Joe Strummer - Generations I + II

8 years ago, we lost, in my opinion, one of the most profound and important musicians of rock and roll. I was only just getting into punk rock in 2002, so Joe Strummer's death did not have an immediate impact on me. However, words can barely express how much The Clash and the rest of Strummer's music means to me. They were one of the first bands I latched on to in my adolescence, and even though I was very much in a "punker-than-thou" mentality, The eclectic jukebox that defined the Clash's catalog, especially on albums like Sandinista!, never seemed to phase me in the slightest. I think I got London Calling and their first album around the same time, and being blown away, thinking "there's no way this is the same band." While Mick Jones was the pop genius heart of the songs, Strummer was the gruff, uncompromising soul. There are very few people I respect in this world, and Joe is one of them, even in death.

Watching the documentary "The Future is Unwritten," (which I highly recommend) gave me further appreciation of the man, especially of his resurgence towards the end of his life. His three albums with the Mescaleros, while not on the same level as The Clash, are fantastic albums in their own right. While Joe's projects between the Clash and the Mescaleros are few, there is enough material to justify the Generations collections that I am posting. I don't know who is responsible for putting these together originally, but whoever they are, they are awesome. These roughly 70 songs are a hefty upload, but it is worth it. They span an even larger range of sounds than Sandinista!, from his brief time with The Pogues to his South Park: Chef Aid contribution. There are also some great covers, Ramones, Bob Marley (with Johnny Cash), Jimmy Ciff, The Specials, The Stooges even a couple live Clash songs!

We miss you Joe!

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

(password is folkingthesystem)

If ya'll are lucky, I may post the Live at Action Town Hall bootleg later.

Dillinger Four, Live at the Marquis Theater, Denver 6/12/09

I have unfortunately yet to see the mighty D4 (who are one of my favorite bands) play live, and this bootleg, as great as it is, constantly reminds me of that fact. I really should have been at this show, but I happened to be in Nebraska digging up several thousand year old bison bones. Fortunately for myself, and for all of you, my great friend Josh recorded it for all posterity. So all credit for this should really go to him.

Japanther and the Brokedowns opened this show, but I don't know enough of their song titles, so their tracks are mostly unnamed. OH WELL.

The D4 set is really great, including the "encore" of two oldies (Holy Shit and Smells Like OK Soda). The between song banter of course is choice, and i've split up some of the longer stuff into their own tracks.

The three sets each have their own separate download link below! Also, i'm gonna start password protecting my uploads, because, ya know. Password is folkingthesystem. Enjoy!

D4:
1. Intro
2. Our Science is Tight
3. A Jingle for the Product
4. Superpowers Enable Me to Blend In With Machinery
5. Folk Song.
6. Gainesville
7. A Floater Left With Pleasure In the Executive Washroom
8. "Get Rich, Suck Dicks"
9. parishiltonisametaphor
10. Noble Stabbings!!
11. Q. How Many Punks Does It Take to Change A Lightbulb
12. Maximum Piss and Vinegar
13. Let Them Eat Thomas Paine
14. Mosh for Jesus
15. "Paddy's Sick"
16. clown cars on cinder blocks
17. Doublewhiskeycokenoice
18. "New Brains for Everyone"
19. OKFMDOA
20. D4 = Putting the "F" Back in Art
21. Holy Shit
22. Smells Like OK Soda

Brokedowns

Japanther

Phil Ochs - There and Now: Live in Vancouver 1968

"It [Los Angeles] intrigues me like a beautiful sensual morgue"

Another great live offering from Mr. Ochs! I think this CD was released, oh 20 or so years ago. Phil remarks in a short intro that this gig was his first appearance in Vancouver, surprisingly.It has a pretty varied set list, featuring the standards like "The Bells," and "I Ain't Marching Anymore," as well as a good helping of songs from Pleasures and Rehearsals in stripped down form, much like the Montreal recording. Hooray for Canada? Its humorous to hear him forget a few of the lines of "Outside A Small Circle..." improvising with "da dada da da." This performance wasn't long after the infamous 1968 DNC, and Phil says some words on the matter in between "Where Were You in Chicago?" and "William Butler Yeats...". The audience laughs at some of his remarks, but Ochs' depression about the matter is subtly clear, especially when he bluntly states that America died in Chicago. That illuminating track alone is worth the entire album. Oh, and Allen Ginsberg playing the bells on...well, you should be able to figure that out.This wouldn't be Phil's last appearance in Vancouver, as two short years later he would play with Joni Mitchell and James Taylor for Greenpeace, as documented on the Amchitka live album.

I think I'm gonna take a break from posting Phil Ochs for a while (briefly I swear!) to post some punkier stuff, because The Fest 9 was utterly amazing, and I'm still riding that high two weeks later. I think I've got some cool stuff in my laptop vault. In the meantime, go check out BesidesAsides!

Download

Phil Ochs - Live 10/22/66, Salle Claude Champagne, Montreal

Here's a pretty great long bootleg of Ochs in Montreal, 1966. It's a great mix of songs from his first three albums, and the soon to be released Pleasures of the Harbor. It also notably features songs from Tape from California and Rehearsals ("Joe Hill," "Doesn't Lenny..."), as well as "Song of My Returning," which wouldn't be officially released until 80's on A Toast... Of course what makes Ochs' live recordings, both official and bootleg, worthwhile is his between song banter, as well as hearing the songs with expanded arrangements stripped down, this being no exception. Enjoy!

1. Cross My Heart
2. Song of My Returning
3. The Bells
4. Flower Lady
5. Miranda
6. Joe Hill
7. I'm Gonna Say It Now
8. Pleasures of the Harbor
9. I Ain't Marching Anymore
10. Outside of A Small Circle
11. I've Had Her
12. There But For Fortune
13. Cops of the World
14. Crucifixion
15. Is There Anybody Here
16. Changes
17. The Party
18. Doesn't Lenny Live Here Anymore
19. The Power and the Glory

Download

Phil Ochs - On My Way: 1963 Demo Session

This is a newly released gem, and I highly recommend you go out and purchase it if you enjoy it as much as I do. Although many of these demo session cds aren't really essential to a casual Phil Ochs listener's discography, they often contain songs that aren't available elsewhere. Such is the case with On My Way. Of particular note on this collection is "Bobby Dylan Record," which on the surface appears to be another satirical jab at Phil's favorite non political target, but is actually a narrative about the aftermath of a break-up, in which the protagonist pleads for his ex to "take my Bobby Dylan record off your wall" and not play it for another. Other songs that appear to be "new" are "Once I lived the Life of a Commissar," "First Snow" and several others. "Bullets of Mexico" also appears here in an early form as "The Ballad of Ruben Jaramillo."

The recording quality is about what you would expect from a demo session, although you can tell its been cleaned up. Phil offers explanations for many of the songs, as well as what chords to play, which is pretty cool. So...enjoy!

Download

Phil Ochs - Live at Newport

Oh hello there, I didn't see you come in! I don't know if this CD is out of print, but if its not, it's certainly in low circulation. As great as this album is, I wish it was solely an entire Newport set, rather than selections from Phil's three appearances (1963, 1964, and 1966 (he was inexplicably snubbed in 1965, but he managed to sneak in and watch Dylan's electro-extravaganza, as the liner notes explain)) Maybe these are the whole sets, and they were just short, I don't know how the festival worked. Anyways, Phil live is a wonderous thing to listen to, if he is as nervous as he supposedly was, it doesn't show. What a Charmer, that Ochs is.

Golly gee.

Phil Ochs - As I Walk Alone: Rare and Unreleased Demos

This was a actually rather interesting find a few months ago, for several reasons:

1)I had actually gone to the record store to search for the newly released On My Way 1963 demo sessions (which I will probably post next).
2) I had never heard of it
3) It appears to be a Japanese bootleg of some kind, which is kind of absurd. The CD inserts are made with Staples photo stock (made obvious by the watermark on the backsides) and the tracklisting on the back is misnumbered and omits a few tracks. PURE FUCKING QUALITY!

Of course I paid more than I probably should have for this, considering the quality, but goddamn is it a hefty dose of rare demos. The scan below is of the back insert (which as mentioned omits a few tracks) which showcases a pretty fantastic photo of some good ol' police on activist brutality.

So at last, enjoy these 45 or so fantastic tracks!

Disc 1
Disc 2

Phil Ochs - Camp Favorites

Ahoyhoy!

I'm not going to even both trying to explain the fact that its been over a year since I've posted, other than that I just didn't feel like it! So to reinvigorate things in a good fashion, I'm going to post a bunch of Phil Ochs.

To start things off, here is a rare artifact:


Yes, this is actually Phil Ochs, who anonymously appeared on this album in 1962. While it is more of a novelty for completists such as myself, it is interesting to hear Phil sing all these silly traditional songs. There is precious little info available on this album, but enjoy nonetheless!

Download Camp Favorites

Stay tuned for more!