cochise Wrote:direwolf74 Wrote:As for the Hip, I would step over my own mother to hear the MMP shadow album, and hopefully an album of b-sides eventually. Anything new or unreleased from these guys would be a wonderful gift at this point. And lord knows they have enough material in the vaults to release a series of live albums in the future, or maybe a live box set. Something like Springsteen's "1975-85" or Pearl Jam's "Live at the Gorge" would be cool.
Just thinking, with so much recorded material, how amazing would it be if they went the route of releasing a live version of their entire discography. Have some one scour all the vault material for best versions of each song and piece together full albums. That would be an interesting and uncharted territory for any band to ever do.
Tom Petty's Live Anthology (5 CD set) back in 2009 was outstanding and the actual box set with booklets, DVD's and an EP was a great package. I would hope that in time the rest of the band might embrace something like this.
I know nothing about the MMP shadow album but it sounds interesting. Hopefully that sees the light of day.
Not sure if this has been posted elsewhere in the thread, but here's a great story about Gord & the Hip from Tom Wilson (Junkhouse/Blackie & the Rodeo Kings).
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.krock1057.ca/audio/tom-wilson-remembers-gord-downie/">http://www.krock1057.ca/audio/tom-wilso ... rd-downie/</a><!-- m -->
direwolf74 Wrote:Not sure if this has been posted elsewhere in the thread, but here's a great story about Gord & the Hip from Tom Wilson (Junkhouse/Blackie & the Rodeo Kings).
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.krock1057.ca/audio/tom-wilson-remembers-gord-downie/">http://www.krock1057.ca/audio/tom-wilso ... rd-downie/</a><!-- m -->
"He ended up as something we've never seen before. He was all his own creation. And it was compelling and honest and a live wire that burned a hole in our imaginations."
I love this description of Gord by Tom Wilson in the interview. The music world has lost many talented singers and lyricists before, including a number this year, but I don't think we've ever lost anyone quite like GD. To the casual fan, who judges only on what was put down on record, the depth of the loss is misunderstood. I've struggled to explain this to my sons, who've never seen him in concert. On stage he was a mercurial performer with an unpredictability of physicality, dance, and eccentric banter and dialogue within and between songs. It was a combination unparalleled in a performer. Many musicians and front men rely on stage patter and actions that border on contrived. I don't recall ever hearing or seeing anything from Gord that made me feel that way. There was uniqueness to him that is generational. I doubt I will ever see anything like it again in my lifetime. And if I had to use just one adjective to describe Gord, like Tom Wilson's description, it would be "compelling".
potsie Wrote:direwolf74 Wrote:Not sure if this has been posted elsewhere in the thread, but here's a great story about Gord & the Hip from Tom Wilson (Junkhouse/Blackie & the Rodeo Kings).
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.krock1057.ca/audio/tom-wilson-remembers-gord-downie/">http://www.krock1057.ca/audio/tom-wilso ... rd-downie/</a><!-- m -->
"He ended up as something we've never seen before. He was all his own creation. And it was compelling and honest and a live wire that burned a hole in our imaginations."
I love this description of Gord by Tom Wilson in the interview. The music world has lost many talented singers and lyricists before, including a number this year, but I don't think we've ever lost anyone quite like GD. To the casual fan, who judges only on what was put down on record, the depth of the loss is misunderstood. I've struggled to explain this to my sons, who've never seen him in concert. On stage he was a mercurial performer with an unpredictability of physicality, dance, and eccentric banter and dialogue within and between songs. It was a combination unparalleled in a performer. Many musicians and front men rely on stage patter and actions that border on contrived. I don't recall ever hearing or seeing anything from Gord that made me feel that way. There was uniqueness to him that is generational. I doubt I will ever see anything like it again in my lifetime. And if I had to use just one adjective to describe Gord, like Tom Wilson's description, it would be "compelling".
Yup, he was a true rock n' roll original. Dynamic, exciting, funny, eccentric, charming, frightening, brilliant, powerful, and entertaining as hell. The guy just oozed charisma, and the spell he could weave over an audience was pure magic. There really was no one else like him on the planet, before or since. Over the years I've tried to describe his performance style to American friends and non-fans, and it's really tough to do. Comparisons to other artists just don't do him justice. But if you held a gun to my head, I'd say that he had the quirky storytelling and dark twisted humor of Tom Waits combined with the showmanship of guys like Springsteen, Jagger, and Freddie Mercury, but with the crazy unpredictability of Iggy Pop and Jim Morrison. And yet at the same time, he wasn't anything like those guys at all. Like I said, it's difficult to describe him unless you've actually seen him live. The dude was one of a kind.
potsie Wrote:Many musicians and front men rely on stage patter and actions that border on contrived. I don't recall ever hearing or seeing anything from Gord that made me feel that way. There was uniqueness to him that is generational. I doubt I will ever see anything like it again in my lifetime. And if I had to use just one adjective to describe Gord, like Tom Wilson's description, it would be "compelling".
VERY well said...I always thought this, but never put it into words like that. And it's so obvious that his style was so genuine because it was so fearlessly uncool. Imagine dancing like that at a wedding...nobody would ever call what he did good dancing. But married with the music in a performance and it was so profoundly perfect. Most people that saw the Hip for the first time wondered why he was "talking over the song"...at first look it was
weird...uncool...completely original. I've heard reviewers compare his stage presence to Jim Morrison but I watch the Doors and see very little in common. Gord was so very confidently uncool, there's no way someone would behave like that for any reason other than it was a natural reaction to the art.
I still can't really accept that I won't ever see him perform live again. It was such cathartic joy.
I've been slowly working my way through National Celebration over the last three days. 16 songs in, and probably won't finish it this year. His death hit me hard, when it happened, and now looking back at the final show, it's hitting again. I still can't believe he is gone. And he had the wherewithal to go on a final tour, even though he didn't know any of his music, and had to relearn it all.
I LOVE YOU GORD
andrew sharpe Wrote:Gord was so very confidently uncool, there's no way someone would behave like that for any reason other than it was a natural reaction to the art.
I still can't really accept that I won't ever see him perform live again. It was such cathartic joy.
Fully inhabited by the music.
I went away to university at the time that I was first steeping myself in the Hip in the mid 90s. I was going to clubs and bars which I never had done before. I was expected to dance. I didn't know how to dance. I said to myself "fine then. I'll just do what Gord does." I just let myself be inhabited by the music, and did what the music sang in my brain. Never the greatest dancer, but never afraid to dance, sing, or express myself since.
Ct
Never seen this before. CBC clip of Chris Brown (from Chris & Kate) talking about Gord's passing and their experience on the Music@Work tour.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1076221507812">http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1076221507812</a><!-- m -->
direwolf74 Wrote:Never seen this before. CBC clip of Chris Brown (from Chris & Kate) talking about Gord's passing and their experience on the Music@Work tour.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1076221507812">http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1076221507812</a><!-- m -->
What a touching interview. Thanks for sharing that. Always liked that Chris Brown,
ct
Nice of the Grammy Awards to include this in the In Memoriam tonight
[
attachment=1088]
I keep coming across various articles and interviews online that fell through the cracks after Downie passed. Apologies if this has already been posted somewhere here, but this interview with Jason Plumb (The Waltons) hit me right in the feels this morning. It's Monday and it's pissing rain here in Vancouver as usual...I guess I'm just feeling emotional today.
And Gord was right. "In the Meantime" is a great song.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://leaderpost.com/news/national/tragically-hip-frontman-gord-downie-dead-at-53">http://leaderpost.com/news/national/tra ... dead-at-53</a><!-- m -->
Quote:Their friendship dates back to the late 1980s when The Hip was taking Canada by storm while Plumb and his band The Waltons were just getting on their feet. Opening for The Hip at The Venue was a turning point for The Waltons.
“We opened for them and we hit it off immediately,” said Plumb. “I knew as soon as I saw them, I thought that this was the best band I’d ever seen in my life. Gord kind of thought the same of us at that point, so from then on, whenever they came across the Prairies we would open for them.”
The relationship grew when Downie offered to help the band should they ever make it to Toronto. Plumb took the offer seriously, arriving in Toronto unannounced and calling Downie from the airport. Downie was good to his word, taking Plumb into his home while the Regina singer/songwriter searched for a house that the Waltons could live in.
“Gord was the most encouraging, wonderful guy that you could meet in this industry. It just wasn’t The Waltons that he helped out. They took the Rheostatics across the country. Name a young Canadian band that was a good band and those guys helped out. Gord as a person, well, that’s hard to talk about right now, it’s tough,” Plumb said while taking a moment to regain his composure.
“He could let it roar onstage but in person, he was very soft-spoken, a very thoughtful and loving guy. Everybody knows what an amazing poet he was, but just his thoughtfulness and kindness was special. Helping me out and our band, it was incredible what they did for us.”
Quote:Plumb has a plethora of memories from his friendship with Downie, but recently a stroke of fate presented another precious memory.
“Around the time his diagnosis was made public, I was cleaning out the garage and found an old SaskMusic industry directory. I didn’t think I needed it so I tossed it into the bin, but a postcard flew out. I grabbed it and turned it over. It was a postcard that Gord had sent me from New Orleans when they were recording Road Apples. I hadn’t thought about it in years and years and years. I thought it was amazing that the postcard flew out and what he said on it was amazing. He said he’d been listening to our demo tape and, ‘That one song, In The Meantime, I think that could be a real hit. Keep churning it out, man, you guys are doing great.’
“Just that encouragement, that meant so much to us because they were on a fast track to bigger things. Gord knew that, so the fact that he would take the time to connect with us, it was pretty incredible. I’m really happy I found it.”
direwolf74 Wrote:I keep coming across various articles and interviews online that fell through the cracks after Downie passed. Apologies if this has already been posted somewhere here, but this interview with Jason Plumb (The Waltons) hit me right in the feels this morning. It's Monday and it's pissing rain here in Vancouver as usual...I guess I'm just feeling emotional today.
Thanks for posting. I remember seeing The Waltons open for the Hip at the Congress Center in Ottawa - Road Apples tour. I liked them (Lik My Traktor was out) but they got the usual "hip hip" treatment. Jason joined in an turned the hip, hip, hip into hey, hey, hey. The Hip show was pandemonium, and I remember looking back and all the members of The Waltons were at the second floor windows of the venue watching the show.
In sad related news, the wife of Waltons drummer Dave Cooney died recently of brain cancer -- she was a very loved teacher at a local public school.
Nice words about Gord's album from Jeff Ament (bassist in Pearl Jam) in the latest Rolling Stone.
[
attachment=1092]