The Half Known Life

Barb Wired Tour Vol. 2 is the second of two volumes of Empress Valley’s ambitious nine disc compilation of important tapes from Ron Wood’s New Barbarians side project in support of his solo album Gimme Some Neck. Picking up where The Drug Dealer Tapes Vol. 1 (Empress Valley EVSD 196/200) leaves off, Vol. 2 contains four discs with another hour of the tour rehearsal tape along with two complete shows…

The short-lived Houston, Texas late-'60s psych band Moving Sidewalks are generally best known as one of the first bands of Billy Gibbons, who went on to fame in biker-blues arena rockers ZZ Top. In their day, Moving Sidewalks recorded their sole LP, Flash, as well as a few singles of psychedelic blues-rock, before evaporating into garage rock history and seeing Gibbons off to radically different prospects. The Complete Moving Sidewalks collects all known studio work by the band as well as demos and unreleased tracks from the Coachmen, the Gibbons-fronted predecessor that came just before Moving Sidewalks. As an album, Flash is very much a product of its time. Gibbons' vocals, guitar playing, and songwriting are all under a heavy Hendrix influence, borrowing the stoned blues side of Jimi's nonchalant playing and electric hippie persona.