Old music made new again: My favorite reissues of 2014

In my last post I listed my favorite music from 2014.

Everybody and their dog compiles annual best-of lists, and I’m no exception. My son, daughter-in-law, and a few friends do the same.

Many of these pet-and-owner combos also make annual lists of favorite repackaged music – reissues, music recorded years ago, but reconfigured or spruced up and sold again for one reason or another.

There are several general types of reissues:  First, since the dawn of the CD era, in the late 1980s, every year has produced a crop of albums that originally appeared on vinyl and are being reissued in digital format (often remastered from the original source tapes). Another type of reissue: Increasingly, the annual reissues include box sets – artist retrospectives or deluxe editions of significant recordings on the anniversaries of their original release. And the last several years have seen an increase in archival releases of concerts that are years or decades old. In most cases these concerts have never been released, although a few have seen release in limited form.

Well, 2014 was a significant year for each kind of reissued, repackaged music. Here are the ones that I really liked:

 “The Album Collection Vol. 1: 1973-84,” Bruce Springsteen: Bruce’s first seven albums, from “Greetings from Asbury Park” through “Born in the USA.” These are the records that established Springsteen as a rock legend and made him a superstar. All are freshly remastered, allowing fans to hear instruments and arrangements with new clarity. Not quite as significant as the Beatles complete albums in mono, but these are a big deal.

“Carter Barron Amphitheater, Washington D.C. July 17, 1976,” The Band: This concert was recorded not long before The Band called it quits. But Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm and the others still played with passion and precision, even if they couldn’t stand to be near each other. Do we need another live recording by the The Band, which gave us “Rock of Ages,” one of the great live albums of the rock era? Sure, why not? Not only is this a good performance, but it’s just the five of them, without the added horn section from “Rock of Ages.” That makes it  a different experience. 

“The 1971 Fillmore East Recordings,” The Allman Brothers Band: “Live at Fillmore East,” released in 1971, might be the greatest live album ever in rock music. It’s a stunning showcase for the Allman Brothers’ blend of blues, jazz and improvisation. This six-disc set consists of all the concerts that make up the source material of that landmark album, four shows from two nights in March. As a bonus, one disc consists of the June 1971 closing show at the Fillmore. As such, these complete, unedited performances don’t maintain the breath-taking brilliance of the original live album, but for the Allman Brothers fan, there are six hours of live performance here from the band’s creative peak, with plenty of improvisational magic. Not long afterward, leader Duane Allman and bassist Berry Oakley were both dead, and the band was in decline, destined to break up. But by the late 1980s they had reformed, replaced the fallen members, and were riding another creative peak. Performances from this era are documented in “Play All Night: Live at the Beacon Theater 1992,” a surprisingly strong two-disc set. Together, these two archival releases present almost eight hours of performance by one of the greatest live bands ever, from two different (but strong) eras.  

“The Basement Tapes Raw: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11,” Bob Dylan: The original tapes from the legendary sessions recorded in 1967 by Dylan and The Band were discovered recently, restored, and released in two configurations: a six-disc complete set and a two-disc “raw” version. The Basement Tapes weren’t intended for release, but found their way to the public first as a bootleg in 1969. Then 16 of the recordings were officially released in 1975 by Columbia Records (albeit with overdubs).  These are the unadorned original recordings, restored to pristine sound and digitized. Not only are they historic, but they are a great listen.

Led Zeppelin remasters (I, II, III, IV and “Houses of the Holy”): Like the Springsteen box set, these are the albums on which a band’s legendary reputation is based. Fresh remasters of Led Zep’s first five albums make it possible to hear this music anew, even though repeated listenings might have dulled the music’s power and robbed it of its surprises. Each album comes with an extra disc. The debut album’s extra is a 1969 concert, but the others consist of alternate versions, instrumental tracks, extras, and such. Still, it’s essential listening.

“Performs Trouble No More Live at Town Hall, July 31, 2003,” John Mellencamp: I like Mellencamp’s populist take on heartland rock, but I’m not a huge fan of all his work. Nonetheless, I was bowled over by 2003's “Trouble No More,” in which he covered old blues, country and folk songs with simple, bracing arrangements. This is a live recording of that album, with a couple Mellencamp hits thrown in for good measure.

“Live in Nashville 1995,” Steve Earle: In which the alt-country hard-core troubadour performs songs from “Train A Comin’,” his 1995 album that signaled a comeback from drug addiction and prison. Earle is backed up by an all-star roster of acoustic pickers such as Norman Blake, Pete Rowan, and Roy Huskey, with guest appearances by Emmylou Harris and Bill Monroe. Beautiful and badass at the same time.

Worth further study: I haven’t heard any of the several “From the Vault” series of 1970s and 1980s concerts by The Rolling Stones. But I imagine before another year passes, I will.

Muddy Waters: Major League Swagger

The first time I saw one of those TV ads promoting prescription drugs for men with “Low T” – low testosterone levels – I had to wonder if the drug makers had found a way to bottle the essence of blues artist Muddy Waters.

 Waters was one of the founders of electric Chicago blues, and he also left a profound mark on rock ‘n’ roll. In fact, Muddy once sang, “The blues had a baby and they named it rock ‘n’ roll.” For better and worse, Muddy was a living example of high testosterone. In performance, his natural swagger makes Mick Jagger look like an adolescent. Check out this 1981 performance, in which Mick and several other Rolling Stones join Muddy and his band onstage in a Chicago blues club:

Jagger’s band and Rolling Stone Magazine both took their name from one of Muddy’s songs. Led Zeppelin reworked the Muddy Waters hit “You Need Love” (written by Willie Dixon), retitled it “Whole Lotta Love” and claimed authorship. Eric Clapton drew inspiration from Muddy and several other blues players. He repaid his debt by giving Muddy co-billing on a concert tour in the late 1970s. Jimi Hendrix remembered Muddy Waters as the first guitar player he was aware of. Muddy’s “Trouble No More” was the very first song the Allman Brothers Band played 45 years ago, and it was the last song the band performed at its final concert in the early morning hours of Oct. 29, 2014, at New York’s Beacon Theater.

The down side of Muddy’s High T was a string of marriages, mistresses, and affairs, which are detailed in the excellent Robert Gordon biography, “Can’t Be Satisfied: The Life and Times of Muddy Waters” (Back Bay Books; Reprint edition, 2003). Gordon’s book is mostly about the music, of course, but Muddy’s love life was a part of his persona.

Muddy Waters was born McKinley Morganfield in Mississippi in 1913 (or maybe 1915, depending on the source). He picked up his nickname as a child. Muddy’s life paralleled the growth and spread of the Delta blues in the mid-20^th Century – he worked on Stovall’s Plantation in Mississippi and recorded his first sides there for folklorist Alan Lomax, who went to Mississippi for the Library of Congress – just an acoustic guitar, voice and songs influenced by the early bluesman who Muddy heard, including Son House and Robert Johnson. Eventually he moved north to Chicago, where he helped establish the instrumental template for rock ‘n’ roll by playing amplified electric guitar (to be heard above the background noise at Chicago’s nightclubs).

A number of major blues artists got their start in Muddy’s band, including harp player Little Walter, pianist Otis Spann, and guitarist Jimmy Rogers. Muddy recorded a series of seminal blues records for the Chess label in the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s, then made a late resurgence in the 1970s, when rocker Johnny Winter produced several excellent albums on the Blue Sky label. He died in 1983.

For music fans new to Muddy Waters, the hardest part is where to start listening. He has dozens of anthologies, albums and live collections. Any anthology that includes his original Chess recordings is a great place to start. His swagger, passion, authority, deeply soulful voice and piercing guitar sound as clear, undiluted and timeless as they did in 1947. It’s easy to hear what hooked Jagger, Clapton, Page and Hendrix.

Muddy Waters: “Got My Mojo Working” at the 1960 Newport Jazz Festival:

Some of the biographical information came from album notes and from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muddy_Waters