I'm headed out to join 60,000 of my closest friends in the Oakland Coliseum for a Great Ballgame Sacrifice outta the Popol Vuh or something, but before I split I am gonna kick off October with this.
Today's deity was born 52 years ago today, making her 11 months younger than me.
I've seen her and her ancient-guitar-slinging partner a whole bunch of times, and their performances never disappoint.
I'm definitely someone who appreciates traditional and old-timey kinda music, and especially those writers that can create modern songs that, for all the world, sound like they were penned long ago.
This lady has all of that stuff down and dirty, there can be no argument. One foot in the eternal and one in the modern, cliché free all the way.
How I've never covered Gillian Welch here in six years of doing this I can't understand, but today that wrong gets rectified.
Anyway she arrived this day back in 1967, and this monster show -- taped just south of here 17 years ago in Santa Cruz's most celebrated venue -- is IMO as good as any of her as-yet-unreleased performances I've ever sampled.
Gillian Welch & David Rawlings
The Catalyst
Santa Cruz, California USA
6.26.2002
01 introduction
02 Tear My Stillhouse Down
03 Elvis Presley Blues
04 Rock of Ages
05 I Want to Sing that Rock & Roll
06 GW talk
07 My Dear Someone
08 True Life Blues
09 Annabelle
10 Tell Me What You Think About
11 Everything Is Free
12 Red Clay Halo
13 set break applause
14 GW talk
15 My First Lover
16 GW talk
17 I'm Not Afraid to Die
18 By the Mark
19 Revelator
20 DR talk
21 Fair and Tender Rose
22 Happy Birthday
23 On the Way Back to the Old Home
24 GW talk
25 Tennessee Stud
26 Caleb Meyer
27 I'll Fly Away
28 GW talk
29 Snowin' On Raton
30 outro applause
Total time: 1:53:30
disc/set break goes after Track 13
Gillian Welch - guitar, banjo & vocals
David Rawlings - guitar & vocals
master soundboard DAT capture
track volumes subtly adjusted for more consistency by EN, July 2019
523 MB FLAC/October 2019 archive link
In many ways this is the definitive GW/DR set, taped at the peak of their powers in the wake of what many consider their best record.
I have about 77 different possibilities for October and I'm still deciding what to post, but whatever it's gonna be you can bet your last money it's gonna be quite the harrowing harvest.
I shall return soon to begin the mayhem, but don't hesitate to head to the country with the birthday girl here... she and her friend Dave will take you backwards and forwards at the same time!--J.
