Friday, December 26, 2008

The List...




Does this ever happen to you? You're driving in you car, listening to the radio, your iPod, a mixtape- whatever, and you hear a song from an album that you absolutely love. I mean LOVE. An album that you can THINK your way through the entire running order, start-to-finish. An album that's as warm to you as a pair of faded jeans straight out of the dryer. An album that, for some ridiculous reason, if you ended up stranded on a desert island, you would want to have with you. An album you would NEED to have with you if you were going to survive. Whenever this happens to me, I always unconsciously blurt out to whoever is riding alongside, "THIS album... is on THE LIST".

Now, I don't want to get too heavy into the logistics of why the desert island scenario is flawed from the get go. If you just consider it for a moment, with the lack of electricity, the limited life of batteries, the destructive effects of salt water on electronics, or, for that matter, the reality of any audio player actually working for more than a few years anyway, the idea is doomed. But I guess if you are like me, and you watched a lot of Gilligan's Island reruns as a kid, you can at least muster up the possibility that perpetual music, albeit limited to a carefully chosen list of 10 albums, might be possible. So, if you were lucky enough to be stranded on a desert island with a smart professor, who could design and build a bamboo bicycle that could generate electricity, AND you had a bomb-proof playback device for cd's, vinyl, whatever, you would want to be prepared wouldn't you?
Thus, the list.

I've been working on my list since early adolescence. I vividly remember my first 8-track tape. It was "Elvis's Golden Records" and I bought it with my own allowance money at K-Mart. I couldn't have been more than 6 or 7 years old, but I completely remember rushing home, ripping it out of it's big over-sized box, then gently pushing it into the stereo 8-track deck. Over the next few weeks I literally memorized that music. Coincidentally, I have only one Elvis cd in my collection now, and it's "Elvis's Golden Records"... As the years passed, other 8-tracks entered and retreated from my life, followed by piles of vinyl records, 45's and 33's, mountains of cassette tapes, and then, much later, compact discs. When I was just a kid, my dad used to take me to swap meets at the long-ago-demolished Twin Drive-INN in Riverside, MO . I developed a behavior pattern then, which has remained in me to this very day. Whenever I see an old box of records, cassettes, cd's, or whatever lying underneath a table at a flea market or a garage sale, I MUST go through the entire box. Its an obsession that has yielded me some real treasures over the years. One of them was an 8-track of The Beatles "White Album". Actually, it was only the first half of the 2-album set, and the running order was different, due to the time constraints of the 8-track format. But I memorized it nonetheless- track breaks and all. It took me years to get used the new order when I finally bought it on vinyl. But the music contained on that 8-track destroyed me, and it still destroys me today (although in a completely different way). That's why "The White Album" is on the list. I assure you that I'll need a copy if I end up on that lonely desert island... I WILL.

My 10-album list is constant, yet ever-changing. There are albums on my list that have been on it for most of my life, and albums that are are much more recent additions. After 30 or so some-odd years of collecting, I've grown pretty skeptical. For this reason, I am, by nature, suspicious when I hear something that really knocks me out. New albums that hit me this way generally get put on a probationary sub-list and remain there for quite some time. Then, if they truly have staying power, I will move them up to the actual list. Of course, when this happens, another worthy list occupant must be demoted. I'm not sure why the list must be limited to 10 albums, but it has always has been this way, and I don't dare shake up the rules at this point.

The following is my current list (in no particular order) with supporting evidence:

1. "The White Album" - The Beatles - As a huge Beatles fan, its really hard to choose which album goes on my list. Generally, as one becomes my favorite, it will replace another. With only 10 songs, I can't really afford to have more than one Beatles album on there. But my love for this one dates way back to that original 8-track. I just love the raggedness of the whole thing. Individually, the four Beatles were never more creative. But at the same time, they were in the process of destroying each other. Its a big, overwrought, fleshy thing full of attitude and ego-mania.

2. "Ram" - Paul McCartney - Sir Paul's 2nd post-Beatle solo record has been on the list since my childhood. I used to sit for hours looking at the gatefold cover on the floor of my sister's room. It was her copy and she wouldn't loan it to me. If I wanted to hear it, I had to come into her room. The music was both friendly and, at the same time, sort of edgy. I had no idea that the lyrics were nonsensical and that Linda McCartney's voice was horrifyingly bad. Upon repeated listens as an adult, I cannot divorce these childhood experiences from the music. It has always been on the list and it always will be. I just absolutely love it and can't musically justify why. To paraphrase Descartes, "Its on the list, therefore the list is.

3. "#1 Record/Radio City" - Big Star - I can't believe that I spent nearly 35 years of my life before hearing Big Star. Although I had always "heard about" Alex Chilton's seminal Memphis, TN attempt to pitch some good old USA into the british invasion, I had never had the inclination, or determination to actually seek out a record by them. Ike Sheldon brought this amazing, near perfect, rock and roll nugget into my life several years ago. I can't remember what it bumped off when it crashed onto the list, but whatever it was, good riddance...

4. "King of the Delta Blues Singers" - Robert Johnson - When I was 13 and just starting to play the guitar, I checked this out from our local library. I had read interviews with Keith Richards and Eric Clapton and they talked about what a huge influence Robert Johnson had been on their playing. I got it home and put the record on my turntable and thought it must be on the wrong speed. The guitar was sort of harsh and metallic. and the Johnson's voice sounded like he was singing through a tin can. Needless to say, I was way too young to appreciate the unbelievably haunting songs, the amazing guitar rhythm and his vocal control. These 16 songs would later have a profound influence on me as a musician. It will always be a reference point for how good you can get if you just keep at it.

5. "The Basement Tapes" - Bob Dylan and The Band- Just like The Beatles, picking a single Dylan record is nearly impossible. I choose this one because I just love how loose it is. The boys were just screwing around in the basement. Sometimes, it is amazing what you can create when you don't think anyone is listening. Dylan sneers and croons his way through a thicket of material here. And you get the more bang-for-your-buck with the additional tunes The Band were working up by themselves. I personally think The Band never recorded anything in the studio even close to as good as the stuff in the basement of Big Pink.

6. "Jazz Impressions of New York" - Dave Brubeck Quartet
- I discovered this record my sophomore year in college at the University of Missouri. I used to be what they called a "suitcaser"- meaning, I packed my dirty laundry and books into my car and headed home to the comfort of mom and dad's house every weekend. This album made that lonesome 2-hour drive from Columbia bearable weekend after weekend. Many a jazz purist will discount the Brubeck Quartet as a product of the pure commercial saccharin-jazz rampant in the naive 1950's . But I defy anyone to listen to Paul Desmond's aching saxophone on "Autumn on Washington Square" and not feel a cold chill of melancholy settling into their bones.

7. "In an Aeroplane Over the Sea" - Neutral Milk Hotel
- This was one that came to me in the 90's while I was still working at the Kansas City Art Institute. Oftentimes my student workers would come into my office, heralding the latest "coolest band EVER" to me. Most of what they played me is now forgotten, but I heard this record and loved it from the first listen. Regardless of my skepticism, it only remained on my sub-list for a short time. I moved it up to full residency on the permanent list before Y2K and never looked back... By the way, I LOVE the sound of a 7th grade brass band playing Sousa marches they've only rehearsed a few times. I guess its just the chaos of it all.

8. "Odyssey and Oracle" - The Zombies
- This is one that could drop off the list at any time in favor of a more worthy record. Yet, for the last 3 years or so, every time I hear it, I mutter to myself, "this is still, really...on the list". Its a crazy melange of a record- the Zombies last, that speaks so much to what could have happened if they could have just got past their petty differences and made more beautiful music together...I love the drama of "Butchers Tale (Western Front 1914) and the sweet loneliness of "A Rose for Emily". I don't see it on very many other top 10 lists. So I'll hang on to it for now, in hopes that others may discover it's beauty.

9. "Tattoo You" - The Rolling Stones
- Ok, I'm sure I'm going to get a lot of negative response to this one. But here's the deal: I got "Tattoo You" as a Christmas present from my high school buddy, Mark McNally, after we played touch football with about 22 other half drunk dudes in the December Missouri mud, on some Christmas vacation Saturday afternoon. We went to my Chevy Vega during half time, to sample a room temperature 12 pack of Old Milwaukee Light, when he just busted it out from behind his back. He told me, "dude, I know you don't really like The Stones, but just listen to side two. It's the sexiest album side EVER." I went home and listened. Its been on the list ever since.

10. "Final Fade" - Howard Iceberg
- The newest addition to the list, but maybe the most worthy ever. I've been a fan of Howard's since the early 90's. He's a Kansas City institution. Hell, I even played slide guitar on his "Hindu Equations" cd. But I'll never forget when Howard gave me a copy of "Final Fade" at one of our local KC shows. He handed it to me and had a funny look on his face. I read the liner notes, and realized that this might be the last Howard Iceberg record. It appeared that he was intending to retire from the music game once and for all. I took it home and realized immediately, the loss this retirement would bring. Luckily, Howard has decided to forgo his retirement a little longer. That's a bonus for everyone who can get their hands on one of his records, or, better yet. see him perform his amazing songs live.

So that's my top 10 desert island disks as of 12/26/08. As is the nature of the list, it might change somewhat tomorrow, or next week. Its my list and I make no bones about it. What I choose is a deeply personal list based on my own particular criteria. You might think I'm crazy, but I'm the one who has to live with my choices on that lonely island right?

So what are your choices? I'd like to see the lists of some others out there. Who knows...Maybe one of your top 10's will eventually creep onto my own? Of course, as a musician, I think that I know EVERYTHING about music. But there's always the possibility of something interesting creeping on to my list at any time. I'll be waiting for your own lists in the comments section of this blog entry. Feel free to expand upon your reasoning, or just provide your basic top 10. I think we will all benefit from the experience...

Happy New Year!

27 comments:

  1. jjjjiiiiihaaaa, what a big report!!! Thanks a lot therefor!!!
    I will need x hours for to translate, BUT it will be sure exiting. - It will be a pleasure, when I´m ready with it.
    Till then, then and have a good slide in the new year!!!!

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  2. My basic 10

    1. Wilder's
    2. Mozart
    3. Vivaldi
    4. Beethoven
    3. Bill Monroe
    4. Dry Branch Fire Squad
    5. George Jones
    6. Merle Haggard
    7. Beetles (Hey Jude)
    8. Enya
    9. Cowboy Junkies
    10.Emmy Lou Harris

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  3. I see now you wanted the basic 10 Albums:

    1. Wilder's (Someone's Got to Pay)
    2. Mozart (The Best of Mozart)
    3. Vivaldi (Four Seasons)
    4. Beethoven (1999 album with Fur Elise)
    3. Bill Monroe (Bluegrass '87)
    4. Dry Branch Fire Squad (Long Journey)
    5. George Jones (The Bradley Sessions)
    6. Merle Haggard (Collection Series)
    7. Beetles (Hey Jude)
    8. Enya (Watermark)
    9. Cowboy Junkies (Black Eyed Man)
    10.Emmy Lou Harris (To Daddy)

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  4. Phil, I like your list. I grew up with the Beatles. I didn't have to buy thier albums, my older sister did. WHB played thier stuff all the time. KUDL was album oriented, and played songs from thier albums that were not released as singles. The first 2 albums I bought when in high school were "Abbey Road" and "Ram". I find a top 10 list to be tough. A top 20 or 25 would be a little easier.
    I generally enjoyed popular music. I was exposed to a lot of different music, but some I didn't appreciate until much later. As a youth, I listened to but didn't appreciate bluegrass, country, blues and old time. Rock and Roll!
    I was luckily hanging around with a few guys that looked for obscure bands. Some of these are still my favorites.
    Here's my list:
    Abbey Road
    Sargent Peppers
    White Album
    Will the Circle be Unbroken
    It's all Balcone's Fault
    Batdorf and Rodney (self titled)
    Merchants Lunch
    Bob Wills Live in Concert
    Hillbilly Jazz
    Artseen
    Bluegrass at Newport
    Greetings from Asbury Park
    The Yes Album
    Sticky Fingers
    Look at Yourself
    Eat a Peach
    Question
    Live at Vandivort Theatre.
    This isn't that good of a list. I don't listen to much of the old rock and roll any more. I spend most of my listening time listening to the Wilders, Midday Ramblers, Truckstop Honeymoon, Freight Hoppers, Dirk Powell, Red Stick Ramblers, Bob Wills, Doc Watson, Flatt and Scruggs, and a few more old hard core bluegrass bands, no new grass. Ironically, Connie didn't care for the Beatles, but she has Abbey Road and Sargent Peppers in her car, and we listen to them where ever we go. I think that picking 10 albums is darn near impossible.

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  5. Wow, Betty and LVJ - very interesting reports!
    I could write too much about my interesting for music.
    But if I must answer fix now, I would say:
    The Wilders (someone´s got to pay, throw down, the red vinyl-sittin´on a Jury ....),
    The Beatles (which album? - it´s dependent from my mood), ..... Jack Johnson (Jack Johnson and Friends Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the film Curious George),
    Michael Fitz (hier),
    Chris Rea (stony road),...........
    don´t see the end of the list ... so different.
    But by the way I remember: the first single, which I had got (maybe i was 4 years?) was from Roy Black + Anita (schön ist es auf der Welt zu sein - nice it´s to be on the world + keine 10 Pferde - no ten horses)
    and my first cd (becauce it haven´t got as a vinyl), was "West side story" (Leonard Bernstein) ......
    I wish you all a great happy new year!!!!

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  6. I'm still thinking about this. Stevie Ray Vaughn, Muddy Waters, Spirit - The 12 Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus. One of my favorites is: I burned all the live stuff that Phil has put on the Wilders Website the last several years. I picked thru all of these and made one CD. It is incredible. I also picked thru these and made a fiddle tunes CD. These 2 would definitely have to be in the top 10. Hey, Happy New Year, but it looks like the same old @#$% to me. LVJ

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  7. ooooohhh, poor black tomcat! Don´t be sad, we are with you!
    bisou, bisou

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  8. in the moment the Beatles sing in the radio: ... here comes the sun ....

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  9. Thanks for the responses. I probably won't get a chance to post again before we hit the UK on January 15th. For anybody reading this, I'd like to see your lists too. Please include the artist, and the title of the cd so everybody can have all the info. Let's look at each other's lists and learn about great music together ok?

    good luck.

    By the way, I KNOW that 10 albums is nearly impossible to pick. That's why its limited to 10. You have to really love it for it to make your list. Think about it and try to narrow it down...

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  10. I think that the Robert Johnson stuff is the wrong speed. I'm pretty sure some real smart people did some really fancy tests and determined that it should be slower. You can buy a complete RJ at what is conceived to at the correct speed and pitch.

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  11. Congratulation WILDER !!

    "Someone's got to Pay" album won 1st place in IMA's Alt Country catagory

    "~~IMA FINALIST~~
    Wilders said: Vote Here! We've made the finals for Best Alt Country Album (Someone's Got to Pay) and Best Americana Song (Hey Little Darlin)!"
    Thanks for all the votes.

    Link to the award's page.
    http://www.independentmusicawards.com/pages/jukebox2009.asp

    Happy touring wild ones. We are so proud of you.....

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  12. I let students ask me any questions anonymously on the first day of classes, by placing questions with no names in an envelope. Besides being asked if I had to wear, for the rest of my life, a Jean Jacket or M.C. Hammer pants, I was also asked abut my favorite album, band, singer.

    What about

    Viva Last Blues – Palace Music (1995)

    Phil?

    I would take this album to the desert island along with a cassette tape that I have of Trouble in Mind from the very early days like with Pat's 25 and such on it. If anyone has this now, my tape wore out, let me know.

    I choose M.C. Hammer pants!

    Sweetpea

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  13. Okay, one more thing. Maybe you're going to hate this, Phil, (LVJ won't because he listed Greetings from Asbury Park).

    I have another pick based on seeing Bruce Springsteen live this past year just days after he lost one of his long time bandmates. I'm not sure I have ever seen anyone sing and play so passionately in the vein of healing or coping...as well as see a +50 year old sweat so much, literally pouring off of him; his pain was visceral. So, what album would it be? Probably, Darkness on the Edge of Town especially with the song Adam Raised Cain- the vocals, the keys, the guitar...it drives. Then there's the line up of that album moving from Adam Raised Cain to Something in the Night is brilliant.

    Although, I may trade this Bruce album in for Nebraska, if I was in a different mood.

    Okay, maybe more than 'one more thing'. To save me from being too mainstream I will add a different kind of storyteller, Liz Phair Exile in Guyville, to my list that I'm taking to the desert island. I might have fell in love with Ike the day he introduced me to this album. It was the moment that I knew he was a fascinating artist.

    Also, on my list must be The Replacements. Not sure though because you said the album collection, not songs. I made up my own album of songs like androgynous, here comes a regular, etc...not sure about an album as a work of art such as Some One's Got to Pay.

    Final Fade is on my list too, Phil. If I only had one song to take to the desert island I may have to take Calling Robert Burns. Can I take Howard's original and Ike's version of it, that is if Ike can't be on the island with me. I might need both. Howard, you are a remarkable person. We love you.

    Sweetpea

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  14. Phil and Sweetpea, thx so so much for including me in your desert island favorites. doubly flattering since coincidentally you two are both on my Desert Island Top Ten People list. I feel lucky that my music has allowed me to connect with some very cool types that I probly wouldnt have met otherwise, and you two are among them---Howard

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  15. Dammit, you had to mention "Nebraska" didn't you. There goes Bob Dylan "The Basement Tapes" (for now)...

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  16. Funny how a lot of people have beatles stories-- I fell in love with magical mystery tour in the same way you did with the white album, phil --- but I had it on 1/4-inch tape on my dad's reel to reel! I got so used to the muffled sound and memorized the dropouts so completely that when i finally got the actual album I almost lost interest. So much of our favorite things, whether they be music, food, or religion, happen in those early years. I think many people get "stuck" after about high school or early college and can't hear new music in a way that impacts them anymore. So here's to letting in the new stuff that the kids throw our way! Your fluid top ten list is a great way to go about it. Here's something weird that I haven't heard anyone ever say, so maybe it's just me: have you ever liked a song so much that you can't bear to listen to it? I have a couple of favorite songs that I haven't listened to in over ten years. Don't know if I ever will again. Isn't that strange?

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  17. Do tell, Clayton! Can you post the songs, even though you can't bear to listen to them?

    Phil, Nebraska is definitely the best Bruce album and certainly ranks above other artists.... (my other Bruce choice is based on personal connections/experiences). I'm wondering if you-all as musicians and performers, as oppose to me as a visual artist,are evaluating the albums more from music and lyric compositions and music innovation while some others might connect to the music through non-compositional elements such as only emotive connections the listener makes or from personal experience. For example, I would be remiss if I did not have a Bruce song in my list, because his music marked my middle school experiences in NJ- a very charged time that lives with me today.

    So, I am wondering about all contexts now. Would I have thought and still think Liz Phair is so great if Ike wasn't linked (in my mind) to her music?

    I would love to hear Tom Livesay's list. I'm not sure I know anyone else who has listen to as much music as that man.

    Sweetpea

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  18. This is amazing!

    http://video.aol.com/video-detail
    /celtic-connections-2009-the-wilders/
    2737682329/?icid=VIDURVMUS12

    Thanks Vieta.

    Sweetpea

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  19. And another one.

    http://video.stv.tv/bc/entertainment-fivethirty-20080805-the-wilders/

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  20. I must tell you ..... I´m sooooooo glad:
    I´m back from the first concert of the Wilders.

    I must say at first: the show was such incedibly, that I find actual no words!!! .... or I must write a lot of pages .... too much. Mmmmmhh, I try too make it short:

    28. January -- In the morning on that day, I heard in the radio, that airlines were be on strike. Of course, I must thinking fix to the Wilders .... what would happened? ..................
    And in fact, the Wilders arrived a little bit too late, but under the circumstances with the airline strike they started to play only approx. 40 minutes later.

    You have to know, I love music so deep, that I wouldn´t live without it.
    The first time I saw the Wilders two years ago and was very, very fascinated from the wise, like they play music and how the Wilders as human are – really a very lovely special folk!
    They are all different and together the perfect mix!

    During the concert I looked around me – I saw, that I was not the only one, which was so enthused – all the people were enthused! Oh what a feeling!

    Betse fiddle so wonderful - it can´t be better. And she sang a blues! WOW! WOW! WOW!

    Nate was also playing his bass so fantastic! It was so nice to see him during his playing and sometimes to sing for a quick while with Ike! I love to hear and see his playing on the bass!

    And Phil: he sang also a song alone - it sounded soooooooo great - he sing very, very great also! And his playing on the dobro - fantastic!

    And of course Ike - he sang soooooo great with his special voice! And played so fast with his arm his guitar, you must see it – really unique!
    He plays so intensive and fast, that I think, he need to every show a new arm. – Incredible!

    By the way: one string from the guitar was ruptured. Ike walked fast in the backround for to repair. We could hear him, he said something, I didn´t understand, but it sounded very funny, ... mumble, mumble, mumble, ...... I must chuckle - yeah, that´s life!

    I wish, everyone on this world could hear and see the Wilders. They bring with their music so much fun and energy to the audience ...... it´s really incredible!

    I´m sure, if you work in an office, at home, or in a factory, or in the nature, or if people think, that you have a hard job or an easy, whatever ...... if you are a biker ......and so on, and so on. I believe, if you are open in your minds and have an open heart, it could be a big present to experience the Wilders.

    Why I tell you that? Because I think music makes this world a little bit better and the Wilders are really a special folk. And I like it to share my great joy and hope I can bring you a little bit with this informations.

    Have a good time!

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  21. Greetings my fellow Wilders fans! Phil, my list changes as yours does. White album has always been there. That one can never be bumped. I grew up listening to an old wooden radio my oldest brother Mike had. W. L. S. Chicago. It would fade in for about 2 minutes, then fade out for about 1 minute. We would turn it on after my folks went to bed. They could see the glow of the tubes in the back, so we would cover it with a pillow. Why the house never burned down, I will never know. Man that baby would get hot! When a Beatles song came on, we had to switch bunks as per big brothers rules.It seemed like all they played were Beatles.I will try to write a list, but, I havent written one this week. Here are some of my favorites. Pink Floyd, Great Dance Waltzes. Merle, Train songs. Traveling Wiburys album 1. Styx, return to paradise live. Willie Nelson, Honeysucle Rose. Wilders,Wings of a dove. The Highwaymen album 1.Jethro Tull, Greatest.Sk nyrd,Pronounced.Theres my thoughts as of today. After we got busted for the radio, My Granny snuck me a transistor radio with an ear plug. I was in hog heaven!! A White plastic one with a big round AM tuning Knob in front.The kind that the ear plug wire always shorted out. I bet a lot of you can relate to this radio! Not sure if you heard the news over there, but, Billy Powell died last week. I get a lump in my throat as I write this. I can still remember his interview at the plane crash years ago. My thoughts and prayers go to his family, friends, and band mates. Man Im really going to miss him. Take care, and drink a Bavarian beer for Timmer!!

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  22. Welcome back Timmer...we have missed you.

    Thanks Jutta for the great Wilder's review.

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  23. One more concert with the Wilders! --> LincolnTheater in Worms.

    It was another concert like in cologne, but also great.
    Phil made more lovely nonsense: played the little guitar behind his neck! - Like in the DVD. - It was so great!!!And he made fun with Ike: He twirl Ike´s hat, during Ike was singing! - That looked really funny. And Ike made after his song fun with his hat till that sat on the right point on his head again. We must laughing.
    By another song Phil made with his hand a greedy fish in route to Ike´s hat again, during Ike was looking to route Betse, till suddenly Phil bit with his hand in Ike´s hat.We must love them! - Right?!

    Nate sang a song with Ike - that was so lovely!!!

    And then ... you have to know, there was a piano in LincolnTheater! ... Phil said, that Ike is his favorite piano player. So Betse, Nate and Phil left the stage and Ike told us, that his mom will be glad, when she will hear that he played piano, because she payed money, that Ike learned piano, but Ike allways taken his guitar. It was so wonderful!
    Thanks a lot to Ike´s mom, that she payed Ike the piano lessons!

    Betse played also very well, more silence then I knowed before, but very fine!

    The absolutely crown for me during the concert were the words from Ike before they played “Hey little Darlin´” – my favorite song! --- Ike, thanks a lot therefor!!! Of course also thanks a lot to Betse, Nate and last but not least Phil!!!

    You know, the concert was in LincolnTheater. The Wilders played some more songs as in cologne from the new album "someone´s got to pay" and for that kind of stage is was very adapted ----- the Theater/Cinema hall from Lincoln and the story from the CD - great!!!
    Typical for the Wilders, that they adapt their look and songs to the ambience. Betse, Nate, Ike and Phil are really special marvelous people with marvellous special music!!!

    At the end from the show suddenly Phil sang loud by a song: "la, la, la, la, la, la, la, ....." - we had must laughing - it was soooooo cute!!!

    Then Betse, Nate, Ike and Phil went from the stage and sat down on stage for to sing "ring of fire". - Wow, in that moment all the audience sang with - what a feeling!!! - Goose skin let greeting!!!

    At the end Phil sang once again "la, la, la, la, la, la, ......" Phil must laughing too. By this show, I saw Phil more smiling than before. It was so nice to see that. Then the showed was ended. It was a completely other show then in cologne, but also very wonderful!!!I wish, you could see and hear the Wilders with your open heart and minds.

    And Peggy, I´m agree with you that one of the very favorite things about The Wilders is their willingness to interact with their crowds. Their personalities shine in their performances, but also in the ini-between-songs banter. They are REAL, and that's possibly what makes them so special.

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  24. Thanks again for the great review Jutta. You write so we can see in our minds the Wilder's concert.

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  25. Dear Betse, dear Ike, dear Nate and last but not least, dear Phil!
    Your German tour is over and you are on the way back home.
    Thanks a lot, thanks really a lot for that, what you have given us with your visit!

    Take care and be safe!

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  26. Jutta,
    Betse, Nate, and Phil arrived at KCI airport safe and sound last evening.
    Ike is safely back in Philadelphia.
    I'm sure they are all glad to be back home, but they will miss their friends from the tour of the past 5 weeks too.

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  27. Betty, thanks a lot to know, that our dear Betse, dear Ike, dear Nate and last but not least dear Phil is safe and sound!!! ..... sound ... what a word: sound for good, sound in music .... sounds so good ....
    So dear Betse, Ike, Nate and Phil, have a good time, take care, be safe and never forget, you will stay in my heart forever! And all the other lovely people too!

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