my dad was also an ABBA fan. Well, he owned one of their albums, anyway. I don’t think he bought more than one. I guess he liked their sound, though he was not one to listen to music you could boogie to. The album my dad owned was their 1979 release, Voulez-Vous, which seems especially funny, since that album was known as their “disco” album. I used to listen to it all the time.


    “As Good As New” was one of my favorite songs on Voulez-Vous. The lyrics were a little lame, but I loved the funky melody. I think my dad was more partial to songs like “I Have A Dream”.


    Ahh… how inspiring!


    “Kisses of Fire” was another favorite of mine, but it probably made my dad nervous. Most music with a strong beat did.

    There were other albums, of course. I used to raid my parents’ music all the time. I liked listening to their copy of Herb Alpert’s Whipped Cream and Other Delights. I was also enchanted by the album cover, which featured a beautiful woman covered in what appeared to be whipped cream. I hope it was shaving cream, otherwise it would not be very pleasant for long…


    “A Taste of Honey” was a favorite…

    As I remember my dad, I realize that he had a lot to do with my love of music. I didn’t always like what he liked, but I liked enough of it. I hope wherever he is now, he’s got all the tunes he could ever wish for… and his voice back strong and clear.

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  • Funeral songs…

    Funeral songs…

    I don’t mean to be a downer, but I’m in the market for some funeral songs…

    Over the past week or so, I’ve been dealing with some unfortunate family business. It’s the kind of business that affects every family eventually. My father is on his death bed, after several years of suffering from Lewy body dementia. The disease has been devastating and it’s robbed him of so many things. He used to be a great singer but his voice was ruined after a surgery after which he spent weeks in a coma and was therefore intubated. He used to love to exercise, but the Parkinsonian effects of his disease robbed him of being able to walk much. He used to love people, but the dementia made him less tolerant of others. He lost much of his autonomy and gained hallucinations, irrational thinking, and the need to sleep most of the time.

    About ten days ago, he stopped eating and complained of a stomach ache. My mom got worried. She called an ambulance and they went to the closest hospital, where a doctor determined that my dad’s gallbladder was inflamed. A decision was made to remove the organ. I found out about the surgery after it had already happened. When I heard about it, I had a sinking feeling that this could be end up being my father’s undoing. I told my husband, Bill, that we might need to make a quick trip to Virginia, which is where I’m from and where my parents still live. Sure enough, by the weekend we were on our way, since after the operation, my dad had trouble breathing and had to be intubated.

    I saw my dad on Sunday, after my mom made it clear that she wasn’t going to go to great lengths to save him from death. Not that I blame her for that… My dad wouldn’t want to be kept alive artificially and, when I saw him, I didn’t think he looked happy or comfortable. My mom confided to me that he had expressed a desire to be done with the disease. Fortunately, my sisters and I are all in agreement with my mom about the right thing to do for my dad.

    My dad loves music. In the community where I grew up, my dad was a well known star of many choral groups. He sang a lot of solos and always had some sort of gig going on. I didn’t become a singer until I was 18 and in college. I think I knew I liked music and was naturally good at it, but I didn’t want to compete with my dad or be compared to him. But I know I get a lot of my love for music from both of my parents, my dad especially. My sister said he had seemed to perk up a little when she played some music for him. I told her I had a few songs that I had recorded. She said I should play them for him. I did.


    I played this song first.

    My dad’s eyebrows raised a little as I played this. My sister said I should play another. For some reason, I ended up playing my version of “Bein’ Green” for my dad. I don’t even know if he knew that song, even though I was a young girl when it was popular. My sister encouraged me to sing along with my recording, but all I could manage to do was hum… and even that was choked up with emotion.


    There’s something about this song that makes me emotional.

    I came home yesterday. My dad was taken off the ventilator and my mom requested that it not be reconnected. I was told that he wasn’t doing so well without the ventilator, but I haven’t heard any news that he’s gone yet. It’s just a matter of time, though.

    My sister asked me to make her a CD with some of my recordings on it, so I’ve been gathering them… and even recorded a couple of new ones today. The ones I did today are a bit funereal. But then, my dad won’t have an actual funeral. My mom has arranged for his brain to be studied at Harvard University, so it may be some time before he’ll be ready for a memorial service. And given that I have to move to Germany by August, I don’t know that I’d be around for it anyway. So I thought I’d post a few songs I would play for my dad if I could plan the music for his service.


    Alison Krauss and Union Station singing “Heaven’s Bright Shore”.


    “The Far Side Banks of Jordan” performed by The Cox Family with Alison Krauss… I heard this one about twenty minutes after I lost my beloved beagle, MacGregor, and it gave me peace.


    And “I Will See You Again” which is so much like my parents’ relationship…

    A few weeks ago, I recorded a song that was written and originally performed by Karla Bonoff and later covered by Linda Ronstadt. I knew about it some time ago, but only recently rediscovered it. If I could, I’d play this when remembering my dad…


    This is my version of “Goodbye, My Friend”, but you can easily find the original and Linda Ronstadt’s version on YouTube.

    Like I said, I’m sorry to be such a downer today. Music is like a salve at times like this, even if funeral songs make me cry.

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