Tampa Calling

In my latest Bar Tab column, “The ultimate bar (part one)”, I list ingredients for the perfect watering hole. It’s a Dr. Frankenstein approach where I imagine combining the best characteristics of my favorite local pubs, taverns and saloons to create the greatest drinking establishment known to mankind — or at least what I would find superior. I’m also asking, you, reader, for suggestions. What would your dream bar feature? What would be the ideal location, setting, menu, etc.? Should it include pool tables, darts, Golden Tee? Would there be toilet attendants? Submit your suggestions via email to wade@cln.com or post a comment on the story.

Here’s a list of songs about bars, bartenders, and events taking place inside bars: drinking, dancing, hooking up, fighting, etc.

Top 10: Saloon songs

1. “The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me),” Tom Waits

2. “Closing Time,” Leonard Cohen

3. “One for My Baby (And One More for the Road),” Frank Sinatra

4. “Swinging Doors,” Merle Haggard

5.. “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer,” John Lee Hooker

6. “A Million Miles Away,” Rory Gallagher

7. “Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother,” Ray Wylie Hubbard

8. “Thrown Out of the Bar,” Hank Williams III

9. “Bartender’s Blues,” George Jones and James Taylor

10. “A Better Place to Be,” Harry Chapin

Bookmark to:

Here’s what we have running in the new Creative Loafing:

• Senior editor Eric Snider interviews British soul singer James Hunter, a highlight at the Tampa Bay Blues Festival, which runs Friday through Sunday at Vinoy Park in St. Petersburg.

• All the blues that fits: Snider and I give you the skinny on who’s playing when at this year’s blues fest.

• Hello, it’s Todd Rundgren.

• The Country Slashers at New World Brewery, Saturday.

• Teenage Bottlerocket, Wanee Festival, Julian Marley and more in Music Week.

• Bradenton alt-country luminaries Have Gun, Will Travel perform Sunday at Skipper’s Smokehouse. My profile of the band, which runs in CL’s Tampa edition April 17, is the cover story of CL’s Sarasota edition this week.

• BAR TAB: The Ultimate Bar (Part One): The ingredients for the perfect watering hole. What would your dream bar feature?

• Spins: New CDs from Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, and Counting Crows.

• Blac Soap goes Green.

Bookmark to:

I’ve been a Bob Dylan fan ever since the age of 12 or 13, when I discovered my dad’s vinyl copies of Greatest Hits and Desire. His work has consistently fascinated me more than any other popular musician’s. I took a poetry class at USF about eight years ago and my professor, the cowboy poet Willie Reader, who passed away shortly after the semester ended, allowed me to do a paper on Dylan’s lyrics. It ran about 20 pages and I earned an “A+,” a rare accomplishment for me in those days. The assignment prompted a friendship between Reader and I; one that led to many long talks and us attending a Willie Nelson concert together. The Dylan paper and, more importantly, the positive feedback I received from Reader, would also eventually lead me into a career of music criticism.

I took great pleasure in seeing Dylan recently collect a Pulitzer Prize:

A Special Citation to Bob Dylan for his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power.

In honor of Dylan’s recent award from the literary world, here’s a list I obsessed over longer than I care to admit.

Top 10: Bob Dylan lyrics

1. “Mr. Tambourine Man,” Bringing It All Back Home (1965)
Killer lines: “I’m ready to go anywhere / I’m ready for to fade/ Into my own parade / Cast your dancing spell my way / I promise to go under it.”

2. “Idiot Wind,” Blood on the Tracks (1975)
Killer lines: “You’ll never know the hurt I suffered nor the pain I rise above / And I’ll never know the same about you, your holiness or your kind of love / And it makes me feel so sorry.”

3. “Every Grain of Sand,” Shot of Love (1981)
Killer lines: “I gaze into the doorway of temptation’s angry flame / And every time I pass that way I always hear my name.”

4. “Desolation Row,” Highway 61 Revisited (1965)
Killer lines: “To her, death is quite romantic / She wears an iron vest / Her profession’s her religion / Her sin is her lifelessness / And though her eyes are fixed upon / Noah’s great rainbow / She spends her time peeking / Into Desolation Row.”

5. “Jokerman,” Infidels (1983)
Killer lines: “Shedding off one more layer of skin / Keeping one step ahead of the persecutor within.”

6. “Like a Rolling Stone,” Highway 61 Revisited (1965)
Killer lines: “You used to ride on the chrome horse with your diplomat / Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat / Ain’t it hard when you discover that / He really wasn’t where it’s at / After he took from you everything he could steal.”

7. “It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding),” Bringing It All Back Home (1965)
Killer lines: “The hollow horn plays wasted words / Proves to warn / That he not busy being born / Is busy dying.”

8. “Highlands,” Time out Of Mind (1997)
Killer lines: “The sun is beginning to shine on me / But it’s not like the sun that used to be / The party’s over, and there’s less and less to say / I got new eyes / Everything looks far away.”

9. “Blind Willie McTell,” Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3 (1991); an outtake from Infidels
Killer lines: “Well, God is in heaven / And we all want what’s His / But power and greed and corruptible seed / Seem to be all that there is.”

10. “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall,” The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963)
Killer lines: “Heard ten thousand whisperin’ and nobody listenin’ / Heard one person starve, I heard many people laughin.’”

WHAT DID I MISS?

Bookmark to:

“Diamonds and Rust”
Judas Priest
Joan Baez playing Tampa Theatre on April 9 got me thinking about Judas Priests’ unlikely cover of her 1975 hit “Diamonds and Rust.” This YouTube clip shows recent concert footage of a sweaty, leather-clad Rob Halford giving a gloriously over-the-top reading of the pensive number Baez penned about her rocky relationship with Bob Dylan. Purists have bulked at the British metal gods reworking the singer-songwriter’s highly personal account of a failed romance that made headlines, but I’m partial to both renditions. Judas Priest takes the bitter lyric and creates a weirdly wonderful (and campy) power ballad.

Bookmark to:

Concert review
Al Green w/George Benson/Soulive
Sat., April 5, Ford Amphitheatre, Tampa

UPDATED APRIL 8: Pics from the show posted here.

Al Green, wearing a black three-piece suit and looking at least a decade younger than his age of 61, struts across the stage during a slow-burning rendition of the sexually-charged “Tired of Being Alone.” After making eye contact with women in the first several rows of the Ford Amphitheatre in Tampa Saturday, he returns to the mike and unleashes one of his famously wild and seductive wails, prompting ecstatic cheers from the crowd. “What, you thought I couldn’t do it again?” the smiling soul great playfully asks.

Four decades into his career, Green’s voice — one of the most distinctive and expressive ever recorded — isn’t the sultry, resilient force of nature heard on classic 1970s albums like Call Me. But it’s still a potent instrument, one that the charismatic singer used to great effect Saturday with the support of a 14-person backing band that included a three-man horn section, organist, female backup vocalists and male dancers wearing matching white blazers.

Green turned in a winning, 60-minute performance under conditions far from ideal. The 20,000-capacity venue only looked to be about one-tenth full. The last day of the two-day PAETEC Music Tour, it was a gorgeous afternoon for instrumental organ trio Soulive, which I missed, and George Benson. The latter impressed me with his guitar chops and a funky, blowout of “On Broadway,” but nearly lulled me, and several others seated in my section, to sleep with his synthesizer-heavy smooth jazz numbers.

When Green and his small army of backing players took the stage at 9:20, fierce wind and rain whipped through the venue as if on cue, even managing to sprits the thoroughly covered stage area. Credit the Ford Amphitheatre staff for allowing everyone to move into the center and front of the pavilion where the elements were minimal, and Green for soldiering on in high spirits. “If you start getting a little wet, don’t worry,” he says. “Some things are worth getting wet for.”

Green opened the show with several of his best-known hits including “Let’s Get Married” — songs the singer wrote or co-wrote with producer Willie Mitchell in the early ‘70s, a fairly uncommon practice for R&B singers of the era. The ordained pastor, who refused to perform secular music during the ‘80s, then took a pause from the worldly music (and handing out long-stemmed roses to the women in the front rows), to lead the crowd in a celebratory sing along of the hymn “Amazing Grace.” Next came a solid take on his most recognizable hit, “Let’s Stay Together,” which was followed by a killer “Here I Am.” The hard-hitting, horn-fueled declaration had Green jogging in place, embracing himself and even getting down in a crouch to bust out a couple old-school dance moves that caused the grateful audience members to respond with wild yelps of their own.

The medley of R&B hits by Green contemporaries like Sam Cooke, The Four Tops and Otis Redding featured a powerhouse performance of “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long.” The singer closed the show with lively renditions of three classics: “Tired of being Alone,” “L-O-V-E (Love),” and an extended “Love and Happiness,” which found Green offering some of his hottest wails. The finale also featured the trumpet, saxophonist and trombonist relocating to center stage to flawlessly recreate the song’s signature horn parts. While the band continued to play, and the audience roared for an encore, Green discretely grabbed a black leather overnight bag hidden by the drum kit and walked off the stage — just another night of work for one of the last great soul singers still with us.

Bookmark to:

From left to right: Me, Nate Oliver, Danny Burke, Matt Burke, JP Beaubien. Photo by Camille Pyatte.

I spent Tuesday night in downtown Bradenton conducting an interview at the rehearsal studio of Have Gun, Will Travel, one of the top alt-country acts in the region. What started as singer-songwriter and former Chase Theory frontman Matt Burke’s acoustic-based solo project has evolved into a full band effort on Have Gun, Will Travel’s excellent full-length debut, Casting Shadows Tall as Giants. The disc will be unveiled to the public at the Have Gun, Will Travel CD release party, Fri., April 18, Crowbar, Ybor City.

My Have Gun, Will Travel feature story will run on the cover of Creative Loafing’s Sarasota edition April 10 and in Tampa April 17. Here’s an excerpt:

On grimy walls plastered with fliers from past shows and a stop sign that hopefully wasn’t swiped from a busy intersection, a Radiohead poster hangs near one of a smiling Hank Williams Sr. The contemporary art-rock royals and the king of honky tonk make for an odd pairing, suggesting, perhaps, the ironic gesture of a country-hating hipster. But here at Have Gun, Will Travel’s rehearsal space in downtown Bradenton, the two posters underpin the musicians’ eclectic taste and are a telling reminder of the band’s finely executed makeover. Singer and chief songwriter Matt Burke’s appreciation for both Radiohead and Williams are as sincere as the stylistic shift he embarked on more than two years ago that transformed venerable indie rock trio the Chase Theory into Have Gun, Will Travel — the most important new alt-country ensemble in Tampa Bay.

HGWT’s freshly minted full-length debut, Casting Shadows Tall as Giants, ranks with anything on the national Americana charts. Its gorgeous acoustic guitar-based melodies are fleshed out with back porch banjo, lap steel, viola, piano and harmonica. A taut rhythm section that occasionally operates in subdued rock mode propels the songs. The mostly traditional instrumentation, arrangements and production provide a supreme backdrop for Matt Burke’s reedy, intimate singing about timeless subject matter like charlatan preachers, maturing and finding solace in a lover’s arms. The 32-year-old surveys these topics with a deft touch resulting in fresh meditations on even the most ancient dilemmas.

“The band came together as the songs were written, with everyone putting something into it,” Matt says on a recent Tuesday night. We’re in a gussied up storage facility packed with instruments, amps and recording equipment — beer cans and cigarette butts litter the concrete floor. HGWT calls the place headquarters and practices here twice a week. The pool table, stereo, TV, fridge and posters of Radiohead and Williams are in a clubhouse-like loft above the warehouse space where a truly brilliant album took shape. “To hear all the parts I had previously only heard in my head actually brought to fruition was like hearing them in all their glory, it made me feel like I was 15 again, in our first band playing rock songs,” Matt says.

Seated next to him and nodding in agreement are his younger brother, bassist Danny Burke, and drummer JP Beaubien; the two men who made the transition with Matt from Chase Theory to HGWT. The new band also includes lap steel guitarist/backup vocalist Nate Oliver, former frontman for now defunct Bradenton rockers Farewell Verona, which used to gig locally with the Chase Theory. In addition, HGWT features viola player Josh Hernandez, when he’s not attending classes at Florida State, the case today.

Matt, Danny, JP and Nate each has on a pair of faded black, low-top Chuck Taylor sneakers. They all drink the same cheap beer, share cigs and routinely greet each other with warm bear hugs. Matt’s current day job is graphic design but he’s previously done construction work, the occupation of everyone else in the room. “Between the four of us we can almost build a house,” Danny cracks.

“We could do it,” Nate says.

JP jokingly tells me I can’t smoke in the rehearsal space even though everyone else does. He’s the loudest of the bunch and the quickest to bust your balls. Danny unleashes the occasional zinger, as well. JP suggests stabbing and molesting me when I accompany the quartet on a photo shoot down by the Manatee River. Matt and Nate, the youngest member by five years, laugh at their bandmate’s antics but rarely instigate the playful banter. The band’s overall relationship is indicative of a group of men who have been making music together from an early age.

Tracks from HGWT’s soon-to-be-released album Casting Shadows Tall as Giants posted here.

Bookmark to:

Here’s what I have running in the new Creative Loafing:

• Bar Tab: Hyde and Seek … Finding happy hour at the Wine Exchange.

• Mojo workin‘: Rock ’n’ roll saved the soul of the Mojo Gurus‘ Kevin Steele.

• Caribou wants to melt with you.

• Black Crowes are back with Warpaint.

• Can’t miss Al Green.

• Blac Soap cleans up.

• Woven, Ricky Skaggs, The Oaks and more in Music Week.

Bookmark to:

The old legalized-gambling debate has been reignited thanks to Gov. Charlie Crist’s desperate plan to solve our economic woes with “enhancements” to the Florida Lottery. The gov promised not to play this card when he campaigned in 2006 and is now getting blasted by fellow GOPers such as his predecessor, Jeb Bush, who likens gambling to a “narcotic.” Will more lotto options lead to widespread scratchoff addiction? Save the economy? Or have absolutely no effect on most of our lives? It’s a hot-button issue, folks, one that deserves a soundtrack.

Top 10: Lottery songs

1. “The Lottery Song,” Harry Nilsson

2. “Rags to Riches,” Tony Bennett

3. “The Magic Number,” De La Soul

4. “Money for Nothing,” Dire Straits

5. “Money Changes Everything,” Cyndi Lauper

6. “Feel Like a Number,” Bob Seger

7. “With a Little Luck,” Paul McCartney

8. “Jackpot,” The Derailers

9. “Golden Ticket,” Manchester Orchestra

10. “Born to Lose,” Ray Charles

What did I miss?

Bookmark to: