Hi, guys. I’m happy to let you know that I have a long-overdue update from the beloved (in only one small part of the zip code) Mayor Cass. Now, I realize nobody here in Bootleg City has been asking for an update, and, being that it’s the holidays and all, I thought that was pretty sad, so I took it upon myself to check in on my old nemesis.
Prison life certainly hasn’t been easy for the mayor, but the good news is that he and his fellow prisoners are continuing to explore their love of music. Lately, they’ve been listening to the music of Dan Baird and the Georgia Satellites. The mayor told me they’ve been slowly making their way through the Sats’ catalog over the past few months and have finally arrived at Baird’s solo output. With the Christmas holiday rapidly approaching, Mayor Cass asked me if I would share a particularly sweet bootleg from Baird’s Love Songs for the Hearing Impaired (1992) tour with all of you — yes, even with the controversial Bootleg City tourist known only as “Guest.”
Recorded at Club Met in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on March 23, 1993, this Baird boot features an all-killer, no-filler lineup of Baird on vocals and lead guitar, ex-Replacement Slim Dunlap on rhythm guitar, and ex-Satellites Keith Christopher and Mauro Magellan on bass and drums, respectively. The sound is far from pristine, but the set list includes a number of tracks from Love Songs that Baird doesn’t play in concert anymore. (By the way, if you don’t own Love Songs, you really should plunk down 16 cents for a copy before Jeff Giles hears about it.)
Love Songs was a helluva album, and as one Amazon reviewer describes it, Baird’s songs are “well-written, foot-taping fun.” Although I can’t officially recommend or endorse foot-related bondage, I do agree that Baird has a knack for knocking out catchy guitar-rock gems that embed themselves deep in the skulls of those lucky enough to hear them. More people should be aware of his music, so if you’re one of the unaware, please remedy that situation.
As a bonus, I’m including a show from Baird’s tour for his second solo album, Buffalo Nickel (1996). Taped at Smith’s Olde Bar in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 11, 1996, Baird was backed by Eric Ambel, Keith Christopher, and Terry Anderson. As the Yayhoos, this quartet has burped out two solid albums so far, Fear Not the Obvious (2001) and Bring the Hammer Down (2006). Will the circle be unbroken? In other words, will we perhaps get another Yayhoos album sometime soon? I certainly hope so.
While I’m waiting for that, I urge you to check out Baird’s most recent album, Dan Baird & Homemade Sin (2008), as well as solo efforts from Anderson and Ambel. Conveniently, you can get up to date on all of their work at the official Yayhoos website.
And, because it’s Christmastime, I’ll leave you with one more present: a link to southern guitar-rock heaven with a red-hot 1988 radio broadcast from the Georgia Satellites themselves. Don’t say I never gave ya nuthin’.
Harrisburg, 3/23/93
The One I Am
Keep Your Hands to Yourself
Julie + Lucky
Look at What You Started
Almost Saturday Night
Baby Talk
Six Years Gone
Lost Highway
All Over But the Crying
Dixie Beauxderaunt
It Comes to Me Naturally
Pick Up the Knife
Knocked Up
Gettin’ Drunk
Seriously Gone
Harper Valley PTA
Battleship Chains
Atlanta, 3/11/96
Woke Up Jake
L’il Bit
Song for the Walls
Julie + Lucky
I Love You Period
Cumberland River
I Can Give You Everything
Beer Run
Dixie Beauxderaunt
Hush
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