Remember Jones, with a 20 piece group including him (!) doing a tribute show of the early 70s Joe Cocker Mad Dogs and Englishmen concert tour album. The show was a joy tsunami. We saw him do an Amy Winehouse thing last year and it was equally great.
You both beat me to this. My God, that was great. Even worth missing the Carolina-Duke game, which, given that the Heels won on a last-second shot, couldn’t be higher praise.
Sat next to a couple on one side who have been following Remember Jones for years, and their enthusiasm before the show did not oversell it. (I missed Remember Jones at Maplewoodstock, so I was uninitiated.) On the other side were friends of the chorus singer who took the spotlight for Darling Be Home Soon.
A quick snapshot before the concert, just to give a picture of the size of the troupe: eight singers in the chorus, three horns, two drummers, one percussionist, one keyboard player, one pianist, one bassist, two guitarists and Remember Jones.
Remember Jones is definitely a "you gotta see this guy" performer. We've given tickets to past shows to family members because we know they'll love the shows, too.
That was the second recent SOPAC show where "The Weight" was covered. R&B singer Emily King did it last year.
I've long thought the Cocker version of With a Little Help From My Friends (at least the Woodstock version) is the best cover song ever. He took what is virtually a Beatle's children's song and turned it into an explosive psychedelic masterpiece. And Jones did a pretty respectable job of it as a closing number.
I've long thought the Cocker version of With a Little Help From My Friends (at least the Woodstock version) is the best cover song ever.
It’s up there.
As for underappreciated originals, I’ll offer the aforementioned Darling. It’s the rare love song that venerates conversation, and John Sebastian pulls “toddled” out of Ogden Nash’s hat for an audacious rhyme. Sebastian’s earnest, unadorned vocal brings it all home.
Darling is a beautiful song. Not much else from him post Lovin Spoonful (besides the Welcome Back Kotter theme song!). I saw him one once at a music festival. He only wanted to play blues, not his pop stuff. He was kinda terrible.
Dave, I just posted a power pop gem on the old thread. I don't think it was on there already but who knows, the thread is so long.
Darling is a beautiful song. Not much else from him post Lovin Spoonful (besides the Welcome Back Kotter theme song!). I saw him one once at a music festival. He only wanted to play blues, not his pop stuff. He was kinda terrible.
Dave, I just posted a power pop gem on the old thread. I don't think it was on there already but who knows, the thread is so long.
I went down a rabbit hole reading about Sebastian this afternoon. I had him pegged with a folk/jugband background and didn’t know about his close, early ties to Lead Belly and other major bluesmen.
For some reason, neither the power pop thread (even when I look for it under my account) nor your post (even when I look for it under your account) shows up for me.
Darling is a beautiful song. Not much else from him post Lovin Spoonful (besides the Welcome Back Kotter theme song!). I saw him one once at a music festival. He only wanted to play blues, not his pop stuff. He was kinda terrible.
Dave, I just posted a power pop gem on the old thread. I don't think it was on there already but who knows, the thread is so long.
I went down a rabbit hole reading about Sebastian this afternoon. I had him pegged with a folk/jugband background and didn’t know about his close, early ties to Lead Belly and other major bluesmen.
For some reason, neither the power pop thread (even when I look for it under my account) nor your post (even when I look for it under your account) shows up for me.
Here's the full thread title. I struggled at first too but It comes up:
Ah, yes — Moe Berg. I bought that TPOH album when it came out, after hearing “I’m an Adult Now” on the radio. Cranked it up on the turntable just a couple of months ago.
Just seeing this now (name of the show in the discussion title might have been a good idea )
We were there too and it was right up there with the best Remember Jones shows I've seen. And with that show I've filled my Remember Jones bingo card, having also seen:
Remember Jones originals
The Who's Tommy
Amy Winehouse
Meat Loaf
Queen
Tom Jones
April 18 he's debuting his Songs In the Key of Life show at the Count Basie and we already have our tickets. It will almost certainly be as good as all the others.
He is also a regular performer at the annual Light of Day benefit show in Red Bank and emceed the past 2 years. Several years ago he did a couple of songs with just piano accompaniment and brought down the house. Standing ovation. Pretty impressive among the array of talent who participate in that event.
The shows all are really joyful and inclusive. After SOPAC I told him it looked like a party on stage
And speaking of SOPAC shows, if you liked Remember Jones, check out Low Cut Connie on May 28 (tickets not yet on sale). High energy front man, joyful band interplay, and lots of positivity. We're big fans of theirs too. Adam Weiner is more political (he was the first artist to cancel a Kennedy Center show last year) so the MAGAs might not be fans. But for everyone else it's a fun, inspiring show.
And if you sit anywhere near an aisle you're likely to get a hug from Adam
)
Remember Jones, with a 20 piece group including him (!) doing a tribute show of the early 70s Joe Cocker Mad Dogs and Englishmen concert tour album. The show was a joy tsunami. We saw him do an Amy Winehouse thing last year and it was equally great.