New Multitudes by Jay Farrar, Will Johnson, Anders Parker and Yim Yames

This album is a collaborative effort to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Woody Guthrie. A band led my musicians that musicians all know but for the average lay person the names that ring the loudest are Jay Farrar who has been in two bands loved by critics, Son Volt and Uncle Tupelo, bands that have included members of The Jayhawks and Wilco at one time or another. So the pedigree is there and then when you add Yim Yamss, A K A Jim James of My Morning Jacket and you know this group is strong.

Norah, Woody's Granddaughter who instigated this project must have been happy. Taking old unpublished lyrics of Guthrie's the band members wrote new songs. Recorded for the most part live with one mike, old style, there is much to like.

I have not listened to the whole set as of yet, it is a double album and includes many different types of music. The first single which has received significant radio airplay is My Revolutionary Mind and features Yames on vocals. A slow mantra in which James tells us that he needs a Liberally Minded Woman to ease his Revolutionary Mind the song could fit anywhere from the sixties to Woody's era himself.

Contributions by Farrar have that almost patented sound he is well known for, sort of Byrds meets the Midwest. I am a huge fan of James and plan to listen to the whole album. Woody Guthrie in so many ways is the forefather of much of the music we venerate on a daily basis.

Levon Helm Dies

Last week we heard that Levon Helm was close to death from throat cancer. One of the cool men of rock and roll Helm had a very colorful history in rock and roll. As the news was confirmed two days later that Helm had died the tributes started flowing in and have not stopped.

Helm, born in Arkansas, joined up with Ronnie Hawkins in the early sixties and traveled to Canada and joined the backup band known as The Hawks. Soon enough this band included all the members of what would come to be known as The Band. Danko, Manuel and of course Robbie Robertson.

Joining Bob Dylan on tour in 1965, the tour where things " might get weird" as Dylan told the boys Helm quit. At the height of the controversy over Bob going electric Helm said he " did not want to play to get booed."

Eventually however the members of the band joined Dylan in upstate New York as he recovered from his motorcycle accident. After helping Dylan with The Basement Tapes The Band released two seminal albums Music From the Big Pink and the self titled The Band. While the singing duties were often split between the members it was Helms and his hard to describe howl that made songs like Ophelia, Up on Cripple Creek and The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down that became standards.

As great at the music was however the influence The Band, and Helm had on other musicians sent and sends waves and ripples out still. I remember seeing a picture of Helm in the late sixties era, leaning against the back of a sports car. Helm was a very cool dude. Still the music was first. When Robbie Robertson broke up the Band after The Last Waltz in 1976 Helms was livid and this colored their relationship for the rest of their lives. When The Band was inducted in The Hall of Fame he chose not to attend, seeing this as the best way to avoid being roped in to playing with Robertson.

Over the last ten years of his life however Helm hosted monthly concerts in his barn at his home in Woodstock. Originally begun to help defray the cost of his medical care for the cancer that eventually he succumbed to the Concerts became the hip place to be. Tickets were hard to get and many musicians considered it a highlight to join Helm at his shows. I remember just last summer hearing that My Morning Jacket had made an appearance as they went through New York on tour,

There are many great singers. Their are however, not many great and completely distinct voices. Helm had a voice that you would never forget. We are glad of that as he has left us much too soon.

Let us pray they have room for his voice in the choir where he is.

My Morning Jacket Live in Bangor ( Update)

When reviewing the MMJ show that took place last weekend I commented on the set list and how several songs expected were not heard. As we were in the park outside we did not hear James make an announcement that the bands drummer had got shellfish poisioning earlier in the day and was not able to play.

That said MMJ decided to still play but changed to a full accoustic set, something James said they had never done.

Many bands would have cancelled and MMJ should be commended for playing.

My Morning Jacket Live in Bangor, Maine

First a confession. Because of my inability to stand for any period of time and the festival nature of the Kah Bang festival in Bangor my wife and I did not purchase tickets. We drove downtown parked on the hill above the concert grounds and listened to the entire show when MMJ closed down the festival Saturday night.

Taking the stage after 1030 MMJ entered to a repeating " Destination Bangor Maine " from the Roger Miller classic King of the Road. Jim Jones whose voice is one that is a cross between a Southern Robert Plant and a werewolf sings just like you imagine he would. His voice is perfect, that is if you like what you hear on recordings. Still the last album by MMJ is in many ways a quiet, more thoughtful piece of music. With sometimes bewitching music and an ehtereal voice Jones was not in a high end party mood. Songs like Wonderful and Circuital from the Circuital album were perfectly played. Golden and Gideon were highlights and at various times Jones let go with his signature high pitched wails.

The curfew again took it's toll on the performance as many expected songs were not played. MMJ could have and should have adjusted the set lists to get a few more of the expected songs like One Big Holiday and Just One Thing in but one does not know how much they knew of the curfew when planning their set.

Still, musically the band was on target and all but perfect. This is a band that has found it's niche and whose audience is growing. In Bangor, Maine however that audience was not strongly present. A smaller than to be expected crowd, certainly smaller than the previous night Lupe Fiasco, Atmosphere rap double bill. My son and his friends were excited about Friday nights events. MMJ certainly appeals to an older, more granola audience and the crowd showed it.

The performance was great and if anything the success of the performance shows how far the Bangor market has to go to embrace diverse types of music. Reading a comment in the BDN from a gentleman who said he had shook the President's hand but considered shaking Slug from Atmosphere's hand as more meaningful perhaps gave us an unintendedly clear vision of the youth of today. Were it me I would rather than be embracing MMJ...I loved the show..the music over the bay with the moonlight was indeed a great setting.

Still the event was well done, I saw groups of kids out with bags picking up trash in the surrounding neighborhood as the event came to a close. The Kah Bang folks should be commended. I hope it continues to grow.

As for My Morning Jacket. I was a fan before the show and am one now. The only thing they might do is widen their set list a bit, for us in Bangor we do not know what we should have heard if the curfew had not been in place.

Evil Urges by My Morning Jacket

This summer we went to see Tom Petty in Mansfield Mass and this band was the opening act. So today Amazon which has a wonderful MP3 program featured the most recent My Morning Jacket album for 2.99.

So I bought this. I enjoyed them live, although I did not know any of the music beforehand. I was aware that they had a devoted fan base and from the crowd that became very evident. But I while liking the melodies, the solos and Jim Jones amazing range on his voice-----I did not know the music.

After today I now do and I am impressed. A couple of the songs are a little out there such as Highly Suspicious but also some of the songs are just intensely wonderful.

Highlights include I'm Amazed, Thank You Too, Smokin from Shootin and Touch Me I'm Going to Scream.

Perhaps an example of how much good music is out there. I have more than I will ever listen to, but it is true. I am glad each day to take joy out of new music. This album fits the bill.