So there.
Or, rather, here:
- “Bulldog Front” – Fugazi* – 13 Songs
- “Sangria Wine” – Jerry Jeff Walker* – Great Gonzos
- “19th Nervous Breakdown” – Rolling Stones – Hot Rocks
- “Break Charmer” – Cujo – Trip Hop & Jazz Vol. 3
- “…Meets His Maker” – DJ Shadow – The Private Press
- “Countess from Hong Kong (Demo)” – Velvet Underground – Peel Slowly and See
- “I Want to Talk About You” – John Coltrane – Live at Birdland
- “The Messenger” – Ray Wylie Hubbard – KGSR Broadcasts Vol. 6
- “Improv 3” – Earl Harvin Trio* – Unincorporated
- “Oleo (alt take)” – Grant Green – The Complete Quartets with Sonny Clark
- “Elements of Style” – Paul Newman – Frames per Second
The *’s by the ones I’ve seen live reveal my catholic (lower case) tastes in music, particularly the first two.
My first club show was at the Rocket in Providence, RI. A buddy and I had gone up from Newport one Sunday to catch Newport’s own Verbal Assault. Opening for Verbal Assault were G.O.D., Operation Ivy, and Ian MacKaye’s new outfit – Fugazi – playing one of their earliest shows. I still remember the sheer intensity of “Suggestion” and “Waiting Room” and how they just blew whole crowd away.
Later that year, I moved to Texas and began to dig the Texas music. One summer, while shooting video for a summer camp in Marble Falls, Jerry Jeff showed up and played a set in the chow hall. His daughter was a camper there. A year earlier, I had worked as a PA on one of his videos: “Hill Country Rain.” You can’t love the hill country without loving Jerry Jeff’s tunes.
There are other interesting things to accompany the hard core to country opening. Grant Green, for instance. Would that I could play guitar the way he did.
James Brush is a teacher and writer who lives in Austin, TX. He tries to get outside as much as possible.
I saw JJW down at the Broken Spoke in south Austin 7 or 8 years ago. He’s a classic.