June 30, 2008

How They Got Their Names....

June 29, 2008

I got this from Dave's site "About Classic Rock". I love Joe - don't get me wrong! I just think he's very hard to understand and this video shows him at Woodstock in rare form.....with captions of what it SOUNDS like he's saying.

Kinda silly but its all I got for a hot Sunday afternoon.....

June 27, 2008

Music Memories

Image via WikipediaI am participating in Music Memories. The theme for today is listing my Top 5 "You" songs.

Here they are:

You Shook Me All Night Long, AC/DC
You Shook Me, Led Zeppelin
You Never Give Me Your Money, The Beatles
You Love the Thunder, Jackson Browne
You Got Lucky, Tom Petty

June 26, 2008

This is Cool:

It's hard to see, but if you go to the site you can get the idea
WORDLE

June 23, 2008

Rolling Stone Magazine - Yay or Nay?

I was visiting Real Rock News and his post on Rush triggered a question so I'll ask it here:

In your opinion which do you think is the BEST rock and roll music magazine out there? I personally don't like Rolling Stone even though they still seem to be the most popular.

June 22, 2008

Funeral Music:

Its kinda funny that my sister and I just discussed this topic today and then I see it on "Classic Rock Blog". You should drop by there, he's got a funny post. But please leave your answer here too, I want to know:

What Music You Would Have Played at Your Funeral?

I have so many chosen, its hard to narrow it down but here are a few:

Layla, Derek & the Dominoes
Train in Vain, The Clash
Still You Turn Me On, Emmerson, Lake & Palmer
Paradise City, Guns & Roses
She's The One, Bruce
Going to California, Zeppelin
Suicide Blonde, INXS
Beautiful Day, U2
Crimson & Clover, Tommy Shondell
and last but not least
Bye Bye Love, The Cars

Okay...so its a weird mix but I dig it...

June 21, 2008

My View on Motley Crue Larry King Interview

I was asked (in a comment) about the Larry King interview with Motely Crue last night. Here are my thoughts:

I was very impressed with all of them, they were classy. The raunchiness has been replaced by a level of maturity but they haven't lost any of their coolness or uniqueness. Still hard core rockers.

Larry tried to get Tommy to talk about his get-back with Pamela Anderson and he very diplomatically said that the focus of the interview was on Motley, not his personal life.

When asked a question about who held the record for having sex with the most women in one night they discreetly refused to answer and gave the impression that that was over 20 years ago and they are not those same guys today so they refuse to discuss it. I liked that.

When asked if he still wanted to beat up Axl Rose, Vince said "would you still want to beat up a kid that pulled your hair in 3rd grade? I haven't even seen him in 20 years."

Mick, as usual didn't have much to say but did add to the conversation a bit :)

They gave each other credit for everything, no one stood out as "the star" fo the group. I don't think Larry realized that Nikki is the brains behind the band (at least that's how I've always seen it) and that without him the band probably would not have been started.

They shared a few cute stories, one about how Vince used to sleep at Tommy's house in high school, one about Nikki's first tattoo, and one about how Nikki and Mick met at a liquor store when Nikki was working there and Mick went in to buy something.

They took Larry to the studio and let him try out the drums and guitar. I thought the poor old guy was gonna have a heart attack. He had his ear plugs in but was still looking a bit overwhelmed by the noise.

All in all it was very entertaining.

June 20, 2008

A Challenging Rock and Roll Quiz!

Ok People....I didn't do so great on this, but it was difficult! My score was....29

Let me know how you do, takes at least 5 minutes.

Rolling Stone`s Rock & Roll Quiz 58 questions that will separate the music aficionados from the novices. Tip: the questions do get progressively easier.

June 19, 2008

Don't Miss Nikki Sixx and the Boys on Larry King Tomorrow Night

Image via WikipediaI'm not a huge Motley Crue fan (although I do think Mick is a good guitar player) but I like Nikki Sixx and look forward to seeing him on Larry King Live tomorrow evening.

Oh yeah, I just remembered....last time I mentioned Nikki here I got in a bit of a debate with my dear friend Malcolm because of some racial comments Nikki made. I think we worked it out and agreed that its okay for him to dislike him for what he said, but its okay for me to like him for the positive things he's doing his organization "Running Wild in the Night".

Vinyl Art

Please allow me to introduce to you Daniel Elden of . Daniel has a unique form of art thta is fueld by his passion for music. Personally, I love it!
Check him out and tell him Layla sent you!
His blog is Here

His website Vinyl Art

June 17, 2008

Janis

For the last hour and a half I've been immersed in documentary film clips of Janis - performances and interviews. I hurt for her, for who she was inside, but more so than that, I just admire her being so honest and true to herself, for never holding back. It seems that she was always searching for, but never found peace and contentment.

The Janis on stage sings with abandonment, fully engaged in the music and her audience. Her voice is uniquely hers, passionate and soulful. But off stage she's a woman longing for love and acceptance. Something fame and fortune was unable to provide, she wanted something personal and real.

Damn. I admit its hard for me to type this because I want to capture what I'm seeing and hearing, but its not easy. There's a painful beauty about Janis. We know the end of her story. I can't say it was a shock, it almost seems fitting for someone who wanted something so much....but it was always just out of reach. Using drugs to fill the empty places works well - for a temporary fix.

What did she want so desperately? The same thing many of us want. Love, acceptance, to feel special. Specifically I think Janis, like me, longed for the love of a man.

Most of her songs talk about men. She sings of love and sex. She's taunting, begging, trying hard to be convincing that she's the one that could love you better than any other woman; that if you just opened your heart to her you would be happy and satisfied. She shamelessly sings of giving her body in hopes of receiving the elusive love of a man, one that would love her for who she is inside, just Janis.

In interviews the sadness and pain in her eyes is so evident. As her career takes off you see less of it, but it never completely leaves. Janis gains some confidence as a singer and performer, she grows somewhat accustomed to her fame. Yet, she never loses the aura of being "the homely girl that wasn't good enough".

On stage she shares a story about how she was out husslin' on the streets for a guy, but they all liked the girl who lived in the apartment below her. So one day she hid outside that girls door to see what it was that girl had that she was lacking...then she breaks into the song "Try".

There were a few interviews tonight that were revealing (I type fast so I did my best to capture the exact words)

She was on the Dick Cavett Show. After performing one song she came off stage and he began asking her questions about how she writes songs and where she gets her ideas for them. She giggles her little girl laugh and says:

"I don't write songs, man, I make them up in my head. Like, sometimes I'll write the words down do I don't forget them....but they just come to me, man, I don't try to find them."

Then describing what its like she says:

"I'll tell ya what it is. Ya know those mule carts with the dumb mule in front and there's a long stick with a string that has a carrot at the end of it? That dumb mule runs after it all day and never gets a damn thing in the end. That's what its like with a man and a woman."

Dick looks a bit troubled at this, like its getting too personal and deep so he tries to make light of it, "So your saying men are like mules?"

Janis says back in total sincerity,

"No, man, no. The woman is the mule. Men always hold up something more than they are prepared to give...."

and you see it there on her face as she says it - hurt and disillusionment.

In another interview she's asked, as usual, about growing up in small town Texas. She shares that she's going back there for her 10 year High School Reunion. In her straightforward way gets the point across that no one in high school liked her, she never went to a dance, that they thought she was weird. She was going to go back and just be Janis and let them all be frigging amazed that they could say they knew her.

She says:

"When I was in high school some doctor told my mother I'd be either in jail or an insane asylum by age 21. Here I am 25 , my second record came out, and they thought I was....misguided."

Sadly, within two years of that statement, she'd be gone.

In yet another interview she's asked how success has changed her, she says:

"This whole success thing hasn't compromised me being true to myself and not play games. I don't BS myself or anyone else. I've always told myself I will be real and so far I'm doing that. I'm not wearing cardboard eyelashes and girdles and playing Vegas. I've never been premeditated enough in show biz to be worried about putting on a face."

The Janis on stage did what she was born to do - sing and through her singing bring people together for a great time. She totally came alive, or as she puts it:

"its like when your making love and your totally inside yourself in the moment and that's all there is and it just feels so good you want it to last forever."

On her self Janis said,

"I'm a victim of my own insides. There was a time when I wanted to know everything. I read a lot. I guess you'd say I was pretty intellectual. It's odd, I can't remember when it changed. It used to make me very unhappy, all that feeling. I just didn't know what to do with it. But now I've learned how to make feeling work for me. I'm full of emotion and I want a release, and if you're on stage and if it's really working and you've got the audience with you, it's a oneness you feel. I'm into me, plus they're into me, and everything comes together. You're full of it. I don't know, I just want to feel as much as I can, it's what 'soul' is all about.*"

Finally, when compared to the blues singers that inspired her she had this to say:

"There's an honesty there - Peggy Lee, Billy Holiday, Aretha Franklin - they sing the truth. They can milk you with two notes and they make you feel like they just told you the whole universe. I don't have that now, all I got is strength, but maybe if I keep going...."

Janis didn't keep going, but I have news for her - she DID have it then, she had it from the start and she never lost it.

*taken from Kosmic Blues website

June 16, 2008

A New Blog to Check Out

70's Classic Rock

This is a new blog that I highly recommend for those of us who DIG the 70's, man.

He features one of my favorite bands, Heart, on his June 14th post. They came out in 1976 - 1976???? Geez, am I getting old or what?

Anyhow - check him out!

Blog for Sale:

Anybody want to buy my blog for $36 Grand plus some change? No? Well if you change your mind let me know....(and let me know how much your blog is worth I may want to buy it!)

My blog is worth $36,695.10.
How much is your blog worth?

June 15, 2008

Happy Father's Day!

To all the father's out there - hope you feel special today because you are! Father's make a huge difference in the lives of their children.

June 13, 2008

Robbin Crosby - a sad story

Was just riding my exercise bike and watching VH1 Classics, they had a show on featuring RATT. Before I knew it my cycling had stopped and I was glued to the interviews and film clips of the band. Plus, its hard to peddle when you feel like crying and that's how I felt when I saw Robbin on the screen.

So many lives claimed by drugs...

It seems to be a typical scenario, the most sensitive person in the band ends up the drug addict. No one realizes how bad it is till its too late. Or maybe,in his case, no one cared enough.

Although I've always been a 70's girl at heart, I did go the clubs in Hollywood during the LA Band scene of the early 80's. On one occasion I had the opportunity to meet Robbin Crosby.

This will sound a bit odd, but I've always been very discerning about people and often feel like I can see someone's "true self" in just a brief meeting. That's how it was with Robbin. I was only with him for a short time but I got a clear sense that he was a senstive soul. I wondered if he was not cut out for party rock band scene, even though we were about the same age he seemed vulnerable and out of place with the other guys.

As the band gained popularity he became addicted to heroin. For a long time he hid his drug/alcohol problems but eventually it caught up to him and he was forced to leave the band. I just saw a clip of his last show. During one of their big hits he picked up the wrong guitar. He had no clue. He kept playing. It sounded horrible. All eyes were on him - the band, the audience, and that's when they realized he'd gone over the top. Apparently after that most of the band members wouldn't even associate with him. He went from a rich rock star to a junkie living in a shack.

He contacted AIDS. Word had it that he kicked the heroin habit, but on June 8, 2002 he died. Some say it was an OD, some say it was a heart attack. Does it really matter? It all started with the first taste of heroin that stuff usually owns you after one try.

At one point in the interview he talked about how he reached out in desperation to his former band mates and, other than Juan Croucier, they would have nothing to do with him. That kind of sums up my opinion of Steven Pearcy - he was the typical arrogant frontman with "LSD" (lead singer's disease - it was very contagious in those hair bands of the 80's).

Robbin's nickname in the band was "King" but he certainly didn't die
like one. Its tragic.

Here is what Juan had to say about the death of his friend, it kind of confirms to me that my instincts about Robbin were right:

"Former bassist Juan Croucier, who remained very close with Crosby over the years, wrote, "To a King among men: Robbin, you will always be loved by those who knew you. I will always love you, beyond words. Your kindness and compassion, knew no bounds. Your heart was pure love. Your sprit was a gift to be admired. It was an honor to have been your friend. I will always cherish the many wonderful memories we shared together, over the many years. The world is a better place because of you. I wish you all the love in this world and all the peace in heaven. The pain and suffering is over. God bless you."

---------------

Now playing: Ratt - Round and Round
via FoxyTunes

June 12, 2008

Somedays Music is Everything

On a personal note....

some days life hurts

Music

helps

what do you listen to when you just want to escape?
it changes for me, today its

June 9, 2008

Chris Martin dreams of Bono (keep dreaming....)

Here's what Chris Martin of Coldplay had to say about their latest record (out June 12 '08):

Martin compares Coldplay to U2

Monday, June 9 2008, 12:40 BST

By Simon Reynolds, Entertainment Reporter

Coldplay frontman Chris Martin has compared his group's new album to U2's The Unforgettable Fire.

Martin told The Telegraph that their album Viva La Vida, which is released this Thursday (June 12), is comparable to U2's fourth record.

"I always view our albums in terms of U2 albums," he said. Viva La Vida is our Unforgettable Fire in that it's less straightforward, more oblique. It's about sex and death and love and fear and travel and illness. There's light and there's dark."

Despite Coldplay's albums achieving huge sales, Martin admitted that he doesn't think his group is the best in the world.

"The best bands in the world today are probably Arcade Fire and Sigur Rós," he said. "I think Coldplay is only the seventh best in the world."

Earlier this week, Chris revealed he has been dreaming about U2 frontman Bono.

He said: "I always dream about other musicians. And with U2 or Radiohead it's always, 'Hey, how are you doing?' And they are never interested in hanging out with us. It's a permanent feeling of being at school and the bigger boys don't want to play with you."

June 8, 2008

Historic Rock and Roll Home Movie Rediscovered

Got this in an email today:

Historic Rock and Roll Home Movie Rediscovered

Orlando, Fla. (June 8, 2008) After spending nearly 40 years in a drawer in Roger McGuinn’s home, a movie that Paul McCartney described as “brilliant” has found its way to the Internet on www.GrowingBolder.com.

In 1965, The Byrds' Gene Clark, Roger McGuinn, and David Crosby wrote the song that created psychedelic rock, Eight Miles High, about their plane trip to England. Two years later, The Byrds returned to London and McGuinn took along his movie camera to capture the story behind the song. Editing inside the camera, McGuinn created a one-take short film and added Eight Miles High as the soundtrack.

“I had seen an experimental film by a guy named Bruce Conner whose style was to go click, click, click, and then run a few seconds of film,” McGuinn tells Growing Bolder. “The end result is really fast, jumpy images that I thought would be interesting with Eight Miles High.”

The entire film, along with McGuinn’s introduction and description, can be seen at www.growingbolder.com/media/Entertainment/Music/Historic-Home-Movie-152484.html

“The film is a piece of rock history,” says Growing Bolder executive producer Katy Widrick. “We’re excited to help keep it alive.“

Contact:
Katy Widrick
News@growingbolder.com

----------------
Now playing: Lari White - Loved Right
via FoxyTunes

June 4, 2008

Duane Allman

I discovered Duane Allman's music in 1975, four years after his death. That summer I started hitchhiking down to the Laguna Beach almost every day. There was a stretch of sand not far off the boardwalk that had an old wall which had been transformed into a memorial site: "The Duane Allman Wall".

It was nothing official, just something some devoted fans decided to do in his memory. It was a whitewashed brick wall about 20 feet long and 8 feet tall. Just a lone wall in the sand, that must have survived the demise of whatever it was once attached to.

I wish I had a photo of it to show you, it spoke volumes about how much Duane was loved and appreciated for his talent and how devastated his fans were when he tragically died. It was covered in notes to Duane, drawings of him, very colorful and very 70's.

I became intrigued and had to learn more about him. Back in those days you couldn't plug in your laptop and have instant access to information on any and every topic imaginable, I had to rely on word of mouth. I had a great source of musically info, my older cousin, Greg. I sat with Greg and listened to Duane Allman and got an education. He also taught me all about the other greats that I was too young to ever "know", Janis, Jimi and Jim.

This story also has a personal meaning because my son is planning on buying a motorcycle the second he turns 18 (dec. 7!) and I am in denial. I just can't bear the thought of it.

All this to say - Rock Revival has a great post on Duane today, you should check it out.

June 3, 2008

Malcolm's Tribute to Bo Diddley

My friend Malcolm has a posted a tribute to Bo Diddley.

June 2, 2008

Bo Diddley - A Legend Passes On

I was very sad to just hear that Bo Diddley has died of heart failure, he was 79.

His influence reaches far and wide in the world of rock music. Its said that he was one of the people that transformed Blues into Rock and Roll. He was known for playing a rectangular guitar, which is just downright cool if you ask me.

His first single, "Bo Diddley," introduced record buyers in 1955 to his signature rhythm: bomp ba-bomp bomp, bomp bomp, often summarized as "shave and a haircut, two bits." The B side, "I'm a Man," with its slightly humorous take on macho pride, also became a rock standard.

He will be greatly missed and always remembered.

June 1, 2008

Happy Birthday to Jeff at Imagine Echoes!

Jeff, hope you have a great birthday (June 2)! Thanks for being such a fun and supportive blog reader. I am glad you are writing more - your absence was missed over the school year.