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For anyone who was disappointed to see none of the songs from last summer’s Dave Matthews Band tour on the band’s latest album, Everyday, fear not. The Lillywhite Sessions, named for Steve Lillywhite, the producer the band had at the time, hit the Internet last week. However, within just a couple days the site, dmb.jktang.com, had its MP3s yanked by RCA, DMB’s record label. The site is still accessible, but only for song lyrics. Although the site was illegal, it’s a shame the MP3s cannot be downloaded anymore, because the 12 songs that were available were excellent, vintage DMB.
Matthews and his bandmates recorded this material around the spring and summer of last year. None of it made the new album because Matthews didn’t like the solemn tone of the songs, later finding a new producer to rescue him from depression. It would be unfair to say that The Lillywhite Sessions should have been the new album, but it is definitely worth searching high and low for. It’s unclear at this time how many people actually have the full group of songs, but anyone who likes DMB should seek out these lucky fans.
This collection sounds much like DMB’s last two studio releases, Before These Crowded Streets (1998) and Crash (1996). Like its predecessors, The Lillywhite Sessions features Matthews’ pure acoustic guitar, the band’s signature long jams, a bunch of upbeat tunes and a few beautiful ballads. Most of the songs are over five minutes, including a ten-minute version of “Bartender,” but the collection is never boring and hits many highs in the process.
“Grey Street” is the standout of the bunch. Played on the summer tour, this song got 50,000 people who had never heard it before to bounce around. It has a sweet sound, with a pleasant blend of guitar and horn to open the song and a great jam between Boyd Tinsley (fiddle) and LeRoi Moore (horn) to close it out. The lyrics are a little more serious, though, telling of a depressed, trapped girl who can’t get the help she needs: “She said, ‘I Pray’/ But they fall on deaf ears/ I’m supposed to take it all on myself/ To get out of this place.”
Other songs from the summer tour include “Sweet Up and Down,” an enjoyable yet sad song about love and “John the Revelator,” which features powerful jams in a compact six minutes. The beautiful “Grace is Gone” slows it down in terms of music and mood, telling the story of a lost love. “Bartender” picks it up a notch, though, with an incredible five minutes of instrumental after Matthews is finished singing about dying: “When I was young I didn’t think about it/ Now I just want to run and hide.”
To go with the eight songs that were previewed on the summer tour, there are four other solid new tracks. “Big Eyed Fish” and “Kit Kat Jam” are especially pleasing, each showing Matthews’ distinct style of playing acoustic guitar, but also succeeding in showing off the talents of each member of the group. In the rhythm section, Carter Beauford’s mind-boggling drum skills are prevalent even in the studio while Stefan Lessard plays an energetic bass. Tinsley and Moore also add their fine talents to the new songs, soloing back and forth a great deal.
It is unclear if these songs will ever be released on a studio album or if one of the shows from the summer tour will be released as a live album. Or perhaps the songs will never find their place on an official Dave Matthews Band CD. This, if nothing else, should spur fans to look wherever they can for this material. The Lillywhite Sessions is signature DMB and deserves to be heard.
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