<![CDATA[The online home of The Brooklyn Cowboys - Blog]]>Sun, 20 May 2012 20:10:22 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[Fredro's Blog - Donald "Duck" Dunn Obituary, Live Music Picks]]>Thu, 17 May 2012 18:16:14 -0800http://www.brooklyncowboys.com/1/post/2012/05/fredros-blog-donald-duck-dunn-obituary-live-music-picks.htmlFredro's Blog will now be posted here every Tuesday at Midnight (technically Wednesday), as well as at www.reservoirmusiccenter.com. The live music picks may not be relevant for those of you living outside the New York metropolitan area, but, I think, will still be interesting, as most of the artists are on tour, and will probably be coming to your area at some point.
Below is this week's blog.



]]><![CDATA[Tribute to Levon Helm]]>Fri, 11 May 2012 22:44:03 -0800http://www.brooklyncowboys.com/1/post/2012/05/tribute-to-levon-helm.htmlThe following two blog posts were written the weekend of 4/20/12, on the passing of Levon Helm, and 4/27/12, in response to his funeral. They speak for themselves. 
My blog is posted every Tuesday (technically Wednesday) at Midnight on www.reservoirmusiccenter.com, and they are archived there back to January, 2011.]]><![CDATA[The Great and Immortal Levon Helm]]>Fri, 11 May 2012 22:37:19 -0800http://www.brooklyncowboys.com/1/post/2012/05/the-great-and-immortal-levon-helm.html
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]]><![CDATA[Levon Helm Crosses The Great Divide]]>Fri, 11 May 2012 22:33:26 -0800http://www.brooklyncowboys.com/1/post/2012/05/levon-helm-crosses-the-great-divide.html     Last Tuesday was not a good day! As I was getting ready to leave for work, my daughter called to tell me her mother had died. A half hour later, on my way to the store, my car died and then burned up. Two hours later, a friend called to tell me Levon had only a couple of days to live!

     As bad as the other stuff was, hearing the news about Levon was like getting sucker punched in the gut! He was so full of life, and after seeming to beat back the cancer, it seemed like he could never die, but death comes to us all, eventually, and April 19th was Levon’s time!

     My 35 year relationship with The Band started back in 1978, when Emmett Grogan’s cousin introduced me to Rick Danko. Rick and I became fast friends, and after that, whenever Rick played, I was usually there! We talked about making movies and music together, but after the first night, when we sang together, Rick and I never did get a chance to work together. We sure did have a lot of good times though! After a while, it was inevitable that Rick would introduce me to Levon, Richard, and Garth, and I also became fast friends with Richard, and particularly Levon.

     We saw each other often, over the years, and when I decided to move to the Hudson Valley, Levon told me where he thought were good places to live. During a very bad time in my life, he helped me out immensely, because, he said, “That’s what friends do”. When I was recovering from said traumatic event a few years later, I told Levon that he was my role model in my  recovery. After all, he had recovered,  it seemed, from so many traumatic events – cancer, bankruptcy, The Barn burning down, Rick and Richard’s deaths – and now he was on the road that brought him three Grammys and a major career comeback, before his untimely death last week. He was inspirational, in so many ways! Levon was the kind of guy who’d slip you a hundred bucks if he ran into you and thought you needed a helping hand!

     His down home folk wisdom never ceased to amuse me. Who doesn’t love and understand a phrase like, “Even a blind chicken gets a peck of corn once in a while”? He had the ability to cut right to the heart of the matter with a simple phrase. His sense of humor always made me laugh and we always had a great time together!

     And musically, he practically invented what became known as Americana music. He embodied it! On any given night, you could hear Blues, Rock n Roll, Country, R n B, Folk, and Dixieland music at one of his shows, but it all blended into Band/Levon Helm music. Only the cream of the crop can cover all those bases authentically – The Beatles, The Stones, Dave Edmunds and Rockpile, Bob Dylan, Elvis. You get the picture. He was in THAT kind of company! And they all knew it! Clapton broke up Cream after he heard The Band, and, in his book, writes of wanting to join The Band when he came to Woodstock! Bruce Springsteen said of Levon, “You get used to hearing versions of the thing. Levon IS the thing!”.

     The band he put together in his final years is every bit as good as The Band, and it would be so sad to see it end here. The Levon Helm Band deserves to live on!

     Anytime an American icon passes, it’s a sad day, but when it’s an old personal friend and a man who gave so much to the world, as Levon did, it’s hard to get through the day! His charity work was mammoth. He was always doing benefits for schools, fire fighters, cops, political candidates, and other worthy causes. His Kid’s Rambles touched the lives of many.

     I’m just glad he was able to have the resurgence he did before the end. The three Grammys, the Americana Music Association awards, the high paying gigs, and the mobs of adoring fans. At least he went out on a high note! The sad part for me is that I never got to say goodbye and I’ll never see him again. Never hear that Arkansas accent tellin’ it like it is. Never hear that one of a kind voice sing “Rag Mama Rag” again. Never hear him lay down a backbeat with simplicity and grace.

     But I will have my memories! Memories of the private times we shared, the Rambles, the kindness he extended to everyone, and the music. The glorious music! The music that will live as long as there are people to hear it! Godspeed my friend!

    

     THERE WILL BE NO LIVE MUSIC PICKS THIS WEEK.  THE MUSIC DIED AGAIN LAST WEEK WITH LEVON HELM. NOT TO WORRY THOUGH, THE MUSIC WILL BE REBORN NEXT WEEK.

]]><![CDATA[Levon Helm Funeral]]>Fri, 11 May 2012 22:31:20 -0800http://www.brooklyncowboys.com/1/post/2012/05/levon-helm-funeral.html     Last week’s Levon Helm viewing/funeral for the fans was a sad and somber affair, but at least it was closure. The shock of realizing you would never see him again was somewhat offset by, well, seeing him again!

     Levon’s casket was layed out, closed, on the Ramble stage, next to his drums, as it should be, and when you filed past you could see a slide show of photos of Levon being displayed on a large screen. I’m sure if you stayed there long enough, there’d have been all sorts of pictures, including ones of Levon on stage. There’d have to be! But when I got to the designated spot, the part of the slideshow that was playing was all pictures of Levon with his grandson, Lavon. The joy in that man’s eyes was so evident in those pictures! He always had that, but this was something special! He obviously loved that little boy and got so much joy from him! It was amazing and beautiful to see, and it made me so happy that in his final years, besides the historic comeback he engineered, with the help of manager, Barbara O’Brian, he also got to have this beautiful personal happiness! And how lucky Lavon was to have got to spend time with the world’s coolest grandpa!

     But now that he is gone, I predict that his fame, his popularity as a recording artist and actor, and his legend as an American and international cultural icon will grow larger than life! And I really hope that The Levon Helm Band will carry on. They are simply too good to pass with Levon! The band has become adept at singing most of the songs in the repertoire in the years Levon battled cancer and his voice fell victim to it. They could simply carry on! They have the perfect drummer to fill the giant chair Levon vacated in Randy Ciarlante, who also is a singing drummer, like Levon, who also has a great, soulful voice, like Levon, who has a similar drumming style to Levon’s, who previously was a member of The Band, and who was already in The LHB playing double drums with Levon! The Levon Helm Band is one of the greatest musical units, and one of the greatest personal accomplishments, in musical history! Play on! Please?

     They could continue on as The Levon Helm Band. After all, they are The Levon Helm Band. But that could confuse people who might somehow think that Levon, himself, is actually appearing, so I have a suggestion for the name of the Levonless Levon Helm Band – Live on! Or some combination or permutation thereof. Maybe The Live on Band, or Live on Helm Band. I don’t know. You know, something like that. Whaddya think? I think I like it. Ask me again next week and I’ll tell you for sure. Anyway, the important thing is just for this great rockin’ band, and the amazing music it plays, to live on under any name! I hope Larry and Amy agree.

     I’m not really recommending much live music this week. I’m still real depressed about Levon. And all of the good music this week’s in the city. Well, maybe not all. There were a lot of shows this week that normally would have been weekly picks, but I just still didn’t feel like recommending anything, so I skipped all but the best. And the local bands that I do like (you know who you are) never send me their gigs (hint hint) so it’s hard to pick ‘em!

     Thursday, May 3 – CHARLIE MUSSLEWHITE AND JOHN HAMMOND JR. at BB King’s. Two Blues legends on a double bill.

     Friday, May 4 – JUNIOR MURVIN, who did the original “Police and Thieves”, which The Clash covered, is at BB King’s. At least, I think it’s Junior Murvin. It’s billed as “Junior Marvin”, but I’m assuming that’s a typo.

The RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS have become one of our best, most innovative, and smartest bands around. Tonight they start a two day run at The Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, which, of course, concludes tomorrow, Saturday, May 5.

     Tuesday, May 8 – This event at BB King’s is being billed as “A TRIBUTE TO LEVON HELM WITH THE THE BAND BAND”. Get it? The, The Band, Band. These guys do the catalog of The Band, and they do it very well, and tonight should be a very special night worth traveling for

     Wednesday, May 9 – THE BEACH BOYS are doing a 50th anniversary tour this summer WITH Brian Wilson. To me, that’s exciting. Tonight they’re at The Beacon Theater.

     May next week be better than the last two. 

]]><![CDATA[Brooklyn Cowboys' News]]>Mon, 25 Jul 2011 01:40:21 -0800http://www.brooklyncowboys.com/1/post/2011/07/brooklyn-cowboys-news.htmlThere's been a flurry of news with The Brooklyn Cowboys that I wanted to let y'all know about. The biggest news is that I just got the website back up, and if you're reading this, you're on it. Right now, it's still a work in progress, but in a month or two, it's gonna be ROCKIN'! All the essential elements are here, though, and this is the first website we've had (we've had 3 or 4 different versions) that has all the information I've always wanted on The Brooklyn Cowboys' website, but never had. Check it out, and come back often, because the changes will be coming fast and furious!

The next big news is that all the songs from both of our full length studio CD's are now available for downloads at www.brooklyncowboys.bandcamp.com. They've been on CD Baby, Itunes,and all the other sites for a while, but our Bandcamp page is run by us, and all the revenue goes back to the band. So if you're in the mood to download some Brooklyn Cowboys tracks,  please get 'em at Bandcamp! 

The store on this site has a few new products on it that have never been available before, so you might wanna take a look over there before you leave, and if you haven't already done it, please surf on over to our Reverb Nation,  My Space, and Facebook pages and become fans. www.reverbnation.com/brooklyncowboys,  www.myspace.com/521017059 and www.facebook.com/brooklyncowboys.

Projects for the immediate future include finding a label to release our live CD, recorded at The Mint in LA on our last tour, and raising a budget to go back into the studio for a new studio CD. Walter, Brian, and I have all been writing some real catchy tunes, and I can't wait to record 'em!

Thanks for visiting. Please come back soon.


Best wishes,
Fredro/ The Brooklyn Cowboys


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