by Robert Wilkinson
Continuing our Summer birthday celebrations, June 21 was the birthday of the two major talents! Brandon has made some of the most pounding 21st century rock being made, and Joe gave us some classic blues numbers made huge by Bobby Blue Bland and the Grateful Dead!
When Brandon Flowers (June 21, 1981) met Dave Keuning (March 28, 1976), the Las Vegas band "The Killers" was formed, and the rock world got a huge transfusion of energy! Whether you consider this is an amalgam of Brit synth pop and Indie Rock, a "Kinks meet Billy Idol"/"ELO meets the Cure" type of sound, or just a new interpretation of the "BIG Sound" style that the Boss and U2 bring to their versions of guitar-and-melody driven stadium rock, The Killers have given us a style of music imitated by many who came after them, but never pulled it off the way this band has!
Brandon has a LOT of attitude, and wears it on his sleeve! He's given us some memorable tunes!
Live on Letterman, the Killers getting us all dancing with "Read My Mind"
One more time on Letterman, flogging their second album, here's the other song that was in the running for our Attitude tune! I suspect just about everyone on Earth has heard this driving powerpop engine synthesizing some great hooks! "When You Were Young"
Here are a few from their first album, Hot Fuss!
Live at Glastonbury in 2003! "Smile Like You Mean It" and "Mister Brightside"
From the 2004 NME T in the Park, the Killers live cranking out "Mr. Brightside" and "All These Things That I've Done"
Also from Hot Fuss, performed at T in the Park in Scotland in 2005, "Jenny Was A Friend of Mine."
Live from Rock Am Ring in 2013, "Somebody Told Me"
Here's the music video for "Somebody Told Me"
Their second album which sold over 5M, Sam's Town, kept it all rolling!
From that album, the music video of one of their monster hits, "When You Were Young"
From the 2007 T in the Park, here's a live performance of "When You Were Young" and "Exiltude" From the same gig, "All These Things That I've Done" and "Mister Brightside"
Here's the full 1 hour 14 minute live show! The Killers Live at T in the Park 2007
Live in Copenhagen in 2006, one of my favorites! "Bones"
Last year I had their fully electric 2006 performance on Jools Holland of “Read My Mind” but this year it’s disappeared.
Here's the original music video for "Read My Mind"
Back to Live on Letterman, where we have several great performances! First, "Smile Like You Mean It" which we'll follow with "For Reasons Unknown" and "Miss Atomic Bomb." We'll close this Letterman gig with "Runaways"
From Glastonbury in 2007, they crank it up with "Shadow Play," "For Reasons Unknown" and "Glamorous Indie Rock and Roll"
Last year I had the full Glastonbury show which is fantastic, but this year it’s disappeared, so here's the full 1 hour 7 minute show The Killers Live in Argentina 2007
Live at the 2009 Oxegyn Festival in Ireland, here are three greats! "Tranquilize" followed by "Human" and closed with the dynamic "Spaceman"
Live at T in the Park 2009, a great performance of "Bones"
The 2010 LV performance is gone this year, but I found this really beautiful acoustic performance in Las Vegas instead at a GOTV rally for Rosen of " Read My Mind” and “Home Means Nevada"
Live in Sydney, a powerful performance in Jan 2013 at Big Day Out in Oz! "When You Were Young."
From that same gig, "Mister Brightside" and "Don’t Dream It’s Over,” “Read My Mind,” and “Runaways”
From World Stage in Amsterdam in Nov 2013 (without ads!), "When You Were Young." and "Human."
From the same gig, "Spaceman," followed by "Shot At The Night" and "Smile Like You Mean It"
We'll begin to close this tribute with a full 1 hour 14 minute show! The Killers Live at Rock am Ring 2009
We’ll close with a GREAT 2 hour live show! The Killers Live at the Royal Albert Hall 2009 (I caught this on PBS a while back, and it's a really good concert!)
For the first encore, an hour and 35 on their "Battle Born" tour! The Killers Live - Battle Born Tour 2013
For our second encore, 44 minutes from Amsterdam in November 2013, The Killers Live at Paradiso Amsterdam - 2013
For our final encore, an hour and a half from 2020! The Killers Live in 2020
*********
June 21 is also the birthday of songwriter and blues musician Joe Medwick (June 21, 1931 - April 12, 1992). Though he’s fairly obscure, he wrote two huge hits! He’s generally known for “Further Up the Road,” though it is generally accepted that he also wrote “I Pity the Fool,” “Turn on Your Love Light,” and many more which he sold to Don Robey, who put his own name on them. It is believed that all the songs I have here (except “Barefootin’” and maybe one or two more) were written by Joe but appropriated by Don Robey.
The original recording from 1957, Bobby Blue Bland offering up “Further On Up The Road”
From 1957, "I Don't Want No Woman"
From 1960, Bobby Blue Bland going smooth with Joe's “Cry Cry Cry”
From 1961, Bobby’s version of one of the most danceable tunes in history, covered by some of the best! We’ll begin with his studio version of “Turn on Your Love Light” (some great dancing in this clip!)
This is classic footage of Solomon Burke doing this song! It begins about a minute into the clip. “Turn on Your Love Light”
Here’s an audio-only clip from 1970 of the Grateful Dead with Janis Joplin performing “Turn On Your Love Light.” Also from 1970, a 34 minute version by the Grateful Dead playing with the Allman Brothers at the Fillmore East “Turn On Your Love Light”
From Van Morrison’s first band Them, here’s their version of “Turn On Your Love Light,” and we'll finish this great run of different acts doing this song with a live performance clip from 1965 of the Righteous Brothers cranking out “Turn on Your Love Light”
Back to Bobby Blue Bland! From 1961, here’s his version of one of the most famous songs in blues history, “I Pity the Fool”
This song was also covered by some of the biggest and best, so here are two of them. First, from 1967, the Butterfield Blues Band’s version of “I Pity the Fool” and frm 2007, here’s the great Robert Cray and Shemekia Copeland in a live video performance of “I Pity the Fool”
From 1962, Bobby’s version of "Call On Me"
Here’s a great live performance video by Bobby Blue Bland in St. Louis where he gives up several of his biggest, including two written by our birthday boy! Intro, “That's The Way Love Is,” “Further On Up The Road,” “I Pity The Fool,” and “As Soon As The Weather Breaks.”
Joe also wrote this 1961 hit for Little Junior Parker, "Driving Wheel"
Now for some tunes by Joe! First, his 1959 studio version of “I Kneel At Your Throne”
This one smokes! “Second Time Around”
Getting’ down with “Have Fun Baby”
From 1970, Joe’s studio version of “Nearer to You”
From who knows when, Joe’s studio version of “I Cried”
We’ll close with his studio version of a song he didn’t write, but did a great version anyway! “Barefootin’”
For our encore, a great live video of Joe Medwick and the Texas Upsetters doing the Otis Redding classic, “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long”
For our second and last encore, a performance for the ages! Elwood, Mighty Mack, Cabel, and Buster as the Four Blues Brothers cranking out “Turn on Your Love Light” (And yes, the "other band" members are who you think they are. Wow.)
© Copyright 2024 Robert Wilkinson
Comments