Blue Rodeo S/D

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Not so familiar with these guys except for hearing their tune "Hasn't Hit Me Yet" on this mixtape someone passed along to me. I know this much: they're Canadian, sort of affiliated with the Sadies, and they have a sizable cult following. Anyway, where to begin? Or should I even bother?

― ham on rye (ham on rye), Wednesday, 20 August 2003 23:01 (twenty-two years ago)

My mom really liked this band in the early '90s! First time I've heard of them in forever. (Nothing more to add, sorry.)

― Sam J. (samjeff), Wednesday, 20 August 2003 23:04 (twenty-two years ago)

They're excellent. Buy everything.

― Kim (Kim), Thursday, 21 August 2003 00:32 (twenty-two years ago)

I like 'em too. I'd probably start with Five Days in May or Lost Together, those album's kind of represent the band's first peak. Blue Rodeo also had a greatest hits album out, which might be a nice primer.

― Bruce Urquhart (Bruce Urquhart), Thursday, 21 August 2003 00:49 (twenty-two years ago)

I meant Five Days in July (see above)

― Bruce Urquhart (Bruce Urquhart), Thursday, 21 August 2003 00:50 (twenty-two years ago)

Ack! "Just say no" says this Canuck.

― Kent Burt (lingereffect), Thursday, 21 August 2003 00:51 (twenty-two years ago)

kind of easy to dismiss as m.o.r. bland can-con retro-country-rock, like imagine a meek chris isaak without all that glitzy charisma we loathe up here... but i have to admit they write some nice ballads and seem like nice enough people.

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Thursday, 21 August 2003 00:56 (twenty-two years ago)

go for Diamond Mine or Nowhere To Here for their best stuff, imo. Nowher to Here has some psychedelia stuff going on, and some long mood pieces; lots outisde of their comfort zone. See Five Days In July for the (admittedly quite good) tried and tested comfort zone.

Casino is a great pop record. there's a few beatles rips on there, and one super country ballad.

― derrick (derrick), Thursday, 21 August 2003 01:24 (twenty-two years ago)

Another vote for Nowhere to Here, which is kinda what Pink Floyd might have sounded like if they were a country rock band, but I think my favourite is Tremolo, which is a very basic and clean album that has great pop balladry, heartbreak and some beautiful country sounds. Also, Casino IS a great pop record.

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Thursday, 21 August 2003 01:28 (twenty-two years ago)

agreed, a little m.o.r., but they have their moments of greatness. the Sadies connection comes from the fact that Greg Keelor sings on the Sadies' "Loved On Look", produced a couple of tracks for them (i think) and is generally a friend of the band.

― Dave M. (rotten03), Thursday, 21 August 2003 01:54 (twenty-two years ago)

The Sadies have also recorded their last couple of albums at Keelor's farm/studio.

― Bruce Urquhart (Bruce Urquhart), Thursday, 21 August 2003 01:56 (twenty-two years ago)

I heart Blue Rodeo for one reason: if they hadn't championed and encouraged (goaded? coerced?) Michelle McAdorey, there would never have existed one of the finest albums of the '90s, Aurora, by the criminally underrated, pretty much ignored Crash Vegas (okay, so their other two albums weren't that great, but still...).

― David A. (Davant), Thursday, 21 August 2003 02:02 (twenty-two years ago)

They're possibly the only post-60s folk/country-rock band I can stand. I don't think I dislike any of their singles (which are all I know). They write tight melodies. The singers are pretty good, especially the 'sweet' one (Cuddy?), and have a v workable dynamic between them. I like how they brought in organ and fuzzed-out guitar and psych elements in some of the early 90s stuff - it amused me to make the comparison to this period when I first heard Murray Street. The Blue Rodeo has held up better though. Mostly, though, yeah, they have some good ballads. I can see the Chris Isaak comparison. It's too bad Bob Wiseman isn't with them anymore. He was cool and should have dropped some prepared piano on their tracks.

OPO might be "Head Over Heels", which no one else seems to pick but I remember really enjoying it when people played guitar and sang this song when I worked in Jasper in '96.

Also S (the first two from memory): Try, Diamond Mine, Hasn't Hit Me Yet, Trust Yourself

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Thursday, 21 August 2003 03:26 (twenty-two years ago)

I think their existence is much more justifiable than Tom Petty's, say.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Thursday, 21 August 2003 03:29 (twenty-two years ago)

I sorta like 'em. But the best is what the individual members (now including Bob Egan of Wilco and Firewater fame) do when they're not in Blue Rodeo.
Check out the Swallows, the lite-psych guitar-rock project of Glenn Milchem, BR's drummer. It really kicks ass, esp. the latest album, The Beauty of My Surroundings. I think Warner Canada (BR's label) picked up distro on it. But it was one of my favourite records of last year and sounds NOTHING like BR (which is not totally unexpected since it's got their drummer playing guitar).

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Thursday, 21 August 2003 17:21 (twenty-two years ago)

I wouldn't suggest destroying any of their work. Its harder to think of one to suggest for searching out, much like Rev Lovejoy would say "its all good." Lost Together is good. A greatest hits collection i have not seen but it must be good.

Crash Vegas' cover of Pochantas was better then the original Neil Young song but their last two albums were clunkers.
Seems everywhere I turn that one member of Blue Rodeo pops up in indie rock land in Toronto. Strength through numbers.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Thursday, 21 August 2003 17:48 (twenty-two years ago)

I saw them for free in Peterborough this weekend! Never heard of them before as I just moved to Canada. There was a ballet of neon speedboats on the wharf afterward

― Chuck Tatum (Chuck Tatum), Thursday, 21 August 2003 18:43 (twenty-two years ago)

There was a ballet of neon speedboats on the wharf
afterward

Yeah, they do that at every Blue Rodeo concert. It's kinda old hat.

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Thursday, 21 August 2003 18:45 (twenty-two years ago)

Where in Peterborough?

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Thursday, 21 August 2003 18:46 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh wait, stupid me. The boats gotta be on water.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Thursday, 21 August 2003 18:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Crash Vegas' cover of Pochantas was better then the original Neil Young song

A pretty bold claim there, my friend. I'm not convinced.

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Thursday, 21 August 2003 18:54 (twenty-two years ago)

it must have been on some compilation, right? Because I've heard "Pocahantas" about a million times more than all other CV songs combined.

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Thursday, 21 August 2003 18:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Both are grebt, but I like Crash Vegas version over any I've heard Neil belt out.
Off the top of my head I seem to remeber it being faster then the Rust Never Sleeps version which is what I liked.

CV version was on heavy rotation on MM and on one of the Neil Young tributes, I think it was The Bridge but it could of been one of the into the blue/outta the black ones.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Thursday, 21 August 2003 18:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Peterborough: it has the world's largest damn?
B.R. covered 'Oliver's Army' at the end -- rather well -- and then a ninety-year-old man ushered them peacefully off the stage.
I love Neil, but 'Pocohontas' is kinda self-parody anyway, isn't it?

― Chuck Tatum (Chuck Tatum), Thursday, 21 August 2003 18:59 (twenty-two years ago)

aye. HUGE points for the last Crash Vegas record, which is fantastic, plus McAdorey's solo album from 2000, which Keelor did stuff on.

Also, search Keelor's '96 solo album, 'Gone', which is fantastic, and very un-Blue Rodeo. a great album.

― derrick (derrick), Friday, 22 August 2003 00:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Damm or is close to the worlds largest/somethingest locks?

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Friday, 22 August 2003 01:19 (twenty-two years ago)

For years I had completely dismissed BR as middle-of-the-road AOR pap. They were one of those bands that all the people I had nothing musically in common with at University seemed to love, so I ignored them - snobbish behaviour on my part, I grant you.

Then I saw them live.

A great live band, and then I realised that they had great songs. Cuddy/Keelor make a great vocal duo, and yeah, Wiseman was a bonus when he was in the band, but even without him - nice stuff. Although I admit I'm a sucker for any use of pedal-steel guitar. Yeah, 'Nowhere to Here', 'Tremolo' and 'Casino' stand out for me, although the greatest hits would be good for casual interest.

Anecdote: In my previous job, we did film/webcast work for 2 'Stardust Picnics' (mini-festivals run by the band at Fort York in Toronto). They are super-nice guys, very chilled (not surprising, given the volume of, er... 'special' smoking they do), and have good taste in music to boot. I realize that how nice they are is mostly irrelevant to their musical credibility, but it can't hurt. Anyway, the festivals had a creepy (to me, anyway, but I'm a cynic) hippie, family vibe to it, but they really got into playing, after lord knows how many shows, and I found myself really enjoying it.

I now live in London, UK, and went to see them at the Borderline a couple months ago. Maybe it was the nostalgia thing, maybe it was the fact that I was among fellow Canadians, maybe it was the beer, but I had a great time, and thought they sounded great. It was probably the beer. Still, a 'search' vote from me...

― Rob Bolton, Friday, 22 August 2003 08:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Damn, i meant locks

― Chuck Tatum (Chuck Tatum), Friday, 22 August 2003 17:13 (twenty-two years ago)

nine years pass...

James Gray died last night of a heart attack

http://www.nowtoronto.com/music/story.cfm?content=193821

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 7 August 2013 16:44 (twelve years ago)

four years pass...

An all-time favorite - I tried to make a succinct playlist that touches on all their strengths and still (barely) fits on a CD-R. The original draft was like 42 songs; I couldn't not include "Frogs' Lullaby," one of my favorite weirdo deep cuts by any band ever.

https://open.spotify.com/user/suckerblues/playlist/58TgTYTg969CUAr3a2pA6e

― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Thursday, 19 October 2017 17:34 (eight years ago)

Oh cool. Better Off As We Are is one of my alltime favorite roots rock songs. It's a maligned genre that deserves better than it gets.

I will check this playlist out.

― kornrulez6969, Thursday, 19 October 2017 17:37 (eight years ago)

oh and fair warning there's a pretty serious amount of Cuddy schmaltz cause I'm just a huge sucker for that shit

― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Thursday, 19 October 2017 17:43 (eight years ago)

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