Category Archives: video

Billy Strange Has Raised His Hand and Asked to Leave the Room — R.I.P.

Posted on by wolffkurt

“This is the part of the song where Billy Strange raised his hand and asked if he could please leave the room.”
(Lee Hazlewood, from his version of “These Boots Are Made for Walking.”)

Bandleader/arranger/guitarist Billy Strange passed away yesterday (Wed., Feb. 22) at age 81.

While not exactly a household name, in the music world he was a major player. And over the years, on his own and as a member of L.A.’s famed Wrecking Crew, he worked with some of the biggest and best names of mid-20th century pop music, including Elvis Presley, Frank and Nancy Sinatra, Lee Hazlewood, the Beach Boys, Willie Nelson, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis, Jr.

Watch a clip of Billy in action.

 

More Billy Strange songs

Best Albums of 2011

Posted on by wolffkurt

Barn Owl

I threw together a Top Ten list of the best albums of the past year for the CBS site Street Date. It’s a fun task, but not always easy, as anyone who’s done it knows–you inevitably miss a few things, and weeks or months (or more) later, you may come to regret your choices. Either way, though, it stands as a capsule of where your head is at at a specific point in time. Here’s where mine’s been at lately.

My Top Ten albums of 2011

Video: Midlake’s “Bring Down”

Posted on by wolffkurt

Midlake lead singer Tim Smith at SXSW in 2010

 

Midlake performed at SXSW 2010, showcasing their new album The Courage of Others. It’s the best album of 2010, and their SXSW showcase was the best live show of 2010. And it’s only March.

 

UPDATE: A quick taste of Midlake, the epic song “Bring Down,” from their 2010 album The Courage of Others.

 

See more Flickr photos of Midlake and other bands.

Metallica live in Moscow, 1991

Posted on by wolffkurt

In 1991, Metallica was on the “Monsters of Rock” tour, travelling through Europe with the Black Crowes, Pantera, AC/DC. In the fall there was a coup in the USSR, and Gorbachev was briefly overthrown. It didn’t last long, but it sent the country into turmoil — and eventually lead to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the re-emergence of Russia.

Once the turmoil of the coup was over, the Monsters of Rock artists decided to add Moscow to their itinerary. And so in October of 1991, they came to Moscow and put on a free concert.

It was an intense experience–free concert, half a million people, Soviet helicopters buzzing overhead, tens of thousands of soldiers. I happened to be visiting friends in Moscow at the time, so I got to go. It was one of the craziest concerts I’ve been to in my life. I was working at the SF Bay Guardian at the time, and was able to make my way backstage using my homemade Bay Guardian press pass.

The Feelies

Posted on by wolffkurt

The recently revamped indie blog Songs:Illinois has a YouTube Saturday feature that’s pretty cool, and among the recent treats was a clip of the Feelies playing “Crazy Rhythnms” at the New Jersey club Maxwell’s. Know the Feelies? This band rocked my world in the ’80s. Not sure when the clip is from, but it’s well worth checking out.