Customer Reviews

Willie Nile: Live from the Streets of New York

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Rock `n' roll albums have become a sadly scarce commodity. Sure, there's indie rock, punk rock, modern rock and all manner of hyphenated descendants, but few artists still make rock music with roots that reach through all of the layers of decades past. The "'n' roll" has been lost in the translation. Luckily, New York-bred Willie Nile is one such artist, born just in time for early exposure to Presley, Holly and Domino, steeped in the Greenwich Village folk revival and reignited by the `70s punk explosion. His recording career came of age in the early '80s with a pair of albums for Arista, was derailed by legal setbacks with Geffen for the second-half of the decade, and restarted in 1991 with "Places I Have Never Been" on Columbia. Nile attracted A-list fans during his hiatus, and the comeback featured guest appearances from both Roger McGuinn and Richard Thompson.

The pattern of long gaps between releases repeated itself several more times. His deal with Columbia ended, he released an indie EP ("Hard Times in America") in 1992, and dropped out again until decade's end, when he released "Beautiful Wreck of the World." Another seven years passed until he released his tour de force, "Streets of New York." This was the culmination of everything that had gone before, both musically and personally, meshing life experiences ("The Day I Saw Bo Diddley in Washington Square") with philosophical wanderings ("Back Home") into a superbly vivid portrait of a musician and the city that served as his art's crucible. Praise for "Streets of New York" came even before the album's official release, and it was with that positivity ringing in his ears that Nile took the stage for the album's release party at New York's Mercury Lounge, resulting in the live recording captured here.

Working through ten of the album's thirteen tracks, and adding a handful of titles from earlier releases, Nile knew he had the goods. He's not selling a new album, he "was simply there to serve the songs, to tell the stories and hopefully do justice to the music." Nile's regular road band and guests (Andy York, Brad Albetta, Rich Pagano, Jimmy Vivino and Frankie Lee) burned through the album titles in the sort of heartfelt, fiery and well-oiled performance one expects at the end of the tour, rather than the start. These songs clearly hit just as much of an emotional resonance with the players as they did with the writer and the audience, and the freedom of their performance, hitting all the notes yet still rocking it live, is truly impressive.

As on the studio album, the opening "Welcome to My Head" provides a Felliniesque vision of New York, laying out a surreal map of the album's visions. The artistic beehive of Greenwich Village is captured in the Pogues-like rock-waltz, "The Day I Saw Bo Diddley in Washington Square," brought even further to life on stage by its sing-a-long chorus. The weary, wordy talking-blues shuffle "Back Home" derives from Dylan and Forbert, but Nile's poetic images are more anchored (and less fantastic) than Dylan's, and his sung passages are more melodic than Forbert's. The song's insistent piano riff is beautifully echoed in the title refrain, and the lyrical nod to "Bells of Rhymney" ("We sailed across a sea of time / We smoked the weed, drank the wine / Heard the bells of Rhymney chime") provides a link to Nile's past fascination with the folk revival.

Even those songs not directly about New York, such as "Asking Annie Out" and "Best Friends Money Can Buy," or earlier titles like 1980's "Vagabond Moon" and 1981's "Heaven Help the Lonely" retain the city's passionate emotional air. "Cell Phones Ringing in the Pockets of the Dead," written about the 2004 Madrid train bombing, can't help resonate deeply on an album dedicated to New York City, and the 1992 title track from "Hard Times in America" proves startling portentous as the gap between rich and poor widens and the U.S. economy threatens to nosedive. The set closes with a breathless Clash-styled cover of "Police on My Back" and Nile's love song to his city, "Streets of New York," the latter sung solo at the piano.

A similar live set was released in 2007 as "Live at the Turning Point," but while the song list included a generous helping of titles from "Streets of New York," the poor quality of the recording was a disappointment to fans. No such problems here, as the set was professionally recorded for release on both CD and DVD. Between-song chatter is kept to a minimum, filling out the CD with 68 minutes that's nearly all music. The multi-camera video on the DVD is sharp and shows off an informal club setting seemingly at odds with the grand nature of the music being played. Bonus material on the DVD includes interviews with Nile and band members, and a few glimpses of show rehearsals. The stars truly aligned for this show: great new material, a band of seasoned players, and an artist infused with the knowledge that he'd finally written the songs of his lifetime. [©2008 hyperbolium dot com]

Love Willie Nile. Love the passion, love the music. Only problem with this video is that it is too short. I want 2 1/2 hours of Willie, and even some of the slower stuff like Across the River and Streets of New York at the piano.

Fantastic from start to finish. Why isn't Willie a superstar? If you have ever wondered how stupid is the average American, look no further then Willie Nile. He should be a household name. Great songs, great playing, great singing the complete package. But no radio play. Instead we get Justin and Britany. Shoot me please.

Just watched this after saving it for the right moment. I guess it's been a couple of months now since I bought it. Full disclosure is in order here. I have been a fan of Willie Nile since I picked up his first albums on vinyl back in the mid to late 80s. I had lived in Madrid for four years and pretty much felt disillusioned about the 80s as a decade for pop and rock in general. I used to joke that I missed the at least the last half of the decade by immersing myself in Spanish rock and flamenco (they're not mutually exclusive!) before returning stateside in 89/90. When I heard Willie's stuff from that decade and his early 90s release, 'Places I Have Never Been', something resonated. His music was simple and deep at the same time and mostly free of the ridiculous excesses of many of that era's artists I couldn't connect with. As one writer put it around the time of his fourth studio album in 94, "`One can hear Nile's frustration of the 80s at trying to make it as a serious singer/songwriter in a business environment that rewarded hair metal bands and professional sluts." Even my favorite artist, Neil Young, just seemed lost throughout most of that 10-year span. I remember hearing his perhaps all-time worst release, "Landing on Water" and his FU to Geffen by way of his ultra-countrified 'Old Ways' and thinking the 90s couldn't come soon enough. Well, Old Neil got back on track with 'Freedom' and then with Crazy Horse and 'Ragged Glory' but Willie disappeared from my radar. I had pretty much lost track of him and his music until recently when I caught wind of 'Streets of New York" Unfortunately, I didn't discover it until well after its release in 2006. In fact, I just got hold it about 2 years ago and fell in love with it. I bought copies of the CD and sent them to friends here and abroad.

Now here we have the DVD. Well, this man and his bandmates have been around the proverbial block more than a handful of times and the empathy in the ensemble just resonates in this disc. And having NYC inspire, directly or not, most of the songs really made for a powerful work of art. Doesn't hurt that they record here in an intimate setting at a small club (The Mercury?) in the city still healing from 9/11. One song in particular, 'Cell Phones Ringing in the Pockets of the Dead', just blew me away. It brought me powerfully, wrenchingly back to the horrible events of 11 March 2004 and the Madrid train bombings. I wasn't there, but have many friends I care about who were and were deeply wounded by this unspeakable act. When Mr. Nile works and his band through his powerful set of songs and finally gets to this one, it's one of those rare moments when art, music, performance channel blood, sweat, and tears. The entire set builds to this song and then 4 more that serve as the perfect, as they call it in Spanish, 'desenlace'. What was bound up, is unwound and set free. Cathartic and healing.

Thank you, Willie Nile, for being the consumate artist and sharing this one majestic hour from 'Welcome to My Head' to the 'Streets of New York' For those interested in purchasing the DVD, don't hesitate. One of the best features of the disc is the song featurettes where Wilie and his bandmates take time to explore the songs and how they came alive on stage that night. I suggest just watching it straight through, though, as if you were in the audience there. Then the featurettes do what they're intended to do laying down the background of each song. The filmmakers do a great job, too, of making you feel as if you were really there. Moreover, the sound is solid on my home audio system where it is intended to be heard. Don't watch it on a laptop unless you've got a good set of headphones. This band deserves to be played LOUD! By the way, the eighth anniversary of 3/11/2004 is nearing. This DVD might be one small way to help make some sense of such senseless acts. By and large, though, this work is not intended to be a political statement at all. It's just one artist's masterpiece, an ode to NYC, and it spans his career. One for the ages and those without a prayer. Get it.