This is probably the best thing I've heard in the last 2-3 years that I don't think I ever got around to posting about. I bought it on a whim after having it recommended to me by Amazon. It seemed like a better idea to post this than some album you've seen me raving about for months and would have checked out on your own if you were interested. Hope you enjoy.



Spider John Koerner and Willie Murphy - Running, Jumping, Standing Still [1969]



My internet is still down at home and I don't have it with me so hopefully this stolen link works:



If not and you've never heard it, let me know and I'll find a way to up it. If you've heard it, let me know and I'll up something else.

I've had this album for a few years too, got it off some blog that doesn't exist anymore and it is really good. I have a few John Koerner releases I think.

awesome..i have not heard this

you had me at ragtime piano

i had an album of Spider, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, and Utah Phillips at some point. I should try to re-get it. This looks cool though.

listened to this twice today

gonna let it sink in a few more times tomorrow before i commit opinion to thread

this album is all over the place in that magical way that rock albums from the late 60s usually were. on the one hand, it's a record i'd rarely put on for vibin'-around-the-house purposes; yet on the other hand, there is a lot for a guy like me to study in here. musician dudes will eat this up for its extended jams and progressive whimsy and monger dudes might like it because it sounds like it was recorded at big pink.

has some really beautiful piano voicing (not to mention a pretty awesomely-captured glassy ragtime piano tone), plus occasional odd time signature freakouts that bookend shuffle-y rock straight sections.

standout tracks:

Red Palace - 250yr old piano, trombone and shuffle-beat give this a saloon vibe, and then suddenly distorto-acid-bass comes in at 2:45 and it becomes a 1969 drug den jam.

Old Brown Dog - nearly 8min epic that starts out as a slow-rolling monger tune then kicks it up into a '58 parisian bebop jazz piano break. versatile player, this pianist.

this isn't bad. definitely something i wouldn't have found on my own, but it has some really great moments sprinkled in with some otherwise typical stretches of 60s roots rock. i'd keep it around for Old Brown Dog alone.

Glad you found a few things on there that you like and



Ding Ding Ding

I'm sure that's what got Amazon to recommend it to me and it definitely has that feel/sound to it while it's also clear that Koerner and Murphy aren't aping the Band but arriving at that sound through similar influences. I also really love the bravado on some of the lyrics.

I think you are selling a lot of the album short in calling stretches "typical 60's roots rock." I'm sure that 60's roots rock has a lot more appeal to me than you but I'd call a lot of it really exceptional 60's roots rock.

I've given your pick one listen and really like some of it. I'll have to give it a few more to say anything intelligent about it though.

This one sounds too intriguing to pass up.
Thanks!

im probably only saying 'typical' because i'm not as sensitive to the nuances of that genre/era as someone who's explored it more thoroughly.

some seriously great playing on that album though. i'm gonna research this willie murphy character more...

wouldn't you know it, Willie Murphy Day was last week

http://blogs.citypages.com/gimmenoise/2 ... rphy_d.php

For what it's worth, it's a cool place to visit if you're near Woodstock. I did it a few years ago. The owners are quite welcoming.

http://bigpinkbasement.com/index.html




Thanks for the rec. I'll check it out BG -

is that second photo the ex-practice space?

Yes. The place of human alchemy.