Black Friday RSD release

[EverythingChanges]

I hope to have this in hand tomorrow, the perks of having once worked at a record store that has survived.  The owner called today, holding two copies for me. 

I've been hesitant to share this story, but its too good to keep to myself.

I took my daughter to her first concert, Alabama Shakes, in April.  Afterward, we met Brittany Howard out back... photo, autograph, and a nice chat about how awesome MMJ is.  We also discussed that the Shakes and Jacket would be at Newport on the same day.

_{Brittany and my daughter, Katherine.}


It got me thinking, so I emailed management that I thought a collaboration with Jim and Brittany at Newport would be perfect.  I got a reply that my email had been forwarded to Jim.  Later, they told me Jim had reached out to Brittany while they were on tour with Jack White.  Finally, an email a few weeks before Newport came in... "We're trying to make your Newport dreams come true."

I was there, in Newport, when Brittany came on stage to join MMJ for It Makes No Difference.  I was blown away, brought to tears.  Having it released on vinyl is such delicious icing!  This release is really special to me.

Since this story is so cool, I have a follow up to reiterate how much this band cares....

I have two friends who are a couple. They've both been friends of mine since high school. The female had a brother who was born with significant health issues, both mentally and physically. When he was born he was given a very small amount of years to live. He ended up living way longer. This past summer he passed away. Her boyfriends brother was a friend of mine, and one of the most loved people that I know. He passed away this past year, too. It was seriously one of those "of all fucking people, why did it have to be him?" situations. His death led me to become much better friends with his little brother, who is the male in this couple I'm talking about. So between the two of them, they have suffered major loss in their lives. Its a rough situation.

They're both huge MMJ fans, and both went to Red Rocks this year with my roommate and some other friends. The girlfriend here emailed someone at MMJ land and explained the entire situation, and requested I Will Be There When You Die. She didn't get a response until after the show, but when she got one, whoever sent it said that the song wasn't planned at all, but Jim had played it anyway. The idea that I got from the response email was that the email had hit Jim hard, and the death of Jason Nobel the night before solidified the fact that it would be played. It wasn't on the setlist, btw.

Just sayin', this is band that clearly really cares.

Wow, truly inspiring.  I love how much MMJ cares for the fans and people in general.

[oistheone]

This is a FABULOUS pressing of some GRADE-A material. Clint's sax just blows me away, does that guy have pipes or what? He plays sax like he sings -- emotively and awesomely.

And that is SO COOL to learn that "Grab A Body" was recorded during the ISM sessions. I guess they just tacked the outro from this onto the end of IWSYS? Love hearing stories like that. But oh boy, this has just opened a whole new WORLD of possibilities as to what studio outtakes are in existence out there. I get VERY excited at the thought of a "MMJ Archives" release one day -- that's the stuff dreams are made of!