#moondog matinee

[jt1674]

[longliverockback]

The Band Moondog Matinee 1973 Capitol ——————————————————————— Tracks: 01. Ain’t Got No Home 02. Holy Cow 03. Share Your Love 04. Mystery Train 05. Third Man Theme 06. Promised Land 07. The Great Pretender 08. I’m Ready 09. Saved 10. A Change Is Gonna Come ———————————————————————

Rick Danko

Levon Helm

Garth Hudson

Richard Manuel

Robbie Robertson

* Long Live Rock Archive

[levon]

my favorite part of moondog matinee is the garthlevon yaoi they put on the wraparound

[moondogmatinees]

so basically moondog matinee as an album title references alan freed’s radio show which was the namesake for the first ever rock concert in history which happened on my birthday (march 21st) in my hometown and holy cow which is track 2 on moondog matinee is 3:21 long (on spotify at least) and my initials are MOO. okay?

[neilphen]

uhmm i dont feel like including live albums EXCEPT the last waltz cuz idk it feels like a different breed to me :p and its my poll im gonna do what i wanna do

[fortheturnstiles]

very specific type of guy in this movie perfectly illustrated by how his apartment is decorated. with enormous jerry garcia poster, moondog matinee by the band inner gatefold art, and photos of sexy women everywhere

[therecordchanger62279]

TAKE TWO (4TH EDITION)

Not a single banana here - just a bunch of pairs.

Allman Brothers Band:

1. At Fillmore East 2. Brothers & Sisters. With this band, I wanted two different versions of the band, and I wanted both a live and studio record. The first is still the best example of what the band was, and what made them special. The second was the first full-length record after the death of Duane Allman, and it leans in a more Country, and Country Blues direction. The addition of keyboardist Chuck Leavell tipped the instrumental balance to keyboards. They would make a couple more great studio albums late in their career, but they were never this good again.

The Band:

1. Music from Big Pink 2. Northern Lights-Southern Cross. The obvious choice for most people would be the group’s self-titled second LP, but I’m still partial to their debut. My second choice was difficult because I love Stage Fright, and the all covers Moondog Matinee. But Northern Lights is their last great work, so I went with that.

Bruce Springsteen:

1. The Wild, The Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle 2. Born To Run. For an artist like Springsteen, a hits collection just doesn’t cut it. But as many great studio records as he made throughout his career, his second and third albums are still his best, in my opinion. I never seriously considered any others.

Chicago:

1. Chicago Transit Authority 2. Chicago II. I was more a fan of the adventurous Chicago than I was the hit machine they became. They were able to sustain a lucrative career for a couple of decades, and as much as I loved most of the hits (at least in that first decade), they peaked very early with their first two studio records. Both were double albums, and there is a lot of very exciting long-form music with some big hits scattered throughout.

The Clash:

1. Super Black Market Clash 2. The Essential Clash. This is another case where I think most would choose their self-titled debut, and their third album, London Calling. But the band made its name and reputation on singles, so I went with a best of, and another that collects EP’s, B sides, extended mixes, and some rare stuff. Between the two you get every important single, and most of the best album tracks as well.

David Bowie:

1. ChangesOneBowie 2. ChangesTwoBowie. How do you choose between at least a half-dozen classic LPs? I couldn’t. And my Bowie collections are three discs long which disqualifies them here. So, I simplified the process, and picked two single LPs of hits that cherry pick a lot of the best from a wide variety of albums. It’s not everything I wanted, but it is everything I need. And that’s the whole idea here.

Eagles:

1. The Very Best of Eagles 2. Desperado. The two CD Very Best of is the perfect one-stop if you only need one. But I like the concept album Desperado, and it needs to be heard in its entirety to be appreciated.

Elton John:

1. Madman Across the Water 2. Tumbleweed Connection. Elton will likely be best remembered for the hits, and there were plenty of those. But these two records are both masterpieces. The only other title I considered was Goodbye Yellow Brick Road which I’m sure would be most people’s first choice. But as great as it is, there is some filler on it, and that can’t be said for either of my choices.

Elvis Presley:

1. From Elvis in Memphis (The Legacy Edition) 2. The Sun Sessions. Easy choice on this one. I probably don’t need to hear “Heartbreak Hotel”, or “Hound Dog”, or “Teddy Bear” or any of his other early hits ever again, and after his comeback, the records just got weaker and weaker. Elvis’s Sun period is essential, but all of those lengthy CD packages that give you 30 alternate takes of every track is too much of a good thing. But the 16 track The Sun Sessions distills the finished master takes into one very listenable LP. The 2CD Legacy edition of From Elvis in Memphis belongs in every collection of 20th century popular music. It’s just wall-to-wall brilliant. His entire reputation rests on these two releases alone. If he’d never made these, I would argue he was just another 50s rock ‘n’ roller. But these records establish his genius, and secure his legend.

Eric Clapton:

1. 461 Ocean Boulevard 2. There’s One in Every Crowd. I think ‘461’ would make a lot of lists, but I doubt ‘Crowd’ would turn up anywhere – except here. The first was his comeback record. It signaled a sea change in his approach to music making, and to the electric guitar. The follow-up is an extension of his new sound, and was vilified in the press at the time. But I’ve always loved it for its low-key soulfulness, and the rapport he and his band-mates had with one another. If you want guitar shredding, look elsewhere. But if you want white Soul with a bit of Blues, it’s all you need. I don’t think he ever made studio records this good again.

[dollarbin]

Dollar Bin 52:

The Band's Moondog Matinee

Ah, The Covers Record: it's every singer-songwriter's supposed flag of surrender.

As with most things in the Dollar Bin, Dylan charted the course. Despite decades of explanation, reconsideration and defense, Dylan's first covers record, Self Portrait, remains, by and large, a smoldering load of crap, with Bob's version of The Boxer serving as the living embodiment of how not to make art.

(Well, I wrote that assessment above and then proceeded to kinda enjoy Bob's trainwreck of a performance.... But back to my point!)

Self Portrait's disaster hasn't stopped just about everyone from making a cover record of their own. Valerie June and Lucy Dacus both used Covid as an excuse to issue theirs; Tori Amos, Neil Young, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Steve Earle and Bruce Springsteen made theirs the moment they ran out of good ideas.

Willie Nelson must have over 75 cover records to his name at this point. And Lucinda Williams seems determined to follow his lead; her new Beatles record is her sixth or seventh covers collection from the last few years; some of that output sounds like karaoke; some sounds pretty damn good:

And Dylan himself has made 6 cover records already this century (Triplicate is exactly what it claims to be: three albums worth of dull songs you never needed to hear him sing); indeed, it's high time I tormented my family by dialing up his fantastically wacky Christmas in the Heart.

Joni Mitchell, Richard Thompson and Paul Simon are Dollar Bin artists who can proudly claim they've never made a cover record; all of them, however, would be lying to say so: they all covered themselves through late-career records dedicated to rerecordings of their own damn songs.

Suffice it to say that if we want to hear great covers of classic tunes we do not turn to singer-songwriters; rather we turn to the world's most beautiful singers and musicians: Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, John Cale, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris and, of course, Chan Marshal.

And so it was without much enthusiasm that I plucked The Band's Moondog Matinee out of a Dollar Bin 22 years ago. Rick, Levon, Garth, Richard and Robbie were all great songwriters at one point but beauty was never really their thing. I mean, come on, let's compare them to Chan Marshall:

It's like comparing me and my buddies (sorry guys) to Helen of Troy.

I was in a fun phase of my life when I discovered Moondog Matinee: my first career as a social worker was winding down, I had a short commute, my wife was selflessly doing the real work at home with our one year old and, after a decade of largely buying CD's, I had just sworn them off forever and set my record player back up.

And so, once or twice a month, I'd spend an hour or so tunneling through my local dollar bin, hunting up treasures and making discoveries: who knew Cat Stevens even had a record called Numbers? Turns out Band on the Run is a killer album... LA Express was not worthy of a record deal... And Linda Ronstadt is the Dollar Bin's Great Living Artist.

I remember asking my famous brother about Moondog Matinee before dropping the needle on it for the first time. He was already getting big on the internet: just out of college, he wrote at a torrid pace for a long dead music site called Junk Media; the kid had already interviewed Robyn Hitchcock and recorded an EP of his own music. Why are we reading Pitchfork and listening to The Decemberists today instead? I've got no idea.

Anyway, Moondog Matinee, my famous brother informed me, marked The Band's demise: by 1973 writers block had set in for Robbie Robertson, Garth Hudson was already old and done, and the rest of the band were just too stoned to rock. I nodded at him sagely; I'd always kinda hated Cahoots so how could the group's follow up cover record be any good?

Well folks, that was a hell of a long time ago, an era in which my famous brother was actually capable of musical malfeasance. Moondog Matinee does not mark The Band's demise. Indeed, I hereby proclaim it to be The Dollar Bin's Greatest Covers Record.

Just listen to the ringing, jubilant and razor sharp groove set on the record's opening track.

I remember standing in our first little rented home the first time I dropped the needle on this thing. Our one year old was crawling about at my feet, tasting all her toys. My wife definitely was not around. The track's piano began to pound; the whole thing wound up tighter and tighter and then unfurled like a hilarious tornado: cows, tanker trucks and automobiles cycled within it. And then Levon Helm started his patented vocal version of hillbilly bellydancing.

I stood there listening, instantly transfixed. Then I turned the song way up, far too loud for one year old ears. But my sweet little girl rocked about a bit anyway, climbing my leg to shake her diapered hips. Then she grinned at me, clapped her chubby hands and crapped her pants. It was awesome.

If you're going to make a covers record there is no excuse for picking a bad song or striking a dull note. And all of Matinee's Side 1 is a master class in care, pace and arrangement. Holy Cow warbles and shimmies; Mystery Train brings the white funk; and the theme from Third Man is suitably bizarre: it has no business whatsoever appearing on this record and so we love it.

And in the midst of it all, Share Your Love, with its clean guitar lead and its surging sway, makes a case for poor, lost, Richard Manuel as the greatest white male singer of his generation.

Side 2 offers more of the same, with Manuel and Helm trading lead vocals back and forth, fantastic piano and ramshackle drums throughout. Indeed the only real misstep may be The Band's attempt at a song that was already perfect to begin with:

After all, Rick Danko, well, let's make that no one, can hold a candle to Sam Cooke.

[barstoolblues]

sometimes i think about what capitol record execs did to the original moondog matinee cover and i weep and rage

[julio-viernes]

Otras dos composiciones de Robbie Robertson, del cuarto álbum de The Band, "Cahoots" (1971), la intensa, fantástica, "4% Pantomime" con Van Morrison ("The Belfast Cowboy") como invitado especial compartiendo micrófono con Richard Manuel y la canción de cierre del disco "The River Hymn" con Levon Helm al frente. Que buenos eran estos tíos, que bien componían, cantaban y tocaban.

"Moondog Matinee" (1973) fue un LP de versiones y "Northern Lights, Southern Cross" (1975) su último disco de material propio, bastante bueno, pero para el que extrañamente Robbie no compuso nada.

[slowtraincumming]

I got moondog matinee the other day and it belonged with the poster :D

[jt1674]

[americanahighways]

REVIEW: Grayson Capps “Heartbreak, Misery & Death”

REVIEW: Grayson Capps “Heartbreak, Misery & Death” @graysoncapps #johnapice #heartbreakmiseryanddeath #americanahighways #americanahighwaysreviews #musicreviews #newmusic2024 @americanahighways

Grayson Capps – Heartbreak, Misery & Death There are several artists I wish would do what Grayson Capps has done with his latest album. Record some “lost songs” that they appreciated growing up by other singers & reinterpret them in an updated modern way. I know to a degree Bob Dylan has done this, The Band (“Moondog Matinee”) & David Bowie (“Pin-Ups”). This set does have some familiar tunes…

[levon]

i really like how in the moondog matinee art they made garth and levon gay

[idrinkyouryouthquake]

Celebrating the artists who illustrate great album art

Edward Kasper for The Band's Moondog Matinee

[itwas50yearsagotoday]

10/15/23: It was 50 years ago today, October 15th, 1973, the Band would release their fifth studio album Moondog Matinee. For some reason, for a long long time, I did not know about the existence of this record... like I knew about their Planet Waves record with Dylan (on the last day of this blog!! stay tuned), but between the live Rock of Ages and The Last Waltz I didn't think they had any studio albums. I was very wrong, as not only was there this record, but two more before their demise in '77, not including live albums or collaborations with Dylan. I knew nothing of these records, and really only listened to Matinee for the first time today. It's ALL R&R and R&B covers, interestingly... supposedly they were trying to recapture their early 1960s vibe as a backing band. Some of these covers are pretty good... leads off with a cover of a 1950s R&B classic 'Ain't Got No Home'... it's totally full of energy, and it's just fun (even the hokey 'woo-woo-woo's are a hoot!). I like 'Holy Cow', 'Mystery Train' and the quirky instrumental 'The Third Man Theme'... there's definitely some value here on this record, and I'm glad I heard it. I can see how Band snobs maybe wouldn't care for the simplicity of it all, but honestly it's enjoyable, and that's all that really matters ultimately.