Death: The Unheard Band That Discovered Punk First

Death is a proto-punk Detroit band that's making the rounds right now. They started out in 1971 as an R&B and then switched to heavy metal after a Alice Cooper concert. Punk is how we'd describe their sound today, but it didn't really exist then. They released a 7", but were probably considered just too far out there.

I think there would be many out there that would say that this band might have invented this sound, but in truth, they escaped detection until they released everything they recorded in 2009. Who knows what kind of influence they would have had if the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, or Buzzcocks, et. al. had heard them first. Hell, for breaking boundaries, this might even take the steam out of Bad Brains a bit.

The fact that these similar inventions happen in tandem around the world in the space of a decade (without the communication technology we have today) makes you think we're much more interconnected than we'd like to think.

All the faces we used to know...

Revisiting Dark Side of the Moon

Several times over the last week, I've been pointed to Ireland's student-run Trinity Orchestra playing Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. It's marvelous. In passing, I couldn't help but come across Roger Waters' interview with Billboard, where he passes on one of the first reactions to hearing the album in full.

"When the record was finished I took a reel-to-reel copy home with me and I remember playing it for my wife then, and I remember her bursting into tears when it was finished. And I thought, 'This has obviously struck a chord somewhere,' and I was kinda pleased by that."

I think back to when I heard it for the first time during high school. Maybe in combination with Trinity's version and this quote. I can relate.

Velvet Underground's First Show

Visiting the high-school auditorium that introduced The Velvet Underground

A neat little short about the first show by the Velvet Underground under that name.

The auditorium where The Velvet Underground played—along with The Forty Fingers and the evening’s headliner, regional favorite The Myddle Class—on December 11, 1965 is the type of wood-paneled performing-arts space where, at any moment, a performance of Guys And Dolls or a state band competition could break out.

They previously played laundromats and the like under the name The Falling Spikes. To put things in perspective, the most radical album of the time was The Beatles' "Rubber Soul." So it's appropriate that the gritty, protopunk outifit drove away half their audience for the show. 

"The late Sterling Morrison said they played three songs that night starting with "There She Goes Again" going into "Venus in Furs" and then "Heroin." So, like, the most accessible song straight on into the most experimental totally fucked up songs on that record."

I wonder what regional favorites and main attraction The Myddle Class thought.

The Band

The Band helped Bob Dylan make his transition from folk to rock. For a while, all they were known for is being Bob Dylan's backing band, but they were skilled and practiced enough to do much more for rock. They introduced Americana to the masses, and we have them to thank for a legacy that extends all the way from Graham Parsons to the Civil Wars.

The video above is The Band playing "King Harvest" in a Woodstock studio I can only imagine was drummer Levon Helm's. It's dramatic, it's catchy, and the baritone chorus is striking - almost like gospel. It's also notable that the subject matter takes on unions in such a proud manner you would not find so bravely tackled today. It's hard to imagine in these days of great recession and austerity that anyone is talking about unions at all, much less with such abandon.

For those more familiar with the Civil Wars than Graham Parsons, The Band famously broke up in 1978, and you can catch their last concert on cable sometimes. It was a groundbreaking documentary directed by Martin Scorsese called "The Last Waltz."

Levon Helm, the drummer who sang for the Band, died yesterday of throat cancer. Levon was famous around upstate New York for his midnight concerts he'd put on in his Woodstock barn with the help of many of his famous musician friends. Everyone would bring a dish, a sort of informal pot-luck, and they would join Helm on stage for an impromptu concert. They started as a way to gather funds to help Helm pay for his cancer treatment. It worked for a long time, and the "Rambles," as he called them, made for a short-lived cancer recovery. Levon's last ramble was January 14th of this year.

Rest in peace, Levon.