Thanks for all the replies. I'd forgotten about the wonderful Cream. Clapton just gets better with age.

I took a look at The Last Waltz today with the musicians commentary and there's some funny and interesting stuff. I have to agree with Dr. John and others that Van Morrison and The Band doing Caravan stole the show....the performance of a lifetime. Anybody see Van live in his prime?

I saw Van with "Them" in Hanford, California, early 1966. We saw them between sets, in the alley behind the auditorium, smoking, um, not Marlboros. An amazing show. One good aspect of getting old is that you've seen a lot of things, some of them very good. This was one such night.

Past...The Band, Stones, Beatles, Allman Bros., Who, CCR...so many more!!!

Current...Los Lobos, Wilco, Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams

Current & Past...Neil Young, Van Morrison & Joni Mitchell...

Current, past and for all time....Robert Zimmerman by himself or with a band.

Miles in a category all by himself...

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Acoustic Dave,

I'm 100% on side with Acoustic Dave on one of his current's ... Wilco. Just saw them recently in Calgary and it was definitely the best show I've seen in years.

If you have the opportunity to see them on the Sky Blue Sky tour, I'd strongly recommend checking it out. The way the line-up changes on each album, don't miss the chance to see this line-up with Nels Cline. His playing on the album really grows on you.

The way they play with musical tension and release through the show is impressive.

Hey Sonoman ,hope yer feelin better and those good music memories you have will ease yer mind while healing....the healing has begun.

Wish I could have seen Van back around 72. A friend of mine saw him then and all he can talk about is the long haired blonde girl playing cello. I'm like....well tell me about the show and he's like....man, you should have seen that cello player....that's all I can remember. Guess he was smokin somethin other than Marlboros too.

I must be on the opposite side of everyone's spectrum; I always liked Rainbow when Ronnie James Dio was on vocals; Rush when they had 20-minute excursions; and Yes before digital synthesis. In fact, the overabundance of technology is what turned me back on to acoustics. I just think that bands are much more creative when they place limits on themselves with technology (e.g. Pink Floyd's Meddle).

If it's not clear enough, as long as a band occasionally sings about dragons or high priestesses, they are OK by me.

Wilco is playing ACL this weekend, so I will check them out. Should be fun (as always).

Following AcousticDave's lead ...

New Guys: Kelly Joe Phelps, Gillian Welch, Muse, The Raconteurs, Kate Rusby

Old Guys: Eric Clapton, Pink Floyd, Zeppelin, and pre-1980s Genesis

Mike

This stuff is endless: early Traffic, with Mason and Winwood; Madeline Peyroux; Derek and the Dominoes (my eldest daughter's first concert, Stanford stadium '73, early strat-era Eric). Booker T and the MGs; Dylan, one of the cornerstones of it all; Joni Mitchell, a creative goddess and temple of integrity; early Santana at the Greek in Berkeley; Muddy with Willie Dixon, Berkeley '72. The mind, or its remnants, boggle. So much talent, so much heart, so much joy in a world so sadly lacking it. thanks be to God for music.

Yeah, and there's something about that time frame from say 1963 to 1973 that's just the best. It must have been the combination of talent,the times,and the technology all coming together and the sparks were flying.

The other day I was waiting in the car trying to find something good on the radio and all the modern stuff just sounds so plastic. I settled on a classical station for awhile then searched again and hit on an oldies station and the music had me dancing in my seat. This is some backwoods oldies station not the slicked out stuff you hear on Sat. nites. They played Mary Wells "You Beat Me To The Punch" Elvis "My Baby Left Me" The Yardbirds "For Your Love" The Orlons "South Street" and a bunch of others in a row and that music just jumped of the airwaves. It was like home cookin compared to all the TV diners I'd heard earlier on the other stations. Which leads me to the technology aspect. Was the tube equipment on recording desks and microphones just that much better that it made the music jump. I hear all these studio people now looking back saying how primitive the equipment was at say Sun Studios or at Stax/Volt or even George Martin at Abbey Road during that time compared to what there is today. But, was that a lot of the magic... before everything got all sophisticated ?

Maybe there's someone on the forum who knows something about recording and studios and can give us some insight .

I think there is a lot of great music being issued today, it's just harder to hear it. Shemekia Copeland's "It's 2 AM (do you know where your baby is?)", John Hiatt stuff, The Jayhawks, Wilco, etc. HOWEVER, your point is well taken about early recording equipment. There is a clip I see once in a while of Buddy Holly and the Crickets on Milton Berle's show (?). Buddy has a giant mike hanging around his neck, for his vocals. The only other mike is hanging over the band picking up the drums, bass, and Buddy's guitar amp. It sounds GREAT. I turned to my wife and said, "CD - digital, Bulls**t". If it is a good song, presented properly, pristine sound reproduction is meaningless. I'm sure if the new stuff you don't like was recorded at Sun with a Neve board and the equivalent mikes, you still wouldn't like it. If you lay it down, and it has energy and a good melody, it will sound good. You are correct about pre-Abbey Road Beatles. Did you know that Sargent Pepper was the first Beatle album recorded in true stereo? All the ones prior to that were recorded Mono and mixed to stereo by Capitol in the US without the Beatles knowledge or permission. Sorry for the rant.
As far as the time frame you mention, '63 to '73. I think it was all over in August 1969 when "the suits" saw the $$$-signs in their eyes when they looked at the pics from Woodstock. At that moment they realized the money available and from that point on, large venues took over. I used to see The Stones, Beach Boys, Temptations, etc. at the Asbury Park Convention center after buying the PAPER TICKETS at Brooks Records in Plainfield. It was so easy and cheap to see music before Woodstock. Altamont was like the final nail in the coffin of live music at large venues. Now, it's strictly small venues for me.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Randy Carone,

I heard that when Buddy Holly recorded, he had a guy sitting beneath him that would switch the neck to bridge pickup and back between verses and choruses. As I said above, I think having limited options brings out the creativity. You need a great melody and a band that grooves when you can't record in 10 second increments or program all your backing tracks.

I also think that from '68 to '73 the younger people had something to write about. There goal wasn't to lipsinc on the video music awards. I bet kids these days would have something to write about if they received a draft card and didn't just watch war on T.V.

I read Alex Lifeson's in GP last month and he stated that back then, bands were signed for 5 album deals; the record companies figured that it would take two albums for the band to develop and then they would hopefully make there money back on the last two albums. Hopefully, the internet will free musicians from the current confines.

Geez, this is real Thread Pirate territory, but...Buddy Holly also miked the strings on his strat to pick up the rhythm of the pick on the strings. What a cool idea and a product of those "limited options".

Yeah, the record biz was quite different then. I hear Rick Rubin has now been given the assignment to save the music industry and figure out how to market stuff. He may have the insight to think far enough outside the box. I think the big companies shot themselves in the foot when they "forced" us to go CD when they chose to stop making vinyl. I love CDs but it is too damn easy to make pristine copies when product is reduced to "1s and zeros". And these 58 year old eyes sure miss the 12" x 12" space of the album cover on which artists could add some classic graphics. Think of The Stones High Tide and Green Grass fold-out cover with the booklet on high quality textured paper with pics of the band. The album was $2.89 at Korvettes. You couldn't produce that artwork in Korea now for under $12, which would put the album at ~$35.