Trying To Like Ryan Adams

Update: 6/18/07 - This article about Ryan in the New York Times did not help matters much for me.

Why don’t I give a damn about Ryan Adams?

On the surface, he’s always seemed like an artist that I would love. Earthy, somewhat rootsy but not retro – a rocker who’s obviously loved and learned from the greats, whether they be Keith Richards, Gram Parsons or Paul Westerberg. He is charismatic and committed to rock as something much more than entertainment, just like artists I love such as Pete Townshend and Bruce Springsteen.

But I just can’t seem to get into him.

I first saw Ryan play in the summer of 1995 at the Mercury Lounge when he was just starting out with Whiskeytown. I was just beginning my first A&R scouting job at Elektra Records, and I watched the show next to Seymour Stein (Whiskeytown was getting heavy attention from the A&R community). Ryan was absolutely kinetic in leading the band, and if the songs didn’t occur for me as anything too great, he seemed like a star in the making. I turned to Seymour and said, “This guy’s got it.”

But when I got the Whiskeytown albums, I listened and just kind of shrugged. And for the last ten years, every time a Ryan Adams album comes out, I get it, wait and hope to love it, and I end up shrugging once more. I’ve had people write me to tell me what I’m missing, listing songs I need to hear by him, but none of them have left any real impression. And seeing him live has been hit or miss - and with each miss, my patience with him has grown thinner.

So now I’m listening to Easy Tiger, the new Ryan Adams album, and it sounds nice, but once again, I’m left wondering if there’s something I’m missing, because this just ain’t doing a damn thing for me. It sounds lovely enough, and one song, “Halloween Head” is connecting with me, but the rest…well, as the Four Tops once sang, it’s the same old song.

Buy Easy Tiger at Amazon

Download: "Halloweenhead"

Dear Amy Winehouse

Dear Amy,

Well, that was quick. You’re already on the cover of Rolling Stone. And Spin. Your album continues to do incredibly well and you’re getting love from everyone – whether it’s the hip-hop community or whites in the 40’s who rarely get into new artists. I can’t go into downtown Manhattan without seeing young women who’ve got your look, with the hair, the super dramatic eye makeup, tight jeans and stilettos. (The look has my full approval, for what it’s worth.) For you, I’d say it’s pretty much an unqualified triumph.

Still, as someone who really believes in your talent, I can’t help but be a little concerned. Reading the Rolling Stone article, all I got was a sense of your personal life and your whole schtick – the drinking, the possible drugs, the up and down relationship with your hubby, etc. That schtick has been a big part of your story – the bad girl, the Femme Fatale, etc. I read about it before I had even heard you late last year. It's a great hook and it no doubt helped get you to the point that you’re at now. But Amy, now is the point where that schtick of yours is threatening to take over the music. I hear that at your shows, people are now encouraging you to drink, encouraging you to play into your image. Don’t indulge them. Both the media and some of your fan base are going to want you to play that crap up because it sells papers and magazines and people get to live their rock n' roll fantasies through you. But you’re an artist, not a goddamned circus freak, and remember that while those people might be your “fans,” they may turn out to be your worst enemies. And also, you don’t have time for that shit – it’s not like your show couldn’t use some improvements.

You’ve got real talent – you’ve got a wonderful voice, and you’re one of the few singers of the past few years that possess both technical skill and the ability to convey many emotional dimensions (lust, regret, doubt, fun, rebellion) simultaneously. It’s why so many people are responding to you so intensely. In a world where Kelly Clarkson is taken seriously as an artist, your music has shown that it’s possible to be an artist of substance and commercial success. You’ve got a gift and opportunity to make a real contribution to music – please don’t blow it on all the clichéd bullshit. You've got a lot of people rooting for you.

Best,
Ben

Download: “Love Is A Losing Game” (Acoustic) From AOL Sessions
Download: “Rehab” (Acoustic) From AOL Sessions
Download: “Valerie” (Acoustic) From AOL Sessions
Download: “You Know I’m No Good” (Acoustic) From AOL Sessions

The Unfashionable Romance Of Mink DeVille

If you read any of the well known books about the New York City punk scene of the 70's, you won't find too much written about Mink DeVille. They were one of the house bands for CBGB's during it's 1977 heyday, but lead singer Willy DeVille's aesthetic was too romantic to be canonized alongside the cooler, artier and more nihilistic acts like the Ramones, Television, Blondie, the Dead Boys, Richard Hell and the Voidoids and Talking Heads. Willy DeVille was holding out for romance while his CB's cohorts were thinking apocalypse.

In Mink DeVille's music you heard the echoes and influence of Phil Spector, songwriters like Doc Pomus and Atlantic R&B acts like the Drifters and Ben E. King. Where the harder punk bands established all instruments except guitars, bass and drums as effete, Mink DeVille had no problems using tympani that sounded like it had been taken from "Save The Last Dance For Me." It was soulful in a time and place where soul occurred as an anachronism that had long since gone out out of fashion. For that, they were courageous; but that courage didn't ensure that they would get the recognition they deserved.

Willy DeVille continues to record and tour.

Buy Cadillac Walk: The Mink DeVille Collection

Download: "Spanish Stroll"
Download: "Mixed Up Shook Up Girl"
Download: "Cadillac Walk"

Regular Ol' Crackers

I can’t help but think of this clip when I listen to the new White Stripes album. (Actually, I can’t help but think of this clip when I listen to pretty much ANY White Stripes album.) In a climate starved for truly grand and great rock n’ roll, the White Stripes’ “regular ol’ crackers” have been somehow confused with greatness. I don’t think they come close. Icky Thump is another pretty good record chock full of somewhat forgettable songs, undistinguished riffs and monotonous drumming. Jack White may have a great rock n’ roll voice, but it’s one-dimensional; it conveys nothing but it’s own sound, and lacks the tenderness, depth and presence to be truly moving. It ain't got no soul. I’m sure the album will be hailed as a magnificent return to form - but to me, this is just another signifier that we’re starving for the real thing – and that we’ll take an imitation to ward off the starvation.

And that means more saltines, no Ritzs.

Sunday Morning With Lou Rawls

I've always loved Lou Rawls' voice. Smooth and rich, it was a thing of real beauty. I only really knew him from his hits, like "You'll Never Find A Love Like Mine." I recently got a wonderful compilation of his, The Capitol Jazz & Blues Sessions, of which I am posting a few songs. It's perfect Sunday morning music.
Sinatra said of Rawls that he had "the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game." That kind of says it all. He was one of those singers that veered a little too close to the middle of the road to get the kind of critical adulation that artists like Otis and Aretha did, but if you're interested in beauty, you need to acquaint yourself with him.

Buy Lou Rawls The Capitol Jazz & Blues Sessions at Amazon.
Lou Rawls at a glance on Amazon.

Download: "Something Stirring In My Soul"
Download: "God Bless The Child"
Download: "Nobody But Me"
Download: "Goin' To Chicago Blues"
Download: "So Hard To Laugh So Easy To Cry"

Bootleg Friday: Otis Redding, 1967

I am announcing a new segment on A Deeper Shade Of Soul: Bootleg Friday, where I will be posting several songs from a great live bootleg. I've been putting up a bunch of live music already (and will continue to do so whenever it is called for), but I like the idea of having a special day for it.

Today's selection are taken from the great Otis Redding bootleg compilation A Soupcon of Soul, recorded at various points in 1967. With all the hubbub about the 40th anniversary of Sgt. Pepper, what is being ignored is that 1967 was the year that Otis Redding broke through to a new (and white) audience. His performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in June of '67 stole the show, and he was taking his music into new directions that would culminate into his final and greatest single, "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay," recorded a couple of days before he was killed in a plane crash in December of 1967. It would be his only #1 single.

Download: "Your One & Only Man"
Download: "Pain In My Heart"
Download: "These Arms Of Mine"
Download: "I Can't Turn You Loose"
Download: "A Hard Day's Night"
Download: "My Girl"
Download: "Shake"
Download: "Try A Little Tenderness"

Terry Tolkin On The Afghan Whigs

One of the best things about doing a blog is occasionally reconnecting with people I haven't seen or spoken with in ages. After my Afghan Whigs post last week, I reached out to their former A&R man, Terry Tolkin, via MySpace. He got back to me and sent me some very illuminating (and suprising) stories and comments about his time with the Whigs. I'm happy to say that Terry is doing well; living in Oklahoma, working on family properties and writing his autobiography, which will be great. I read a few excerpts from it last week, and it's a fascinating story.

(Posted with Terry's permission)

I went over to your blog and it really made me laugh! You know, the Whigs were the only band that I ever signed that I never was totally in love with. Eventually I became good friends with Rick Mccollum. But Kras (Bob Krasnow, former head of Elektra) wanted a SubPop band and having saved that label from extinction in 1985 by infusing cash from my then employer Caroline (early attempt by Branson at a Virgin USA) I was able to pull that off. They were going broke putting out Catbutt and Bloodsport records. I never did like Greg though. And it did turn out to be a hugh mistake not dealing with an act that you truly loved.

I did not retire for "Personal reasons" (a euphemism for drug addiction) though. I took a seemingly enormous settlement to end my 5 year contract early. I could see the writing on the walls by then. Sylvia Rhone was an idiot. I got her to make me a VP by simply telling her that Kras was about to do it before he left and she fell for it. After one to many " I am in direct contact with the Aliens" conversations with new head of A&R Nancy Jeffries, I took the money and ran. I ran so far away...to Hollywood FL. where I bought a 35' sportfish boat that I lived on and became a SCUBA diving instructor. After a couple of years of teaching that it started to ruin my love of diving so I gave it up and started spearfishing commercially.
Then last December my Grandfather died and left us a bunch of rental properties here in Stillwater OK. that no one knew he had. Since I am the only bum in the family (no mortgage,wife or kids that I know about) I got sent here to tidy it all up. I was born in Kansas and most of my family lives here.

Do you remember that one off issue of the fake fanzine "Fat Greg Dulli" ? I supplied Yvonne Garret with the unflattering photos of him and she wrote it and put it out. Greg spent months trying to figure out who did it!

So Good You Could Cry

I found this yesterday. Derek and the Dominos doing Chuck Willis' "It's Too Late" (from Layla) on the Johnny Cash show in either 1970 or 1971. As far as I'm concerned, Derek and the Dominos were Clapton's greatest moment by far; it is when Clapton's music became blues AND soul based, and you can hear that soul in Eric's vocal and even more so in the incredible backing vocals by Bobby Whitlock.

And if that's not enough, out comes a bad ass Carl Perkins to do "Matchbox" with Clapton AND Johnny Cash. It's difficult to believe that this all happened on a network TV show. Seeing the utter joy and freedom in their playing, and knowing that each of the three men fought off their demons before, during and after this was taped - well, I find it pretty goddamned moving.

It's Official: I'm A Sugar Daddy

I've got a blog post up today on Elastic Waist, a website about women, weight, fitness, food and "other fixations." It was a fun piece to write; it's always a pleasure to write of the wonders of women. (Especially during the summertime.) I feel a little bit weird that they called me "Soul Brother Number One," since that title obviously belongs to James Brown, but what the hell, maybe I can borrow it just for today.

Arcade Fire Live In Portland

The reviews I’ve read on the Arcade Fire’s current tour have been so incredibly glowing that I have to admit, I’m really curious to see them again and I have been listening to their music anew. I saw them once in late 2004 in New York and liked them, but apparently, they’ve taken their performances to new heights. I’ve recently read some things from hardcore music fans I know that are talking about the Arcade Fire’s show as though it’s one of a handful of the best shows they’ve ever seen. And these people aren’t indie rockers – they’re people who have been going to shows for over 20 to 30 years.

So in that spirit, here are some tracks from the Arcade Fire’s May 27th performance in Portland, OR. The sound is very listenable, if not perfect, but you do get the vibe of the show, the happy delirium of the crowd, the kinetic energy of their performance and the great intro tape they’ve got going. I’m still not ready to proclaim them the second coming, but I’m getting a lot more open to what they’re bringing to the table. Is it possible that this is one band that is worthy of all the hype? I'll believe it when I see it with my own eyes and hear it with my own ears, but at least next time, I'll be coming in a little less skeptical and cynical.

And maybe the real question is this: Does the Arcade Fire have soul? Signs are increasingly pointing to yes.

Download: “Intro” 5/27/07, Portland, OR
Download: “Keep The Car Running” 5/27/07, Portland, OR
Download: “No Cars Go” 5/27/07, Portland, OR
Download: “Black Mirror” 5/27/07, Portland, OR
Download: “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)” 5/27/07, Portland, OR
Download: “Wake Up” 5/27/07, Portland, OR

Alice Russell

It’s rare that I hear a new voice that captivates me, but late last week, I heard one that does. The voice belongs to Alice Russell, a UK soul singer who has recorded with several British electronic bands, released her own solo album and is due to record with Massive Attack. Her voice is one of the best things I’ve heard in a long while – check her out.

Weird Scene Inside The C Train

This past Thursday night, I was taking the C train home. The train car was basically empty except for a young guy in his 20's who was singing something softly to himself while he twirled around the poles in the subway car. He had longish blonde hair, an unkept sandy goatee and he looked a little, well, crazy. I was taking my iPod out of my bag when I heard a familiar melody coming from his lips. I couldn't place it at first, but then I heard a familiar line, "I've got God on my side/And I'm just trying to survive," and I realized that the guy was singing Springsteen's "Devils & Dust." It was kind of weird, because the guy was so young and in addition, "Devils & Dust" is far from one of Bruce's better known songs.

I couldn't help myself.

Me: "Singing some Bruce?"
Him: (looking up, very surprised) "Yeah! How did you know that?"
Me: "I'm a big fan. I know the song well...I was a little surprised to hear someone singing that song."
Him: "It's a great album. I'm a big fan. I always sing that song when I'm in a good mood."
Me: "Really? It's not a song I associate with being in a good mood, but cool."

So then my new friend sat down next to me, and for the next two stops, proceeded to tell me that he was a stand up comic and had just secured his first gig in a while, that it was testament to his newly found sobriety and that he now felt like he was on his way. I couldn't help but notice that the guy had a sort of weird electric energy about him - the kind of guy who as Hunter Thompson once wrote, "has abandoned all hopes of ever behaving normally." A true character.

He got off the train very soon after he sat down with me. We shook hands, smiled and wished each other luck.

Download: "Devils & Dust" 6/20/05, Paris, France
Buy Devils & Dust at Amazon

Black Love

The other day, while reading Pitchfork, I came across their review of a new Afghan Whigs retrospective. I found myself fascinated by the review – it had been years since I had even thought of the Whigs or Greg Dulli, and it brought back a lot of memories.

I started working in the record business full time in 1993, at Elektra Records. It was a great label then – eclectic in taste, spanning the gamut with artists such as Metallica, the Breeders, 10,000 Maniacs (who I couldn’t stand then, and still can’t), Tracy Chapman, Bjork, Brand Nubian, Motley Crue and more. It was absolutely an elitist label, filled with dedicated people who really believed that they were doing better work than their competitors at the other major labels. I loved being there utterly and completely.

1993 was the high water mark of the post-Nirvana era. It still seemed possible that any sort of weird, left-of-center band had a real chance of breaking it big. (Bands like Candlebox and Better Than Ezra were about to arrive, but we didn’t know that yet.) In the fall of that year, we were enjoying lots of success with the Breeders “Cannonball,” 10,000 Maniacs' cover of “Because The Night,” and the first Bjork album, Debut. In that environment of heady possibility, Elektra Records was very, very excited about the arrival the Afghan Whigs first album for the label, Gentlemen.

The Afghan Whigs were signed to the label by a true character, Terry Tolkin (MySpace link discovered today). Terry, to my 23-year-old self, was cool personified. He had an impeccable alt/punk resume; it seemed like he knew everyone who was anyone and it was even said that he introduced Thurston Moore to Kim Gordon. He was really great to me – we would go out to lunch on occasion and talk about our mutual love of Neil Young, 70’s British punk and the Dead (and he told me about all the closet Dead fans in the New York alt/punk scene). I was absolutely committed to doing A&R, and Terry gave me lots of advice – the main piece of which was that there was no one path into doing A&R and that I had to scam it myself. Terry had also recently signed Stereolab and Luna to the label, and when we would talk, he was absolutely committed that all of those bands blow up. “I want every band I sign to be the biggest band in the world,” he would say. He really believed it was possible, and his enthusiasm, along with my willingness to suspend my disbelief in his presence made me believe it was possible too.

There were huge expectations for Gentlemen, and the hype in the building was tremendous. We were talking about the album as though it was an instant classic. I liked the album upon first listen, but I remember wondering if it was a hit album the way I thought the Breeders’ Last Splash was the first time I heard it. No matter. I listened to the album at least 5 to 7 times a week during my commute from Jersey to the city (I was still living at home) and began to get into the album, especially “My Curse,” a duet that lead singer Greg Dulli sang with Marcy Mays of Scrawl. I remember the press reaction being incredibly positive, and bordering on ecstatic on the subject of their live show.

We worked the hell out of the album, but it never caught fire at radio. In retrospect, it wasn’t particularly surprising – the songs just weren’t that hooky. They were incredibly dense and probably a little too obtuse for mainstream consumption. We hoped that the band’s live show would take them to the next level, but it didn’t quite pan out.

I remember seeing the band at the Academy in the spring of 1994. I believe it was right after Kurt Cobain’s suicide. The show was great, and the fact that the band was obviously soul influenced was huge for me. By then, I could speak fluently about Otis Redding (not a big topic of conversation amongst my alt-rock peers), and Dulli’s love of soul made me root for the band even harder – and made me turn a blind eye to the band’s obvious flaws, the main flaw being that their songs were just not good enough to take them beyond a small to medium sized cult following.

And it was soon after that Academy show that things began to fall apart – at Elektra Records and possibly (I wasn’t an insider, but I heard lots of rumors) with the Afghan Whigs. Bob Krasnow, the great and imperious chairman of Elektra, was forced out that summer, and everything that had been special about Elektra was gone in about two years. Terry left the label in or around 1996. I never heard from him again, but I did hear that he left the business entirely to deal with some personal issues. I hope he’s well – he was a great guy.

As far as the Afghan Whigs go, they put out one more album on Elektra, Black Love, that I don’t remember at all and then went over to Columbia and put out 1965, which did nothing for me. I look back upon them fondly – not nostalgically, but as a band that had their ambition on their sleeve, that wanted to do something that no indie/alt band was doing; the fusion of the fire and passion of soul to the indie rock. It’s possible that it was an utter failure, but it was an incredibly noble one.

Buy The Afghan Whigs At Amazon

Download: "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" 2/24/99, Baltimore, MD
Download: "My Curse" 2/24/99, Baltimore, MD
Download: "Debonair" 2/24/99, Baltimore, MD
Download: "Rip This Joint" Spring 1999, New York, NY
Download: "What Jail Is Like" 2/24/99, Baltimore, MD

A Fine Morning For Brother Ray

I recently got a wonderful Ray Charles show from 1979 - a taping of Austin City Limits. It's a typical Ray show, sublimely mixing jazz, country and blues into his own special brew. Ray didn't think care much for musical barriers, and you can hear it in this music. Whether covering Johnny Cash ("Busted") or Johnny Nash ("I Can See Clearly Now"), performing a song from Oklahoma ("Oh What A Beautiful Morning"), or playing a song beloved by Texans, all Ray cared about was whether there was a great song there or not. That's a lesson to continually learn from.

Download: "Oh What A Beautiful Morning" - 10/23/79, Austin, TX
Download: "Georgia On My Mind" - 10/23/79, Austin, TX
Download: "Busted" - 10/23/79, Austin, TX
Download: "Born To Lose" - 10/23/79, Austin, TX
Download: "I Can See Clearly Now" - 10/23/79, Austin, TX
Download: "Deep In The Heart Of Texas" - 10/23/79, Austin, TX

Punk Posturing

John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band has been one of my favorite albums ever since I first heard it as a teen. The first album he released after the Beatles split, it’s an unrelentingly intense album, filled with Lennon exorcising the pain he experienced losing his parents to divorce (his father left completely and his mother left him to his aunt to raise), and eventually, losing his mother again when she was hit by a car and killed when Lennon was a teen. Filled with gorgeous and simple accompaniment by Billy Preston, Ringo Starr and Klaus Voormann, the whole album is a testament to the power of musical simplicity and emotional honesty. It’s a soul album.

A couple of days ago, I saw a clip on YouTube of Green Day performing “Working Class Hero,” a song on Plastic Ono Band on American Idol. I suppose that Green Day’s performance of that song was supposed to be a “punk rock move,” as one of the key lines in the song is, “keep you doped with religion and sex and TV/and you think you’re so clever and classless and free/but you’re still fucking peasants as far as I can see/a working class hero is something to be.” And performing it on Idol, the country’s biggest TV show by far, and one of the few common cultural touchstones left, I guess was meant to be a “this is what’s it’s really about, you ignoramuses” moment.

I thought it sucked.

The band’s arrangement of the song was uninspired; it only proved that this is a band with limited ideas and talent. Billie Joe Armstrong’s vocal only hinted at the depth of Lennon’s anger and resentment – what we got instead was self-righteousness and an arrogant display of (what was supposed to be covert punk) superiority. And in the smugness of the moment, it conveniently neglected an important fact: John Lennon was a pop idol. “Eight Days A Week” would have been a far better choice.

It’s a testament to how fallow mainstream rock has become that Green Day, a good-but-not-that-great band, is being held as of the standard bearers for rock n’ roll. If mainstream rock can’t do much better than that, then just turn out the lights and come to grips with the fact that the party is over.

Keep A Light On In The Window

Memorial Day is one of those holidays whose original meaning has been somewhat washed out for many Americans. While I’ve always known it really meant – a day of remembrance of those who have sacrificed their lives in defense of this country, most often what it really meant for me was “the beginning of summer,” “the (near) end of school for the year,” etc. It’s a shame – for in the trivialization of the day, we lose our sense of what’s at stake in our country – and we then place ourselves at risk to the policies of men like George W. Bush.

Today, in honor of all the men and women who have given their lives to this country, and to the men and women currently serving, I am posting my favorite war song. It’s Solomon Burke’s version of a song written during World War II, “Keep A Light On In The Window.” Solomon’s version was recorded in 1964, and it’s simply one of the most beautiful and well-arranged songs I’ve ever heard. The martial drum opening, the way the horns build in the second verse and the way Solomon’s vocals bring the song to a climax in the final chorus – I know of few songs that I would deem “perfect,” and this is one of them.

Download: "Keep A Light On In The Window"
Buy Solomon Burke At Amazon

By Popular Demand!

After getting several emails requesting the rest of the Springsteen songs from the 12/31/75 show I wrote about yesterday, I am happy to say that I accede to your demands. Have a great weekend!

Download: "Night" 12/31/75, Philadelphia, PA
Download: "Spirit In The Night" 12/31/75, Philadelphia, PA
Download: "It's My Life" 12/31/75, Philadelphia, PA
Download: "It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City" 12/31/75, Philadelphia, PA
Download" "Jungleland" 12/31/75, Philadelphia, PA

Sly Stone Hits The Road

This might be great, but after seeing his Grammy appearance from 2006, I'm not expecting much. Still, in a situation like this, one can only hope for the best.

Dates are:

07-12 Perugia, Italy - Umbria Jazz Festival
07-13 Montreux, Switzerland - Stravinski Hall (Montreux Jazz Festival)
07-14 Gent, Belgium - Blue Note Records Festival
07-15 Rotterdam, Netherlands - North Sea Jazz Festival
07-19 Nice, France - Nice Jazz Festival
07-20 Pori, Finland - Kirjurinluoto Arena (Pori Jazz Festival)
07-23 Paris, France - Olympia Hall
07-27 San Sebastian, Spain - Jazzaldia
07-28 Bournemouth, England - Opera House

Emo Is Coming For Your Kids!

There are plenty of reasons not to like the genre of music known as "emo." But I came across this news report from Utah this morning, and it's perhaps one of the most unintentionally funny things I've seen in ages. Remember those old news clips from the 50's where they would talk about how rock n' roll was going to bring the white man down to the level of the black man (not the term they used at the time)? This newscast is about on that level. It's the "Reefer Madness" of today. Enjoy!

Teardrops At The Tower

When I was fourteen, I bought a Springsteen bootleg cassette off of a kid in the library of Tenafly High School. The bootleg was called Don’t Look Back: 1974-1980, and it contained some studio outtakes that then held a huge amount of lore in Springsteen circles (“Roulette,” “Don’t Look Back” - they're now on Tracks). It also contained some incredible, rare live stuff that I had never heard before, such as an acoustic version of “Rosalita” from a radio show in 1974. But the song that really got me was a slow, re-arranged version of “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out” from the Tower Theater in Philadelphia from December 30th, 1975. I wore the TDK cassette out playing that version – it was the song that I often played for people who didn’t get Bruce to show them how amazing he was/is as a band leader and re-arranger. It might be one of the greatest things he's ever done and hearing the song in that arrangement was one of the many epiphanous moments I had as a kid that got me deeper and deeper into music.

Last night, thanks to a hard-core Springsteen fan who has made it his personal mission to have high quality, unreleased Springsteen material put up on the net, I now have that version of “Tenth Avenue” to share with you in professional quality. It’s from the 12/31/75 show at the Tower, and it was recorded for a possible live album that never happened. This is not a soundboard – it’s a fully mixed version from the multi-track master. It’s incredible. Only nine songs from the show were uploaded, but here are four of them for you, including two of his great covers; Manfred Mann’s “Pretty Flamingo” and Harold Dorman’s “Mountain Of Love.” Play this loud!

Download: "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out" 12/31/75, Philadelphia, PA
Download: "Pretty Flamingo" 12/31/75, Philadelphia, PA
Download: "Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street?" 12/31/75, Philadelphia, PA
Download: "Mountain Of Love" 12/31/75, Philadelphia, PA

Recognize

Imagine my surprise walking past a newsstand yesterday and seeing Jerry Garcia on the cover of Fader Magazine, the hipster bible. I actually did a double take. First it was Springsteen who had a renaissance amongst the indie/hipster set – will it now be Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead, the scourge of punk rockers and hipsters then and now?

The issue is a small oral history featuring interviews with Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart, as well as indie darlings such as Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse (who’s typically snarky), Craig Finn of The Hold Steady, longtime fan Curt Kirkwood of the Meat Puppets and jazz legend Ornette Coleman. It’s not worshipful by any stretch of the imagination (a good thing), but it does recognize Garcia’s impact on music; that many of the strains of today’s music, whether it be electronica, jam band or Americana were all explored in great depth by the Garcia and the Dead years ago. They might be the most unfairly maligned band of all time.

If you download the Fader via iTunes, it comes with a great podcast that I highly recommend – some killer Dead and Garcia cuts. I’m including a great version of the Jerry Garcia Band doing “Tore Up Over You” from NYC’s Palladium in February of 1981. It gets to the heart of Garcia’s love of R&B and soul, which is why I’ve always been such a big fan of his – the guy had soul by the bucketload.

Download: Jerry Garcia Band - "Tore Up Over You" (Palladium, New York, NY, 2/11/81)
Download: Jerry Garcia Band - "I Was Made To Love Her" (Stevie Wonder cover, San Francisco, 2/6/72)

Stuck In Retro

Just when I write that new soul is not nostalgia comes an album that does as much as possible to prove me wrong. The album is the debut by Ryan Shaw, This Is Ryan Shaw. Shaw is a 26-year-old Georgia native, who, according to his bio, has been singing in church since he was 3. He moved to New York and cut his teeth singing Motown standards at the Motown Café, amongst other gigs. He was discovered by producer Jimmy Bralower (Cyndi Lauper) singing at a club in the East Village. Brolower got him a deal at Columbia and produced the new album.

The album is a disappointment. It’s soul with all of the edges dulled, that is, it is not really soulful at all, and it unsuccessfully recreates a past while offering no glimmer of what the (soul) future should be. Shaw’s voice is pleasant but undistinguished, and instrumentally, the album’s retro-glossy polish makes the material veer headlong into generic territory. Rhythmically, there is little interesting going on, and his remake of Bobby Womack’s “Looking For A Love,” sounds unnecessary; it adds nothing to the original version, nor does it cast the original in a new light. If someone told me that this album was produced by the same people that had created the California Raisins ad campaign (which featured Motown songs), in the late 80’s, I wouldn’t be at all surprised. If there’s hype on this one, don’t believe it.

Download: "Do The 45"

Soulful Brooklyn Street Fair

My first street fair in Brooklyn. It ran up 5th Avenue in Park Slope. A far superior street fair to anything I've been to in Manhattan. It was one of those "it's wonderful to be alive" days.

Left: The view from 5th Avenue walking north.

Right: The Domincan food was out of control.



Above: Cute kid on a pony.
Right: Lounging in the middle of 5th Ave.
Below: Real Live Show with Maurice Brown on trumpet. They were great - perfect vibe for the day.

Real Live Show On MySpace
Real Live Show Artist Page
Download: "Hot Fun In The Summertime"

Betty Davis

I love powerful and unabashedly sensual women, so discovering the music of Betty Davis has been a treat. Betty was a pioneer in the 60’s and 70’s – an untamable musical and cultural spirit who, according to Carlos Santana, “(She) was the first Madonna, but Madonna is more like Marie Osmond compared to Betty Davis. Betty Davis was a real ferocious Black Panther woman. You couldn't tame Betty Davis.”

In 1968, at the age of 23, Betty Mabry married the then 46-year-old Miles Davis. He was smitten by her youth, beauty and sex appeal, and he quickly ended his marriage to actress Cicely Tyson to be with Betty. She quickly turned his life upside down, changing his sense of style by getting rid of the elegant suits he had worn for years and introducing him to the music of Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone. The result would be such groundbreaking albums such as Bitches Brew. Even Miles acknowledged the impact: “Betty was a big influence on my personal life as well as my musical life. The marriage only lasted about a year, but that year was full of new things and surprises and helped point the way I was to go, both in my music and, in some ways, my lifestyle.”

After her marriage to Miles ended, Betty first concentrated on songwriting, writing songs for a new Detroit band called the Commodores (the songs got them signed to Motown, but Betty turned a Motown deal for herself down because Motown wanted too high a percentage of her). Then, after meeting T-Rex’s Marc Bolan, she became emboldened to become a recording artist in her own right.

Her music was a synthesis of funk and the hard rock of Hendrix and Sly, and beautiful, incredibly sexy and stylish, she created an unapologetic bad girl persona that was ahead of her time and a challenge for radio to play – too hard for black radio, and too black for white radio. According to writer John Ballon, “When a popular Detroit radio station played ‘If I’m In Luck I Might Get Picked Up,’ the lines list up with outraged callers; a bomb threat followed. Within days, she was blacklisted by the NAACP.” Betty recounted, “Bourgeois blacks find me very offensive. They’ve been programmed to think that black women who shake their asses are whorey. The NAACP called up the record company. They’re trying to stop me from making a living. They stopped all my airplay in Detroit.”

After recording four albums, Betty quit the business entirely, retreating to Pittsburgh. It is said that she is currently broke. Her first two albums, Betty Davis and They Say I’m Different were just re-released this past week - they are definitely worth checking out. Listening to them now, it’s obvious how influential she was, and as The New York Times wrote in in 1974, “Her recognition by most of the pop world will be a long time coming. For, like Bessie Smith and all those other dirty-blues singers of forty years ago, Miss Davis is trying to tell us something real and basic about our irrational needs; and Western civilization puts its highest premiums on conformity and rationality and rarely recognizes the Bessies or the Bettys until they’re gone.”

Download: “Anti Love Song”
Buy Betty Davis at eMusic

Special thanks to John Ballon’s piece in the current issue of Waxpoetics.

Soul Is Not Nostalgia

Nostalgia: A sentimental longing for something in the past (Webster’s)

There was an item in Jon Pareles’ New York Times review of last week’s Amy Winehouse show that I haven’t been able to get past. He wrote that if Winehouse was a “purely an old-fashioned soul singer, she’d just be a nostalgia act.” I couldn’t help but think when reading that line, why is someone who draws upon soul “nostalgic,” and bands like the Strokes, who draw upon 70’s New York punk and proto-punk bands like Richard Hell & The Voidoids, aren’t? Why aren’t the Killers a nostalgia act, given their aping of 80’s new wave? Given the lack of technical innovation in rock in general for the past 2 decades, what the hell is (or isn’t) nostalgic?

It’s hard for me to imagine people being nostalgic for a time they didn’t live in. Amy Winehouse’s album is appealing to people because it connects with them, occurs for them as emotionally authentic, and just plain sounds good. I’m a believer in the possibility of soul coming back in a modern context – not because the 60’s or 70’s were “better,” but because at its best, soul music connects simply, directly and intensely. It's music that gets to the heart of what it is to be a human being; to love, to struggle, to win and to lose. It might have a piano, a horn section and play in 4/4 time, but that doesn't make it nostalgia.

Ideal Forms

I think this is what Plato had in mind when he was writing "The Ideal Of The Good." The bass playing itself is profound enough to inspire it's own entry.

Eyes On The Prize

The Staple Singers were one of the most luminous acts of the soul era. Anthems like “Respect Yourself” and “I’ll Take You There” embodied much of the hope and struggle of the civil rights era. As one of the leading lights of the Staples Singers, Mavis Staples has been one of the mainstays of soul music for over fifty years. Her new album, We Won’t Turn Back, is one of the better albums I’ve heard so far this year; a post-Bush, post-Katrina demand for change. Ry Cooder’s production adds a darker and more modern hue to the material, and the anger that is present in the songs and in Mavis’ vocals is refreshing – she has become an intolerant champion of tolerance and equality and she sings with the knowledge that being nice isn’t going to get anyone anywhere.

Download: "Eyes On The Prize"
Mavis Staples at Emusic

The Great Bobby Womack

Bobby Womack is one of those great artists who, while well known and loved dearly by soul aficionados, is less known elsewhere. There aren’t any streets named after him, and there haven’t been any Lifetime Achievement Grammys for him. It’s a shame, because for decades, Womack has been one of the great threads running through American music.

Starting in Gospel, his family’s group the Womack Brothers was discovered by Sam Cooke and signed to Cooke’s SAR label in the early 60’s. Renamed the Valentinos, they put out some seminar sides of the period, including “Looking For A Love” (a song Bobby would remake in to a huge hit in the 70’s) and “It’s All Over Now,” which, with Sam Cooke’s blessing, was given to the Rolling Stones in late 1964 (and was their first U.K. #1). Womack also served as the lead guitarist in Cooke’s band.

Womack gained infamy in the soul community for marrying Sam Cooke’s widow Barbara in March of 1965, only three months after Sam had been shot and killed at a motel in Los Angeles. Womack later said that he married Barbara out of fear of what she would do to herself if she were left alone, but it caused enough controversy that Womack had to retreat. His next step was working as a session guitarist at Chips Moman’s American Studios in Memphis, playing on records by Joe Tex, the Box Tops and Wilson Pickett (he contributed several seminal songs to Pickett, including “I’m A Midnight Mover.”)

In the late 60’s, Womack began to find his stride as a solo artist, ironically, it was at the same time that his marriage with the former Barbara Cooke began to unravel. He played guitar on Sly Stone’s epochal post-60’s reckoning, There’s A Riot Goin’ On. In the 70’s, hits like the sublime “Across 110th Street,” “Harry Hippie” and “Daylight” brought Womack major success on the R&B charts. Not wiling to consign himself to any one genre, Womack also took stabs at country (B.W. goes C.W.), blues and gospel. His last big hit was in 1981 with “If You Think You’re Lonely Now.” He's still touring today.

(Thanks to Bob Dylan’s fantastic radio show, I’m able to post the demo version of “Across 110th Street” followed by the original. Buy his music!)

Download: "Across 110th Street" (Demo - from Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour)
Download: "Across 110th Street" (original)
Bobby Womack at Amazon

Laying It Out

This is easily the best thing I've read on the whole Imus/Hip-Hop "controversy." I wish I had written it.

Sound Of The City, 2007

After falling in love with the songs he produced on Amy Winehouse’s album, I’ve been looking forward to Mark Ronson’s new album, Version. It doesn’t disappoint. Featuring re-arranged covers of songs varying from Coldplay (“God Put A Smile On Your Face) to Britney Spears (“Toxic”), Ronson does a brilliant job of creating a modern soul (while still infused with hip-hop) context for the songs, providing a sleek and sexy urban vibe while remaining substantive in feel. This is dance music that you can sink your teeth into. Ronson’s real skill is making these highly stylized versions sound organic, even while he’s using every technological trick in the book. It’s New York City meets London soul circa 2007. Find it and buy it.

Download: "Stop Me" (featuring Daniel Merriweather)
Buy it at Amazon U.K.

I Ain't Got Nothin' To Say

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Indie Soul

We’ve had the Pixies revival (don’t get me started), so now I’m lobbying for a revival for the most soulful (and messy) American indie band of the 80’s, the Replacements. I hadn't listened to them in a long time, but I awoke this morning with them on the brain, and once I put them on the stereo, I was reminded of my deep love for the band. The trio of Let It Be (1984), Tim (1985) and Pleased To Meet Me (1987) are about as good as anyone did in the 80’s – if you don't have them, buy them now. "Unsatisfied" and "Answering Machine" are about as soulful as it gets - just transmuted through punk. (And had they concentrated more on the soul, and concerned themselves less with the punk ethos, they might not have self-destructed the way they did.)

Download: "Unsatisfied"
Download: "Answering Machine"
Download: "I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man" (Live in Detroit, 11/12/87)
Download: "Gimme Shelter" (Live in Detroit)
Download: "Little Mascara" (Live in Detroit)
Download: "Can't Hardly Wait"

Buy the Replacements at Amazon

Songs Of The Day

I never paid too much attention to the Electroclash/DFA scene that James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem (and his partner, Tim Goldsworthy) inspired in New York a few years back. It got a ton of attention, but other than the Rapture’s “House of Jealous Lovers,” not much from of it stuck with me. It sounded pretty good to me, but not much more than that. Admittedly, it generated from an NYC post-punk scene that I’ve never felt particularly at home in – it was hipster music, and my first impulse is usually to recoil from most things hipster, perhaps as a defense mechanism from the feeling I’ll be excluded from it.

However, I’ve been greatly enjoying the new LCD Soundsystem album, Sound of Silver, and it’s first single, “North American Scum.” It’s Jonathan Richman-esque in the best possible way – wry, witty and incisive. And it employs irony to illuminate the song and its lyrics instead of employing it in the manner most artists use it – as a substitute for talent.

Download: “North American Scum”


If all Georgia born performer and songwriter Joe South did during his career was play the guitar intro to Aretha Franklin’s “Chain Of Fools,” he’d still be fondly remembered. But he wrote a bunch of hits for other artists, and a recorded a couple of classic songs under his own name, including “Games People Play” and “Walk A Mile In My Shoes.”

A few years back, Otis Clay (“Trying To Live My Life Without You”) recorded “Walk A Mile In My Shoes” as part of a Joe South tribute record. It’s a beautiful version, and listening to it, I’m reminded that of all the human virtues that I’ve found present in the best soul music, it’s compassion that has been the most powerful, and the most necessary.

Download: "Walk A Mile In My Shoes"

Subscribe To A Deeper Shade Of Soul!

I've gotten a few emails from people asking how they can subscribe to A Deeper Shade Of Soul. Well my friends, it's easy. Just scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page and on the left it says "Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)." You'll need a reader for Internet feeds. I use the Google Reader. There are many others and you can use it to set up a page for all of your favorite blogs and news outlets. Do it - because you really do need more information in your life.

Today In The Bad Idea Department

Oooof.

Brooklyn Soul Sister

Here is a link to last week's Village Voice article on Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, a Brooklyn based soul outfit who are starting to get real attention. It's a worthy read in that I believe it signifies soul's continuing comeback in the public consciousness as well as the utter boredom that many people are finally finding in and verbalizing about "dull-ass, sweet-dude, indie guitar rock."

I've seen Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings live, and while it's been an enjoyable experience, for me, something has been missing. I've found the songs somewhat unsatisfying; they occur for me as approximations of a soul sound rather than soulful in and of themselves. But I am hopeful that they will improve over time, and that the songs will dig a little deeper emotionally on the next release.

The Dap-Kings are backing Amy Winehouse on the road, so this has to be a very exciting time for them. If Sharon Jones and her band are not quite the thing that will break down the door for this kind of music in the 21st century, they're knocking really hard on the door. I won't do anything but applaud that.

Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings on MySpace

Rosalita From Carnegie Hall

A pretty rough clip from last night's finale, but very sweet nonetheless.

Bruce Tribute At Carnegie Hall

I did not attend tonight's tribute to Bruce Springsteen at Carnegie Hall. Why? Well, the lineup didn't hold too much interest for me (had I known Patti Smith was going to be there in advance, I might have attended - she got subbed in for Jewel today) and I'm usually not into hearing people do Bruce other than Bruce.

Fortunately, we have a special guest contributor to A Deeper Shade Of Soul who attended the show tonight. His name is Scott Black, and there could be no one more fitting to do this blog entry, as he is one of my oldest friends - I've known him for about thirty years, and he, more than pretty much anyone else, is responsible for turning me onto Springsteen when we were nice little Jewish boys attending Solomon Schecter Day School together in the late 70's and early 80's. (He's still nice...me, not so much.) I returned the favor by turning him on to the Beatles and "Gimme Shelter." Overall, it was probably an even trade.

In the interest of posting this immediately, the text is going up as Scott sent it to me with no edits. Scott is an Ivy League graduate, so please understand that he does know how to use proper punctuation. Enjoy!

Early highlight was clearly patti smith doing an acoustic "because the night" with a heartfelt introduction explaining how bruce's song has pulled her numerous times during her life from the doldrums of despair. She's heads and shoulders above the rest of the talent so far present.

 Another highlight was the elysian fields' rocking (and haunting) version of "streets of fire". Interesting to hear this track (not one of my favorites) song by an indie female.



8:56: frankie vallie's younger brother, bobby, his band ("some jersey boys", and a "soparanos" guest cast member (who's really up there just for show, as he apparently can't sing), perform, what else, "jersey girl.". The whole set is cheese incarnate (down to frankie jr's slicked back hair, and "sha-la-las" with audience clap-alongs, but I still can't help but smile: I love this song, and it's hard to ruin it, even though these guys are way off key.



9:10: uri cane performs an all musical piano rendition of "new york city serenade.". Great song, but Bruce is not best appreciated in non vocal renditions.



9:14: juliana hatfield performs a solo guitar country-tinged version of "cover me". Not bad, but not particularly interesting either. Like many of the other performances, the artist's apparent belief that she has to tone down the song to accommodate the prestige of the venue detract from the force of the song.



9:26: badly drawn boy, a huge bruce fan, takes the stage to perfrom "thunder road.". "I'm scared to death, but fearless at the same time," he begins. The version is good: he sings with a sense of reverence, almost afraid to come across as ever trying to match the original. Plus, it's cool to hear bruce sung in a british accent.

9:34: joseph arthur dedicates a guitar and piano driven "born in the usa" to "our troops.". Ok, we get it already, this is no rah rah patriotic anthem. But the words are so haunting every time.



9:39: pete yorn introduces "dancing in the dark" as a "dark song.". The acoustic, aching version he delivers certainly is: and it works.



9:45: jesse malin and ronnie spector team up for "hungry heart," dedicated to joey ramone. I've heard malin do this cover before, and he sounds like a frog to me. I'm not crazy about the song either, and ronnie botches the lyrics midway through. This is pretty much a disappointment.

9:55: the crowd breaks into "bruuuce calls" as the stage is being prepared for odetta who takes the stage in a wheelchair to perform... "57 channels".?? She's a poet and talks her way through the song, and the song long joke draws ample chuckles and one of the few standing ovations thus far.



10:00: the much heralded hold steady nail
 "Atlantic City." After a soft and melodic intro they ROCK THE HOUSE. A clear highlight.

10:07: THE MOMENT WE ALL HOPED FOR: bruce takes the stage: "I'm wounded, but still alive"...

Solo acoustic "promised land": bruce is in full-bodied woody guthrie mode here.
The version emphasizes the chain of tradition that has always linked bruce to the great folk artists of our nation's past. Next up: acoustic Rosalita.

Bruce interrupts Rosalita to say it's too long to see the whole thing, and proceeds to say, you know the rest of the story... Man grows up to be a rock star, finds a woman he loves happily ever after (despite the rumors), write about being happy (but no one likes it), the country becomes a kingdom, kids buy music out of the air... It's hysterical and ends with a full audience sing along to the song's conclusion. This man is simply a master performer.

Show's over: hold steady, badly drawn boy, jesse malin and bruce took turns on rosie verses for the full band finale. A great time! And bruce was hysterical.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Keith Richards

I'm used to hearing some great, outlandish quotes from Mr. Richards, of the Glimmer Twins. But the news that Keith snorted his own father's ashes (mixed with a little coke, of course) has set the bar anew. The man can do no wrong by me, even when he calls the new generation of British bands, "c***ts."

He is the embodiment of rock and roll excess. But Keith Richards' latest admission is likely to surprise even his most hardened fans.

The Rolling Stones guitarist has told how he snorted his own father's ashes in a drugs binge.

"The strangest thing I've tried to snort? My father. I snorted my father," he said.

The 63-year-old detailed in a magazine interview how he mixed the
ashes with cocaine and inhaled them.

Scroll down for more...

Keith Richards has told how he snorted his own father's (right) ashes
in a drugs binge

"He was cremated and I couldn't resist grinding him up with a little
bit of blow.

"My dad wouldn't have cared - he didn't give a s***. It went down
pretty well. And I'm still alive."

Richards's father Bert died in 2002 aged 84. The news may not be met
with too much enthusiasm by Richards' mother Doris.

The star also recounted his worst drugs experience. "It was when
someone put strychnine in my dope," he said.

"It was in Switzerland. I was totally comatose but I was totally
awake.

"I could listen to everyone, and they were like, 'He's dead, he's
dead!', waving their fingers and pushing me about, and I was thinking,
'I'm not dead!'," he recalled.

He went on: "I've no pretensions about immortality - I'm the same as
everyone else - same as you, same as everybody, I'm the same old
b******, just kind of lucky.

"I was number one on the Who's Likely To Die list for ten years. I
mean, I was really disappointed when I fell off the list," he told
NME.

Richards added: "Some doctor told me I had six months to live and I
went to their funeral. The obit columns are of quite an interest to me
these days. I don't trust doctors.

"It's not to say there ain't some good ones, but on a general level,
no, I wouldn't trust 'em at all."

Richards predicted that Pete Doherty could be the next drugs casualty
- and told him to leave supermodel Kate Moss alone.

"My advice for Pete Doherty is that he should shut the f*** up and
leave her," he said. "I don't know the man. All I know is he's pushing
his luck and there it is, but so is Kate, who I know very well.

"Kate wants to play with bad boys, and she's done one, and then
another one, and then another one. Badabing, badabang, badaboom.
She'll live, the boys will die."

And he warned rock stars not to emulate his fabled drug-taking.

"I did it because that was the way I did it. Now people think it's a
way of life," he said.

Of today's musicians, he said: "Everyone's a load of c***. They're
trying to be somebody else and they ain't being themselves.
Libertines, Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party? Load of c***, load of c***.
Posers, rubbish."

The Rolling Stones will kick off the European leg of their A Bigger
Bang tour in June.

Last year their touring was interrupted when Richards reportedly fell
out of a palm tree while on holiday in Fiji.

He said of the incident: "I wasn't climbing a tree. I was sitting on a
f***ing shrub. I was sitting on that shrub again today, but I happened
to fall off it the wrong way that day."

He had brain surgery after the accident and revealed: "I've been
trepanned. That's quite an interesting experience, especially for my
brain surgeon, who saw my thoughts flying around in my brain.

"I've got pictures of it, mate. They cut my head, brain, skull open,
went in and pulled out the c***, and put some of it back again.

"But that's the way it is. I mean, s*** , Keith Richards has got to do
everything once."

· The full interview appears in the new issue of NME, out today.

EMI Drops DRM

A big, big day in the record business. EMI announced in London this morning that they're dropping DRM (Digital Rights Management) and are going to offer a greater range of choice in digital music offered to the consumer. Here's the article from Business Wire:

EMI Music Launches DRM-Free Superior Sound Quality Downloads Across Its Entire Digital Repertoire
Apple's iTunes Store to be the First Online Music Store to Sell EMI's New Downloads

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--EMI Music today announced that it is launching new premium downloads for retail on a global basis, making all of its digital repertoire available at a much higher sound quality than existing downloads and free of digital rights management (DRM) restrictions.

The new higher quality DRM-free music will complement EMI's existing range of standard DRM-protected downloads already available. From today, EMI's retailers will be offered downloads of tracks and albums in the DRM-free audio format of their choice in a variety of bit rates up to CD quality. EMI is releasing the premium downloads in response to consumer demand for high fidelity digital music for use on home music systems, mobile phones and digital music players. EMI's new DRM-free products will enable full interoperability of digital music across all devices and platforms.

Eric Nicoli, CEO of EMI Group, said, "Our goal is to give consumers the best possible digital music experience. By providing DRM-free downloads, we aim to address the lack of interoperability which is frustrating for many music fans. We believe that offering consumers the opportunity to buy higher quality tracks and listen to them on the device or platform of their choice will boost sales of digital music.

"Apple have been a true pioneer in digital music, and we are delighted that they share our vision of an interoperable market that provides consumers with greater choice, quality, convenience and value for money."

"Selling digital music DRM-free is the right step forward for the music industry," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "EMI has been a great partner for iTunes and is once again leading the industry as the first major music company to offer its entire digital catalogue DRM-free."

Apple's iTunes Store (www.itunes.com) is the first online music store to receive EMI's new premium downloads. Apple has announced that iTunes will make individual AAC format tracks available from EMI artists at twice the sound quality of existing downloads, with their DRM removed, at a price of $1.29/€1.29/£0.99. iTunes will continue to offer consumers the ability to pay $0.99/€0.99/£0.79 for standard sound quality tracks with DRM still applied. Complete albums from EMI Music artists purchased on the iTunes Store will automatically be sold at the higher sound quality and DRM-free, with no change in the price. Consumers who have already purchased standard tracks or albums with DRM will be able to upgrade their digital music for $0.30/€0.30/£0.20 per track. All EMI music videos will also be available on the iTunes Store DRM-free with no change in price.

EMI is introducing a new wholesale price for premium single track downloads, while maintaining the existing wholesale price for complete albums. EMI expects that consumers will be able to purchase higher quality DRM-free downloads from a variety of digital music stores within the coming weeks, with each retailer choosing whether to sell downloads in AAC, WMA, MP3 or other unprotected formats of their choice. Music fans will be able to purchase higher quality DRM-free digital music for personal use, and listen to it on a wide range of digital music players and music-enabled phones.

EMI's move follows a series of experiments it conducted recently. Norah Jones's "Thinking About You", Relient K's "Must've Done Something Right", and Lily Allen's "Littlest Things" were all made available for sale in the MP3 format in trials held at the end of last year.

EMI Music will continue to employ DRM as appropriate to enable innovative digital models such as subscription services (where users pay a monthly fee for unlimited access to music), super-distribution (allowing fans to share music with their friends) and time-limited downloads (such as those offered by ad-supported services).

Nicoli added: "Protecting the intellectual property of EMI and our artists is as important as ever, and we will continue to work to fight piracy in all its forms and to educate consumers. We believe that fans will be excited by the flexibility that DRM-free formats provide, and will see this as an incentive to purchase more of our artists' music."

I believe that the price is still too high for the files for the premium files - I'm firmly in the camp that lowering the price will increase sales. But this is a big first step. More commentary to come.