Remembering Dallas Good on his birthday

Remembering my old pal Dallas Good with a performance with Phonocomb, a couple of Sadies clips and one with Andre Williams.

Dallas Good's final recorded project due from Yep Roc on June 26th

Dallas Good's Were The Watchtowers, features Kurt Vile, John Doe, Yo La Tengo, Jon Spencer, Scott McCaughey, Gary Louris, Neko Case and others.  

From Yep Roc HQ...

Yep Roc is honoured to announce the June 26th wide-release of Were The Watchtowers, the final recorded work of Dallas Good, completed before his unexpected passing in February 2022. Written and recorded slowly over more than a decade with Richard Reed Parry, the project captures a deeply collaborative, cosmic strain of psychedelic Americana. Guest appearances include Neko Case, Kurt Vile, Yo La Tengo, Jim Jarmusch, John Doe, Jon Spencer, Scott McCaughey, Gary Louris and Margaret Atwood. 

Listen to the single "Echo the Part" (below) and order a physical copy on White vinyl or CD at https://goodparry.lnk.to/echothepart.

That time Phono-Comb feat. Dallas Good played the Tarragon Theatre in 1996

Here's a Phono-Comb performance with Dallas Good, Reid Diamond, Don Pyle & Bev Breckenridge (not shown) on May 26, 1996. 

Richard Reed Parry previews recording project with the late Dallas Good

Listen to "There's Time" and "The Brightest Light" from Dallas & Richard's forthcoming album Were The Watchtowers.

Writes Richard Reed Parry...

Dallas Good and Richard Reed Parry

"This is “There’s Time”, one of the first songs Dallas Good and I ever wrote together.  It’s from our upcoming album “Were the Watchtowers”, which he and I had been slowly making together since shortly after we first met in Dawson City over fifteen years ago. We got together a couple of times per year and wrote songs and recorded, taking our time, working at a very relaxed pace.  We became very close friends. 

"I would go visit him in Toronto And we would write songs in his living room, or he would come stay with me in Montreal and we would record at my studio.

"And then, somehow, he was suddenly gone. Dallas died unexpectedly in 2022 before we had completed our album, and there were two songs that we still hadn’t written lyrics for.  One of them is the last song Dallas ever worked on, called “Not in This World.” The title, which is also the main refrain in the song, is extra poignant now that he’s gone, almost eerily so. Finishing the lyrics and the record without him has been a strange and very emotional journey. Thankfully Dallas’ brother Travis came and sang harmony in his place. 

"To anyone who knew Dallas, or was a fan of his music, I’d like to ask your help in finishing the last song he ever wrote. We are going to sing it for him, and sing it to him, and wherever he is now I think he’d be really pleased to hear so many of his friends, family and fans singing together in his honour. 

"If you’d like to sing, email SingForDallas@gmail.com and you’ll receive a short audio clip of the song’s final refrain.  Play it in headphones and record your voice singing along with it. Record it on your computer or phone or any other means you have.

"The refrain in the song is simple - “not in this world, not in this world.” As I mentioned earlier - they’re extra poignant words, now that he’s no longer with us.

"If it’s easier, or more fun, get together with a friend and record each other. Don’t get too fussy about how it sounds, we’ll make it work and we’ll make it something beautiful. There is nothing better in this sweet old world than singing with  friends."

Thank you for joining us,

Love,

Richard (with Dallas somewhere nearby)

Watch The Sadies live at Massey Hall in 2021

Here's some brilliant footage of Dallas Good and brother Travis tearin' it up in style at Massey Hall on November 30, 2021.Hall 

Watch The Sadies with Dallas Good play Massey Hall in 2021

Remembering singer/songwriter and guitarist Dallas Good on his birthday with a Sadies set at Massey Hall on Nov 30, 2021. 

Happy Birthday Dallas Good!

Remembering my old pal Dallas Good on what would've been his 50th birthday with some performance and interview clips.

The Sadies were joined by Gary Louris in Hamilton & Toronto

Gary Louris sang The Sadies' "Tell Her What I Said,"  The Jayhawks' "Tailspin" & The Kinks' "Strangers"at Hamilton's Casbah. 

Watch the video for The Sadies' "No One's Listening" off Colder Streams

"No One's Listening" is off The Sadies' great new Colder Streams album which you can get right here. 

The Sadies share video for "Cut Up High and Dry" off Colder Streams album

Colder Streams, The Sadies final album with the late Dallas Good, will be out July 22. Dallas penned the 'anti-bio' below in October.

The Sadies - Colder Streams anti-bio 

By Dallas Good, October 2021 

'Colder Streams' is, by far, the best record that has ever been made by anyone. Ever. 

As we all know, the 'press release' is a tool meant to announce and promote a new recording project. A jaded and unreliable sales-pitch at best, the usual 'bio' invariably attempts to describe the project in question as some sort of second coming. But how do you sell sounds? The critics' voice must be heard at all costs, but this is something else entirely. Obviously, this is an ad. 

Knowing what you're getting is all anyone really wants to know. The details of how the recording is made might be interesting, but they aren't exactly crucial to the listening process. In our case, comparisons can be misleading too, because The Sadies don't really fit tidily into any genre, or even sub-genre. We aren't really 'pre or post' anything and we don't have the right hair-cuts or hats for any particular scene. Can't really call us modern or retro either. We certainly don't claim to have re-invented the wheel. We just are. And have been for a very long time. So, all that matters is the music itself, right? 

After making so many records, some things get easier. Most things do not. But just because it's harder doesn't mean it isn't better. I think it's gotten easier to know when we are onto something and that's in no small part due to working with Richard Reed Parry (Arcade Fire/Belle Orchestre) as producer. We put in a lot of hard work but he always made it easy and fun. This is, of course, totally irrelevant to your listening experience. 

We began this recording well over a year before the plague began and completed it in June 2021. The studio we worked at in Quebec is perfectly calibrated to our claustrophobia. It was mostly engineered by Pietro Amato (Belle Orchestre/etc.), who is great at everything he does when he's not doing something else. Jon Spencer (Jon Spencer!!!) was kind enough to intervene and rescue a song for us. My folks play on it. There was a church™ involved. Curfews were broken. Borders were crossed stealthily. Sean did all of the artwork. Travis and Mike did a lot of driving. I did the bio. 

'Colder Streams' is a record made with love by loved ones. The Sadies have released a lot of records. This is one of them. 

Do any bands make their best work this far along in their career? I can think of artists who still make great music after all these years, but their best? Yet, here we are and that's what I'm accusing us of. I think it's our best but I've been wrong before. All I ask is that you listen to a few songs and decide for yourself what it sounds like. If you like it, you'll know what to do. But my description of the music would just be punishing for the both of us. 

I guess all that really needs to be said here is that if you like The Sadies, you will definitely want to get 'Colder Streams'. If you disliked or felt indifferent towards The Sadies, you will definitely want to get 'Colder Streams'. If you've never heard The Sadies and yet you're still reading, you too will definitely want to get 'Colder Streams’. 

You can pre-order The Sadies' Colder Streams via Bandcamp right here. Watch the video for "Cut Up High And Dry" below. 

That time Phono-Comb w/Dallas Good & Reid Diamond played the Tarragon Theatre

In 1996, Phono-Comb was Reid Diamond & Don Pyle from Shadowy Men, Dallas Good and Fifth Column's Bev Breckenridge.  

Rick White shares moving tribute to the late Dallas Good

Rick White recorded "Message To Dallas" based on "Rearview Fog" written by the late great Dallas Good of The Sadies. 

Writes Rick White...

"Shortly after the shockingly sad news of his passing on February 17th, I really felt the need to write a song for Dallas. He wrote a beautiful tune about our friendship called RIVERVIEW FOG for the Sadies 2017 album "Northern Passages". It makes me cry every time i hear it. It focused on our close brotherhood always remaining strong even though we hadn't been in touch for quite awhile due mostly to my anxiety issues and hermit like seclusion. 

"Before i came up with anything new, i started strumming his song and altering the words with one's from my perspective. His lyrics were filled with symbolic bits from our past, songs titles and moments, I tried to make my version similar. It all came together quite naturally and i'm pleased with how it turned out. I think (hope) it is a fitting tribute to the loving relationship we shared over the years. Love you brother. 

"I recorded a demo version of the song with just guitar and vocal and have decided to just share it like this to anyone who may be interested. It's free to download if you like, please don't pay for it."

Listen to Rick White's "Message To Dallas" via Bandcamp right here.

Music and melody written by Dallas Good. 

Photo by Amanda Schenk. 

"Message To Dallas" lyrics: 

Hello old friend i hope i didn't disappoint you 

It's been so long since the last time that i saw you 

I thought we would always be the same, but suddenly that changed. 

So many times i thought of younger me and you 

Strumming through a smoky haze, i know you missed it too 

But our lives just simply went off different ways, life is so strange. 

And now you're gone into the great beyond 

While i sit here just tryna write you one more song. 

Though i was far away you'd call each month or two 

Sometimes we'd talk, sometimes i wouldn't get back to you 

I shouldn't have believed that silly rhyme, no curse of time. 

I listened to our old records yesterday 

I wish that we could once again just sing and play 

But i know that's not possible today 

All our favourite colours now are grey, now are grey. 

Long gone are the days, they've all passed away, oh yeah. 

Happy Birthday John Doe

Raising a glass to X's John Doe and remembering Dallas Good with their performance at Toronto's Sonic Boom on April 30. 2009. 

R.I.P. Dallas Good of The Sadies, 1973-2022

Sadly, Toronto guitarist Dallas Good of The Sadies passed away yesterday at the age of 48. He'll be greatly missed. 

From The Sadies Facebook page...

"It’s with unfathomable sadness that we announce the sudden passing of Dallas on Thursday, February 17th.  Forty eight years old, he died of natural causes while under doctor’s care for a coronary illness discovered earlier this week.  A son, a brother,  a husband, a friend, a bandmate, a leader, a force to be reckoned with, we have no words for the shock we are all feeling.  We join the rest our music community and fans in grief.  The stage is dark today with the all too soon passing of one of music’s brightest lights.  We love you Dallas."

Writes Robyn Hitchcock...

"There’s something numbing and anodyne about tributes - perhaps this helps to mute the pain we feel when a really great person goes. Dallas Good from The Sadies was such a person, and he passed on suddenly this week. He and his brother Travis were the 6’4” rangy multi-instrumentalists that bookended the stage when The Sadies unleashed their dazzling psychedelic twang on audiences around the world. The Sadies are the true Canadian heirs to the Band - inhaling life and exhaling music wherever they go. They live to play and play to live like no other band I know.

  

"They’ve also always been happy to pitch their musical tent somewhere between “Sweethearts Of The Rodeo” and “Piper At The Gates of Dawn”, which drew me right in when I met them in 2002 at Calgary Folk Festival. Dallas taped a message to the door of my hotel room inviting me to join them for some Syd Barrett songs onstage the next day, and we went on from there; I’ve joined them in Winnipeg, Oslo, San Francisco, London and Switzerland to name just a few…

"Dallas was a kindly man - he had high musical standards but he liked to welcome strayfarers into the warm embrace of Sadie, as he always called the band. My heart goes out to his family, band mates and friends - to all who loved him - but I also harbour a terrible selfish grief that I’ll never get to play music with him again in this lifetime. I’m sure many of us feel that way. It’s just an awful shock, for which words are no consolation. So long Dallas, I hope to see you out there some day…

That time the Sadies joined the Mekons on stage in Zürich

Here's Sally Timms and Dallas Good leading a sloppy-great rip through "Rock 'n' Roll" at El Lokal on May 29, 2011. 

Happy Birthday Garth Hudson!

Celebrating Garth's birthday with a 1983 performance of "Chest Fever," a Sadies collaboration and his return to Big Pink.

Watch Kurt Vile & The Sadies perform "Baby's Arms"

"Baby's Arms" was shot for Kurt Vile's (bottle back) documentary. Watch 'em both below. 

The Sadies issuing split 7" single with King Khan

Both aware of how "beefs" can often juice record sales, Dallas Good and King Khan are settling their differences on brown wax January 24th.

Here's the scoop...
King Khan and The Sadies are proud to announce a split 7" single, to be released digitally and on limited-edition brown vinyl on January 24 via Khannibalism / Ernest Jenning Record Co. / Sadisks. King Khan is joined by Mary Simich and Natalia Avelon on the A-side, "Old Gunga Din," while The Sadies alone are featured on "The Most Despicable Man Alive."

"I met Dallas Good when I was about 18 years old... For many years we would sneer and jeer at each other for no explainable reason... Could it have been a deep sexual tension, well of course it was, anyways those strange emotions turned rancid and volatile up until one day Jon Spencer wanted to cover a King Khan & BBQ Show song... Dallas refused to play it and his only reasoning was because 'King Khan is the most despicable man alive.'

This news travelled fast amongst our little community and this beef was thrown on the fire and doused in beautiful laughter, LSD, and a blood brotherhood that is stronger than said "rock" in "Like a Rock". I proudly exclaim my profound love for Dallas Good, he is my brother and this single is proof that Indian men are built like brick shithouses and make love like snakes."

– King BlackSnake Khan, emancipator of R n B


"Technically, King Khan is probably not THEE most despicable man alive. Definitely top 10 though.”

– Dallas Good, The Sadies

You can pre-order a copy of the limited-run split single right here.

The Sadies on tour
01/11 Corbyville, ON - Signal Brewing Co.
01/18 Whitchurch-Stouffville, ON - Wintersong Festival
01/23 Brooklyn, NY - Union Pool
01/24 Brooklyn, NY - Union Pool
01/25 Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's
01/31 Montreal, QC - La Sala Rossa (Taverne Tour)
02/07 Ottawa, ON -The 27 Club
04/09 Krefeld, DE - Kulturrampe
04/10 Utrecht, NL - Tivoli Vrendenburg
04/12 Shijndel, NL - Paaspop
04/14 Paris, FR - Supersonic
04/16 San Sebastian, ES - Dabadaba
04/17 Bilbao, ES - Kafe Antzokia
04/18 A Coruna, ES - Playa Club
04/20 Madrid, ES - Independence
04/21 Sevilla, ES - Sala X
04/22 Valencia, ES - 16 Toneladas
04/23 Zaragoza, ES - Lata de Bombillas
04/25 Barcelona, ES - Wolf

Ron Mann's doc Carmine Street Guitars @ NYC's Film Forum, April 24 to May 7

Kirk Douglas of The Roots happened to stop by Rick Kelly's shop Carmine Street Guitars while Ron Mann was filming his excellent documentary.

Carmine Street Guitars The mystique of the Greenwich Village as a haven for bohemians, artists, and musicians lives on (just steps from Film Forum) at Carmine Street Guitars: Rick Kelly and apprentice Cindy Hulej build handcrafted, one-of-a-kind instruments from wood salvaged from the city’s defunct buildings. (Unfazed 93-year-old mom Dorothy keeps the books and answers the phone.) Nothing looks or sounds like Rick Kelly’s guitars, which is why they’re embraced by Lou Reed and Patti Smith, among others. A week in the life of the shop features visits from its devoted clientele: Lenny Kaye (Patti Smith Band), Dallas & Travis Good (The Sadies), Kirk Douglas (The Roots), Eleanor Friedberger, Nels Cline, jazz guitarists Bill Frisell and Marc Ribot, and filmmaker/composer Jim Jarmusch. Watch the trailer and a Q&A with filmmaker Ron Mann below. Check the links for screenings and tickets. 

The Sadies opening for Blue Rodeo @ Massey Hall, Thursday

Watch Travis & Dallas Good discuss The Sadies' Northern Passages on BT followed by two songs from the album.