The Bottle Rockets - Dust and Wrath Demos (1990)

The final in the Bottle Rockets Demo Trilogy. This one is from 1990 and features a few songs that will be familiar to B-Rox fans. The majority of these however however have never been released officially. Shame too cause there are some good songs on here.

As I said earlier, The Bottle Rockets have a new album entitled Lean Forward due out early next month (Aug. 11th to be exact). And if you are interested at all in reading about the history of Henneman and The Bottle Rockets, I found the wikipedia article to be the best (most of it was copied verbatim from factorybelt.net)

Happy 4th y'all

MP3 @ 192

Bottle Rockets - Dust and Wrath Demos

The Bottle Rockets - Brian Henneman Demos (1991)

The second Bottle Rockets demo of the trilogy I will be posting. Kind of a followup to the Uncle Tupelo demo trilogy. This one is Brian Henneman backed by Jay and Jeff from Uncle Tupelo. Really cool banjo version of "Wave That Flag" on here with what I'm assuming to be Jay Farrar on the banjo.

MP3 @ 192

Bottle Rockets - Brian Henneman Demos

The Bottle Rockets - Brooklyn Side Demos

You didn't know it, but you're smack dab in the middle of a 4th of July post extravaganza here at A Truer Sound. And well, what's else says 4th of July better than bottle rockets? Unfortunately these bottle rockets here won't blow your thumbs off, only rock your socks off. This is a demo that I am not really sure where I even got. I can't find any info on it but it's a great demo of one the seminal Alt Country albums The Brooklyn Side. The demos here are a more subdued affair than the rocking Brooklyn Side, but very very cool, and quite a few unreleased songs. Really love the little intros to the songs too....such as the intro to I'll Be Comin' Around where Henneman explains the song is the result of listening to too much fleetwood mac while thinking about his friends girlfriend. Really love the last song on this thing "Gravity" as well. Don't know why it has never made it to an official album.

The Bottle Rockets have a new album titled Lean Forward due out Aug. 11th by the way, and have just filmed a live DVD due out sometime soon. Read about it here

MP3 @ 192

Bottle Rockets - Brooklyn Side Demos

Corb Lund DVD Preview

Due out this month sometime according to the information. Visit his website

Del McCoury Band - WFPK Studios 10/5/01

Let's continue with the bluegrass theme here, this one is ABSOLUTELY my favorite recorded anything of Del McCoury. Anytime I need a Del fix....I always turn to this one before any of his studio albums or official releases. Perfect sound on this, perfect mix, the band is playing extra fierce, just an all around great set captured on the radio. And given that I've already said this is my favorite Del recording, obviously I think the version of 1952 Vincent Black Lightning on here is THE best version of the song. Some great insights on Del and the Boys recording method, cover choices, and the state of bluegrass during the interview as well. Bluegrass fans, don't miss out on this one (that includes you Mr. guy in the OCMS shirt :-P)

MP3

Del McCoury - WFPK Studios

Doc & Merle Watson - Freedom Park - Charlotte, NC 7/4/80

Around here 4th of July means 3 things...Cookouts, Fireworks, and Bluegrass. So to celebrate, here is an old Doc Watson show with his late son Merle recorded on Independence Day 29 years ago. So break out the watermelon and sparklers, kick back and enjoy this great show by two of the greatest pickers of all time. This set also included one of my favorite songs of all time....The Cuckoo (she never....says cuckoo.....till the 4th day....of July....)

MP3 @ 192

Doc & Merle Watson - Freedom Park

Ray Wylie Hubbard - Down Home Country Blues & The Messenger (Vids)

Got a chance to see one of my musical heroes saturday night when I caught Ray Wylie Hubbard at The Shed outside Knoxville, TN. This here is maybe my favorite song of his, and a great vid of it no less.

Just found this one....f'n love this new one from Ray Wylie. Can't wait for the Soundtrack to Last Rites of Ransom Pride to come out AND a new album coming the first week in Jan. 2010. Also check out his son Lucas, only 16 and lays the groove down thick and nasty.

Uncle Tupelo - Colorblind & Rhymeless (1987 Demo Tape)

In hindsight, I should have probably bundled these three together and called it The Demo Trilogy or some such nonesense. But really where is the fun in that (OK, I'm just covering my ass!)

Big thanks to DownSouth for this one, and thanks to the others who offered. I really appreciate it when you guys "heed the call" so to speak....and so quickly too! DownSouth also provided me with scans from the UT Anthology of the covers of this one and the "Not Forever Just For Now" demo (I have included it in that post for posterity's sake). The artwork was pretty small, so I just incorporated it into the common artwork I did for the other two (hey, I'm lazy like that....wait I mean efficient) .

Not a lot to say about this one except that it was their first demo, and it's actually pretty developed. Can't really find a lot of info on this online either, so I will leave you with a quote from one of the articles over at factorybelt.net (there he goes again with that!)

"To us," Tweedy said, "hard-core punk is also folk music. We draw a close parallel between the two. We'll play both in the same set if we get a chance. We don't have any biases as far as music is concerned."

"We have just as much fun playing acoustic guitars with a whole bunch of people singing along, as we do playing a noisy instrumental."

MP3 @ 127
Uncle Tupelo - Colorblind & Rhymeless (1987 Demo)

Uncle Tupelo - Live & Otherwise (1988 Demo Tape)

Well hell, DownSouth came through on the request for UT's Colorblind & Rhymeless demos and requested this demo tape here. This was Uncle Tupelo's second demo tape. Half of it live and the other half studio, kind of like an Alt Country version of GnR's Lies :P

Listening to these demos are great! Reminds me of how important UT really were. I could only imagine what it was like back in those days in Belleville to see these guys at this era. And while listening to these demos (which are heavier on the punk influence the further you go back) it occurs to me that these guys found the PERFECT blend of country and punk. Other groups tried it in the 80's (you know what they call COWPUNK) but UT really figured out how the two could actually blend, instead of simply playing Hank Williams with powerchords. Just listen to the cover of Black Flag's Gimme, Gimme, Gimme for the prove ;) With this they clearly show that there is not much difference between honest to God country and honest to God punk.....the fundamental commonality being they both rely on three chords and the truth....as the old adage goes.

Anyway, I have rambled on now....I will also say I really like the version of There Was A Time on this one with the harmonica intro. Reading through some of those articles over at Factorybelt.net one of them they state they dropped the harmonicas out of some of their songs so as not to sound too "heartland". Really interesting articles over there....especially check out the one about their mothers.

MP3 @ 192

Uncle Tupelo - Live & Otherwise (1988 Demo)

Uncle Tupelo - Not Forever, Just For Now (1989 Demo Tape)

Here's a slice of music history right here. Uncle Tupelo's last demo tape, assumably the one that got them signed to Rockville (formerly Giant). If anyone has the elusive Colorblind & Rhymeless.....please email me!

So this is very similar to the first UT album, a lot of early versions of those tracks on here. Only a little less polished, a little rougher around the edges. I really like the version of Whiskey Bottle and Screen Door on this thing. I tried and tried to find a picture or something of the original artwork (if there was any) but came up empty handed. I got the pictures used in the artwork from the excellent factorybelt.net. If you want to waste some time peep into the articles section and check out some of the early articles on Uncle Tupelo in there. Also got to love the beer rating article (I liked it so much I put it on the back artwork!).

MP3 @ 192
Uncle Tupelo - Not Forever, Just For Now (Demo Tape)

Afterthought:
Thanks to DownSouth who provided me with a scan of the original artwork for this guy, there it is right there. Also want to point out that this demo was the one that got UT labeled Best Unsigned Band in America by CMJ.