Wallflowers Heroes For A Day

Gil Kaufman WASHINGTON (3:24 p.m.) -- Nobody is ever going to know if Jakob Dylan really meant to make a statement by playing his latest single three songs into the Wallflowers' electrifying six-song set.

Regardless of his intent, though, a point was made.

In a set filthy with his radio hits, including set-opener "One Headlight", through "6th Avenue Heartache" and "Three Marlenas," it is Dylan's cover of David Bowie's "Heroes" (from the Godzilla soundtrack) that strikes a poignant note.

Dylan, dressed all in black, including black wrap-around shades, leans into the song's chorus, "We can be heroes, just for one day," as if a stiff wind is in his face. As a ringing guitar lead courtesy of Michael Ward fills RFK Stadium's body-packed bowl, the message of the song is rewritten for the day's event.

The audience screams along to the chorus, perhaps getting the message through musical osmosis.

"It's cool, man, they're playing all their radio songs," says Patrick Holway, a 23-year-old fan from D.C.

Holway, his pants on the verge of spilling to his ankles courtesy of a loose belt, sways and does a modified hippie hand-dance during "Heroes". As his arms climb into the air above him, Holway is getting lost in the music, despite being more than 100 yards from the stage, at the far end of the bowl.

"A lot of times bands get up here and say what a joy it is to be playing," Dylan tells the audience in his only words from the stage. "This is one of the few times they really mean it."

Although Holway professes his passion for the Wallflowers and Blues Traveler, he's really excited about R.E.M. and the Beastie Boys, due up in several hours.

Like the Wallflowers, who end their set with what Dylan terms a rare cover of the Who's political anthem "Won't Get Fooled Again," Blues Traveler tap into the day's vibe with a cover of their own.

After a four-song set of mainly mid-tempo neo-metal blues that includes the song "Escape," dedicated by singer John Popper to "everyone in Tibet right now," the band ends its stint onstage with a thoughtful rendition of John Lennon's classic plea for peace and world unity, "Imagine."

"I hope someday you'll join us/ And the world will live as one," Popper shouts.

************************* From the Seattle Times, 7/23/98

Pearl Jam: It was one hot concert

Concert Review: Pearl Jam, The Wallflowers and Sean Lennon, last night at Memorial Stadium, Seattle Center. By Patrick MacDonald, Seattle Times staff critic.

Even better.

It's hard to believe Pearl Jam could top its homecoming concert Tuesday night, but it did last night, with an even more powerful set, a different mix of tunes, clearer sound, and a better, bigger crowd.

Eddie Vedder sang with even more dedication and care. With the improved sound quality, you could hear his strong, ringing tones and even his quiet, breathy moments. And the lyrics were easier to understand.

The band was in top form and obviously in a good mood. It made a lot of visual and physical contact, and supported and challenged one another. Mike McCready was once again impressive on guitar, and so was Steve Gossard, who played a larger role, even singing one song.

Both Jakob Dylan of the Wallflowers and Vedder said the audience was more attentive and polite, although the show slowed for a moment as security brought down a fan from a metal speaker tower.

Once again, Pearl Jam's set started red hot, with slam-bang versions of "Animal," "Spin the Black Circle," and "Brain of J." The energy kept up through "Faithfull"-- with Vedder singing lustily-- an anthemic "Given to Fly" and, especially, a raging "Not For You," the highlight of the first half. The energy had to cool, and it did with "Even Flow," "Off You Go," and "Better Man."

Once again the song of the night was "Alive," with the crowd responding even more mightily. "Do the Evolution" was volcanic. "Leatherman" and "Yellow Ledbetter" were equally exciting.

Sean Lennon and his band opened in 90-degree heat with mostly sunny tunes that had lots of nature and animal references. Befitting the son of John Lennon, some songs were Beatlesque.

The Wallflowers-- led by Dylan-- preceded Pearl Jam with a fine set of its blues-influenced rock.

*********************** From www.sonicnet.com (go there for the full article)

Wallflowers' last LP outsold every release by Jakob Dylan's legendary dad.

Wallflowers Poised To Record Next Album

Keyboard player says singer/songwriter Jakob Dylan's new material is 'powerful.'

(Jakeflower's note: Listen to "Murder One By One" and "Halo" as examples of this!)

Senior Writer Gil Kaufman reports:

With nearly six months of sporadically interrupted rest from touring under their belts, multi-platinum Los Angeles rockers the Wallflowers are getting ready to enter an L.A. studio and record the follow-up to their 1996 smash, Bringing Down the Horse, according to the group's keyboard player

"We're heading into the studio soon," keyboardist Rami Jaffe said recently.

"Jake [Dylan] has lots of powerful new sh--," Jaffe said of some of the songs that the band's singer, Jakob Dylan, has written since the group came off the nearly two-year-long tour in support of Horse. That album featured the breakthrough hits "6th Avenue Heartache," "One Headlight" and "The Difference."

The group was tempted to continue touring into early 1998 -- hitting Europe again, as well as Japan and other areas in Asia that it hadn't conquered yet -- but cooler heads prevailed, Jaffe said. "I was ready to just do it and really build up an audience in Japan and those kinds of places," said Jaffe, wearing his trademark fedora and dark sunglasses. "But the rest of the guys were like, 'no, we need to just take it easy. Enough is enough.' And I'm glad now that they said that. Who knows what the hell would have happened to us if we'd have kept going?"

The Wallflowers, formed in Los Angeles in the late '80s by Jaffe and Dylan -- the son of folk-rock legend Bob Dylan -- achieved breakthrough success with the rootsy rock of Horse, the follow-up to their poorly received 1992 self-titled debut. In addition to spawning a number of radio hits, Horse garnered the group a Grammy in 1998 for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for the song "One Headlight" (RealAudio excerpt).

With the exception of June's Tibetan Freedom Concert in Washington, D.C., and a few charity gigs, Jaffe said the band's members have been resting, relaxing, hanging out with their friends and families and waiting for Dylan to give the nod for the start of the new album's sessons.

"We're waiting for Jake to just say he's ready to go," said Richling, who, along with Jaffe, will be heard on the track "Fat," on the forthcoming (January '99) Joe Henry album, which Henry said would delve even further into his recent experimentation with loops and strings. "It's definitely Jake's thing, but I think this time around it might be a bit more collaborative."

Although a producer has not been chosen yet, both Jaffe and Richling said they were hopeful that the album would be completed this year and released by the spring of 1999.

New rock band Tangletown is all tangled up in Dylan

Jon Bream / (Minneapolis) Star Tribune

article from here

Tangletown may be the best local rock band you've never heard of.

Leader Seth Zimmerman, 28, has never before fronted a band that's lasted more than a couple of gigs. But his voice sounds familiar -- unmistakably Dylan esque, maybe more Jakob than Bob.

Actually, Zimmerman is all tangled up in Dylan. He's Bob's nephew and a first cousin to Wallflowers frontman Jakob (they're the same age). Zimmerman's father, David, is a former music educator who works with Bob Dylan's publishing company.

Tangletown has played maybe 10 gigs in the past year, and this week the quartet released its debut album, "Ordinary Freaks." The sound is positively Main Street. It's rich yet relaxed, piano-defined pop-rock, dealing with complicated relationships in an uncomplicated way.

"The Zimmerman-slash-Dylan boys are certainly talented," said Cities 97 program director Lauren MacLeash. "The record reminds me of old Replacements -- that '80s pop-alternative sound. They should do well here."

Singer-songwriter-guitarist Zimmerman has chosen a complicated way to a music-biz career. "Connections don't necessarily help," he said recently. He shrugged off his famous relatives, saying "it's not important anyway" because record labels and the public will judge the music on its own merits.

He didn't use any Dylans (he and Jakob have long been "very close") as a springboard, but instead hooked up with the Prince connection. Zimmerman's dad introduced him to Prince's first manager, Owen Husney, who brought in longtime Prince associate drummer-turned-producer Bobby Z, who had been looking to start a record label. He, in turn, enlisted his brother, producer-engineer David Z (Prince, Jonny Lang, Fine Young Cannibals, Big Head Todd & the Monsters).

One thing led to another and in 12 days last spring, Zimmerman, working with the brothers Z, had recorded Tangletown's album at Oarfin Studios. "Ordinary Freaks" is the initial release on Bobby Z's Zinc Records. Former Prince saxophonist Eric Leeds is also signed to the indie label.

"The sound is somewhat Midwest, which is undeniable," said Zimmerman. "All the guys in the group are pretty normal. We all have day jobs."

Zimmerman works in film and video production. Bassist Dan Arden makes a living as an electrical engineer, keyboardist Pete Sands manages a music store, and drummer Craig Grossman works for a photography company and plays in Passage, All the Pretty Horses and a couple of other bands.

Golf, anyone?

Although Zimmerman has been writing songs since he was 13 and playing in bands since high school, he voraciously pursued another interest -- golf. He was the teaching pro at Baker National Golf Course in Medina for five years. And he tried to make it on the pro golf circuit's minor league in South America for a couple of years.

"The problem was that it was different altitudes and different grasses every week, and I got food poisoning. And you can't drink the water, so you're drinking soda," Zimmerman recalled. "Nutritionally, you never feel like you're there."

He had played on the golf teams at Buffalo High School and St. Olaf College, where he majored in political science and pre-law. The oldest of three brothers, he was neither encouraged nor discouraged by his parents, both teachers, to enter the family business of music-making. But music had always been around the house -- "my dad has a huge record collection" -- and Zimmerman had an ear and affinity for it.

He devoured the Beatles and the Clash, whom he saw in '82, when he was 12. "It was the coolest thing I'd ever seen -- just their sound," he said. "How raw the tone of that band was really grabbed me. I was amazed that they came out with like five records in a year and a half." He also absorbed the music of such late '70s /early '80s bands as the Replacements, the Jam and X, as well as '70s stalwarts Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jackson Browne and the Band, Bob Dylan's old backup group.

How 'bout Dylan's music?

"We have all the records," he said without seeming coy. He didn't see Uncle Bob in concert too often. "I can't remember him playing here that much. The last three years he has."

Growing up in Buffalo, Zimmerman felt he lived a small-town existence in the shadow of Minneapolis. With Tangletown, he's sort of doing the same thing -- being on the outside looking in. The band was originally called Tinytown but a Nashville /New Orleans band (featuring two former members of Subdudes) had copyrighted the moniker first. So the quartet settled on Tangletown, a salute to the winding roads in south Minneapolis near Washburn High School.

"The goal was to make a comfortable record, something that someone would immediately 'get it' when they listened to it," said Zimmerman. "Now I think the goal is for more people to hear it."