Ryan Adams Bedhead for the flac-less

I do believe that Ryan Adams has some of the most dedicated fans in the music community. The folks over at the RyanAdamsArchive.com site have religiously compiled a bunch of live tracks from various tours and "released" them (for lack of a better word) as the Bedhead Series.

All are fabulous and available in torrent format at the archive site. But I was admittedly (and probably lamely) baffled because they came in flac format, and I listen in mp3. If you too are in my boat, I am happy to now have the fifth volume in mp3 format, called What Will Happen Next, which are songs from last year's spring/summer shows for the most part. I'll put up a new one every couple of days here, and you can get all 5 discs of live goodness with persistence and stick-to-it-ness.

This'll be in honor of, and to get us pumped for, the solo acoustic shows coming up in just a few short days/weeks. And do head over to the RyanAdamsArchive.com site and show them a little love for this great collection.

What Will Happen Next is the 5th in the Bedhead Series which comprises: Bedhead (Volumes 1-3), Live Is Hell (Volumes 4-7), Live Rock'nRoll (Volumes 8-10), After The Fall (Volumes 11-14), and now What Will Happen Next (Volumes 15-19).

Knock yourself out.


Disc I (Volume 15)
01. Trains 5/4/05
02. Don't Fail Me Now 7/27/05
03. Elizabeth You Were Born To Play The Part 5/1/05
04. To Be Young 5/21/05
05. Shakedown On 9th Street 5/16/05
06. When The Stars Go Blue 5/7/05
07. Let It Ride 5/4/05 (slow & sublime)
08. Blossom 5/1/05
09. What Sin Replaces Love->Beautiful Sorta 5/11/05
10. Please Do Not Let Me Go 6/3/05
11. Rosebud 6/5/05
12. Sweet Lil' Gal 5/4/05


DOWNLOAD DISC 1 AS A ZIP FILE HERE


So, if I go to jail for 11 years (where all the evil Ryan Adams music posters go), will you write me? Send me mix CDs? (or do you think they just have cassette tape players in there?). Sigh.

Ryan Adams Bedhead, Volumes 4 & 5

I know that I promised the rest of these live Ryan Adams Bedhead compilation recordings a long time ago, and posted Disc One, Disc Two, and Disc Three, but then fell off the wagon. I kind of figured that after the ginormous orgy of Ryan Adams posts following the San Francisco concert that I would just give it a rest for a few weeks.

But now I'm recovered and am going to go ahead and post up these last two batches, there is some really fantastic live stuff on them from the 2005 tour. Check out the scorching, bluesy rendition of "I See Monsters," the stunning piano of "Nightbirds," and darned if you can't help but laugh at the "Summer of '69" (BRYAN Adams cover). That's the spirit, sport.

Also, I was reminded of this vastly entertaining interview with Ryan Adams via Pitchfork last year. Worth a read (or re-read). It's like listening in on a phone conversation or something, very fly-on-the-wall.

Disc IV (Volume 18)
01. Love Is Hell 6/4/05
02. When Will You Come Back Home 5/21/05
03. Dear John 5/4/05
04. Sweet Illusions 5/3/05
05. Dance All Night 6/4/05
06. Madeline (unreleased) 8/9/05
07. Just Like A Whore (unreleased) 6/7/05
08. Why Do They Leave 5/21/05
09. Long Black Veil (orig. by D. Dill & M. Wilkin) 7/26/05
10. 16 Days (Whiskeytown) 6/10/05
11. Dear Chicago 6/17/05
12. Harder Now That It's Over 6/3/05
13. Faithless Street (Whiskeytown) 6/8/05
14. Prison Letter (unreleased) 7/27/05
15. I See Monsters 6/11/05
16. I Still Miss Someone (Johnny Cash cover) 5/9/05

DOWNLOAD DISC 4 AS A ZIP FILE HERE


Disc V (Volume 19)
01. The End 5/16/05
02. Call Me On Your Way Back Home 6/10/05
03. Magnolia Mountain 11/18/05
04. Pa 5/3/05
05. Peaceful Valley 5/14/05
06. Nightbirds 6/3/05
07. September 5/16/05
08. My Heart Is Broken (Whiskeytown) 6/8/05
09. Houses On The Hill (Whiskeytown) 6/8/05
10. Willow Jane (Neal Casal cover) 11/18/05
11. Summer of '69 (loose Bryan Adams cover) 7/26/05
12. Sylvia Plath 5/14/05
13. Jacksonville Skyline (Whiskeytown) 5/4/05
14. Now That You're Gone 11/18/05
15. Rescue Blues 6/3/05
16. I Will Learn To Love 5/11/05

DOWNLOAD DISC 5 AS A ZIP FILE HERE


*series fin*

Ryan Adams Bedhead, Volume 3

Well, on that congenial note . . . here's the third installment of Bedhead. A reader reminded me that I need to keep putting these up as promised. A whole lot of life has ambushed me in these last few days, getting a bit behind.

Related Ryan Adams content: Something he posted to the RyanAdams.org message board back in February. Interesting, if a bit incoherent, ramble:

Author: RYAN ADAMS HERE ALIVE IN THE U.K.
2/12/2006 6:56:18 PM
Subject: HI. ITS RYAN. FROM HOTEL IN LONDON. (RAINY ASS DAY) (click link)

Onto the music . . .

Disc III (Volume 17)
1. A Kiss Before I Go 5/17/05
2. My Winding Wheel 5/6/05
3. Games 5/16/05
4. Mockingbird Song 5/14/05
5. This Is It 5/6/05
6. Come Pick Me Up 5/4/05
7. The Hardest Part 5/17/05
8. Strawberry Wine 5/16/05
9. Hard Way To Fall 7/26/05
10. Tennessee Sucks 5/7/05
11. Oh My Sweet Carolina 6/16/05
12. La Cienega Just Smiled 5/7/05
13. Brown Sugar 6/7/05
14. Expressway To Your Skull 8/7/05

DOWNLOAD DISC 3 AS A ZIP FILE HERE

It is worth noting that #9 Hard Way To Fall contains one of my favorite lyrics in the history of lyrics: "I could find her in a thunderstorm by the way that the rain would fall." I love that.

And tomorrow, tomorrow is the day that I fly to California to accomplish some work & personal related things, but also to see Ryan Adams for the first time! Hey, if you are one of my SF-area readers going to the show, you should stop by the Final/Final bar on Baker & Lombard beforehand to grab a beer with me & a few others of us who are meeting up. It is a sports bar, or so I hear, so be prepared to compete with a wall of TVs, but it has the distinction of being the closest bar to the Palace of Fine Arts that we could locate. It'd be fun.

Ryan Adams Bedhead, Volume 2

As promised, here is the second disc of the 5th volume (What Will Happen Next) of the Ryan Adams Bedhead live series. Three more to come following this one. If you missed the first one, it's here.

I've received some interesting feedback from y'all on the topic of seeing Ryan Adams live. Several of you have either commented or emailed to say how horrible he was when you saw him live, and how very disappointed you were. Others concede that when he does have a good show, it is really, really good (when all the celestial elements align for that perfect evening). My friend Chris in the UK made me laugh when he wrote that his wife will not go with him to see Ryan Adams ever again, that she thinks, "her summation - beautiful voice, depressing bastard in dire need of a good wash." He also continues with "As the man says himself, 'The sign on the door should read: variable quality - buyer beware.'

Here's to hoping that all the stars are in alignment next week for the SF shows, that the variable quality is high, and that I get some gems like this:

Disc II (Volume 15)
01. Cold Roses --> New York, New York 5/7/05
02. Stella Blue 7/26/05
03. Already Gone 6/11/05
04. Wonderwall 6/17/05
05. Easy Plateau 5/14/05
06. Meadowlake Street 5/1/05
07. Wharf Rat --> Bird Song 6/16/05
08. You Will Always Be The Same 6/7/05
09. Beachfront Town 4/29/05


DOWNLOAD DISC 2 AS A ZIP FILE HERE


Oh, and happy birthday to my brother Brian, somehow he is 24 already and I still picture him as being about 5, pronouncing his "r"s as "w"s. Go see the San Diego ocean for me and enjoy the California sunshine, lil brother! Love you.

Monday Music Roundup

Still recovering from the weekend, hence the dearth of posts lately...But it is Monday. Let's buck up and dive in.

"If You Want Me To Stay"
Sly and the Family Stone
Okay, wtf was up with the Grammy performance from Sly? As rad as the platinum mohawk was (that's what I want to have the courage to sport at 61), and the enormous belt buckle that says "SLY," the man has obviously completely FRIED his brain with some hard substances. He wandered off the stage before the song was even done, and as far as I can tell, he didn't do much while he was on-stage (just kind of massaged the keys and moaned into the mike). That is unfortunate because he is partly responsible for this, one of THE funkiest, smoothest, grooviest songs ever recorded, with a bass line that could strip paint (and that's a good thing). Add The Essentials to your collection.

"Buckets of Rain" (Dylan cover)
David Gray
I love David Gray so much and am stoked to be seeing him next month. His voice just gets me, something about the honesty and the incisive tenor of it, just lays right into the core of emotions. And this is one of my favorite Dylan songs ever for the simple longing and the lyrical beauty of it. The desire expressed in this song is sexy, sexy. Thanks for unearthing it, Chad.

"You Won't Be Leaving"
Herman's Hermits
I've admittedly been on a total retro '60s pop kick lately, listening to The Turtles, The Zombies, Herman's Hermits, and the Beatnix (which recorded a whole album's worth of non-released Beatles songs) etc. The harmonies, the time-capsule sound of a simpler era, just make me happy and it is good good for the ears. Here, with all the "it's too cold/I'm too tired" excuse-making of what is essentially a 1960s booty call (in the vein of other songs like "Baby It's Cold Outside" and "Wake Up Little Suzie"), Herman's Hermits sing about the "lovelight" shining in her eyes (or some kind of light, right?). Fabulous little ditty.

"The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song"
Flaming Lips
My friend Matthew said, "About halfway through this song I got up from my computer chair and spontaneously went into half dance/half spasms." I find the first thirty seconds almost unlistenable, so let's forgive that and skip right into the meat. You can't deny the catchy pop sensibilities and the handclapping goodness on this one. From their upcoming album At War With The Mystics, due April 3 in the UK and April 4 in the U.S.

"The Bar Is A Beautiful Place"
(live NYC 5/23/01)
Ryan Adams
Similar to how Josh Ritter recorded "Thin Blue Flame" with ambient bar noise which added to the immediacy of the feeling, this is an actual live version (as opposed to Ritter's studio-with-added-noise recording) of this song with bar chatter and clinking glasses to heighten the gorgeous overall effect. This song is an lesser-known Ryan Adams gem, originally from the Gold bonus CD, and absolutely one of my favorites by him. I love this live version, off the Bedhead 10 collection, because the bar is a beautiful place and this puts you right there on the barstool, being depressed, singing along, "Sha na... Sha na naaaa naaa" with the simple and rousing piano accompaniment. I love the fragility of his voice on the line, "Would you take an old drunk as is, if he was sweet to you?"