The Who At Kilburn: 1977One of the concerts initially shot, but not used, for the Jeff Stein documentary The Kids Are Alright, has finally surfaced. Even though Who enthusiasts and live performance aficionados may discount this as a second rate package in comparison to Live at Leeds, they shouldn’t, because this DVD needs to be seen in its proper context. It’s important to remember that The Who hadn’t played live in nearly a year, either because they were concentrating on their 1978 release Who Are You or still recovering from “the loudest concert ever” in 1976 at the Charlton Athletic Football Ground. Whatever the reasons for the break, the layoff isn’t evident. They come out of the gate with vigor and determination that rivals any Who performance caught on tape. Whether its Moon’s pounding beats, Entwistle’s entrancing rhythms, Daltrey’s commandeering delivery and microphone acrobatics or Townshend’s windmilling power-strums and unorthodox jumping, the power that has come to signify the band’s performances is still very apparent in this concert.
There’s no doubt this performance kicks you where it counts musically. The audio quality of the footage was enhanced digitally. However, the visual quality—by today’s standards—lacks the production values, isolated camera angles and clean transitions the MTV audience has grown accustomed to. This “downside” is negligible. The raw and unrefined filming actually compliments the sincere, yet coarse, performance of one of their only live gigs that year.
It’s no surprise that the band performs all their hits, including “My Generation,” “Behind Blue Eyes,” “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” and the often mislabeled “Baba O’Riley.” It’s the hidden nuggets of history that make this package valuable. The 1977 Kilburn performance is one of the last videotaped performances of Moon before his premature death in 1978. The show also featured the first live performance of the Who classic “Who Are You.”
In addition to the concert footage, the set comes with a second DVD featuring a never-before-seen performance at the London Coliseum in 1969. This disc provides some of the Who’s early hits and rarely performed B-sides.
Despite being passed on for The Kids Are Alright, the Kilburn show and DVD extras aren’t a second rate offering. The DVD is certainly worthy of any Who fans or rock historian’s attention.
MSRP $24.98
Street $18.99
image-entertainment.com
Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters Hope Radio SessionsWhat do you get when you remove gimmicks, flashy stage maneuvers and over-thetop effects from a live performance? Well, in this instance, you get a blues guitarist and his band on top of their game. In this DVD, Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters adeptly weave between jazz and blues with their cohesive, soulful jams. This all-instrumental performance stretched across two nights captures what has drawn blues enthusiasts to Earl for over 25 years.
In this closed, intimate setting, Earl and company take the crowd to a higher place on the wings of poignant and inspirational playing. It’s not so much a player and his instrument, but instead an extension of who Ronnie Earl is as man and the struggles he overcame. Deep, mesmerizing and spiritual are adjectives that could describe both Earl’s playing and the man behind the Fender. While each song is its own adventure, as a whole they create a rollercoaster journey of emotions that few instrumental guitarists can achieve. Collectively, each bend and lick becomes Earl’s spirit turned outward and conveyed through his Strat.
Earl’s playing isn’t over the top, nor does he try to fit as many notes and bluesy tricks into a track as some contemporaries. His style is more nuanced, rhythmic and powerful. With effective camera angles and smooth transitions, it’s easy to decipher what Earl is trying to communicate through the language of his soul-driven blues. Earl uses only one guitar on each night, but his effortless methods don’t detract from his innate abilities. In this performance, like many before, Earl’s guitar is a pulpit of his religion dedicated to blues and tone.
All the tracks played during the two-night jam are featured on Ronnie Earl and the Broadcaster’s latest release, Hope Radio. However, there are some bonus treats found within the DVD. There are two rare solo acoustic guitar selections and an exclusive interview segment with the blues guitarist. Not only is this a great chance to capture the spirit of Earl’s live performance, now that his extensive touring days are behind him, but it’s a special way to celebrate Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters’ two decades as a band.
MSRP $17.99
Street $15.99
stonyplainrecords.com
Million Dollar Les Paul: In Search of the Most Valuable Guitar in the WorldWith current economic woes, it’s highly unlikely that most players are about to splurge on a 1958-60 Burst Les Paul when they are valued at a mark that could house, furnish and clothe an average-sized American family. In Million Dollar Les Paul, Tony Bacon, best-selling author of The Ultimate Guitar Book, asks, What makes these guitars so valuable?
While you’re digesting that initial query, the book unfolds a number of additional intriguing and informative layers. Bacon tackles the obvious questions about the players, buyers and collectors, but the book’s focus soon narrows to a more specific question: What makes this guitar so coveted in today’s world of technology and modernity?
Starting all the way back to when Les Paul only known as a player, it details not only how the ‘Burst came to be, but how the young man from Waukesha, Wisconsin made his first prototypes. Within this important context, the reader is taken on a ‘Burst journey. As expected, the guitar’s place in rock history is recognized through great songs and albums created by Clapton, Page and Allman. Where the book earns it’s spine-wear and place on the bookshelf is with insightful back-stories, a retrospect on the dedicated craftsmanship of the fifties, a chronicle of the guitar’s development as a coveted collector piece in the eighties, and the unfortunately necessary chapter on counterfeits titled, “Was it made 50 years ago or 50 days ago?”
Through a series of interviews with players, collectors, guitar-makers, dealers and historians, Bacon contemplates the core questions of the book, and in the process gathers an abundance of answers and opinions on why the ‘Burst might deserve to be the Holy Grail of electric guitars.
MSRP $19.95
Street $13.57
jawbonepress.com
Pink Floyd: The Black Strat: A History of David Gilmour’s Black Fender StratocasterFamous guitars are paid tribute through signature models, collectible reproductions, and, rarely, through entire works of literature. Single guitars iconic enough for this honor are in an exclusive club, and after the September release of a Fender Custom Shop reproduction and this dedicated book, David Gilmour’s “Black Strat” is officially inducted.
In this all-access book, Phil Taylor, longtime Pink Floyd and David Gilmour production director and guitar tech, covers Gilmour’s guitar usage even prior to the Black Strat. While most music and guitar-driven books can lean towards the artist, this book keeps its focus primarily on the six-string protagonist. This book takes its story to another level with over 250 photographs of the Black Strat, Gilmour and Pink Floyd, including 130 previously unpublished shots. Another feature that sticks out in this book is the closing pages that feature Gilmour’s accessories he used with the guitar, including straps, picks, strings, cases and cords. Everything from Gilmour’s ordinary purchase at Manny’s Music in New York City in the seventies, to its extensive modifictations, to its recreation by Fender is chronologically covered through a tight narrative and informative illustrations featuring detailed specs and exclusive insight.
MSRP $32
Street $21
halleonard.com
State of the Axe: Guitar Masters in Photographs and WordsIn this coffee table book, more than 80 guitarists give their take on how the six-string has affected them and what it means when it’s in their hands. Well-known players like Al DiMeola, Lou Reed, Vernon Reid and Andy Summers are featured, along with players whose names might only elicit a hint of recognition. Each guitarist comments on how the guitar has befriended them; each has their own page, where they eloquently describe a particular anecdote, moment or emotional state the guitar has rescued them from— something all guitarists, or even all musicians, can relate to.
The book is really a showcase of the artistically riveting photography that accompanies each guitarist’s words. Author and photographer Ralph Gibson’s brilliant black and white photography was featured at the Museum of Fine Arts, which published this book. Gibson explored the guitar similarly in 2004 with Light Strings: Impressions of the Guitar, with Andy Summers.
State of the Axe is a moving look at the relationship between guitar and guitarist. It’s best put by one of the featured guitarists, Jim Campilongo, “I can say whatever I need to say (with the guitar)—without getting thrown in jail or in an insane asylum.”
MSRP $24.95
Street $16.47
mfah.org/shops
Hotone Wong Press
Cory Wong Signature Volume/Wah/Expression Pedal
Renowned international funk guitar maestro and 63rd Grammy nominee Cory Wong is celebrated for his unique playing style and unmistakable crisp tone. Known for his expressive technique, he’s been acclaimed across the globe by all audiences for his unique blend of energy and soul. In 2022, Cory discovered the multi-functional Soul Press II pedal from Hotone and instantly fell in love. Since then, it has become his go-to pedal for live performances.
Now, two years later, the Hotone team has meticulously crafted the Wong Press, a pedal tailored specifically for Cory Wong. Building on the multi-functional design philosophy of the Soul Press series, this new pedal includes Cory’s custom requests: a signature blue and white color scheme, a customized volume pedal curve, an adjustable wah Q value range, and travel lights that indicate both pedal position and working mode.
Cory’s near-perfect pursuit of tone and pedal feel presented a significant challenge for our development team. After countless adjustments to the Q value range, Hotone engineers achieved the precise WAH tone Cory desired while minimizing the risk of accidental Q value changes affecting the sound. Additionally, based on Cory’s feedback, the volume control was fine-tuned for a smoother, more musical transition, enhancing the overall feel of volume swells. The team also upgraded the iconic travel lights of the Soul Press II to dual-color travel lights—blue for Wah mode and green for Volume mode—making live performances more intuitive and visually striking!
In line with the Hotone Design Inspiration philosophy, the Wong Press represents the perfect blend of design and inspiration. Now, musicians can channel their inner Cory Wong and enjoy the freedom and joy of playing with the Wong Press!
For the first time in the band’s history, the Dawes lineup for Oh Brother consisted of just Griffin and Taylor Goldsmith (left and right).
Goldsmith’s lyrics spoke to me the loudest, with lines like “Well, you can judge the whole world on the sparkle that you think it lacks / Yes, you can stare into the abyss, but it’s starin’ right back” (a casual Nietzsche paraphrase); and “Oh, the snowfall this time of year / It’s not what Birmingham is used to / I get the feeling that I brought it here / And now I’m taking it away.” The way his words painted a portrait of the sincere, sentimental man behind them, along with his cozy, unassuming guitar work and the band’s four-part harmonies, had me hooked.
Nothing Is Wrong and Stories Don’t End came next, and I happily gobbled up more folksy fodder in tracks like “If I Wanted,” “Most People,” and “From a Window Seat.” But 2015’s All Your Favorite Bands, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Folk Albumschart, didn’t land with me, and by the time 2016’s We’re All Gonna Die was released, it was clear that Goldsmith had shifted thematically in his writing. A friend drew a thoughtful Warren Zevon comparison to the single, “When the Tequila Runs Out”—a commentary on vapid, conceited, American-socialite party culture—but it still didn’t really do it for me. I fell off the Dawes train a bit, and became somewhat oblivious to their three full-lengths that followed.
Oh Brotheris Goldsmith’s latest addition to the Dawes songbook, and I’m grateful to say that it’s brought me back. After having done some catching up, I’d posit that it’s the second work in the third act, or fall season, of his songwriting—where 2022’s Misadventures of Doomscrollercracked open the door, Oh Brother swings it wide. And it doesn’t have much more than Dawes’ meat and potatoes, per se, in common with acts one or two. Some moodiness has stayed—as well as societal disgruntlement and the arrangement elements that first had me intoxicated. But then there’s the 7/4 section in the middle of “Front Row Seat”; the gently unwinding, quiet, intimate jazz-club feel of “Surprise!”; the experimentally percussive, soft-spoken “Enough Already”; and the unexpected, dare I say, Danny Elfman-esque harmonic twists and turns in the closing track, “Hilarity Ensues.”
The main engine behind Dawes, the Goldsmith brothers are both native “Angelinos,” having been born and raised in the L.A. area. Taylor is still proud to call the city his home.
Photo by Jon Chu
“I have this working hypothesis that who you are as a songwriter through the years is pretty close to who you are in a dinner conversation,” Goldsmith tells me in an interview, as I ask him about that thematic shift. “When I was 23, if I was invited to dinner with grownups [laughs], or just friends or whatever, and they say, ‘How you doin’, Taylor?’ I probably wouldn’t think twice to be like, ‘I’m not that good. There’s this girl, and … I don’t know where things are at—can I share this with you? Is that okay?’ I would just go in in a way that’s fairly indiscreet! And I’m grateful to that version of me, especially as a writer, because that’s what I wanted to hear, so that’s what I was making at the time.
“But then as I got older, it became, ‘Oh, maybe that’s not an appropriate way to answer the question of how I’m doing.’ Or, ‘Maybe I’ve spent enough years thinking about me! What does it feel like to turn the lens around?’” he continues, naming Elvis Costello and Paul Simon as inspirations along the way through that self-evolution. “Also, trying to be mindful of—I had strengths then that I don’t have now, but I have strengths now that I didn’t have then. And now it’s time to celebrate those. Even in just a physical way, like hearing Frank Zappa talking about how his agility as a guitar player was waning as he got older. It’s like, that just means that you showcase different aspects of your skills.
“I am a changing person. It would be weird if I was still writing the same way I was when I was 23. There would probably be some weird implications there as to who I’d be becoming as a human [laughs].”
Taylor Goldsmith considers Oh Brother, the ninth full-length in Dawes’ catalog, to be the beginning of a new phase of Dawes, containing some of his most unfiltered, unedited songwriting.
Since its inception, the engine behind Dawes has been the brothers Goldsmith, with Taylor on guitar and vocals and Griffin on drums and sometimes vocal harmonies. But they’ve always had consistent backup. For the first several years, that was Wylie Gelber on bass and Tay Strathairn on keyboards. On We’re All Gonna Die, Lee Pardini replaced Strathairn and has been with the band since. Oh Brother, however, marks the departure of Gelber and Pardini.
“We were like, ‘Wow, this is an intense time; this is a vulnerable time,’” remarks Goldsmith, who says that their parting was supportive and loving, but still rocked him and Griffin. “You get a glimpse of your vulnerability in a way that you haven’t felt in a long time when things are just up and running. For a second there, we’re like, ‘We’re getting a little rattled—how do we survive this?’”
They decided to pair up with producer Mike Viola, a close family friend, who has also worked with Mandy Moore—Taylor’s spouse—along with Panic! At the Disco, Andrew Bird, and Jenny Lewis. “[We knew that] he understands all of the parameters of that raw state. And, you know, I always show Mike my songs, so he was aware of what we had cookin’,” says Goldsmith.
Griffin stayed behind the kit, but Taylor took over on bass and keys, the latter of which he has more experience with than he’s displayed on past releases. “We’ve made records where it’s very tempting to appeal to your strengths, where it’s like, ‘Oh, I know how to do this, I’m just gonna nail it,’” he says. “Then there’s records that we make where we really push ourselves into territories where we aren’t comfortable. That contributed to [Misadventures of Doomscroller] feeling like a living, breathing thing—very reactive, very urgent, very aware. We were paying very close attention. And I would say the same goes for this.”
That new terrain, says Goldsmith, “forced us to react to each other and react to the music in new ways, and all of a sudden, we’re exploring new corners of what we do. I’m really excited in that sense, because it’s like this is the first album of a new phase.”
“That forced us to react to each other and react to the music in new ways, and all of a sudden, we’re exploring new corners of what we do.”
In proper folk (or even folk-rock) tradition, the music of Dawes isn’t exactly riddled with guitar solos, but that’s not to say that Goldsmith doesn’t show off his chops when the timing is right. Just listen to the languid, fluent lick on “Surprise!”, the shamelessly prog-inspired riff in the bridge of “Front Row Seat,” and the tactful, articulate line that threads through “Enough Already.” Goldsmith has a strong, individual sense of phrasing, where his improvised melodies can be just as biting as his catalog’s occasional lyrical jabs at presumably toxic ex-girlfriends, and just as melancholy as his self-reflective metaphors, all the while without drawing too much attention to himself over the song.
Of course, most of our conversation revolves around songwriting, as that’s the craft that’s the truest and closest to his identity. “There’s an openness, a goofiness—I even struggle to say it now, but—an earnestness that goes along with who I am, not only as a writer but as a person,” Goldsmith elaborates. “And I think it’s important that those two things reflect one another. ’Cause when you meet someone and they don’t, I get a little bit weirded out, like, ‘What have I been listening to? Are you lying to me?’” he says with a smile.
Taylor Goldsmith's Gear
Pictured here performing live in 2014, Taylor Goldsmith has been the primary songwriter for all of Dawes' records, beginning with 2009’s North Hills.
Photo by Tim Bugbee/Tinnitus Photography
Guitars
- Fender Telecaster
- Gibson ES-345
- Radocaster (made by Wylie Gelber)
Amps
- ’64 Fender Deluxe
- Matchless Laurel Canyon
Effects
- 29 Pedals EUNA
- Jackson Audio Bloom
- Ibanez Tube Screamer with Keeley mod
- Vintage Boss Chorus
- Vintage Boss VB-2 Vibrato
- Strymon Flint
- Strymon El Capistan
Strings
- Ernie Ball .010s
In Goldsmith’s songwriting process, he explains that he’s learned to lean away from the inclination towards perfectionism. Paraphrasing something he heard Father John Misty share about Leonard Cohen, he says, “People think you’re cultivating these songs, or, ‘I wouldn’t deign to write something that’s beneath me,’ but the reality is, ‘I’m a rat, and I’ll take whatever I can possibly get, and then I’ll just try to get the best of it.’
“Ever since Misadventures of Doomscroller,” he adds, “I’ve enjoyed this quality of, rather than try to be a minimalist, I want to be a maximalist. I want to see how much a song can handle.” For the songs on Oh Brother, that meant that he decided to continue adding “more observations within the universe” of “Surprise!”, ultimately writing six verses. A similar approach to “King of the Never-Wills,” a ballad about a character suffering from alcoholism, resulted in four verses.
“The economy of songwriting that we’re all taught would buck that,” says Goldsmith. “It would insist that I only keep the very best and shed something that isn’t as good. But I’m not going to think economically. I’m not going to think, ‘Is this self-indulgent?’
Goldsmith’s songwriting has shifted thematically over the years, from more personal, introspective expression to more social commentary and, at times, even satire, in songs like We’re All Gonna Die’s “When the Tequila Runs Out.”
Photo by Mike White
“I don’t abide that term being applied to music. Because if there’s a concern about self-indulgence, then you’d have to dismiss all of jazz. All of it. You’d have to dismiss so many of my most favorite songs. Because in a weird way, I feel like that’s the whole point—self-indulgence. And then obviously relating to someone else, to another human being.” (He elaborates that, if Bob Dylan had trimmed back any of the verses on “Desolation Row,” it would have deprived him of the unique experience it creates for him when he listens to it.)
One of the joys of speaking with Goldsmith is just listening to his thought processes. When I ask him a question, he seems compelled to share every backstory to every detail that’s going through his head, in an effort to both do his insights justice and to generously provide me with the most complete answer. That makes him a bit verbose, but not in a bad way, because he never rambles. There is an endpoint to his thoughts. When he’s done, however, it takes me a second to realize that it’s then my turn to speak.
To his point on artistic self-indulgence, I offer that there’s no need for artists to feel “icky” about self-promotion—that to promote your art is to celebrate it, and to create a shared experience with your audience.
“I hear what you’re saying loud and clear; I couldn’t agree more,” Goldsmith replies. “But I also try to be mindful of this when I’m writing, like if I’m going to drag you through the mud of, ‘She left today, she’s not coming back, I’m a piece of shit, what’s wrong with me, the end’.... That might be relatable, that might evoke a response, but I don’t know if that’s necessarily helpful … other than dragging someone else through the shit with me.
“In a weird way, I feel like that’s the whole point—self-indulgence. And then obviously relating to someone else, to another human being.”
“So, if I’m going to share, I want there to be something to offer, something that feels like: ‘Here’s a path that’s helped me through this, or here’s an observation that has changed how I see this particular experience.’ It’s so hard to delineate between the two, but I feel like there is a difference.”
Naming the opening track “Mister Los Angeles,” “King of the Never-Wills,” and even the title track to his 2015 chart-topper, “All Your Favorite Bands,” he remarks, “I wouldn’t call these songs ‘cool.’ Like, when I hear what cool music is, I wouldn’t put those songs next to them [laughs]. But maybe this record was my strongest dose of just letting me be me, and recognizing what that essence is rather than trying to force out certain aspects of who I am, and force in certain aspects of what I’m not. I think a big part of writing these songs was just self-acceptance,” he concludes, laughing, “and just a whole lot of fishing.”
YouTube It
Led by Goldsmith, Dawes infuses more rock power into their folk sound live at the Los Angeles Ace Hotel in 2023.
