Soundgarden at the Gorge: Super day in the Superunknown

When Soundgarden announced in the Spring they would be touring again, and included a stop at the Gorge to wrap up their circuit, I was intrigued.

I'm a bit older than Soundgarden's target demographic.  But I came by my interest in their music honestly.  When my son Patrick was growing up, we talked music constantly.  The grunge movement/Seattle sound was all the rage in the mid-90's and so its only natural that Pat was attracted to it, so we talked Nirvana, the Screaming Trees, Mudhoney, Pearl Jam, and of course Soundgarden.  As Soundgarden became big enough to be played on mainstream FM radio, it was clear to me they had a lot in common with my '70's rock heroes, their big guitars and big vocals.  I got to know their best-known album, Superunknown, pretty well, and listened to some of their other tracks too, though I confess I don't know their catalog well.

When Pat and Lorri presented me with a ticket to the concert to the Gorge concert for Father's Day I was thrilled, if a bit disconcerted.  I wasn't expecting it, and wasn't sure what to expect for the show.  I felt I might be a bit out of my element.  There was a great line up of supporting bands-the Meat Puppets, Mastodon, and Queens of the Stone Age-but I really didn't know their music.  I felt I wasn't quite prepared. 

 Turns out I really didn't need to be, I just needed to enjoy the music.  Queens of the Stone Age was great, and as Soundgarden took the stage near dusk, it was clear the large crowd was stoked.  It was also clear many had some herbal boost to their enthusiasm, but not in an obnoxious, unruly, or disrespectful-to-their-neighbors way.  Frontman Chris Cornell quickly announced to the screaming faithful that this was going to be a getting reacquainted concert.  The setlist would be old favorites, and new songs would come on a future tour.  Needless to say, the crowd roared its approval. Soundgarden played for a solid two hours and they sounded great.  Vocalist Cornell hit all the right notes, guitarist Kim Thayil played that trademark sound, and drummer Matt Cameron seemed like he never left the band.  All my favorites were well played and a great time was had by all.

As if the great tunes weren't enough, the boys from Seattle brought a bit of a light show with them.

 And then there is the Gorge itself.  My second trip after last year's Tom Petty concert.  It is always amazing.  The weather was just right-probably high 70's-and the backdrop scenery is just amazing.  We arrived at 6:00 with the Columbia River winding its way sluggishly through the landscape.  The sunset low over the western tableland is a perfect beginning to the main act.  The night closes with an amazing starscape we just can't appreciate in the suburbs.  The only drawback is the long drive back to Puyallup that ended, mercifully at 2:30 AM.

The Gorge at Dusk

With the sun setting, Soundgarden explodes on to the stage.

Have Love Will Travel--Six ways, count 'em

My son Pat has been talking about a sort of music club in which we share some songs that we like.  It's a way to be introduced to some new sounds.  It includes some of his friends, whom I like quite a bit and they have great musical influences, so I hope we get started soon.

I was kind of struggling with what I should share with some thirtysomethings, and I just decided to go for it and choose some artists I like.  One song I that really gets me is an old R & B tune by Richard Berry, "Have Love Will Travel."  In some respects the song is reminiscent of "Louie, Louie," also a Berry tune, with its simple chord progression, and down to basics lyrics.  I knew a couple of covers of the song.

The one that got my attention first actually was the theme for a Land Rover commercial a few years ago.  That's the 1965 cover by Tacoma's own Sonics.  The vocals are raw, the production is is fuzzy and distorted, the loud, blaring sax is right out in front.  It's a great version of the song, maybe my favorite, and it's so good.

Before there was punk, there were the Sonics from beautiful Tacoma, WA.

The other version I really love is by the Black Keys. The hard rock duo from Akron, Ohio include "Have Love" on the 2003 "Thickfreakness" album and it holds fast to the band's R & B roots.  Dan Auerbach's thick, sludgy guitar and gutbucket vocals recall the Sonics' version, but the arrangement is fresh and heavy.  Great stuff.

Dan Auerbach (guitar and vocals) and Patrick Carney are the Black Keys.  Their version of Have Love Will Travel rivals only the Sonics as  the best.

 Paul Revere and the Raiders covered the song back in 1964 on the B-side of a single.  It's not my favorite.  It's sort of the light version when compared to the Sonics and Black Keys.  Mark Lindsay's vocals are good, but the arrangement doesn't have that wonderful fuzztone or protopunk sound of their Tacoma colleagues. Something's missing here.

The most televised rock group in history-Paul Revere and the Raiders in all their glory

The Richard Berry and the Pharoahs original recording from 1959 is a good song.  Good lead and backing vocals, but lacks the raw power and ragged vocals of all the other versions.  Berry was a pop r&B performer, but doesn't have the rootsiness of Muddy Waters or Howling Wolf, so the edge is missing here. A regular performer in Seattle's black nightclubs, he also wrote Louie, Louie, and was an important influence on the nascent rock and roll scene as it struggled to find its voice.

The late Richard Berry

Sky Saxon was the lead vocalist for the psychedelic band The Seeds in the '60's.  Saxon released Have Love on an anthology of his music from the Seeds and solo projects in 2008, "Sky Saxon: King of the Garage Bands."  It's okay, but doesn't compare favorably with other versions. Ian Gillian, vocalist for Deep Purple and the original voice of Jesus Christ on "Jesus Christ Superstar," also recorded Have Love Will Travel for his 2008 live album Live in Anaheim.  Yeah, Gillian's got a great voice, but I don't find anything special here.  Just walk on by.


The late Sky Saxon



Ian Gillian


Have Love Will Travel became a staple of the Northwest rock scene, covered by a zillion bands, just at the roots of that sound were about to be drowned in psychedelia and the new folk movement.  It remains an important artifact in my continuing belief Northwest Rock is unrecognized and underappreciated by the rest of the country.  Have Love rocks hard, is danceable, and is fun.

Today's Music: The Fabulous Wailers at the Castle

I picked up this CD with my Christmas Amazon gift card from my parents.  It combines two of my favorite interests in music.  While I have come to this recently, I'm really interested in Northwest rock and the Spanish Castle, a road house in what is today the Des Moines/Sea Tac area of Highway 99.

 I confess to being kind of novice to the Northwest rock thing.  As a boy growing up in Seattle in the 1960's, the first band I fell in love with was Paul Revere and the Raiders.  They were legit Northwesterners based in Portland, that eventually morphed into California pop stars.  I don't mean to diminish their credentials.  Their early sound is the real deal.  Lead guitarist Drake Levin, just a teenager when Just Like Us was released in 1966 was an very talented original guitar stylist and Mark Lindsay's vocals and sax gave them a distinct sound that is very unique to the Upper Left Corner.

 A few years ago I was captivated by the music in  a Land Rover commercial.  The song was "Have Love Will Travel."  Great song, covered by everyone and their mother in the Northwest.  This version happened to be by The Sonics from Tacoma.  They were amazing, with a muddy garage rock sound.  Very proto-punk stuff.  Just for the record, The Black Keys do an amazing version of Have Love . . .

Which brings me to the Wailers.  Over the years I've listened to a few cuts from this seminal Tacoma band.  Mostly they were instrumental pieces, which is also a characteristic of Northwest music.  I'd been eying the live at the Castle album for some time.  I wasn't disappointed.

There are sixteen great songs on the disc.  All of them feature the R & B influenced Wailers playing the tunes, but a variety of vocalists.  The Wailers' own Kent Morill handles two tracks, local favorite Rockin' Robin Roberts four songs, and two tracks by Gail Harris.  The Wailers were instrumentally solid.  Led by Guitarist Rich Dangel, John "Buck" Ormsby on bass, Kent Morrill on keyboards and a changing lineup of musicians from 1958-1969, they were talented and tight.  Dangel is particularly good and would compare favorably with any of British guitarists in the First Invasion. The vocals by Morrill and Roberts are okay, but Harris really shines. Her version of "I Idolize You" is great.  Her voice is edgy and soulful.

The album was recorded at the Spanish Castle in 1961.  The Castle was a road house that hosted all the great Northwest rock bands-Kingsmen, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Wailers, Sonics, etc.  Jimi Hendrix sat in played with bands as a young guitarist, and of course sang about the theater in "Spanish Castle Magic." 

The album also has a couple of studio cuts, "Louie, Louie," and "Mary Ann."  It's a great collection from a great band in action.  Compare the great Northwest bands of this era to anything else that's happening in American music of the time-the Four Seasons, girl groups, crooner wannabes, even Elvis--this was stuff way ahead of its time.  It's what the Brit bands wanted to be.