For their first full length LP, 1995's 'Down by the Old Mainstream', Golden Smog's fluid all-star line-up consisted of Kraig Johnson fom Run Westy Run, Soul Asylum's Dan Murphy, Gary Louris and Marc Perlman from The Jayhawks, Wilco's Jeff Tweedy and Noah Levy of Honeydogs. By the time the band rolled into New York on April 13th 1996, 21 years ago today, the membership was bolstered further by Tweedy's bandmate, the late Jay Bennett, on guitar and keyboards. Also in attendance were Soul Asylum's Dave Pirner and an unbelievably wasted Evan Dando. I know all this because I was there too - and I still have the t-shirt and flyer to prove it. Ronnie Lane's 'Glad and Sorry' was one of several well chosen covers played by Golden Smog that night and proved to be an outstanding highlight of their set.
(This one goes out to our pal Singing Bear, who's back in action with a brand new blog, The Road of Golden Dust. Check it out here.)
Golden Smog - Glad and Sorry (1995)
The Faces - Glad and Sorry (1973)
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9 comments:
Very cool story. I listen to Golden Smog all the time. One of the all time great "supergroups."
Thanks Eric. They certainly are.
Great story and interesting band line-up! So pleased to see SB blogging again too.
I'm wondering if Kraig Johnson is the same person as Kraig Jared Johnson? (I just know the latter's name from having been a bit of a fan of Joseph Arthur, this KJ played with him quite a few times when I saw him and appears on some of his releases, but of course may be a different bloke altogether, in which case, scrub that!)
I meant 'Jarret'not Jared...
The Kraig Johnston mentioned ended up as a Jayhawk
Thank you so much, sir. This is a very fine cover, which captures the spirit of Plonk perfectly - shambling and poetic. I note that the gig you attended also featured the wonderful Geraldine Fibbers. Nice one!
Great Faces cover - thanks for sharing.
You saw the best incarnation of the band. Lucky duck!
I prefer the 70s version for the piano. The guitar-driven Golden Smog cover is good too and has its own mood.
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