Greetings! Last night I watched the new Pearl Jam movie celebrating their 20 year anniversary as a band, and I have to say, it was quite inspiring. The movie was directed by Cameron Crowe, of “Almost Famous” fame, who first achieved notoriety at the age of 15 as a Rolling Stone writer, when he was plucked from obscurity and chosen to go on tour with Led Zeppelin. Crowe then parlayed this experience into the movie, “Almost Famous”.

     Pearl Jam, IMHO before I saw this documentary, is a really good band, sometimes even great, but not one of my favorites, and not one that I own any CD’s by or have on any of my playlists. But you know what they say. 90% of show business is showing up. Pearl Jam’s showed up for 20 years now, and there’s just something about longevity that speaks volumes. Look at U2. Starting out with one great song, “Walk Away (I will Follow)”, then a bunch of crappy, overproduced records, somewhere along the way, they slowly turned into the juggernaut that you’ll see today at their concerts. Picking up a great song here, a great album there, next thing you know, they’ve got a wealth of material that is all great! And it cancels out the stuff you weren’t that impressed with at the beginning. Tom Petty, The Police, same thing. Both bands showed flashes of brilliance immediately, but took a few albums to produce a masterpiece that had no clunkers. For Petty, it was “Damn the Torpedoes”. For The Police, probably “Ghost in the Machine”. The point is, Pearl Jam is definitely in that club. They are a great band! And this movie makes any musician want to play, which is, I guess, the point. Moreover, it made me want to see them, which I suddenly remembered, I never have. So, Eddie, Stone, and the rest of PJ, WATCH OUT! I’m comin’ fer ya!

     Another really cool movie that I’ve watched about 5 times in the past few weeks is “Living in the Material World”, Martin Scorsese’s biopic of George Harrison. Now, everybody knows that Marty is probably the king of music documentaries. Of course, there are other pretenders to the crown, but I think Marty’s surpassed them all, and this George Harrison picture shows why…again! George is such a great subject and this movie is long overdue, as is George getting the proper respect for his songwriting, singing, and guitar playing. Overshadowed as a guitar player by his friend, Eric Clapton and other guitarslingers, George was nevertheless, like Ringo, perfect for The Beatles. His taste was impeccable! Again, as a songwriter, he was one of the best ever, but had the ironic position of being in a band with THE best ever, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. There’s a great clip of George watching films of The Beatles playing live that is one of my favorite parts of the film, and then he says that he wrote his first song simply as an exercise, just to see if he could do it. The song was “Don’t Bother Me” and George says of it, “It really wasn’t a very good song”.  I shouted back at the TV, “Are you crazy? It’s a GREAT song!”. But that’s George for you. Everybody reading this should make it a point to see this movie, so I’m not going to tell you that much more about it, but I can’t resist retelling my absolute favorite scene. A few years before he died, George was attacked and stabbed by a mentally unstable man who broke into his house at night. He and Olivia had to struggle with the man to disarm him, but in the process, George was stabbed, and it was a pretty serious cut. Paramedics were called, and he was taken to hospital on a stretcher. As he was being carried out, George turned to two staff workers who had just started on the job the day before and were watching in horror, and asked them, deadpan, “So, what do you think of the job so far?”. Pure George!

     I also want to mention that I have a new favorite radio station, 89.9 FM, AKA Fox Oldies. I found them by accident about two weeks ago, and did not hear one bad song for the first 5 days I listened. Since then, sure, there’s been a few clunkers, but for the most part, you can keep this on in your car or at work, and you almost never have to run for the dial to change it. Here’s a small sampling of stuff I heard this weekend.

1. Walk Away Renee - Left Banke

2. Singin the Blues - Marty Robbins

3. North to Alaska - Johnny Horton

4. 25 Miles - Edwin Starr

5. Too Many Fish in the Sea - The Marvelettes

6. Hurdy Gurdy Man - Donovan

7. Look Thru Any Window - The Hollies

8. I'm Ready - Fats Domino

9. Honky Tonk Women - Stones

10. World Without Love - Peter and Gordon

11.If You Wanna be Happy - Jimmy Soul

12. Marie's the Name of his Latest Flame - Elvis

     This makes me happy, after so many years of radio abdicating its responsibilities and in the process, pretty much destroying the music business. It’s just a shame that this has to be an oldies station. The Return of Top 40. Who could ever imagine we’d miss it?

     Live music picks for this week:

It’s a pretty quiet week we have coming up, with most of the action taking place on the weekend. The one exception is Wednesday, November 2, when LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM rolls into The Egg in Albany. He’s always been my favorite part of the current incarnation of Fleetwood Mac. Great guitar player, great songwriter.

As for Halloween weekend, we’ve got my Pick of the Week at The Horton Smith House in Hensonville on Friday night, which is SCOTT SHARRARD, CONNOR KENNEDY, KYLE ESPOSITO, and SONNY ROCK. I don’t know what they’re calling this band, but everyone in it is top shelf. Scott is the guitarist with Gregg Allman. Connor leads his own band, and I think he’s all of 17. Kyle plays with everyone in town and there’s a reason for that. And Sonny has more chops in his little finger than most drummers have in their whole bodies, so this is gonna ROCK! I’m going, and you should too. Hensonville’s a hike, but there’s no cover, so $10 or $15 in gas will get you and whoever fits in your car through the door. Oh yeah, it’s a Halloween party, so come in costume if so inclined.

Also on Friday night, former J.Geils lead singer, PETER WOLF, is at The Egg in Albany, and one of my favorite local dives, The Fernwood in Palenville, is having their Halloween party with VOODELIC.

Saturday night, the only show in town is Woodstock’s best songwriter, TOM PACHECO at Upstate Films in Woodstock.

Closing out the weekend, we have the Halloween party at Harmony in Woodstock. This is the only event actually ON Halloween, so if you’re in Woodstock for the annual Halloween celebration, consider sticking around for dinner and then hitting Harmony for ZUMBI ZUMBI.

Happy Halloween everybody!

     Greetings and welcome to this week’s Reservoir Music Notes. There’s nothing pressing to expound upon this week, so I’m just going to go straight to this week’s live music picks.

     Friday, Oct. 21 – Americana queen, TIFT MERRITT, returns to Club Helsinki in Hudson, and funnyman LEWIS BLACK, brings his uproarious brand of comedy to the Palace Theater in Albany.

     Saturday, Oct. 22 – Local swamp-rock favorites, VOODELIC, return to Dave’s Coffee Shop in Saugerties, and there is a MIDNIGHT RAMBLE @ LEVON HELM’S, with slide guitar ace, CAROLYN WONDERLAND opening. The big news, though, is the opening day of THE WOODSTOCK INVITATIONAL LUTHIER’S SHOWCASE. The two day event showcases contemporary, handmade acoustic guitars and stringed instruments, and runs through the weekend. The event features continuous live performances throughout as well. More info at www.woodstockinvitational.com.

     Sunday, Oct. 23 – W.I.L.S. continues and TEDESCHI-TRUCKS BAND (who’ll probably be nosing around at WILS before their show) performs at UPAC in Kingston.

     Monday, Oct. 24 – THE ART ADAMS BAND featuring BEKI BRINDLE is featured at Gary McKenna’s Monday Night Live series at The Bearsville Theater. More info at www.bearsville theater.com.

     Tuesday, Oct.25 – THE NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALL STARS rock The Bearsville Theater. This should be one of the best of the week.

     Wednesday, Oct. 26 – LOS STRAITJACKETS roll into the High Line Ballroom in Manhattan with their patented psycho-surf brand of rock and roll comedy, but don’t let the funny stuff fool you. These guys are first rate players who will blow your mind. PICK OF THE WEEK!

     Have a great week. I’ll try to think of something to be profound about for next week!

     Welcome back! I’m referring, of course, to my absence from this paper last week, and I’m speaking to myself, naturally. I hope you missed me. Sadly, my friend, songwriting partner, musical compadre, and the best guitarist I ever played with on a regular basis, Eugene Geary, who I wrote about in my last column, lost his battle with his failing liver last night. I got to say my goodbyes before he passed, and since then, I’ve been listening to a lot of the hard and fast rock n roll that Huge, as he was known to friends and family, (but to you who didn’t know him, Mister Huge, or as our friend, Sonny Rock, liked to call him, Gene-yus!) and I love. Specifically, lots of old Stones (more specifically, lots of Exile on Main Street, our favorite album of all time), Joey Ramone, Supersuckers, and 50’s rock n roll.

     An old friend of mine, who’s an automobile mechanic, and lives his life far from the craziness and excesses of the music business, once asked me why so many musicians have problems with substance abuse. Initially, I had no answer, but in the intervening years, I’ve thought about it a lot. My first response came within minutes of being asked, but I’m not sure if it’s true or false. I told him that the percentage is no higher than the general population. It just gets more press coverage. I think that may be true, but I have no way of confirming it.

     Ironically, as I write, I’m watching the new Ken Burns documentary, “Prohibition”. It’s quite good, and the comparisons to our current state of the nation are obvious, even including the economic situation. They even showed people carrying signs saying stuff like, “Create 2,500,000 jobs. Repeal the Volstead Act”, which is  a major argument people make for the legalization, regulation, and taxation of cannabis.

     They also linked beer to treason by saying that all the brewmasters were all German, just like they do now with terrorism and drugs. Now I’m not denying the link between heroin and cocaine trafficking and terrorism, but we all remember those commercials where one guy told another that he helped the terrorists by smoking a joint.

     At the time, the liquor industry was the fifth largest in America, so millions of people lost their jobs, just like now with restaurants and clubs closing because of the DUI laws. Remember when there were dozens of music clubs up and down and off Route 28?

     And then there were the unintended consequences – crime, corruption, the rise of a wealthy criminal class (Mexican cartels), and the ease of getting a drink. It was easier to get a drink during Prohibition than before or after. One guy said he drank a glass of water when it was repealed because he hadn’t had any in thirteen years. Unregulated, liquor was available 24/7/365 to anyone, including children, just like now when every kid in America can get every drug known to mankind in school every day.

     Even with the all the forces in favor of it, Prohibition didn’t stand a chance of passage because the United States government was dependent on the revenue they received from the taxation of whiskey, but as soon as that revenue stream was replaced by the income tax, Prohibition picked up some powerful friends.

     Ironically, prohibitionists were also largely against government spending, so they opposed any funding of enforcement by the feds. Instead they wanted state and local authorities to pass their own laws and enforce them, which, of course, they had no interest in doing. In one year, all 48 states combined authorized a grand total of $700 for enforcement of the Volstead Act. That’s one thing that’s different from now.

     But, I digress. My friend, Huge, was a lifelong alcoholic, but he loved life, and no mater how much he drank, he always remained himself. He wasn’t a mean drunk or anything like that. He just liked to drink. So do I, but I do it occasionally, in moderation, and usually at home. Huge did it all day, every day, and always at home, because he didn’t want to risk driving. In the end, just when his life could have been getting really good, he lost it.

     My last cherished memory of us together was doing “Satisfaction”, a song we’d never done before, and never did again, at The Boiceville Inn when I booked the music there. We nailed it! Would Prohibition have helped my friend stay on the wagon? Not on your life! RIP Mister Huge. You played better drunk than most people do sober. Rock and Roll has lost an important voice and will miss you!

   

 Live music picks for this week:

Thursday, October 13 – Black Crowes guitarist, RICH ROBINSON, brings his new band into the fabulous Club Helsinki in Hudson. Rich is largely responsible for The Crowes Stonesian, open tuned, bluesy sound, and this should be a great night for Rock and Roll.

Friday, October 14 – The great STEVEN STILLS makes a rare solo appearance at The Bearsville Theater. I don’t even remember the last time Stills played a venue so intimate. Tickets sold out in about ten minutes, so, good luck getting one. Consolation prize?  My friend, BOW THAYER, and his band, PERFECT TRAINWRECK, are at The Falcon in Marlboro tonight. Bow has played at Levon’s , so you know he’s gotta be pretty good.

Saturday, October 15 – NINA VIOLET, an extremely quirky, but really interesting and good artist, is playing at the tiny Market Market in Rosendale.

Sunday, October 16 – LEVON is doing his annual free show at Gill’s Farm in Hurley in the afternoon. I haven’t been to a Ramble for a while and I’m even thinking of closing the shop for the day to attend. More information at www.levonhelm.com.

Wednesday, October 19 – Mr. and Mrs. Derek Trucks, AKA THE TEDESCHI-TRUCKS BAND, performs at The Egg in Albany, and this should be a most blueswailing night.

Enjoy the week.