Golden Smog - The Jayhawks - Soul Asylum - 2004-07-18 - Rock For Democracy, First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN

Golden Smog, Rock For Democracy 2004, Minneapolis, MN (photo by David Poe)

Golden Smog - The Jayhawks - Soul Asylum
2004-07-18
Rock For Democracy Show
First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN
Audience Recording, Good Quality
mp3 @ 320 kbps


 

 OK, so to wrap up this extended look at Golden Smog and the various related bands and their contributing members, here's a unique show from 2004 that featured not only the Smog, but representations of contributing bands The Jayhawks and Soul Asylum as well (sorry, no Jeff Tweedy or Wilco presence here that night). This was a Rock For Democracy 2004 Benefit Show, and it appears that the sets may have been something that were thrown together at the last minute, with little preparation or lead-time rehearsal (several starts and stops, some stage disorganization). But that's part of the fun of these types of shows. Most of the Smog's set are covers (which represents what the Smog was originally, a cover band), including songs from Bowie, Neil Young, Eddie & the Hot Ro0ds, Bad Company, and Alice Cooper, as well as their own 'Corvette' or 'The Dream is Never Over'. Overall, it is loose, a bit sloppy, but a fun night of bar-room music from the various components and characters involved in Golden Smog, and a fitting finale to this 'Summer of Golden Smog' here at the 'Chronicles.

Tracklist:
Dave Pirner and Dan Murphy of Soul Asylum
01. Intro
02. Black Gold
  joined by Tim O'Reagan and Marc Perlman
03. Crazy Mixed Up World
04. Lately
05. Outro

The Jayhawks (Gary Louris/Marc Perlman/Tim O'Reagan/Karen Grotberg)
06. Intro
07. One Man's Problem (aborted due to audience member climbing onstage)
08. One Man's Problem
09. Pray For Me
10. He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother (Tim-lead vocal)
11. Tailspin
12. Outro

Golden Smog (Gary Louris/Marc Perlman/Dan Murphy/Kraig Johnson/Peter Anderson)
13. intro
14. Starman (Gary- lead vocal)
15. That's When I Reach For My Revolver (Dan-lead vocal)
16. Powderfinger (Kraig-lead vocal)
17. Do Anything You Wanna Do (Dan-lead vocal)
18. The Dream Is Never Over (false starts) (Gary and Dave-lead vocals)
19. The Dream Is Never Over (Gary and Dave Pirner-lead vocals)
20. I'm Eighteen (false starts) (Dave- lead vocal)
21. I'm Eighteen (Dave- lead vocal)
22. Shooting Star (Dave-lead vocal)
23. Outro

Golden Smog_Jayhawks_Soul Asylum_2004-07-18_RFD-MinneapolisMN.rar
Link updated 2/5/2024

Soul Asylum - Grave Dancer's Union Demos & Outtakes

Soul Asylum
1992
Grave Dancers Union Demos & Outtakes
Soundboard recordings, good to very good quality
 Available in both lossless (FLAC) and mp3 (320 kbps) versions

Here's some more from Soul Asylum, this time some demos and outtakes from around the time of their breakthrough album, Grave Dancer's Union (1992). This includes some early demo versions of several songs from Grave Dancers, as well as 4 songs that appear to be unreleased outtakes from these sessions. The Grave Dancers demos material suffer from some tape issues that indicate these are several generation duplicates of the originals. However, the unreleased outtake tracks are clearly from a different source, and are in much better, and high quality sound. So, although the demo versions of the tracks from Grave Dancers are interesting to hear, the real gems here are the previously unreleased outtake tracks ('Easy to Avoid', 'Some Obsession', 'Straight Up', and 'Thick and Thin'), which are very good, and a fine addition to the Soul Asylum repertoire from this period.


Tracklist:
1.Get On Out
2.Runaway Train
3.Growing Into You
4.Easy To Avoid
5.99%
6.Black Gold
7.Some Obsession
8.Straight Up
9.Thick And Thin
10.New World 2

New updated link (02/05/24)
Soul Asylum_Grave Dancers Union Demos_mp3.rar

Soul Asylum_Grave Dancers Union Demos_FLAC.rar

Soul Asylum - 1995-06-23 - Glastonbury Festival, Somerset, UK

Soul Asylum
1995-06-23
Glastonbury Festival, Somerset, UK
FM Broadcast Recording, very good quality
mp3 @ 320 kbps

Still keeping with the Golden Smog-related theme, here is the other known band with member components that were part of Golden Smog, Soul Asylum. Guitarist Dan Murphy was one of the founders of Golden Smog, and has been with all its incarnations, Dave Pirner was also involved with Golden Smog in its early days, but their main band was Soul Asylum. Soul Asylum was formed in the early eighties by Pirner and Murphy, where they played around the Minneapolis Area, becoming known for their loud, frenetic mix of punk, hardcore, mainstream rock, and country. They had several independent releases through the mid-eighties, then released a couple albums on A&M in the late eighties, without getting much attention or recognition. After featuring more of their acoustic side in shows in the early '90's, their big breakthrough came in 1992, with the release of Grave Dancer's Union, which went triple-platinum and featured radio hits 'Runaway Train', 'Black Gold', and 'Somebody to Shove'. 'Runaway Train' also won a Grammy for best Rock Song. Their follow-up album, Let Your Dim Light Shine (1995) was also very successful, and produced a top-20 hit with 'Misery'. Although subsequent albums were much less successful, Soul Asylum continued on and off over the years (most recent album, Delayed Reaction - 2012) and are still performing today. Here is a radio show from them in their prime, their 1995 show at Glastonbury.  

Tracklist:
01. Did My Best
02. Runaway Train
03. Eyes of a Child
04. Get On Out
05. Misery
06. Just Like Anyone
07. Closer to the Stars
08. Shu Down
09. Hopes Up
10. Somebody to Shove
11. Crawl

Soul Asylum_1995-06-23_Glastonbury.rar
Link updated 2/5/24

Golden Smog - 1998-12-12 - First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN

Golden Smog
December 12th, 1998
First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN
Soundboard recording, very good quality
Available in both Lossless (FLAC) and mp3 (320kbps) versions



This band was something of a revelation for me. Although it has been around (on and off) for over 20 years, and is comprised of well-established musicians from some well-known other bands (Soul Asylum, The Jayhawks, Wilco, etc.), all of which I also like, I was completely unaware that this band existed until a couple months ago. Then after I got a chance to hear some of their music, I was even more surprised that I had never heard them before, because they are right up my alley, and I really enjoy their stuff. This band may just be something of a low-key side project for these guys, but they make some very entertaining, thoroughly enjoyable music. OK then, for others out there who also may not be aware of these guys, Golden Smog started way back around 1989 when a fluid assortment of musicians from various Minneapolis-area bands got together to hang out, jam, and have fun performing cover songs at area clubs. By 1992, the lineup had settled to include Dan Murphy and Dave Pimer (of Soul Asylum), Gary Louris and Marc Perlman (of The Jayhawks), Kraig Johnson (of Run Westy Run), and drummer Chris Mars (of The Replacements), with the band playing primarily alternative country-rock covers of a wide variety of songs, with a loose and ragged style. They even released an EP , entitled On Golden Smog (with band members using various pseudonyms) of some of their covers. As they went on, they started adding in some original songs as well. By 1995, Mars left, replaced by Noah Levy (of the Honeydogs), and Jeff Tweedy (of Wilco) also joined in, and they began work on their first-length album consisting of mostly original material, which was released in 1996 and titled Down by the Old Mainstream. Also around this time, they also started some touring outside of the Minneapolis area. After changing drummers again, now adding Jody Stephens (of Big Star), they released their 2nd full-length original album, Weird Tales, in 1998, and by now they really seemed like a full-fledged band, and what a fine album this is. After some years of inactivity, they got back together in 2005, releasing 2 more albums, Another Fine Day (2006) and Blood on the Slacks (2007). Although all of the members were full-time members of other (more famous) bands, the albums don't seem to be in any way second-rate or afterthoughts, but rather just have a different feel and style from their primary bands. I don't know of any plans for further Golden Smog albums, but I wouldn't be surprised to see or hear of some form of Golden Smog performing and recording again. This is a great-sounding recording from 1998, after Weird Tales was released, from one of the Minneapoils clubs where they started, First Avenue, with a wonderfully eclectic set featuring original songs from their albums and some entertaining and diverse covers (from Elvin Bishop to Neil Young to Split Enz). So great to hear a band like this, with its mix of well-known musicians, but no egos, very low-key, and just playing what they want, for the enjoyment of it.  I hope others find out about and enjoy these guys like I did.

Tracklist:
01 Looking Forward To Seeing You
02 Ill Fated
03 Won't Be Coming Home
04 Lost Love
05 Making Waves
06 White Shell Road
07 To Call My Own
08 Glad and Sorry
09 V
10 He's a Dick
11 Walk Where He Walked
12 Keys
13 I Can't Keep From Talking
14 Jennifer Save Me
15 Pecan Pie
16 Fooled Around and Fell in Love
17 All The Same To Me
18 If I Only Had a Car
19 Until You Came Along
- Encores
20 Radio King
21 Please Tell My Brother
22 Hurricane
23 Revolution Blues
24 Reflections on Me
25 I Got You
26 Spooky

lineup:
Gary Louris - vocals/guitar
Dan Murphy - vocals/guitar
Jeff Tweedy - vocals/guitar
Kraig Johnson - vocals/guitar
Marc Perlman - bass/guitar
Jessy Greene - violin
Jody Stephens - drums

mp3 - Golden Smog_1998-12-12_Minneapolis_mp3.part1.rar
Golden Smog_1998-12-12_Minneapolis_mp3.part2.rar
links updated 2/5/2024

FLAC - Golden Smog_1998-12-12_Minneapolis_FLAC.rar