It was the summer of 2001 in Munich and a strange obsession had overtaken me.  I had recently picked up a used copy of Bob Dylan's Unplugged DVD in a favorite Schwabing haunt and took notice of the acoustic guitar that Dylan played throughout the concert.  I had recalled seeing the  guitar on numerous occasions, most notably the same acoustic guitar seemed to always be in Neil Young's hands on other concert films such as Silver and Gold and The Last Waltz. Some quick research led me to the Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum which is where the obsession really began to take hold. This web forum features endless threads and posts from prospective Martin Guitar purchasers and existing owners obsessing over every known detail concerning the "Cadillac of acoustic guitars". After all, this guitar is synonymous with some of Rock and Roll's most acclaimed songs and collected works including Jimmy Page's acoustic intro to Stairway to Heaven and Neil Young's standout Harvest album. After a month or so of reading the forum, I really began to get "Martin fever" and started to think about buying my own Martin D-28.  It didn't matter that I had never played an acoustic guitar before, I simply  had ...

It was a Friday afternoon in April of 1993 on Doheny Drive in Beverly Hills, California.  The busy mid-week breakfast rush had given way to a languid early afternoon with the occasional order being taken on the phone and placed in the work window. The Room Service phone rang again and a new order was quickly placed in the work window.  Thinking it may have been an order for the pool and an opportunity for a brief respite from the tedium of the shift, I grabbed the slip out of the window and put it down on a pre-prepped roller table. It seemed like a pretty non-descript order and unfortunately wasn't bound for the pool. Cheeseburger (swiss), medium rare, order of fries and a chocolate milk shake.   Room 1404. I immediately noticed the floor that the order had come in from and wondered who was on the other end of the phone.  The print-out stated the guest name as B. Holland but previous experience had proven that guest names were often intentionally incorrect.   The 14th floor was typically reserved for high profile guests; in fact, sometimes an order received from the 14th floor would also prompt the elevator door to open shortly thereafter with private security ...

With the end of  Bob Dylan's recent fall tour, we now enter the 'off season' and will wait in anticipation for Mr. Dylan to fire up the band and commence touring again sometime in late February or early March 2010. On the occasion of Dylan's recently released new "Must be Santa" video I thought it would be worthwhile to assess some of the key moments on film and video featuring none other than Robert Zimmerman.  I've assembled these in no particular order or ranking and I'm limiting my number to what you see below. I'm sure there will be arguments and observations made on other video moments that perhaps should have made the Subrosacafe cut.  Feel free to let me know your thoughts and enjoy the show!  Do you have kids who are in need of a Dylan primer course?  Sit 'em down in front of the family PC and show 'em this.  Dylan management, when will we get a career retrospective live performance DVD set? (Click on each Video below for full-screen views) The Last Waltz Concert, final curtain call for the original line-up of the Band, Winterland, San Francisco, 1976 My favorite Dylan celluloid moment; sublimely filmed by Marty Scorcese and his crew, this ...

The rain had just subsided after a very soggy Saturday in Boston.  Bob Dylan was in town for a three night stand at the beautifully restored Citi Performing Arts Wang Theatre, formerly known simply as the Music Hall.  Dylan has been here before of course, it was the host of two memorable  nights of the Rolling Thunder Revue back in the autumn of 1975. From my Orchestra Row G seat I marveled at the range of ages that were there to see another performance of the Never Ending Tour; for some their first show ever and for others the second show in a row here in Boston. As usual, the fanfare began at approximately 7:45 with the now familiar piped in introduction coupled with wafts of incense emanating from stage left.  Suddenly, the lights went up and there was Dylan and the band striking up the  opening riffs of Cat's in the Well and we were off.  I won't go into a full dissertation on each song tonight but I am pleased to say this was my most satisfying Dylan concert to date. I had last seen Bob and crew back in July 2008 on consecutive nights in southern Spain, Lorca and Jaen ...

They finally got around to removing the dust and restoring the entire Beatles catalog.  Some reports mention that some of the actual master tapes were locked away in a dark vault at Abbey Road...bring on the documentary DVD! Why they're not available on iTunes or Amazon for digital download is still a mystery.  Get the CD Box Set here, The Beatles Stereo Box Set. You know Steve Jobs has been licking his chops to have the catalog available since way before the advent of the iPod. Anyway, check these two tracks if you're curious about the remastering job and sound quality.  Mind blowing clarity, sonic depth and best listened to with quality headphones like the Sennheiser HD600 Over-Ear Open Dynamic Hi-Fi Professional Stereo Headphones (Black). The most influential rock band ever?  Probably.  Classics which stand the test of time?  Certainly. The End, Abbey Road, Stereo Remaster, The Beatles (2009) Tomorrow Never Knows, Revolver, Stereo Remaster, The Beatles (2009)

Eddie Vedder made a wise choice and dropped the long-ish story songs that began to show up increasingly in the early to mid '90s.   This new album sounds incredibly fresh, vibrant and provides an urgent blast to your senses.  Very similar to R.E.M.'s Accelerate, Backspacer doesn't waste time in getting to hooks and putting the point across.  Pearl Jam have always been a great live band and have never been afraid to take risks, often deviating from set-lists to throw in covers from the many bands who have influenced them (usual suspects being The Who, Ramones and Neil Young).  This past Halloween, they added Devo to the list and closed down Philadelphia's Spectrum in full Devo-regalia. Whip it - Pearl Jam (Devo Cover)

  This was the first organized church service I had attended in years and it featured the most charismatic and engaging preacher I've ever witnessed.  I'm only being a little facetious here, Tuesday's Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band show at Charlotte's Time Warner Arena delivered the goods; with flourishes of old fashioned gospel stylings and stellar classic rock in roll in equal lashings. Springsteen's iconic E Street albums are now cornerstones of the classic rock and roll canon and those in the crowd Tuesday witnessed a full performance of 1975's Born to Run in its entirety.  The standout track was Backstreets with Bruce and Little Steven VanZandt sharing the same mic during the chorus, truly spine tingling stuff.  Many of Springsteen's best songs are actually prayer-like, prayers for redemption, prayers for a better life, prayers for forgiveness and prayers for healing; sometimes all wrapped up in one.   Backstreets is among his best and most powerful. Backstreets Live      

Wednesday, November 4th 2009 Michael Leonhart & The Avramina 7 Wednesday, November 4th 2009, Joe's Pub, 425 LAFAYETTE ST, NYC, WWW.JOESPUB.COM 212.967.7555 Check out this upcoming gig at the intimate and wonderful Joe's Pub.   Michael Leonhart presents a funked up ensemble of hip City based players who will be playing selections from Michael's album, Seahorse & the Storyteller as well as the standout new single, Scopolomine. Michael keeps busy and is also on the road again with Steely Dan on the fall leg of their Rent Party Tour; dubbed "Mo Rent".  Check out his ongoing blog posts from the road; very enlightening indeed!  As a solo artist Michael has released six albums -- "Aardvark Poses" (1995), "Glub Glub vol. 11" (1997), and "Slow" (2002) all on the Sunnyside label; "The Suzy Lattimore EP" (2005) & "The Ballad of Minton Quigley "(2006) self released and 2008’s "Hotel Music" on limited edition vinyl with hand painted covers released through St. Ives (an imprint of Secretly Canadian). He has composed and performed music for movies, television, dance, fashion shows and theater, and has appeared on over 100 albums. At age 17, Michael was honored as the youngest Grammy recipient in history, cited as the most outstanding musician in a U.S. ...

Hey I'll probably get derided by the Twin Tone era Replacements purists out there but I'll put a strong argument in to say that All Shook Down is indeed worthy of classic 'Replacements' status.  Yes, Bob Stinson was long gone and the tunes are almost polished, but the guitar work by Slim Dunlap and Westerberg still delivered the necessary sting and precursor-to-grunge sloppiness to push these songs along. This album was originally conceived as Westerberg's first solo album but eventually morphed into the final Replacements offering.  As a result, the full band actually only played together on one track together.   Those doubting the classic ranking would be well served to check out stand out tracks like Attitude, Torture (perfect pop in about 3 minutes time) and Sadly Beautiful for proof. But, the album still has the band's name on it and it's a worthy final line in the sand.  Westerberg was in the middle of quitting drinking so many of the songs were acoustic based and introspective leaning.  Released in 1990, the band would stagger through a final tour before imploding on stage in Chicago during the summer of '91.   In what has been posthumously espoused to be a staged exit, the various band members handed off their ...

We lost another giant last week in a year that seems to keep piling up noteworthy deaths with every passing month.  Somewhat buried in the untimely death of Patrick Swayze, we learned that Mary Travers lost her battle against Leukemia. Peter, Paul and Mary were America's first folk Super Group, a trio of folkies living and performing in Greenwich Village in the early '60's brought together by design by Albert Grossman. The story goes that Grossman wanted to capitalize on the growing popularity of folk and the beatnik cultural revolution that had taken hold in places like Greenwich Village, Berkley, Cambridge and Ann Arbor. He had Peter Yarrow and Paul Stookey and soon found Mary, a tall willowy blond with a strong, clear voice.    Grossman gave Peter, Paul and Mary the early Dylan composition,  Blowin' in the Wind which served to actually break Dylan to mainstream America as well as making his folk SuperGroup stars in their own right. Mary shined on Where have all the flowers gone, Blowin' and If I had a Hammer but one song near the end of their great run in the 60's hit number 1, the John Denver penned Leaving on a Jet Plane, a song released at the height ...