A Truer Sound

This is an interesting bootleg, with not very much info to go on. Matter of fact I could not even find the exact date. Best thing to go on is it’s sometime within the week prior to The Daily Planet in Memphis shutting down, and judging by the set list, it’s likely 1994 or 1995. The Daily Planet was a bar in Memphis where Todd honed and perfected his writing and performing. Word has it that sometime around 93 or so, Todd went to Memphis in search of Keith Sykes. Todd found Keith, who was at the time playing and writing with Jimmy Buffet. Keith introduced Todd to Jimmy, Jimmy signed Todd to his label, and Todd named his debut album “Songs For The Daily Planet”  in honor of the bar he had made his home in Memphis.  Most of those songs are on this set.

What’s really interesting about this boot to me is that Todd had yet to perfect his “cosmic hippie” stage persona. There are glimmers of it there, but you can tell he’s very much a greenhorn on this show compared to the masterful presence he has on stage now. Also interesting is an early version of  Devil’s Backbone Tavern complete with an early version of the Trog story. Not quite as fleshed out as it would later become but all the important bits are there. It also sounds like this may have been recorded for some kind of unrealized live album because he does “My Generation, Pt. 2″ twice and says to the crowd “Y’all wanna be on a record”. Also interesting about this is there are some songs on here I’ve never heard before such as “Hey Texas”, “She Just Left Me Lounge” and “Heavy Metal Has Been”.

Sound is an A-, and if you are a fan of Todd Snider you are going to want to get this just for it’s significance.

If you are not aware, Todd has launched an Official site where you can buy and download his live recordings. He still allows taping at shows, but no longer allows people to plug into the soundboard. Generally the downloads are around $7 and I think the intent is so fans who attend his shows can go home and download the show they just saw (which is a great idea in my opinion). Download cards can be purchased at his shows as well.

But back to this bootleg (which you won’t find on that site, as the site only goes back to Nov. 2009), I don’t know if this was the last show played at The Daily Planet, but it was the last show Todd played at the Daily Planet. And to tie it into Father’s day which was this past weekend, Todd dedicates this show to his Father, who was in the crowd along with his Mother and folks from Margaritaville Records (another reason I believe this was recorded for some kind of unrealized live album).

Download Todd Snider – Last Songs For The Daily Planet here

EDIT: Thanks to Hedge for pointing out that the info for this show is on eighteenminutes.com. The date is Jan. 27th, 1994 (so my guess was pretty good)