Episode 24 of Hooked on Creek features a collection of Max Creek songs that includes stories from the band about the meaning and origin of the songs. These stories add another dimension to the music and help bring the songs to life in new ways.
This episode features the songs Crystal Clear, Double Dare, The Field, Mama Are You Ready and Emerald Eyes.
This episode features the following songs:
- Crystal Clear performed live on January 8, 1983
- Double Dare performed live on May 3, 2002
- The Field performed live on March 5, 1997
- Mama Are You Ready performed live on August 22, 2003
- Emerald Eyes performed live on August 21, 1999
- Emerald Eyes live on performed live February 23, 2002
- Emerald Eyes performed live on May 10, 2019
- Greatest Story Ever Told performed live on October 9, 1989
Episode 24 transcription
You’re listening to Hooked on Creek, a podcast celebrating the music, history and fans of the legendary jam band Max Creek. I am your host, Korre Johnson, and you are listening to episode 24.
Thank you for joining me on episode 24 of Hooked on Creek. I am so glad you are here with me, right now, listening to this podcast. For those of you who might be listening to Hooked on Creek for the very first time, welcome aboard. It’s great to have you here. Feel free to explore past episodes and enjoy the podcast at your own pace. And for those of you who have been with me since the beginning, thank you for your continued support and feedback.
Alright, in today’s episode I am going play a collection of Max Creek songs recorded live over the years that offer more than just incredible music, because each of these recordings also includes a story from the band about the meaning of the song. As a huge fan of Max Creek, I absolutely love hearing these stories because they add another dimension to the music and help bring the songs to life in new ways. So stay tuned to learn the stories behind the songs Crystal Clear, Double Dare, The Field, Mama Are You Ready and Emerald Eyes. But in fair warning, you are going to hear about drugs, strippers and mystic visions, among other things.
In the show notes, you can find direct links to stream or download the music featured in this episode, or simply head over to hookedoncreek.com to get all the details. And while you are there, click the contact link and let me know what you think of this podcast. I would love to hear from you. Alright let’s get started, this is story time with Max Creek.
To kick things off, we are going to travel back in time to Saturday, January 8, 1983. The band was playing at The Taurus Ballroom in Hartford, Connecticut, and they began the show with an acoustic set featuring just Scott and John. And from that acoustic set, you are now going to hear Crystal Clear, introduced with a nice story from John. And if this story is interesting to you, I encourage you to check out my interview with Bob Gosselin in episode 22 to learn more about the formation of Max Creek.
Coming up next, I have an incredible Double Dare story lined up for you. This was captured back on Friday, May 3, 2002, during the band’s performance at Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel in Providence, Rhode Island. And if you have a copy of the video tape Scott is referring to his story, please find a way to get that on YouTube and share it with me. My curiosity is driving me crazy.
And now, let’s continue on our trip through Max Creek history and visit Providence, Rhode Island, back on Wednesday, March 5, 1997, to hear Scott perform The Field during his solo acoustic show at The Living Room, which includes a story about the origin of this classic Creek tune.
Next up, we are headed to Bridge Street Music Hall in East Syracuse, New York, to hear Max Creek perform Mama Are You Ready back on Friday, August 22, 2003. As the band starts the song, Scott opens up about the genesis of the song and what sounds like a really fun time at a Grateful Dead show.
And now I am going to play a couple clips of Scott talking about the song Emerald Eyes. Together, I think these clips work well to convey the origin and meaning of the song. So first, let’s listen to this clip from the band’s performance back on Saturday, August 21, 1999, at the Webster Theatre in Hartford, Connecticut.
And now, let’s listen to Scott provide more details about the history of Emerald Eyes in this clip from the band’s performance recorded on Saturday, February 23, 2002, at Pearl Street Night Club in Northampton, Massachusetts.
And to round things out, I am now going to play Max Creek’s performance of Emerald Eyes recorded at The Met in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, on Friday, May 10, 2019, and this version includes another introduction by Scott that provides a different perspective on the meaning of this song.
I really enjoyed collecting these stories and putting them together for you. I have a few more stories about Max Creek songs that I did not include in this episode, so I am thinking of doing this type of episode again in the future. But with nearly 50 years of music, I am sure there are stories out there that have been captured on live recordings that I have not heard yet. So please reach out to me if you know where I should look to find more of these stories that give insight into the meaning behind their songs.
If you are curious, during the introduction to this episode I played Max Creek’s performance of the Greatest Story Ever Told recorded live on Monday, October 9, 1989, at Island House in Misquamicut, Rhode Island.
As always, let me know if you have suggestions for future episodes or recommendations on people to interview for this podcast. As some of you know, I live in Milwaukee and am a bit disconnected from the local Max Creek scene, so any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated. You can get in touch with via the contact link on the Hooked on Creek website at hookedoncreek.com or via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Just search for Hooked on Creek to get connected. I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks for tuning in.