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Conference mr1pst::music

Title:MUSIC V4
Notice:New Noters please read Note 1.*, Mod = someone else
Moderator:KDX200::COOPER
Created:Wed Oct 09 1991
Last Modified:Tue Mar 12 1996
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:762
Total number of notes:18706

233.0. "John Wesley Harding !" by NEMAIL::CARROLLJ (Immanuel Kant was a real . . .) Wed May 27 1992 03:01

    
    	Albums =
    
    		Here Comes the Groom
    		The Name Above the Title
    		God Made Me Do It : The Christmas EP
    		It Happened One Night
    
    	This is a very talented young man.  His music is kinda folk, kinda
    rock and really, really good.  Everyone says he reminds them of a young
    Elvis Costello.  That might be because his band, The Good Liars,
    contains a few former Attractions, but I think he has a sound all his
    own.  Ok, the name's not completely original.  His lyrics are
    refreshingly intelligent and often hilarious - check out the song "July
    15th, 1985".
    	Although _Here Comes the Groom_ is his debut album, I would recommend
    _It Happened One Night_ - it was recorded live all in one sitting and
    really captures the power of his live performances.  
    
    	songs you may have heard . . .
    
    	Devil in Me
    	Bastard Son
    	The Person You Are
    	The People's Drug
    
    	also, he did a cover of "If You Have Ghosts" for the Cole Porter
    tribute album _Red, Hot & Blue_     
    
    	does anyone out there know of any JWH bootlegs?  I'm paticularly
    interested local ( Boston ) shows . . . .
    
    						-Jimbo
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233.1Great songs despite Andy Paley's productionBAVIKI::goodMichael GoodWed May 27 1992 17:2311
Yes!  I second the recommendation for "It Happened One Night".
The studio albums are pitifully overproduced by Andy Paley,
with some of the most inappropriate use of a brass section
ever heard on a pop album.  Compare the speed and fire of
"The Devil in Me" on It Happened One Night vs. the leaden
arrangement on Here Comes the Groom.  It's a measure of JWH's 
talent that he shines through anyway, making each album at 
least enjoyable.  The strongest moments in "Here Comes the 
Groom" are the more acoustic numbers, and there are enough
of those to make this album highly recommendable as well.
But please John, find another producer for the next album!
233.2Andy Paley should be shot. Twice, perhaps.NEMAIL::CARROLLJImmanuel Kant was a real . . .Sun Jul 19 1992 18:5919
    
    I picked up a book/cd combo called "Collected Stories" by JWH.  It's
    the lyrics ( kinda ) to "Here Comes the Groom" & "The Name Above the
    Title".  It seems that he gets a lot of requests for lyrics, but never
    wanted them published - he gives several reasons for this, the most
    telling one, I think, is that the way they tend to look on paper -
    block, square, block, block, square - 
    	His solution was to slightly rewrite the lyrics into short (very)
    stories, adding things here and there and deleting others.  A unique
    approach, I thought - the CD that came with it has a few tunes from
    each album, and a few live tracks, also.  I've only ever seen one,
    however, and snatched it up and the first opportunity.
    
    Re -1 - the difference between the live version of "Save a Little Room
    for Me" and the album cut is simply unbelieveable!  A sweet, meaningful
    song trumped up into some sort of saccarhin, twisted THING.  I can't
    bear to listen to the studio version.  Can you say "over-produced"?
    
    					-jimbo
233.3New album coming soonBAVIKI::goodMichael GoodMon Aug 03 1992 18:156
Tower Records in Boston says that the new John Wesley
Harding album should be released the last week of
August.  Let's hope he's ditched Paley for this one.

Where did you find Collected Stories?  It sounds
interesting...
233.4blatherNEMAIL::CARROLLJImmanuel Kant was a real . . .Mon Aug 10 1992 18:3616
    RE -.1
    
    New album - COOL!
    
    Collected Stories was at Rocket Records in Nashua - a little
    independent store that'll probably go out of business now that Newbury
    Comics opened up across the street . . .  that's the only place I ever
    saw it - I'll look at it tonight and see who put it out . . .
    
    The CD has live versions of Here Comes the Groom, You're No Good, I Can
    Tell ( When You're Telling Lies ) and The Person You Are.
    
    Also, the Best of Mountain Stage Vol 2 has a another live version of
    You're No Good . . .
    
    						-Jimbo
233.5New producer for new albumBAVIKI::goodMichael GoodMon Aug 10 1992 19:338
I read (in ICE, I believe) that JWH has a new producer
for the new album, which was recorded in Seattle.  Don't
remember the producer's name offhand.  Wonder if he'll
try to make John sound like Nirvana rather than Costello? :-)

I'll have to check Rockit and other stores like that for
the Collected Stories collection.  I've seen the Best of
Mountain Stage CD's in other stores as well.
233.6bummer, manNEMAIL::CARROLLJImmanuel Kant was a real . . .Tue Aug 11 1992 18:3911
    Re -.1
    
    	Michael,
    
    	Well, bad news - the reason I've only ever seen one of them is
    because there's small print on the front cover : "For promotional Use
    Only".  Now, that doesn't mean that you'll never find it, but it's sure
    to be a bit harder.  Sire/Reprise put it out, by the way . . .
    
    
    					-Jimbo
233.7...there's no escaping Hitler's Tears...NEMAIL::CARROLLJImmanuel Kant was a real . . .Sun Aug 16 1992 17:1810
    
    -RE new album
    
    	Should be out either this tuesday or the next - I had a listen to
    an advance copy - I don't think you'll be disappointed - the little I
    heard sounds a LOT more like his live stuff - The new producer had a
    much lighter touch than Paley ever did . . .
    
    							-Jimbo
    
233.8info . . . .\NEMAIL::CARROLLJImmanuel Kant was a real . . .Mon Aug 24 1992 23:406
    
    title = Why We Fight
    produced by Steve Berlin, NOT Andy Paley.
    
    						-Jimbo
    
233.9concert on Sunday nightNEMAIL::CARROLLJImmanuel Kant was a real . . .Tue Sep 01 1992 18:2918
    
    Was fortunate enough to see JWH at Bill's Bar on Sunday night.  Was
    supposed to be a semi-private show for FNX ( they gave a was a dozen
    pairs of tickets or so ), but a friend at the station got us it.  Great
    show!  There were only about a hundred people or so, and we were right
    up front, next to the table were his wife and Juliana Hatfield were. 
    Got to meet the man himself.
    	He opened with a cover that I'd heard him do before called "This
    Song's No Good" by some band called the Catheads(?).  he did alot of
    stuff from the new album - Kill the Messenger, Ordinary Weekend, The
    Truth, The Original Miss Jesus and Hitler's Tears.  He closed with the
    Live-Aid song WITH the "We Own the World" stanza which is missing from
    the album cut.  And of course, he did all the other popular ones.
    	All in all, it was an awesome time!  He is coming around again
    probably to the Paradise in November.
    
    							-Jimbo
    
233.10Why We Fight is excellentPIPE::GOODMichael GoodWed Sep 02 1992 16:2012
    Why We Fight has been a regular on my CD player since it was released. 
    It's one of those albums that I liked the first time through and which
    I like even better with repeated listenings.  Current favorites include
    Kill the Messenger, Ordinary Weekend, and The Original Miss Jesus.  I
    would have preferred a few more uptempo songs on the album, and a bit
    more of JWH's guitar work, but as it is it's a nicely balanced album. 
    And the production is what it should have been all along on the studio
    albums, which is *such* a relief to hear.  The album was recorded in
    LA, not Seattle as I had seen rumored earlier.  What's more, this album
    even has a lyric sheet.
    
    Where's Bill's Bar?  Sounds like it was a great time!
233.11the cover 'photo' doesn't do him justiceNEMAIL::CARROLLJImmanuel Kant was a real . . .Wed Sep 02 1992 16:4214
    
    Bill's Bar is on world-famous Landsdown Street in Boston, right by the
    Fenway, home of Axis, Avalon and Venus de Milo.
    
    	I taped his little promo/interview bit from FNX - he did live
    versions of Ordinary Weekend and Come Gather Round.  O.W. is my
    favorite song on the album, so I was pretty pleased.  I agree that a
    few more uptempo tunes would have been good, but the rest of the album
    is so good, I can't complain.
    
    	I'm kinda of wondering which Capra film he'll take his next album
    title from _The Name Above the Title_, _Why We Fight_, and . . . .?
    
    					-Jimbo
233.12We own the world - we are rich bastards . . .NEMAIL::CARROLLJThe Bright-Eyed BoyThu Nov 05 1992 16:1025
    
    Wes played last night at the Paradise
    
    Mare Winningham and 'Bare Naked Ladies' opened up. MW has a wonderful,
    folksy voice, and BNL are an energetic band from Canada.  the only song
    I'd ever heard by them was "If I had a Million Dollars ( then I'd be
    Rich )".  If you like The Mighty, Mighty Bosstones or Fishbone, then
    you'd probably like 'em.
    
    	JWH came on around 10:30 or so and played to around 1 in the
    morning - great, great show!  He had his new band with him "The Family
    Values", who added a great deal to alot of his songs, as much as I like
    him playing just him & his guitar.  He sang a couple of new songs, that
    I assume ( + hope ) will be on an upcoming album, called "Waterloo" and
    "Hostile to Politicians".  He also sang a few songs that he usually
    doesn't - "The Rent", "Scared of Guns" (sounded great with the band),
    and "The Red Rose & the Briar" with a few added verses at the end.  All
    in all, he put on a wonderful show - lots of rowdy MIT students were
    there, so the audience was pretty into it.
    	Also, for the first time he had JWH merchandise for sale.  His
    little book wasn't for sale, but they had 5 or 6 copies they gave away
    randomly.  I brought mine, and was lucky enough to get it signed. :)
    
    						Jimbo
                                                     
233.13questionQUIVER::MILLERThu Nov 05 1992 17:4111
    
    Is JWH the guy who sang "When The Beatles Hit America"?
    
    I heard that song on one of those "ALternatice music sampler" CD's, and
    thought it was great!
    
    What album was that song originally on, BTW?
    
    Thanks for the info...
    
    
233.14yup yup yupNEMAIL::CARROLLJThe Bright-Eyed BoyFri Nov 06 1992 19:558
    RE -.1
    
    	"When the Beatles Hit America" was on _Just Say Da_ ( I think ) -
    and that's the only place you'll find it.  It WAS JWH who sang it.
    
    
    						-Jimbo
    
233.15it was the devil in meOTOOA::ESKICIOGLUMy other piano is a SteinwayTue May 04 1993 22:4816
    
    I got "It Happened One Night". JWH and his guitar. I love it.
    
    Have you read the cover :
    
    'In time honoured reissue tradition, there was talk of adding
    extra tracks, but I felt that was a bit harsh on those who bought it
    already. (That was my second thought; my first was "Great, they'll buy
    it twice.")'
    					JWH
    
    Just another protest singer to defend to friends ;-)
    
    Which CD has "Here Comes the Groom", live ?
    
    Lale
233.16At least you've got a Headful of Something :-)NEMAIL::CARROLLJDoin' the same thing twiceWed May 05 1993 16:0210
    
    Re -.1 ( Lale )
    
    'Here Comes the Groom' - live at McCabe's  is a track on a limited
    edition promo-only CD and Book combo called 'Collected Stories' - see a
    few replies back.  It's kind of hard to find, though.  it also has live
    versions of 'You're No Good' and 'The Person You Are'.
    
    					- Jim
    
233.17headful of somethin' VS heartful of nothin'OTOOA::ESKICIOGLUMy other piano is a SteinwayWed May 05 1993 16:3122
    ref. .16
    
    >'Here Comes the Groom' - live at McCabe's  is a track on a limited
    >edition promo-only CD and Book combo called 'Collected Stories' - see a
    
    Bad news Jim. But, I'll keep lookin'.
    
    >          -< At least you've got a Headful of Something :-) >-
    
    "What is the point of having a headful of something when you've
    got a heartful of nothing" .......JWH
    
    >it also has live versions of 'You're No Good' and 'The Person You Are'.
    
    I have 'The Person You Are', don't I ? Or was that on the tape ? Your
    general state of confusion is infectious ;-)
    (I have a tape a good friend made for me with the live version of
    'The Person You Are' along with the live 'Here Comes The Groom'.
    Since that limited edition is hard to come by, I better take good care
    of that tape, i.e. don't leave it in the car on sunny days ;-))
    
    Lale