Tune into Hell's Kitchen Radio, with John Hell, every Monday night 8-10PM (Pacific), on Radio Valencia (https://radiovalencia.fm) in San Francisco. You can find my playlists and links to the podcasts right here.
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Well 2023 is starting out a bit how 2022 ended: a bit sour. My dad passed in late December, which was a real kick in the gonads, after which I was happy to see 2022 fade away. And now the first few weeks of 2023 have seen the passing of Jeff Beck, David Crosby, Tom Verlaine and more. It's starting to feel a bit how 2016 when so many musical heroes passed starting with David Bowie.
What else does 2023 have in store for us all?
Let the music play!
I invited my buddy, rock photographer Jay Blakesberg into the studio to talk about his history knowing and photographing David Crosby, and to play the music we both grew up on. There's a lot of Crosby-related tunes sprinkled throughout the show, interlaced with our colorful conversation.
Jay is nothing if he isn't a fine conversationalist.
He also was kind enough to bring a copy of his remarkable new coffee table book, RetroBlakesberg, full of photos all taken on film. I love that so many of the shows from the 80s and 90s in the Bay Area I actually attended!!!
Go to his site and check out the book. Pick up a copy. You'll be so happy you did. And if you're on Instagram, be certain to follow him.
Jay gives good radio too. I think we're going to make this a quarterly thing. That is, unless another legendary rock star dies before then. Where's Keith and Iggy? I'm seeing Iggy in a few months, so he better hold on.
Enjoy and please share.
jh
Hell's Kitchen Radio with John Hell Mondays 8-10PM Radio Valencia in SF http://radiovalencia.fm
Shoot, two tributes in a row here on the Live Bootleg Bonanza. And this one really stings. I grew up loving Crosby, Stills and Nash, with and without Young. David Crosby's personality has always made me chuckle. I love that he was acutely aware that he was a cantankerous sort, and was OK with that. He knew his own misgivings and made peace with it many years ago.
I also love that he was such a huge fan of Jerry Garcia. I know after the 1970 "If I Could Only Remember My Name" sessions he wanted to join the Grateful Dead. He also knew there was absolutely no place for him in that band. It's like he was being a fanboy about it.
I got to see him a week or so after he was released from prison in 1986, perform at the very first Bridge School benefit. Crosby was shaved bald and had a huge grin the whole show. I had just turned 16, and I went with one of the custodians from my high school that I used to hang out and get stoned with. I think the statute of limitations has run out on that one. HA!
I love that he was tweeting the day before he died. I almost have this sensation that he walked side-by-side with Death, as if to say "OK, let's go", stood up out of his chair and walked out the door.
I hope he's rocking out with so many of his long lost musical friends. Maybe now he and Jerry can jam into eternity?
I start out tonight with some filler from a David and the Dorks show at the Matrix in San Francisco, recorded during Crosby's solo record sessions at Wally Heider studios in December 1970. This show features Crosby on guitar and vocals, Jerry Garcia on guitar and vocals, Phil Lesh on bass, Mickey Hart on drums.
For the headlining show I want you to enjoy this really amazing, and very rare show, September 13, 1969, recorded by an audience member with perfect mic placement. CSN and Y were not even mentioned in the publicity for this small show at the Big Sur Folk Festival at Esalen. Joni Mitchell headlined. This show features Dallas Taylor on bass and Greg Reeves on drums.
The story goes that a guy and his girlfriend recorded this with a microphone on a wooden pole near the PA and they had a reel-to-reel (possibly an Ampex) tape recorder.
Lineage: Source: Audience > 3rd gen Reel > (unknown gen) DAT (48)
Transfer: DAT 60ES > M-Audio Audiophile USB > CD WAV > Goldwave - Resampling 44.1, minor edits and normalization to 100% > CD WAV tracking and Flac conversion
You can find my mostly-complete list of live shows right here. Have a request? Leave a comment.
Support these bands. Buy their officially released music and merch, and never ever sell live bootlegs. These are for trade only.
Stick around for my weekly music mix: Hell's Kitchen Radio, Mondays 8-10PM Pacific.
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There are times that I really want to send a sternly written letter to some commercial radio station, reminding them of the disservice they are doing to their listeners. It's almost as if they are some junkie pushing tainted drugs. The user doesn't even know there are quality drugs down to the left end of town (or in most cases left end of the dial). In this case on the left end of the internet.
But why write a letter when I can just share this show, right? Should I send this show off to the program directors of the top commercial stations so they can see how much better they can be (that sounds pretty egotistical, and I didn't even need to reread it), or shall I just go to where their listeners hang out and offer them a better bang for the buck.
Allow me to bang you. Bang you all.
It was tax day on Monday, so there are a few tunes that fit some kind of money theme, but other than that, I'm all over the place in a good way. I even improvise a bit more than usual and through in the 23 minute epic, "Echoes", by Pink Floyd. It's the greatest version you have ever heard. Tune in to find out why. I'm also falling in love with Mike Krol. This guy...sheesh!
I've been pulling out a number of anniversary box sets lately. CSN&Y, Ray Charles, The Who. I have new Ty Segall later in the show that will kick your ass. And that's what you want in a radio station, shows that will kick your ass in ways you didn't know you needed.
Radio Valencia is here to kick your ass in all the best ways.
Enjoy.
jh
Hell's Kitchen Radio with John Hell Mondays 8-10PM Radio Valencia in SF http://radiovalencia.fm
This was the week following the untimely death of rock promoter and all-around "good guy", Bill Graham. If you're a Deadhead, then you know his history with the band. The Grateful Dead had played four amazing shows at the Oakland Coliseum, and I attended each one. The Halloween show alone was absolutely brilliant! They opened the run of shows with Graham's favorite tune: "Sugar Magnolia", and predictably closed out the run, at the free show on 11-03 in GG Park, in front of 100,000+, with "Sunshine Daydream". Fabulous. I'm also curious how many people in the field, who are familiar with the song were wondering where the rest of Sugar Mags was? 1991 was a stellar year for the band. Jerry was in good health, and they were firing on all musical cylinders. They had brought back some classics from the late-60s and early-70s that were out of rotation for many years, and the crowd was always very appreciative. It was fun to see Jerry smile more, showing that he too was enjoying the show.
As was usual for me, I showed up alone, hoping to meet up with some friends. That proved impossible, being that there were over 250,000 people packed into the area. Also, I really wanted to be up front by the stage, but knew that was going to be tricky. Tricky until I saw that the Dirty Dozen Brass Band was going to start off the festivities by performing from the back of a flatbed truck, and driving around the perimeter of the Polo Fields. I predicted they would end up right back in front of the stage at the end of their journey. My plan: follow them and dance my way all the way around to the front. And I succeeded in spades! That was one long conga-line, I can tell you that. By the time they were done, I was exactly where I wanted to be: dead center (no pun intended).
I always had a way to get just exactly where I wanted to be at a show. In my younger years it had to be right up in the front. I wasn't a jerk about it either. If I didn't get there early enough to stake my place at the stage, then I would just dance my way up to where I liked to be. I find that if you dance at a show, then people make space for you. Try it. But you'll have to commit to it the entire show, or you'll lose that ground you won. I used to love dancing my way around the Henry J. Kaiser in the 80s. I went to so many shows there, I felt like I knew every nook and cranny.
As I got older and more show-experienced I realized that being about 10-20 feet in front of the soundboard (if it's in the middle of the room) is the best place for sound. The sound engineer has an ear for the space, and the lip of the stage is NOT the best place for optimum sound quality. So today, that's where you'll find me. Let the kids have their fun at the stage. I want the best sound for my time and money.
It's kind of interesting to watch the Dead be a backing band. They did that a few times during their 30 year career. I saw the Dylan and Dead show in Oakland, in 1987. Dylan looked tired, but the boys picked him up and pretty much carried him during his set. I love the story of the Dead backing Dylan and Mickey's old girlfriend, Joan Baez. Jerry couldn't stand it, and refused to come out for the encore during the 12-12-81 show, where they were backing her for a set. She called them her boys. Jerry hated that. The show is cringe-worthy.
Seeing the Dead in Golden Gate Park, down the street from where they used to live, made it feel what it may have been like back in the mid-60s, with so many happy people coming out just to enjoy a special day in the sun. I like to jump while I dance, and in my 20s I was able to jump very high at times. Because of my location in front of the stage, a photographer caught me jumping above the crowd, snapped the pic, and it ended up, in color, the following day on the front page of the San Jose Mercury News! Regardless of what people tell you, I am jumping in the air. No one was sitting at this event. And I was NOT jumping like that to Los Lobos, as the caption would lead you to believe. Los Lobos were great, but not that great.
My mother was kind enough to contact the paper about the pic, and they sent her a hard copy. About 18 months later, I was interested in getting into the film industry, because, you know, the radio industry hadn't screwed me enough, that I had to be more of a glutton for punishment. Anyway, I went to the South Bay to a casting agency, to talk to them about being an extra in The Doors film, with Val Kilmer (another story for another time, which includes a group of us singing the Brady Bunch theme with the stars of the film). They asked me to bring head shots. I didn't have any, so I brought pics of me, including this one from the newspaper. I met with the casting agent, who took one look at the pic, grabbed me by the arm, walked briskly outside of his office, swung me around, and low and behold there I was on his wall staring me back in the face! He had that pic on his wall since the show, and asked everyone he knew in the business to look for me. Looks like I found him. I was just shy of 23, and needing to get back into school. I didn't have the money to go to acting school, nor the desire. He wanted me to purchase a beeper and get a job waiting tables so I could be on call. Uh, no. That was a fun few months though, as he took me to quite a few Bay Area film parties, and made me an extra in a few films. Glad I took the chance to dance my way around the Polo Fields that day. I guess I have Bill Graham to thank for that. Thanks Uncle Bobo. RIP.
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...so sayeth the lord...or something like that.
A show with no guests, is like going on a long ride with your best friend. Best friend being you. Aw shucks. We like the same movies. We like the same bands. We both like long walks on the beach, and pina colada's, and getting tossed like a salad.
Some new artists to start the night, and fine mix of genres throughout the set. Something for every one of my dear, close friends.
Ok, so in the "I've been way too busy to upload any of my shows lately" theme, this is a real winner. This show is all live cuts, starting with a German radio station announcing the death of Elvis Presley. How's that for a start? Somewhere along the way I actually play some live Elvis. And it's a doozy too.
There's something for everyone: there's goth bikers in lace; there's shoe gazers covered in syrup; there's classic rockers on tricycles sucking pacifiers. I tell ya this is the kind of show you've been waiting for.
Just take a look at this playlist!!!
And if you tune into my show on a regular basis, then you know that my live stuff is second to NONE! Take THAT Rotten Ronnie!
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A Season in Hell with John Hell
Mondays 8-10PM
Radio Valencia, 87.9FM in SF http://radiovalencia.fm
Exodus: Bob Marley and the Wailers (1980-07-12 - Wales, UK)
Elvis is Dead: German Radio
Kathy's Song: Simon and Garfunkel (Live in Central Park, NYC)
Big Chief: The Meters (1976-10-01 - Baton Rouge, LA)
Red Right Hand: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (2013-04-09, San Francisco, CA)
Human Fly: The Cramps (1982-05-20 - Seattle, WA)
Sympathy for the Devil: Rolling Stones (1969-11-09 - Oakland, CA)
When the Music's Over: The Doors (1970-07-05 - Seattle, WA)
Relgion: PIL (1983-11-08 - Bristol, England)
Cherry Bomb: The Runaways (1976-07-19 - Cleveland, OH)
Sex Ed Class->Don't Touch Me There->Mondo Bondage:The Tubes (1977-04-15-San Francisco, CA)
Unknown Track: Electric Masada (2013-7-13, Rotterdam)
Wooden Ships: CSNY (1969-08-26 Greek Theater - LA, CA)
The Way Young Lovers Do: Van Morrison (Demo 1968)
The Bomber: James Gang (2001-02-26 - Cleveland, OH)
An American Journey: Elvis Presley (1972-04-10 Richmond, VA)
Let's Go Crazy: Prince with 3rd Eye Girl (2013-04-24, San Francisco, CA)
I'm usually all over the place as far as genres are concerned, and this week is really no exception. I played a lot of jazz tonight, in the first hour. That's a good thing. You need more jazz. You'll like what I played.
In the second hour I pulled out some tasty live treats, that'll make you hunger for more of what I've got to give you. You know that you love it. Stop squirming so much. Damn!
Enjoy.
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Do It: Rollins Band
Radebe: Johnny Dyani
Goo: Erik Truffaz
I'm Not A Game: Ty Segall and White Fence
City of the Dead: The Clash
Sesame Street: Sly Dunbar
You Only Live Twice: Sex Mob
The First and the Last to Love Me: Kip Hanrahan
The Fast Life: David Murray Octet
Wooden Ships: Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (08-26-69, Greek Theater, LA, CA)
Caravan: Van Morrison (2-15-73, Lions Share, San Anselmo, CA)
Sweet Young Thing: Mudhoney (02-26-99, Blind Pig, Ann Arbor, MI)
Touch Me I'm Sick: Mudhoney (02-26-99, Blind Pig, Ann Arbor, MI)
In My Time of Dying: Led Zeppelin (05-25-77, Landover, MD)
Terrapin Station: Furthur (12-31-12, Civic Aud., SF, CA)
Open Fire on the Deadheads: Admiral Wrybread's Tingley Tower Connection
It's that time of year again in San Francisco. The tourists have gone home and our summer is in full swing. Damn, it was hit in SF the past few days. Whew. I'm sweatin' it too. Not that I'm complaining, really. Living in the fog, we don't really get to feel the heat like the rest of the country, so if we get a week or so of 85 degrees, then I guess I'll just have to deal with it.
I'll be honest with you, I'll never complain about the fog again, knowing about the triple digits in the rest of the country. Don't be a hater.
Speaking about being hot under the collar, it's election season again. Tonight on my show I hosted Ken Tray, Political Director of United Educators of San Francisco. I've hosted Ken a number of times over the years to talk with him about local and state propositions, and school board candidates. Head over to their site to see who they're endorsing for the upcoming school board election.
Tonight we spoke about two very important state props, 30 and 32. If you don't know what's up just listen to me: Yes on 30, No on 32. That's all you need to know. Ok, ok, if you really need to know more follow the links to get educated.
Music-wise, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass is coming up in SF this weekend. Music breaks during the interview and much of the second hour features artists who will be playing this weekend at the event. I also have some Laurel Canyon sounds in there for good measure.
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Enjoy.
jh
Do It: Rollins Band
Mama Said Knock You Out: LL Cool J
Long White Cadillac: Dave Alvin and the Guilty Men
Carpetbaggers: Jenny Lewis & Elvis Costello
Only Son of the Ladies Man: Father John Misty
Girl, I Love You: The Chris Robinson Brotherhood
Dear Believer: Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros I'm Just Here To Get My Baby Out Of Jail: The Knitters (04-28-07) Tonight I Think I"m Going to go Downtown: Jimmy Dale Gilmore Lift Him Up, That's All: Ralph Stanley Country Girl: Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
Searching For the Ghost: Heartless Bastards Gringo Honeymoon: Robert Earl Keen You Were A Bum Dream: Dirty Three
I Can't Go For That: Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers (09-21-12)
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