With Rich in Hong Kong and no keyboardist to be had, it was gonna be a new type of Core-4, one with Andy on lead, no keys and Kev, Scott and I to pull up the core. In some respects it gave us a nice spacious feeling without having to put a mic in the piano. It kept the volume and the reverberations way down. Some songs it was a hindrance with a definite lack of of something, but at other time when we were grooving and playing well, it was a nice change of pace. One will never know because Rich is the one who records and posts the music of every week’s jam. The song list below is probably pretty complete, but with out recordings there will be no links to MP3s as the memories of the jams fade quickly from our minds. Nevertheless, this is the song list, once again, probably complete but in the wrong order some what.
This we played with Andy as modified Core-4 then he left around 10:30.
Alabama Getaway
Promised Land
Althea
Brother Esau
I’ll Take a Melody
Big Railroad Blues
Let It Bleed
Direwolf
That’s What Love Will Make You Do
Looks Like Rain
Birdsong
This set we played as the Wee-3 and it felt pretty good to me for the most part even thought Kevin was fading fast and Scott wasn’t too far behind. I was actually getting my stride around here pulling out a better than I could have expected Love in the Afternoon and Valerie. The Times the are a Changing threw Kevin over the edge because as I played the Weather Report Suite it was just Scott and I playing as the 2-Few while Kevin was salivating on the floor. We got through the Weather Report Suite and Let It Grow vocals and called it a night.
Love in the Afternoon
Russain Lullaby
Valerie
It’s All Over Now Baby Blue
Times They are a Changing
Weather Report Suite
Let It Grow …x
In the end we played a nice chunkage of songs and many were good renditions. I was playing my Black Epiphone Les Paul and Kevin changed his strings to flat wounds before the jam. Scott’s stool is continuing to cause his butt pain, but that is nothing new. I introduced Kevin to dried cherries in the form of Trader Joes cherry granola cookies which he devoured. Since our one freaky stall worth friend, Scott Bayer is really Rich’s friend thank G-d, we had no guests at all. A rarity in the last few years. Nevertheless, we did have a few chicks checking us out and digging us through the glass and we even got a thumbs up from one of them. As we approach the holiday season we will have to work especially hard to get jams in, so it’s a mystery if we will be able to pull together one next week. Keep-a-posting!
A big Wednesday night jam was expected and in some parts we got it. Firstly it was Veteran’s Day so I had the day off which gave me the opportunity to hike all day and jam all night. And yes, we did play a Tennessee Jed. So I was well rested and ready to go. We were expecting a few friend to top by and they did. I wish, or I’m glad I don’t remember their names but we played some of our best stuff to them, including the Ship of Fools, Tennessee Jed and Let It Grow. To run down the guest list we had Leo the camera man, who played bongos at the end of the night and he is good! He was pushing us to play out thinking we were really good, we rocked his world. Ironically, there was no Scott Bayer to play but we had Leo who knew his way around those skins. Our good friend Michael was there with Seth, who I recall from the past as well as 2 of his buddies. Coming in talking lots of trash talk, I mean Rat Dog.
Rich was running wild coming into a jam to only leave directly for a flight to Hong Kong where he is shooting a documentary on someone who lives there. Some how he expects to be back by next Tuesday for the next jam. Something tells me he is going to have the flew when he gets back. I hope he brings industrial sized bottles of hand sanitizers. At least he won’t be tempted to eat the pig’s ears like I would.
We had a lousy Mackie Board but some nice PA speakers so by the end of the night the PA was sounding okay. I liked how the piano was sounding. Maybe it was some of the quietness we played with. It hurt us in the first song, Shakedown which was to slow and timid and not a good effort. We significantly improved after that. Andy was a our lead for the night but we did get a Stoned Me in as Core-4 prior Andy showing up. I don’t know if anyone heard this during the recent World Series debacle, but they referred to Jeter, Rivera, Pettitte and Posada as the Core-4. See the article I found while researching the spellings. Says the Core-4 is better in 09 than they were in 98.
I had my Epiphone Les Paul, which I rarely take out of the house and after a song or two, I got used to it. I was tough to get used to the extra weight and even more irritating was the sharp edge on the guitar which rubbed against my arm in a bad way since it is not bull-nosed like my Strat. Not that I am complaining, I’m just trying to tell you what I experienced. We had lots of snacks on top of the piano and the rest was status quo, which is a good thing. We ended with a great Let It Grow, Deal, Black Muddy River which I though was appropriate since I hiked the Black River earlier in the day, though it wasn’t muddy.
We were fortunate to have Andy once again with us this Wednesday night at Carroll’s. Outside was a beautiful, unseasonable warm day and we had the air conditioning cranking in the Studio 2 of Carroll’s. It was like a refrigerator in there because the air conditioner couldn’t keep up with the hotness of the music. Actually, the music wasn’t all that hot just nicely comfortable, just like the day from which it came. Highlights included the opening Jack Straw, the Duprees, and all the rest. We didn’t have too many clunkers to think of and every song was played and not abandoned. Most importantly, no songs were relegated to the banned list, so they are all still on the band list. A subtle distinction.
Steal My Songbook
Andy, belting out a California Earthquake
Andy stayed until around 10:30, with Scott force feeding a Not Fade Away upon him. After that we took a little break and played a bit of Core-4 Deadstein comprised on GarBand and Dead songs. We finished with the Baby Blue Scott Bayer was the only guest in the room for the night as he played bongos on some stuff and then said his piece and left. The piece was priceless and I was fortunate enough capture it on my iPhone, so enjoy this little YouTube clip.
So we got a nice chunk of songage into the evening. ’Twas a very satisfying affair and I cannot wait until we do it again.
To listen to the 17 songs we did for the night go to the link below or just click a song and listen and hopefully enjoy.
Once again this week we were blessed for all that goes good in this world. Andy was able to jam with us for most of the night, there was a bountiful feeling in the room and finally, we experienced the most distracting moment that I recall since we had a “the midget” come in a Deadstein jam in the early 1990’s. During the Race is On Jam we saw this really hot blonde looking and smiling in the window. She eventually walked in a gave us 2 pizza pies and walked out shaking here beautiful tiny butt. As you can tell I’m still visualizing the distraction. The rest of the Race Is On was a well deserved mess.
Our only guest of the night, Scott Bayer, quickly scooped up the 2 pies, in actuality there were just 6 slices leftover from 2 pies, and delivered them to Carol. Out fan club at the other end of the cellular network. I assume that was out mitzvah for the night. Easy Come and Easy Go.
So we started with the Bucket which was quite mushy but we solidified more immediately following it. The loud band in Studio #1 next door was filling our sonic space with mush so I tried to freeze them out of there by turning down the thermostat in our room, which is connected to Studio #1. The result is the music stopped soon next door and it was quite cold in our studio.
It wasn’t one of those rock solid nights but we did have out moments. The Dancing in the Streets really went out there. I remember Tangled Up in Blue kept a nice groove and ended with a Crazy Jam. It was the night before Scott’s birthday so he was calling many of the songs and we got some good ones such as the Tangled Up. Andy ended the night with a mistake, If I Had the World to Give and it was over for him.
After Andy left we did lots of random JGB selections but Kevin and Scott were struggling to keep there eyes open. The song selector nicely selected a Tore Up to open the mess. We played the nice slow It Takes a Lot to Laugh and I even snuck in the Norwegian Wood. The Cats Down Under the Stars we closed with was a mess so we decided to close up shop 15 minutes early and call it another Deadstein jam.
If you want to listen to the jam go to the link below and or go directly to the songs and give them a listen. We got 17 songs in that’s okay. Actually it probably below par for 2009 where in 1997 it was probably a shit load.
Tuesday night in the city and another concert at the club next door meant parking my new Honda Fit would be difficult. That’s right, the Dodge Dakota I was so psyched about last week is no longer and the moldy white Jetta Trek I’ve been driving since before Deadstein.com is also no longer. Say good-bye to Jetta cam and hello to FitCam. Different car, same trip if you know what I mean.
So I got there at 7:45 and we were scheduled to play with Andy, for the third week in a row, but this was going to be a one drummer evening. Scott brought in his 6-7 shots of espresso and was alive and vibrant all the way through the finish line at midnight. Andy stayed to 10:38 so we had him for a good 30 minutes extra, so that’s always nice. After he left we broke out the iPhone’s random shuffler for a few Garband songs including a Gomorrah. After that, 3 of Scott’s friends came in from the show next door to experience some Hard Core-4. This included an I’ll Take a Melody, Dancing in the Street and and U.S. Blues to commemorate the passing of the summer. I’m glad I got some photos of of these three including Wanna, Shy and I forget her name but I got a hug after she removed her shoes. Wanna and Shy were living on the iPhones and seriously used them to communicate with others as opposed to me using mine to keep me entertained. I assume the were texting each other since they couldn’t hear themselves in the room. I’m glad I got a picture of them for posterity’s sake.
On that note, we played with some nice dynamics this night and had some good moments. We started slow but kept up the pace as the night wore on. Another nice night of Deadstein music. Oh, let’s not forget that Scott Bayer showed his mug in the room for half a song and called Carol to let her listen in for a song or two.
If you want to see what happened, I sat out a songs and listened to the rest of the guys play Waiting for a Miracle while I video taped it on my iPhone for posterity’s sake. I love that Japanese rice wine.
Tuesday night at Carroll’s, Nine Inch Nails were playing next door so we had to park on 54th instead of 55th. No big deal, Kevy risked parking in the tow-away-zone and got away with it.
It was a night were we had no guests yet we seemed to have to have two of our favorites, Coffee and Trister. They were there for most of the night and it was great to play with them. Trister was there last week, if you read, but I missed it due to car troubles. Additionally, Coffee Boy bailed on last week so this week was like a reunion jam for all of us. Quite a bit of fun. I was gloating about my new pickup truck to replace my old Jetta. Take a Look.
We played well, some great solid grooves and the feeling was positive for the most part. I warned Andy about going for the Big River but he didn’t listen. Somehow we made it through the whole thing. In the same vein, we were using the iPhone with shuffle to select random songs for us to play. We didn’t listen totally to it but it did provide us some good suggestions. What it does do is let us listen to a sample of the song before playing it and what you realize, with examples like the Big River is how many songs we play at a molasses pace and how hard it is to play at a pace and liveliness that ironically is the Grateful Dead. Something to seriously understand and work on. The random song selector got us to play What a Wonderful World, which everyone knows I’m a sucker for. I got us to play a Garband Masterpiece with Andy singing. Likewise, it got us to play a really nice You Never Can Tell. So the random song selector impacted the night but did not dominate it.
After both Andy and then Coffee left we played a good 4 or five more songs, primarily based on the random song selector. After starting the late night Core-4 we played the How Sweet It Is and then the iPhone got us to play a Birdsong, Victim Dear Mr. Fantasy. We were done at 12:00 midnight but due to tunnel traffic I didn’t get home until 1:30. I was a little tired this morning but still enjoying the thrill of last night. Until we jam again. That’s what she said.
Well, this was a first for me in almost 20 years. Car troubles stopped me from making the jam. It’s hard to believe considering I’ve never had good cars but it’s true. I packed my trunk, turned the key and nothing, it was all over, no way of making the jam. It also looks like the end of Jetta cam, unless I do get another Jetta which seems unlikely at this point. I greatly apologize for missing the jam but I hope it was a worthwhile experience for all that made it. Scott filled me in a bit today while I was at lunch and it sounds like it was a nice night. Let me know what happened and see you next week.
We were playing Wednesday this week which meant we had access to both Andy and Coffee so we were able to enjoy their company for a little while. Being they live the furthest and don’t have the stamina of the rest of use meant the two of them were out of there shortly after 10:00 leaving Kevin, Scott, Rich and I to finish out the night in classic Core-4 fashion. No big deal, that’s what we do, but Scott did go down quickly by 11:30. It was a a fun Deadstein night though, as most are.
When we arrived at 55th Street the club next door was having and show which meant parking was more difficult that usual. I parked a block away, but on 55th. Kevin parked in the newly illegal spot across the street but got by. Kevin was the first on there and the rest of us arrived simultaneously to great Kevin who was hanging out with Chris the cool Carroll’s manager.
From second one you could tell this was going to be a loud night and the PA and the PZM in the piano was having trouble dealing with it. The othernon-PZM piano microphone is definately better in both feedback rejection and lack of “uch”. I was also rationing the access to the PA by only having the mics that were to be used in that song on. This helped a lot and enabled me to boost the channel of the primary singer.
With respect to guests, Stu was there looking dapper in his lawyer outfit and he was cool to take pictures of us in action. Check out his cool pose to the right. Ken Levine was there still buzzing from the excitement of last week. Finally, Scott Bayer also showed, blowing his harmonica, getting us to call Carol to play to her over the cell phone and asking Stu for civil law advice while Stu claimed ignorance to knowing there were actually laws that controlled the civil world. Nevertheless, talking to Scott Bayer is always an adventure.
A day later, trying to remeber songs is tough but I’ll try. I recall a Brown-Eyed Women, Big Boss Man, we didn’t play Lied and Cheated. Trister ended his night with a Brokedown played a full step higher than we traditionally play it (eighties style) and that f-up Kevy a bit. End of the night Core-4 included Run for the Roses, Simple Twist of Fate, Harder They Come.
Below is the setlist from thenight as well as the links to the MP3 recordings thanks to the fforts of Rich and his recorder.
In the world Ed McMann died, Farah Fawcett and Michael Jackson all just died. There were beautiful rain clouds and splatters of sunshine all over on the way in though it never rained on me.
With Rich in Hong Kong and no keyboardist to be had, it was gonna be a new type of Core-4, one with Andy on lead, no keys and Kev, Scott and I to pull up the core. In some respects it gave us a nice spacious feeling without having to put a mic in the piano. It kept the volume and the reverberations way down. Some songs it was a hindrance with a definite lack of of something, but at other time when we were grooving and playing well, it was a nice change of pace. One will never know because Rich is the one who records and posts the music of every week’s jam. The song list below is probably pretty complete, but with out recordings there will be no links to MP3s as the memories of the jams fade quickly from our minds. Nevertheless, this is the song list, once again, probably complete but in the wrong order some what.
In the end we played a nice chunkage of songs and many were good renditions. I was playing my Black Epiphone Les Paul and Kevin changed his strings to flat wounds before the jam. Scott’s stool is continuing to cause his butt pain, but that is nothing new. I introduced Kevin to dried cherries in the form of Trader Joes cherry granola cookies which he devoured. Since our one freaky stall worth friend, Scott Bayer is really Rich’s friend thank G-d, we had no guests at all. A rarity in the last few years. Nevertheless, we did have a few chicks checking us out and digging us through the glass and we even got a thumbs up from one of them. As we approach the holiday season we will have to work especially hard to get jams in, so it’s a mystery if we will be able to pull together one next week. Keep-a-posting!
