Mark Bates’s recommendation: “I’d have to say that the artist who always moves me with what he’s doing (regardless of where his muse takes him) is Neil Young. There aren’t many writers left that can follow their dreams without compromise. Compromise is not a word in Neil Young’s vocabulary and it never will be. As a performer, Neil allows himself to be incredibly vulnerable on stage, and that enables the audience to become a part of his world. Most artists have difficulty being that naked on stage. For example, you’ll never see Bob Dylan (my second favorite artist) sitting alone behind an antique pump organ in a sold out theater. Neil is a little introverted publicly and is a very private person but seeing him perform is an open window to his soul. That’s a rarity these days.”
New to Neil Young? Mark suggests you start here: “Harvest Moon is an absolute masterpiece. I relate to this album in the same way that I relate to my first love. A magical experience. My mother played the album while I was still in a car seat, so it’s been around most of my life. The meaning of the songs have changed for me as time has gone on. Anyone who has loved, lost, and longed for whatever it is they used to have will be emotionally attached to the album. “The same things that make you live can kill you in the end,” sums up the whole record (and life) for me. The late Ben Keith plays lap steel and helps produce the album. It brought tears to my eyes when he passed a few weeks ago, but this album is a great example of how amazing he was too. They were a great team. I think it’s the quintessential Neil Young album.”
About our guest author, Mark Bates: Mark is only 21 years old, but he has already written over 21 songs. His rootsy Americana caught the attention NPR and in July they made his heartfelt song, Death Sucks the the song of the day. His 2009 release, Down the Narrow is available at Amazon and you can hear samples from that album here.
MP3: Flyin’ Shoes, written by Townes Van Zant, performed by Mark Bates
Justin Angelo Morey’s recommendations: “There are many influences constantly decorating my mind therefore it’s quite difficult for me to produce a single artist/band. I listen to many old 60′s Soul/Freak-Beat 45rpm vinyl records. Some are names familiar to many but the majority consists of obscure artists that never hit one out of the ball park and are sadly underappreciated by the mainstream. Taking that factor into consideration, it’s probably best to select from artists/groups that produced more than one single.
Lately I’ve been rediscovering the sounds that invaded my head while attending high school. Playing them at loud volumes make my sad moments go away for a little while. It is impossible for me to pick only one. Can I list a couple? I’m going to assume your response was, “yes, go ahead.”
1. Nation of Ulysses
Why? They are responsible for a major change in my life. Had I not witnessed their perormance live before my very eyes, who knows how I may have turned out? I’m forever in debt to what they provided me then and will always be inspired by everything they managed to produce within their short existance. There will never be another band like them ever again. They were the perfection combination of everything.
2. The Who (nothing after late 1967)
Why? The first song I ever played on guitar with a group of other kids from my 8th grade class was, My Generation. We would do the ending and Eric Christ would kick the bass drum over like Keith Moon and Mike Muriel would take the alluminum music stand and scrape the classroom floor to produce a sound equivelant to nails running down a chalk board. The early Who are so damn good and explosive. I wanted to be Keith Moon. I’m not a fan of their later stuff but there are plenty of people that are so my opinion won’t ever break their bank and everyone wins.
3. Spacemen 3
Why? Back in the glory days of MTV, videos were actually played and in addition to Headbanger’s Ball, there was another late night show called 120 Minutes. I used to tune in every Sunday night and was turned on to all sorts of different artists/bands that I never knew existed. One of those videos happened to be, Revolution by Spacemen 3. The song itself was just so unlike anything that I had been listening to at the time and the video was strange to me. They just appeared as if they didn’t care to be there. Almost completely the opposite of anyone in frot of a camera. I rediscovered them about two years ago and now I’m pulled deeply inside of their work. Amazing!!!
4. Small Faces
Why? Four white British guys from East London that manged to pull of Soul/R&B/Psychedelic/Pop sounds better than anyone on the scene back then and now. Their chemistry is so brilliant it’s sad that they never really became gigantic. Their self titled debut LP for Decca contains some of the most raw and exciting moments captured to tape. Their version of, You Need Loving (1966) BLOWS Zeppelin’s later version (retitled to avoid any confusion or lawsuits or comparisons from You Need Love (1962) by Muddy Waters ), Whole Lotta Love (1969) to bits and pieces. That’s one example but their work produced during their Immediate records period was more colorful and delicately layered for maximum listening pleasure. Again, totally underated. Ronnie Lane is definitely one of my most favorite bass players of all time.
5. Unwound
Why? Unwound were one of the groups that inspired me to explore different approachs to producing sounds in my music. They created truly incredible compositions and all the live shows i was fortunate to attend were magical. I remember seeing them in a basement in NJ. The show was up close and intimate and just so personal. I can recall feeling very connected to their creative output. One time when they played at Maxwells, I got my nerve up and asked Justin if they could play Broken E String. I didn’t expect anything in return so you can imagine how elated I was when they opened their set with the song I requested. I’ll never forget how happy that made me.”
About the guest author, Justin Angelo More: Justin is the lead singing bass player for The Black Hollies, a ’60s influenced band that proudly wears influences on their sleeves. They hail from and remain in Jersey City, NJ, so they easily slide across the Hudson to the hip, hip, hip Brooklyn venues and have upcoming dates that can be found on their My Space page here. To get a feel for their ultra-retro grooves, sample the mp3 below from their last release, Softly Towards the Light
Eric Johnson (photo: Alissa Anderson) and The Grateful Dead
Eric Johnson’s recommendation: “There are few bands as polarizing as this one. Having lived in the indie rock world for the last fifteen years or so, I can recall more than one occasion where a proclamation of my Dead fanhood caused someone to look at me like I was a criminal. Or worse yet, a dirty hippie. I think the general rift was created somewhere in the post-post punk era. I mean, even Greg Ginn and The Ramones were Deadheads. But, anyway, I digress… I think the impassioned and sometimes misguided Deadhead universe is the turnoff for many. The music itself is generally great – the catalog is dense, and if you include the myriad of bootlegs that have been circulating for decades, it can be pretty daunting.”
New to The Grateful Dead? Eric says… “Here are the gateway drugs to the Dead – I once turned a naysayer onto the Grateful Dead by sneakily putting on their self titled 1967 debut. He thought it ruled, and then was pissed when I told him who it was. Then he went out and bought it. It’s a fairly simple slice of San Francisco psych-y nuggets, and if you’re into acid soaked heaviness and hairpin turn chord changes, you’ll probably dig it. Even if you hate the smell of patchouli. American Beauty would be the other choice – one of the truly indispensable masterpieces of west coast country rock. The series finale of “Freaks and Geeks” used two choice cuts off of that disc, a fine musical television moment.”
Eric’s Grateful Dead video pick:
About the guest author, Eric Johnson: You may know Eric Johnson as a contributing member to The Shins and Vetiver, but his most steady gig has been as the lead force behind The Fruit Bats. If the adjectives ‘rootsy,’ ‘folksy,’ and ‘damn good’ are requirements your music purchases, then the Fruit Bats are most definitely for you. Their Myspace page will help you find out where they are playing live and the clip below, Ruminant Band, will help you realize that their last album of the same title needs to have a spot in your collection.
About our guest author, Mark Bates: Mark is only 21 years old, but he has already written over 21 songs. His rootsy Americana caught the attention NPR and in July they made his heartfelt song, Death Sucks the the song of the day. His 2009 release, Down the Narrow
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About the guest author, Justin Angelo More: Justin is the lead singing bass player for 
. He thought it ruled, and then was pissed when I told him who it was. Then he went out and bought it. It’s a fairly simple slice of San Francisco psych-y nuggets, and if you’re into acid soaked heaviness and hairpin turn chord changes, you’ll probably dig it. Even if you hate the smell of patchouli. 
would be the other choice – one of the truly indispensable masterpieces of west coast country rock. The series finale of 
About the guest author, Eric Johnson: You may know Eric Johnson as a contributing member to 
