Thursday, November 25, 2010

With all the vintage Bon Scott era AC/DC released over the last few years.....

Why haven't there been an "Deluxe" issue of  Powerage released with the original UK raw mix found on the first pressing of the UK version included as bonus tracks (along with the classic September 2nd show from 1977 from the Old Waldorf in San Francisco that was broadcasted over the airwaves) for us old school fans?



09/03/1977 Old Waldorf San Francisco CA setlist

Just sayin'....

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Friday, November 12, 2010

My latest obsession......

I have been driven to digitize my old analog bootleg recordings to digital to share over the Internet via bit torrent. Part of it has been from the positive reception that was given to The Dan Lampinski Collection that was recently uploaded over at dimeadozen from a chance meeting of a couple of Boston Yes fans. Not only was the recordings some of the best of the day but it introduced a lot of vintage Rock and Roll to a fan base that was not even born at the time they was made!
 But a bonus for me is to listen to recordings I have not listened to for years (and in some cases decades!) and being able to distribute them as I see fit! I used to be big into the tape trading but after a while it got to be a hassle with dealing with unreliable traders (plus it was very costly & time consuming too!)...... and I was getting pissed off when some of my recordings would be misrepresented or even worst the quality would drop considerably from generation to generation. I also felt like I was letting people down sometimes if I couldn't made a trade because they had nothing I wanted or they wanted too much from me than I was willing to give.
 But with torrent sites like dimeadozen or The Trader's Den it is now a no-brainer as I am in total control of ever step of the process! I can remove glitches, split the tracks perfectly, adjust the balance and increase the levels without unwanted distortion or clipping.

It also gives me something to do while I surf the web.....

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Drive By Truckers my brother Roy & my friend Paul...

June 22, 2007 - Friday 

Tonight I went down to the free Thursday night concert that is known as "Sundown In The City" that is held in Market Square in Downtown Knoxville. I have been a fan of DBT since I discovered the double cd "Southern Rock Opera" shortly before they signed with Lost Highway Records and with the line up of Patterson Hood, Mike "Stroker Ace" Cooley, Jason Isabell, Earl Hicks & Brad "EZB" Morgan. After falling in love with this excellent concept album of what it was like to grow up in The South in the 70's when "Arena Rock" was king! I could go on and on about this album but that is not the point of this post. I also discovered the albums that was originally released on the "Soul Dump" lable. A song that hit pretty close to home for me was the song "The Living Bubba" which was originally recorded on the 1998 album "Gangstabilly" and was on the live "Alabama Ass-Wuppin' " cd.
THE LIVING BUBBA
I wake up tired and I wake up pissed
wonder how I ended up like this
I wonder why things happen like they do
but I don't wonder long cuz I got a show to do
I'm sick at my stomach from the A.Z.T.
Broke at my bank cuz that shit ain't free
but I'm here to stay (at least another week or two)
I can't die now cuz I got another show to do
Don't give me no pity don't give me no grief
Wit till I die for sympathy
Just help me with this amp and a guitar or two
I can't die now cuz I got another show to do
Don't give me no preachin' no self servin'
I ain't no angel but nobody's deserving
I can dance on my own grave, Thank You!
but I can't die now cuz I got another show...
Some people keep saying I can't last long
but I got my bands I got my songs,
liquor, beer, and nicotine to help me along
and I'm drunk and stubborn as they come
chain smoking, guitar picking, til I'm gone
I ain't got no political agenda
Ain't got no message for the youth of America
'cept "Wear a rubber and be careful who you screw"
and come see me next Friday cuz I got another show...
Some people stop living long before they die
Work a dead end job just to scrape on by
but I keep living just to bend that note in two
and I can't die now cuz I got another show...

For background info about Gregory Dean Smalley please check out the following link... http://www.pastemagazine.com/action/article/181%20/the_living_bubba

On September 27th 1999 I lost my younger brother Roy to AIDS. It was a bit of a struggle for him but he kept busy until the end. He bravely face death and through all the pain he tried to keep busy. What little money he did get went for his meds.....my sister Lorraine took care of him & helped with the basic needs (food & cigarettes) and I made his car payment every month. So you see how I relate to the lyrics of "the Living Bubba".....and anytime I hear it performed live I always get choked up and the tear ducts well up.
A very good friend of mine in Detroit by the name of Paul is at this moment is very sick and it is looking grim. Much like my brother & Gregory Dean Smalley he is trying to make for "one more show"...... I was able to make it up to Detroit to see Heaven And Hell, Megadeth & Machine Head @ Cobo Arena with him (see pics). He was able to get his recorder in when I couldn't so he "covered" me when I couldn't even though he must have been in terrible pain and being extremely tired to boot! Paul wants to go and see Marilyn Manson & Slayer next month and I hope he will.....

So...tonight when The Truckers played "Bubba" instead of thinking of my brother I was thinking about Paul's health and I heard the song in a whole new way.

Please God....let him have "another show".......

The Last Hurrah.......

June 30, 2007 - Saturday

As I wait for Heather to pick me up.....I reflect back on the time that has gone by and of what will be missing in the future. Today I will be going up to see my dear friend Paul for what could be the very last time. It is a reunion of sorts........ as Dave is allready up there and I will be riding up with Heather (who flew up from Atlanta to Dayton) & Debbie (who lives in Tipp City,OH) to hang out with him. From what I understand he has taken a turn for the worst so I hope I am able to keep it together while I am there.
 The 5 of us used to follow Metallica around in the Midwest at almost every stop in Ohio, Indiana & Kentucky with many more states added into the mix. It was made easy by the fact that Jason Newsted took "a liking" to us as a group and went out of his way to help when we needed it. Then at the end of 2000 things started to change.......the factory I was working at got bought out & shut down, Heather moved to Florida before settling in Atlanta, Jason left Metallica and in 2001 when I traveled up to Detroit to see The Extreme Steel Tour with Slayer, Pantera & Static-X Paul complained about his teeth hurting him. His dentist suppected it was something else and it turned out to be Luekemia...which untli recently he has managed to keep in check. Now it has gotten into his liver and there isn't much that can be done for him.

So now it appears I am facing my own personal "The Big Chill" moment......and I think how empty life will be without Paul's presence on this earth. Not that I was super close to him but it was always a delight to hang out with him and I will always have fond memories of the shows that only him & I did. But I am a greedy bastard and I want more of them. I hope that today will be a good day for all involved....it will be bittersweet to say the least but it is also a "necessary" thing that must be done before Paul goes off to his next "road trip'......

Just got a call from Dave......

July 16, 2007 - Monday 
Current mood:  sad


Dave talked to Cheryl today and it appears that Paul's vital organs are shutting down. She is having to give him morphine drops to ease the pain and hospice will be bringing in a hospital bed tomorrow. He hasn't eaten anything in 2 days. As it stands right now Dave and I are making plans to go visit him this weekend as we both feel he won't live to see August come. Being as I have been through this before with my father & brother Roy I need to be there to give Dave moral support as him & Paul became very close while Dave was living in Michigan....... and I feel an "obligation" to be there for Paul too as he has been like a brother to me. It will be one of the most depressing roadtrip I will ever have to make but it must be done. Just as I have asked you all to have good thoughts and pray for Paul please don't forget to include his mother Cheryl and keep me & Dave in mind also as we both will be pushed to our breaking point.
 
 I want to thank anybody who has expressed a kind thought as it helps me deal with the helplessness that I had felt with Paul's illness that is not much different than the helplessness I felt with the passing of my own brother back in 1999. I will get through this somehow. I hope that all the rest of Paul's friends will remember the happy times we had together going from one Metallica show to the next for as long as we remember those moments his spirit will never die.
 
Jerry

A change of plans.......

July 18, 2007 - Wednesday 

It looks like I won't be going to Detroit this weekend after all. Dave has to wait until Thursday to pick up his load as somebody has caused a delay so he won't be coming back from Detroit to his home as he will be there already and he wants to spend some time with Paul and not on the road. I haven't decided if this is a good thing or not but will choose to look at it as it being "The way it is suppose to be" and leave it at that.