Big ‘ole Dan Bern updates!

First of all, a plea for help: Two months ago, Dan Bern self-published two works of fiction: “The Glorious Return Of Ted The Cow”, and “Tales Of Toscana”. I was not able to buy these books before they sold out, and it will supposedly be awhile before they are reprinted, so if you have already read yours and want to pass them along to an appreciative fan (umm, me), please get in touch with me via email: jbj (at symbol) mixmeamolotov.com. If you can’t part with them, why don’t you podcast yourself reading chapters from them? That’s something I would put on my iPod and listen to. Who here would buy mp3s of Dan Bern reading his own novel “Quitting Science”? Raise you hands - you know you totally would.

March’s Germany shows: Dan Bern toured Europe earlier in the year, and three recordings appeared a few weeks later. All three shows are soundboards, all three are from Germany. The sets are interesting - a mix of Dan Bern 101 (any Dan Bern set that seems to be mainly made up of the hits: Jerusalem, Tiger Woods, Marilyn, Black Tornado, God Said No….you know what I’m talking about) and stuff from the World Cup EP. I’ve listened to each of these three shows (readily available on archive.org, btw) and am bringing you a highlight from each one:

The Last Great Star In Hollywood - from the 04 March gig in Cologne, Germany comes this anomaly - a real rarity. Near as I can tell, Dan debuted this song in 2000, played it a few times, and then discarded it (until now).

Hannibal - from the 08 March gig in Berlin comes a fine performance of one of Dan’s greatest (and most controversial) hits. In light of the recent Don Imus firing, this song has quite a bit of relevance (and Dan is obviously interested in the topic - he recently wrote a blog post about it). I chose it because in addition to all the above, I really like the bit of fingerpicking that segues into the song.

My Love Is Not For Sale / Albuquerque Lullaby - from the 11 March gig in Solingen, a medley of two songs concerned with commerce. I love the flow of one song into the other, and “Lullaby” has one of my favorite Dan Bern lyrics in it.

East Coast tour: Dan just finished a quick tour of the NYC area. No recordings have surfaced yet, but here’s the most recent setlists I’ve seen if you want to get a feel for what he’s been playing:

25 May 2007, Maxwells, Hoboken, NJ: I’m Not The Guy / Capetown* / Krautmeyer / Baby Bye Bye / Carried Away* / President / Gambling With My Love / Barry 756* / Kurt / Alaska Highway / Breathe / In My Mind I’m Going Down To Texas* / Blowin’ In The Wind (Dylan) / Alright Kind Of A Girl / Tiger Woods / Soul / Jerusalem

22 May 2007, South Paw, Brooklyn, NY: One Thing Real / Alaska Highway / I Need You / Breathe / President / Jesus Was Well Hung / Tiger Woods / Black Tornado / Suicide Room / I’m Not The Guy / Baby Bye Bye / Hannibal / Trudy / Chelsea Hotel / Jail / Cure For AIDS / Jerusalem / Soul / Come Along* / Another Man’s Clothes / Virginia Tech* / If The Dodgers Had Stayed In Brooklyn (1 verse) / Lightning Jazz / Marilyn

20 May 2007, Turning Point (late set), Piermont, NY: City Of New Orleans (cover) / Trudy / Suicide Room / Feel Like A Man / Jerusalem / In My Mind I’m Going Down To Texas* / Been Through Hell At The Chelsea Hotel (improv) / Slavery Girl / Ivan’s Barbershop* / Carried Away* / Come Along* / Blowin’ In The Wind (Dylan) / Pretty Boy Floyd (cover) / El Paso (Robbins) / “Free” Bird (improv)

20 May 2007, Turning Point (early set), Piermont, NY: Party By Myself / I’m Not The Guy / One Thing Real / Breathe / God Said No / I Need You / Jail / Things Break Down* / Virginia Tech* / Soul / Black Tornado / Basketcase (Green Day) / Birdhouse In Your Soul (Linnell/Flansburgh) / Come Along*

Songs with an asterisk are thought to be brand new. If you have recordings of them, please share - either with me, or more official channels. I’ve heard one of them - Capetown - and I’ll finish this post with a video of it, freshly posted to YouTube:

Thanks to Brian G. for the setlists, Ms. Lindhurst for the photo, and Guitar Jill for the “Capetown” video.

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