Happy Birthday Jim James: 5 AmericanaramA Tour Highlights

My Morning Jacket frontman and well-regarded solo performer Jim James is celebrating his 38th birthday today. While the year so far has seen James producing Ray LaMontagne’s recently issued album Ouroboros and remixing and remastering MMJ’s 2003 LP It Still Moves, tonight he and the band get back to touring with an appearance at Criterion Music Hall in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. For Jim’s birthday today and in advance of tonight’s tour opener, here’s a look back at five collaborative highlights from the 2013 AmericanaramA Tour.

The AmericanaramA Tour featured My Morning Jacket sharing a bill with headliner Bob Dylan along with Wilco, Richard Thompson, Ryan Bingham and Bob Weir on select dates. While MMJ guitarist Carl Broemel told Rolling Stone he was disappointed in the lack of collaboration and communication with Dylan (who never spoke to the band during the multi-date run) there was plenty of cross-pollination between acts during the tour.

The first sit-in below in fact features James and Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy joining Dylan and his band for “The Weight” at the July 26, 2013 tour stop at Pier A in Hoboken, New Jersey captured by soundstreamNYC, watch:

That same night in Jersey Wilco brought out Warren Haynes and Ian Hunter to play their original “California Stars” and were then joined by James and his MMJ mates, as well as Bingham, on a cover of David Bowie’S “All The Young Dudes.” Watch both songs in the clip shared by Tom Florczak below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk1JGV5b1kU

“He was so open to talking, the kind of things we were hoping Dylan would be,” James told Rolling Stone regarding his interaction with Weir. “Having him there was like this great gift.” The Grateful Dead guitarist added, “I had a lot of fun playing with those guys. They’re a very, very good band.” Here’s Weir linking up with MMJ and Bingham at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California on August 4, 2013 covering Bruce Springsteen’s “Glory Days” thanks to Larry Rulz:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTG-SvGK9ZE

My Morning Jacket enlisted the help of Matthew Houck of Phosphorescent for another cover during their set on July 28, 2013 at Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, New Jersey. The video below, captured by PhillyRocky, features James and Houck leading the ensemble through a performance of The Velvet Underground’s “Oh! Sweet Nuthin,’” watch:

Another collaborative cover performance took place during Wilco’s set at the July 10, 2013 AmericanaramA Tour stop at Midway Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota. James and Broemel along with other MMJ members including drummer Patrick Hallahan contributed to a take of “Cinnamon Girl.” Here’s the Neil Young cover captured by picofday: