I agree. My friends knocked it out of the park with that record. You should have seen them live before they recorded the record - they were PHENOMENAL. RIP Kelly - though you were a handful, I miss you.
Greg Germino and I went to see them at the Brewery. Can't remember the exact year. Maybe '93. Fantastic performance. Audley was playing the sparkle Strat. We got blown away. They were on fire.
I stumbled upon this live Cry Of Love video yesterday. I'd love to know where this was filmed. It almost looks like it could be the Brewery in Raleigh, but maybe not. I saw them play there at this exact time. Brings back great memories seeing this. One awesome band.
I'm amazed that nobody has mentioned Far Too Jones yet.I have all of the available albums by these guys including the one where they renamed themselves The Clear to have another try at recognition outwith the local scene.They are certainly in the top ten of groups of my advancing years and do occasional reunion shows which thankfully appear on you tube.
I saw the Connells and Let's Active at Legion Field in Athens, GA (University of Georgia campus) in the spring of 1989. Good times.
What a find. Cry Of Love at the Brewery in 1991. I haven't watched it all yet, but it is all or mostly covers and totally kick ass. Just amazing to see this. Doing Sly and The Family Stone.
Thanks for posting. The fun of this thread is there were and are so many great NC bands over the decades that it is difficult to remember them all. I remember the name Far Too Jones, but don't recall ever seeing them. Cool tune.
11 pages in and I wondered the same thing! Of course, I’m not from NC and have never heard of most of these other bands. But the Avetts have to be one of the biggest acts to ever come out of NC. Love most of their stuff. Some people swear by the early stuff and dismiss the later, Rubin-produced albums that have put them on the charts. They are a bit more mainstream now, I guess, but they still aren’t what I’d call a “mainstream act,” chart success aside. Didn’t care much for their new album (Closer Than Together) but I also haven’t given it many listens yet. The previous, True Sadness grabbed me instantly and I still listen to it often. Still some of the bluegrass, folk and country-rock they were most associated with, but also more rock. Some of the songs even gave off a Pink Floyd vibe (I mean that in a good way). Regardless of what sound people like best from them, Scott and Seth are very gifted musicians and songwriters who draw from a wide variety of influences. They are a blistering live act. If you get the chance, go see them live!
Here’s another high energy Avetts performance. Love hearing them play this one live. As they put it the first time I saw them “We sort of learned this one from George Jones, and we sort of learned this one from the Grateful Dead”:
I remember playing that show (as the bass player of Let's Active)! It was well-attended. I believe a fraternity were the financial "promoters" that hired us to play. The Connells were (and are) funny guys - the backstage banter was quite amusing. Indeed - good times.
Not the Brewery - a soundboard audio with audience video from a tour opening for someone. I'll ask Jason P. the drummer where this is from.
Well, that's pretty awesome! That was my only time seeing Let's Active. I was very impressed with Mitch Easter as a frontman. I saw the Connells on three other occasions, and I managed to meet them after a couple of the shows. I agree that they were very good company, and likely still are.
Mitch is great to work with, in any capacity. I've been fortunate to play various instruments with him in many of his projects, and he produced two of my bands on several occasions. He's a swell guy. TERRIFIC guitar player too. The Connells are good people as well.
Right Jon, I realized it wasn't the Brewery when I saw that '91 video. That would be great if you can find out the location from Jason. I have a new appreciation for his drumming watching these videos. Love his old-school grip on the left hand. That Highway Jones video took me right back to that one time I saw them. And the '91 show is a rare treat. They look so young, and hearing Kelly do all the different vocal parts on the Sly song is amazing.
This live version of Peace Pipe is just blistering. Not great quality, but it still smokes. To say that is a deep pocket would be an understatement.
I think most of us posting are semi-oldish 60+ folks remembering back to the 70,80s so Avett's haven't come up much, but they are mentioned a few times. I have same age good friends in the Winston-Salem area that have been big fans for years and they say pre-Ruben is the best. I just haven't picked up their albums over the years, kind of like what I do hear. I just wish they would set that banjo aside if he (is it Scott or Seth?) isn't going to either play Scruggs or Clawhammer style. They did the opening theme on the Chef and Farmer tv series, and have already been inducted into the NC Music Hall of Fame if I'm not mistaken, so they get plenty of love here in their home state. Thanks for stopping by and adding to the conversation, much appreciated.
Steve - and others who are so inclined: Jason Patterson is a wonderful drummer and a really great guy. I knew he was a really awesome “behind the beat”/ pocket drummer, but when I saw him do drum solos in the early days of Cry Of Love with PeeWee Watson (from PKM and Nantucket - and on lead vocals and rhythm guitar no less!) he FLOORED me. He continues to play with grace, class and finesse in every project he’s involved in. I direct any fans of Cry of Love to the Facebook site “Cry of Love Appreciation Page” of which Jason is a contributor; I recently sent him some memorabilia that I’d saved over the years. More NC music news that is about to happen to follow soon...
Wow, I just discovered this great thread ! I haven't read it in entirety but will soon do so. In any case, I had been looking in vain for somewhere to post information on one of my favorite bands of all time, The Connells, and alas.... I have been enjoying these guys since about as early as anyone not from North Carolina could have. My friends had no idea who these guys were but I sure made them aware of their music through a variety of mixed tapes (What are those?) and ceaseless album play. To me, Boylan Heights is one of the most original albums of all time, just great, and Fun & Games is not far behind. How Allmusic gives the latter album just two stars is beyond me . I originally owned Boylan Heights and Fun & Games on vinyl, but later converted over to CDs . Truth be told, however, I have never been entirely satisfied with the sound of the American CD versions, the outcome being I have listened to these albums, and others of theirs, far fewer times than I might have otherwise. I have therefore been on a search for better sounding CD versions before leaping back into vinyl. There don't seem to be many options, but I will report on my findings in subsequent posts. I can only close by saying I have experienced a Renaissance of sorts with some 80s and early 90s music upon finding better sounding sources. It has been like spinning a new vinyl album for the first time. This forum has proved entirely helpful in this regard.
As a follow up to my prior post, I have been comparing the Made in Holland version of Fun & Games by the Connells with the standard USA release, and there are definite differences. I will start by giving the numbers, which can serve as a guide to future discussion. And what's really exciting is my youngest is really digging the music, singing along, as I listen to it. Good taste already . The Connells, Fun & Games, 1989, TVT Records, TVT 2550CD (apparent standard American disc) DR Peak RMS Filename ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DR13 over -14.82 dB 01 Something To Say DR13 -0.44 dB -15.07 dB 02 Fun & Games DR12 -0.07 dB -15.17 dB 03 Sal DR11 -0.00 dB -12.48 dB 04 Upside Down DR12 over -13.40 dB 05 Fine Tuning DR12 -0.73 dB -17.29 dB 06 Motel DR13 over -14.62 dB 07 Hey Wow DR13 -0.44 dB -15.78 dB 08 Ten Pins DR13 -0.04 dB -15.78 dB 09 Inside My Head DR13 -0.00 dB -15.52 dB 10 Uninspired DR13 -0.33 dB -15.25 dB 11 Sat Nite (USA) DR13 -0.75 dB -17.17 dB 12 Lay Me Down ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Official DR value: DR13 The Connells, Fun & Games, 1989, Alternation, INT 845.241 (Made in Holland) DR Peak RMS Filename ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DR13 over -14.55 dB 01 Something To Say DR12 over -14.20 dB 02 Fun & Games DR12 -0.00 dB -14.77 dB 03 Sal DR12 -0.00 dB -12.68 dB 04 Upside Down DR12 over -13.20 dB 05 Fine Tuning DR12 over -16.55 dB 06 Motel DR13 over -14.82 dB 07 Hey Wow DR13 over -14.98 dB 08 Ten Pins DR13 -0.00 dB -15.38 dB 09 Inside My Head DR13 over -14.50 dB 10 Uninspired DR13 -0.00 dB -14.63 dB 11 Sat Nite (USA) DR13 -0.13 dB -16.55 dB 12 Lay Me Down ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Official DR value: DR12 To me, a quick look initially suggested levels were simply driven up on the European disc, inducing clipping . However, the story proved more complex because two songs, Upside Down and Hey Wow, showed more dynamic range on the European set. Moreover, at least two songs, Motel and Lay Me Down, seemed to be level adjusted between the sets. Whatever the case, that the data variably differed indicated to me I was dealing with two separate masters, a hopeful sign . And the presence of some clipping on the European disc did not concern me all that much given the intrinsic great dynamic range of the tracks; presumably some very high peaks, and not much more, were sliced off. Whoops! Time for work, but I will get back to this in my next post, where I'll discuss differences in sound.
I have now completed my comparison of the European and American versions of Fun & Games by the Connells and will state quite emphatically that if you are a true fan of this band, love the album, and want to get the best available version on CD, pick up the European release. It trumps the American counterpart, which is dull and muted by comparison. The European issue crackles with life, and once you have adjusted to its newfound greatness makes it nearly impossible to listen to the American counterpart. I usually go into greater detail on how elements of a song might vary on a track between two albums I am comparing, but I am not even going to bother in this case. I will state, though, that differences are not a matter of simple equalization adjustment. With tinkering, I was unable to attain anything akin to the sound of the European disc from the American release. Just get it and truly enjoy the enhanced vocal and instrumental detail. This is the one:
I don't know if anyone remembers the band, "Singletree" from back in the 1970s? I just saw in the Dunn Daily Record obits that, Buddy Carvalho (70) passed away. Buddy grew up in Dunn and was bassist / vocalist for the band that also included "13" before he joined Super Grit. I didn't really know Buddy but my brother dated his sister for several years. I saw Singletree once at a place outside Clayton that billed itself as, "The orange top with all the rock" (can't recall the actual name, ring a bell with anyone?). I was underage and hanging out in the parking lot when someone struck up a conversation and ended up slipping me in. They were a Southern or Country Rock band as I recall. I'm not sure which bands Buddy played in after that but according to his obit he played and mentored young musicians throughout his life. He was living in Crystal River, Florida when he passed away and survived by his wife, 2 children and 7 grandchildren along with 4 siblings. The obit also noted that one of his songs, "My Heart Won't Wander", had been recorded by George Strait. Rest in Peace.
You may have heard that Jimmy Capps passed away a couple of weeks ago. Jimmy is in the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame and the Musician's Hall of Fame. The rehearsal room at the Grand Ole Opry is named for him as well. Jimmy was from Benson and started his professional career at around 15 playing on local radio stations around 1954. He was guitarist in various bands that played dances and radio, and early TV shows, including one with Jim Thornton who would later be well known in the Raleigh area for his Saturday night TV show where he advertised among other things dog food. Thornton is fondly remembered for eating the dog food live on the air to show just how good it was!!!! Jimmy Capps made friends with a steel player I've mentioned often on this thread, Clyde Mattocks (Super Grit Cowboy Band) and Clyde got him a job with Slim Mims in his band The Dream Ranch Boys based out of Florence South Carolina. When he was 19 he got a call from Charlie Louvin and became the Louvin Brothers guitarist. He made his debut on the Grand Ole Opry in December of 1958 doing Knoxville Girl with the Louvins. From there he toured with various artists through the 1960s and started getting regular work as a session player around 1967. He averaged playing on about 500 sessions a year for decades. The twin acoustic guitars that open Kenny Rogers' The Gambler, one of those is Jimmy. He played on Freddie Hart's Easy Lovin', Tammy's Stand By Your Man, George's He Stopped Loving Her Today, Strait's Amarilo By Morning, to name just a few. His guitar work is praised by all those that worked with him but more importantly there seems to be no one that can say a bad word about him. They all talk about what a kind and humble man he was. Here is to a life well lived.
