"I daresay the Geffen people got quite a demo out of us; now it belongs to everyone. - Lo Faber
In 1993 while at a H.O.R.D.E. festival at the Garden State Arts Center* (after being dropped off by my friend's mom waaay early, cuz we couldn't drive yet), I stumbled upon a band that would change my life. God Street Wine holds a special place in my heart amongst my most favorite bands. I used to weasel my way into 7 Willow Street and the Fore n' Aft to see these guys play until 4am (and show up late for HS in the morning after getting 2 hours of sleep). Their beautifully composed and oftentimes hyperactive jamming always rocked. Their songs spoke to me, made me happy, and the guys were all super cool & tolerated my shenanigans taboot.
GSW played roughly 200+ shows a year, all across the country. Their fans-- Winos (of course), traded cassette tapes of live shows (BLANKS & POSTAGE, man) to share the music. Tape trees flourished. It was a different time. Downloading music from the interwebs didn't even exist yet. Only a handful of songs ever ended up on GSW's 6 official cd releases. To hear the rest of 'em, you had to go to a show or get a tape.
left to right: tomo, lo, aaron, bevo, dan
Sadly, GSW called it quits in 12/99 with a couple of farewell shows at Wetlands. It sucked. It was as if my heart had been ripped out. I cried. I'm not made of stone, people. Since then, besides having enough kids to fill a soccer team- they've gotten together a number of times, including last year's tribute concert to legendary Wino, Paul Ducharme- part of which took place in a Wyckoff, NJ basement. There, God Street Wine conjured up some weird energy, turned the air upside down, and transported us all back in time to 1993**. There was some weird shit going on down there.
That kind of re-energized it all. It was a sign. With efforts from Winos everywhere, the past year has been spent encouraging GSW to play more. There's a facebook group, "Bring Back God Street Wine", dedicated to the cause. The group's 1000+ members (that include a few band members too), frequently post videos, photos, live shows, etc. on what has become an evolving shrine of sorts.
Adding to the pot, not only have GSW recently put all of their albums up for free DL on iLike, but they have also put the famed Bedroom Sessions (links below) up on the archive for public consumption. The Bedroom Sessions are 31 of 33 songs recorded in Lo's bedroom at the house in Ossining. They were originally used as a demo for Geffen. Lo tells the full story behind these babies on the archive pages and I suggest you read it. This shit was done the old fashioned way-- uphill, in the snow, both ways... barefoot (okay, maybe fuzzy bunny slippers).
This is the motherload. The Bedroom Sessions are A MUST HAVE FOR EVERY WINO OR POTENTIAL FUTURE-WINO. It's all the songs you wanted to hear more of, if only you could find the right tapes, and provided those tapes hadn't been sitting on the floor of your car for many an August heat-wave and/or January Blizzard***. GSW have essentially released a free box-set of some of the most treasured and cherished songs that made God Street Wine who they were: A mind-blowingly amazing rock n' roll band, playing amazing songs, capable of going from Country to Blues to Jazz to Lounge to Haiku, at the drop of a single cue. Songs you couldn't hear anywhere else, delivered with a swagger. That
What's funny is that they recorded these as a live band and only did a few takes for each song. Lo once told me he never sings the wrong lyrics- he always sings the ones appropriate for that individual moment. I'm pretty sure there's a couple of those moments here and that only makes The Bedroom Sessions sweeter. During an intense Snake Eyes, Lo sings about getting some pizza.
The highlights are ridiculous:
The God Street Wine magic is still there. It's festering away inside of them. Inside all of us. It's in the water. It's in your water. All this GSW 'vine chatter, including a recent article in Relix where Lo points at the possibility of another reunion, is just throwing fuel on the fire. Rumors are swirling of something happening very soon. I feel news on the horizon and it pleases me.
And so do these Bedroom Sessions. It's insanely brilliant to have some "new" God Street Wine just one-click away (it's that easy now!!! CLICK THAT SHIT!)-- but-- where the fuck are Dirty Little Secret and Light My Candles??? GSW, The Bedroom Sessions: 10 HUZZAHS!!!!
BEDROOM SESSIONS I
01 Molly
02 Straight Line
03 Stranger
04 Tina's Town
05 6:15
06 When She Go
07 Change Your Mind
08 Bring Back the News
09 Henrietta
10 Hungry Again
11 Cheap Utah Blues
12 Thirsty
13 Epiphany
14 Crashing Down
15 Electrocute
16 Stupid Hat
DL BEDROOM SESSIONS I: http://www.archive.org/details/GodStreetWine-BedroomSession1
BEDROOM SESSIONS II
01 Into the Sea
02 Imogene
03 Miss Leonardo
04 Ballroom
05 Lady Fingers
06 Seeing Your Meaning
07 New Eyes
08 Vanity Street
09 Funny Kind of Love
10 Call it Love
11 God Street
12 Snake Eyes
13 Whatcha Gonna Do About It
14 Deep Drag
15 Nothing Left to Lose
DL BEDROOM SESSIONS II: http://www.archive.org/details/GodStreetWineBedroom-session2
ALSO: feel free to peruse & download some live GSW from the archive!
* That's what it was called back then.
** The black mold probably helped.
*** It used to snow in the Winter.