UPDATE! 70's Rockers, T-Shirt Give-Away

Once again the cool, groovy people over at The Chop Shop have some new shirts out. They have been kind enough to DONATE one for me to GIVE AWAY to you! IF, you are the person that comes up with the most correct answers!

Last time we did this it took quite some time to get the list correct. I don't have the answers yet either so I will be guessing along with you!

Hint: all of these people were at the height of their fame from 72 - 82.

Click here for larger view!

We have one person who seems to have kicked some ass in this contest and has got so many right that he is, in fact the WINNER. Congrats to my favorite rock star of all time (and I mean it) SEANO BARRY of the entertaining and controversial blog, Circle of Fits!!!!

But not all his answers were correct so please keep guessing. I don't have the answers either, I have to consult with the talented shirt designer to verify who's who.

Here's what's been confirmed far:

1.

2.

3. Sly Stone
4.

5. Iggy Pop

6.

7. Debbie Harry

8. Joni Mitchell

9. Stevie Wonder

10.

11. Joe Strummer

12.

13. Elvis Costello

14. Alice Cooper

15. Bob Dylan/Tom Waits (not Bob)

16. Joe Jackson

17. bob Marley

18. Mark Knofler( dire straits)

19. Mark Mothersbaugh(devo)

20. Joey Ramone

21. John Lydon (PIL)

22. Jeff Lynne(ELO)

23. Neil Peart

24. Sid Vicious

25. Bruce Springsteen

26.

27. Billy Joel

28.

29. Ozzy

30.
31.

Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam "Coming Up for Air" Review

YES! My new favorite rockin blues band has a new CD coming out on June 16. Got my review copy today (thank you, Sharon Weiss, at W3 PR!) I've been listening to it for the last couple of hours and its great. Produced by none other than the talented Mr. Peter Frampton.

Right now "Hear Me Lord" is playing - written by George Harrison. I believe its the only song on the CD that is not an original. "Amber's Song" is so pretty and sad. The whole CD is great. I am not disappointed. I think there first one will remain my favorite but they came through again the second time around.

"After a brief break from two years of non-stop touring, Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam is back with a new album produced by Peter Frampton and mixed by Bob Clearmountain. Coming Up For Air, a smorgasbord of rockers and acoustic ballads, includes Davy s and Peter s dueling guitar solos on George Harrison s anthem, Hear Me Lord, and an extraordinary bonus track duet with Jonatha Brooke of her Taste of Danger. The album is built around nine Davy originals (two co-written with Peter Frampton). Highlights include rockers Tear Down The Walls and Riverbed and the soulful Can t Take This Back. After a three week solo stint opening for Jeff Beck in April, Davy and the band are hitting the road again in support of this album."

Geez, I really don't want to give this copy away - you're gonna have to buy your own this time, its worth it!!!!

I hope to maybe catch these guys this summer....my fingers are crossed.

Elvis Costello, "Secret, Profane and Sugarcane" Review

Elvis Costello, launches a new album on June 2: Secret, Profane & Sugarcane. It's produced by T-Bone Burnett, which, imo, is always a good thing. Accordingt to his website, Elivis is joined on the new album by "some of the most highly regarded recording artists and musicians in traditional American country music, bluegrass and beyond".

I personally fell in love with Elvis Costello's music when I first heard My Aim Is True back in 1977. The band I was in covered several songs off the album - all unique stories and different from each other. One thing about Elvis, he is very adventurous musically. I have quite a few of his albums and they are all hard to put into a category. Is it rock, jazz, country, Bluegrass? Its hard to say with him!

The new album is accoustic and kind of country-ish. I think its worth giving a listen to but is not my favorite. I still like the older stuff and loved last years Momofuku because it was more rockin.

If you'd like to check out this CD, let me know, I have one to give away (please see note below)

Secret, Profane & Sugarcane

1. Down Among the Wine and Spirits
2. Complicated Shadows
3. I Felt the Chill
4. My All Time Doll
5. Hidden Shame
6. She Handed Me a Mirror
7. I Dreamed of My Old Lover
8. How Deep is the Red
9. She Was No Good
10. Sulfur to Sugarcane
11. Red Cotton
12. The Crooked Line
13. Changing Partners

This kills me: I hate to do this, but I am going to ask you to help me out a bit until I am employed again. IF I MAIL YOU A CD, can you please donate a couple of bucks to pay postage? A CD sent media mail is usually around $2.00. It sounds pretty sad, but I am making every penny count until I have an income again :) Thanks. I'll send it either way, so if you're in the same boat financially - no worries!!!

Paypal donate button in sidebar

In Sept. 2007 I got my hands on this book the day it came out in the stores. I had been waiting for it because I have a deep respect for Nikki Sixx (and he was always my favorite in the Crue).

I had no idea how personally this book would eventually affect my life. At that time I would never have believed you if you told me, "Your son will be a heroin addict one day". I simply would have thought, "you're crazy, that will NEVER happen!" I was wrong.

If you have not read this book, I recommend it highly, but have to warn you, its not for the faint of heart or the easily offended. Its raw, its hardcore sex, drugs and rock and roll. But mostly its deeply personal and gives an inside view into the life of an addict. Nikki doesn't hold back, he shares his soul here.

During my own journey as the parent of an addict I have met many other parents, I dedicate this post to them. Its one of those things you can't possibly comprehend unless you experience it yourself, and I hope and pray none of you ever have to. I have learned so much from those other parents and don't know how I would get through this without them. And also to two guys that either know what its like to love an addict (Syd) or to be one (Shane) that have encouraged me and shared hope with me.

This video was made in response to the book to express gratitude to Nikki for writing it and shedding some light to others. I have to wonder - if I would have shared this book with Keven before he picked up the needle for the first time - would it have stopped him? I will never know.

----------------
Now playing: Sixx: A.M. - Tomorrow
via FoxyTunes

(thanks, Amber, for posting this today!)


Permission - Sixx AM


p.s. I just watched this again and cried. To see the arms of your child covered in bruises and track marks, to look into their once innocent eyes and see vacancy, to wonder "where did I go wrong as a parent?". But mostly to lie in bed all night with your stomach in knots wondering if he will come home...or is tonight the OD? Jail? An accident? Is he ever coming home?

Thank you, Nikki, if it weren't for your book I would not have been prepared to understand how it can own you after the first try. Thank you for showing the addicts that they can have their lives back. I love you.

stay tuned...I have a very cool post coming up this weekend!

Band Names....

Its always interesting to hear how a band came up with their name. Here's a few:

The Eagles - Originally named Teen King And The Emergencies , they liked the American sound of Eagles and the way it was aligned with The Byrds who had a great influence on them. (good move on the name change!, Teen King?)

E Street Band — Bruce Springsteen's band was named after E Street (E, not East) in Belmar, New Jersey, because the band used to practice at the E Street home of pianist David Sancious' mother. (of course everyone already knew this one, right!)

Foo Fighters - A term used by World War II pilots to describe strange flying fireballs they sometimes saw. (unique...never knew this one before)

Kings of Leon - Three of the band members are brothers and one of their cousins joined them. They chose the name "Kings of Leon" because their grandfather's name is Leon. (how sweet! and it sounds good too)

Mötley Crüe - From a friend's comment, "What a motley-looking crew." Motley means "of great variety" and once described the appearance of a court jester. The re-spelling was their own invention; using the umlauts came to them while they were partying and drinking Lowenbrau beer. (yep, it fits)

Nine Inch Nails — sole constant member Trent Reznor chose the name because it "could be abbreviated easily" and denied any "literal meaning" to the name. (ok)

Procol Harum — The band was named after the pedigree name of a Siamese
cat that belonged to a friend of Guy Stevens, the band's manager. The name was Procul Harun, which is Latin for "Beyond these things", but was written down incorrectly by Keith Reid. The band would say in interviews that the cat was a Burmese Blue, though all cats with the name are the Devon Rex breed. (this kind of ruined the name for me. a cat breed?)

Queen - Were originally called Smile. Singer Freddie Mercury came up with the new name for the band, later saying: "Years ago I thought up the name 'Queen' … It’s just a name, but it’s very regal obviously, and it sounds splendid … It’s a strong name, very universal and immediate. It had a lot of visual potential and was open to all sorts of interpretations. I was certainly aware of gay connotations, but that was just one face of it." (another great name change...Smile? Can you imagine them being called SMILE?)

Soundgarden - A garden of kinetic sculptures that makes music when wind blows through them... a sculpture in Seattle called "Sound Garden". (I want to go there, in fact I've always felt like maybe I should live in Oregon or Washington)

U2 - the U2 was an unemployment form in Ireland. (I could use one of those forms right about now!)

White Snake - From a white albino ball python snake owned by David Coverdale while in Deep Purple. (I have to admit...I really like snakes)

taken from Wikipedia

one of my favorites:

One soft infested summer me and Terry became friends
Trying in vain to breathe the fire we was born in
Catching rides to the outskirts tying faith between our teeth
Sleeping in that old abandoned beach house getting wasted in the heat
And hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
With a love so hard and filled with defeat
Running for our lives at night on them backstreets

Slow dancing in the dark on the beach at Stockton's Wing
Where desperate lovers park we sat with the last of the Duke Street Kings
Huddled in our cars waiting for the bells that ring
In the deep heart of the night we cut loose from everything
to go running on the backstreets, running on the backstreets
Terry, we swore we'd live forever, takin' on them backstreets together.

Endless juke joints and Valentino drag where dancers scraped the tears up off the streets dressed down in rags
Running into the darkness, some hurt bad, some really dying
At night sometimes it seemed you could hear the whole damn city crying
Blame it on the lies that killed us
Blame it on the truth that ran us down
You can blame it all on me Terry
It don't matter to me now
When the breakdown hit at midnight
There was nothing left to say but I hated him and I hated you when you went away

Laying here in the dark you're like an angel on my chest
Just another tramp of hearts crying tears of faithlessness
Remember all the movies, Terry, we'd go see
Trying to learn how to walk like heroes we thought we had to be
And after all this time to find we're just like all the rest
Stranded in the park and forced to confess
To hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
We swore forever friends on the backstreets until the end.
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets

~bruce springsteen

Anvil and Adam

I feel bad that I've been slacking at reading your blogs, my evenings have been spent doing something else these days (she smiles as she types this).

ANYHOW....I did make the rounds this evening and hit some of your sites. I was surprised at how often two topics came up, so I will share them here, just so I can be cool too:

1. The movie, "Anvil! The Story of Anvil" is out and sounds like a great film. Bob Vinyl gave it a 10/10 and Vicky summarized her review by saying "its a must see film for any music lovers".

2. Adam Lambert. If you don't know who he is you obviously don't watch TV or read much out there. I admit...I didn't know who he was till very recently. When I saw/heard him perform I was an immediate fan. I love this kid! He has raw talent and I think he should have won but....they picked the nice clean cut kid instead, he was great. I'm just saying...Adam has more than talent, he also has a unique style that sets him apart. His interpretations of some of the songs he covers are incredibly unique.

So the rumor that's floating around: He will be the new frontman for QUEEN??? Normally I would be appalled at anyone stepping in to try and sing Freddie's songs, but I think this kid just might be able to pull it off. We'll see. No one can ever replace Freddie, but I as I said in a comment, I think he would approve of Adam Lambert.

Just watch this - you don't see this kind of talent often:

Summer Concert Memory

Charlie at Bloggerythms left a comment to the last post and triggered a great memory:

Anyone familiar with Laguna Beach will be able to picture this beautiful setting, about 1/4 mile from the ocean in what is known as Laguna Canyon.

It was summer 1980 (or 81, 82?) and I was living out "the  Canyon",  one block east of The Sawdust Festival. Across the street from Sawdust was the Laguna Bowl (home of the world famous Pageant of the Masters*) and back then they also held concerts.

The Laguna Bowl was just a block from the beach. It was a warm summer day and POCO was playing there! Living so close (and being totally broke) we decided to enjoy the concert from our roof!

We carried up chairs, ice chests, food and of course beer! The way the Canyon is situated the acoustics were phenomenal, it was as if we had the best seats in the house (we couldn't see but we sure could hear).

By the last song most of our neighbors had caught on and were on their roofs too, people could drive by on Laguna Canyon Road and wave at all of us.

I can still here them playing Rose of Cimaron and Crazy Love. What a GREAT band, and a great memory. Thanks, Charlie :)

*I've lived here all my life and have only been to the Pageant of the Masters ONCE.  Its something you have to see with your own eyes to appreciate - I recommend it to anyone but get tickets early - like a  year in advance!

Summer Concert Plans??

I love getting Dave White's email every Friday, its always full of good info. This week he highlighted a few classic rock bands that will be touring this summer.

Do you have summer concert plans? So far I have "wants" but have not purchased tickets. I do, however, have my tickets to U2 for October :)

Took this right from Dave, so stop by his site and tell him he' doing a great job over there at About.com :)

AC/DC

Photo by Kevin Mazur / Getty Images

AC/DC will spend the month of June touring Europe, followed by 16 North American dates (July 28-September 9) then a few months' rest before playing a half dozen dates "at home" in Australia in early 2010. The set list will be a mixture of classics and new material from the 2008 Black Ice album.

More InfoRead Review

Aerosmith and ZZ Top

Aerosmith photo by Frank Micelotta / Getty Images

Aerosmith's North American tour runs from mid-June through mid-September with 41 arena gigs scheduled. The tour was originally planned to support a new album, which has been delayed by various band members' health issues. In the absence of new material, the band is looking to liven things up by performing some of their earliest albums in their entirety. It'll be North meets South as the Boston-based rockers are joined on the tour by fellow veteran arena rockers ZZ Top, self-styled "little ol' band from Texas."

More InfoRead Review

Clapton & Winwood

Photo by Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images

During the month of June, Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood will work their way from east coast to west, with a 14-date reprise of their sellout three-night stand at Madison Square Garden in 2008. The May 19 release of a two-disc (CD/DVD) set recorded during the MSG performances sets the mood. Watch video of "After Midnight" from the new release, Live From Madison Square Garden.

More InfoRead Review

Def Leppard - Poison - Cheap Trick

Def Leppard photo by Kevin Winter / Getty Images

Def Leppard, Poison, and Cheap Trick will set out together for a late June through early September tour of 40 cities. This will be Leppard's fifth straight U.S. summer tour, and vocalist Joe Elliot hints that it may be the last one for a while. "I seriously do think that it's time for us to not do it next year," Elliot said, "because I'm a firm believer in you don't want to do it too much — people start taking you for granted."

More InfoRead Review

Bob Dylan, John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson

Bob Dylan photo by Dave Hogan / Getty Images

What could be more America's Heartland than Bob Dylan, John Mellencamp and Willie Nelson performing at (wait for it ...) minor league baseball parks. Dylan and Nelson did similar small town tours in 2004 and 2005. Between July 2 and August 15 the trio will play 22 ballpark concerts, some in cities as large as Louisville, Kentucky and Durham, North Carolina but mostly in places like Round Rock, Texas and Sevierville, Tennessee.

More InfoRead Review

Fleetwood Mac

Photo by Kevin Winter / Getty Images

We now join the Fleetwood Mac tour, already in progress (and continuing through June 17.) There's no new album to promote, so the set list is strictly the Mac's classics. Reversing the usual order, there's talk that the tour may be followed by a new album. Says guitarist/vocalist Lindsey Buckingham to London's VIP News, "I think maybe there was ... a sense that we would make a better album if we went out and hung out together first on the road ... maybe even sowing some seeds musically that would get us more prepared to go in the studio rather than just going in cold."

More Info

Kid Rock and Lynyrd Skynyrd

Lynyrd Skynyrd and Kid Rock, photo by Stephen Lovekin / Getty Images

For the second summer in a row, the Kid and Skynyrd will be tour buds. This time around, however, rather than sharing the stage, they'll each do full sets. It'll be a busy summer, with 24 dates between early July and early August.

More InfoRead Review

Metallica

Metallica photo by Michael Loccisano / Getty Images

Metallica will actually spend most of the summer on the European leg of their world tour, but from September through December will play 30 North American dates. The band are including classics, new material and rarities (their own, and some covers) -- an eclectic mix attributable to what drummer Lars Ulrich describes to Rolling Stone this way: "On this tour, for some reason, we've got this wild hair up our ass."

More InfoRead Review

Styx, REO Speedwagon, .38 Special

Styx photo courtesy i.e. marketing

Styx, REO Speedwagon and .38 Special are tripling up for a 30-date tour which began May 13 in Albuquerque and ends in St. Louis on July 11. The best part? Ticket prices that will be as low as $13.50, as part of what Styx's Tommy Shaw calls "our own personal rock ‘n’ roll stimulus package."

More Info

Jimi Who

1960

I'm Trying to Determine How I Can Manage to Be in NJ for This:

SPRINGSTEEN PROCLAIMS RETURN TO NJ AS FINAL MAJOR MUSICAL ACT TO PLAY GIANTS STADIUM SEPT 30, OCT 2, & OCT 3

Bruce Springsteen announced from the stage last night at his Izod Center concert in East Rutherford, NJ that he and the “legendary” E Street Band will return as the final major musical act to play Giants Stadium on September 30, October 2, and October 3. Tickets go on sale June 1 at 10am Eastern. Springsteen holds the record as the number one selling artist at the Meadowlands (which includes Giants Stadium) in New Jersey, having sold out 56 concerts to date with the E Street Band.

Is Rock and Roll Dying?

An article on CNN's website caught my eye, "What will save rock and roll?". Within the article is a speech given by the very articulate and knowledgeable, Steve Van Zandt. I read the whole thing, its looooong, but good. Below I pasted some of his key points. He calls his speech "A Crisis of Craft".

To summarize what SVZ said: Today's "musicians" have lost the art of the craft and bascially most of them suck. He explains his reasoning behind this and shares kind of a mini-history of rock and roll in the process. I enjoyed it.

Any thoughts on this?

... I want to spend just a minute on a topic that never ever gets discussed in the music business – the music.

The reason nobody wants to talk about it is because it mostly sucks! It blows! It is sucking major moose cock! Who are we kidding here? Nobody's buying records? Because they suck!

And I know why.

Nobody wants to deal with this but we have to.

Yes we are experiencing big changes in the business but much more importantly over these last thirty years or so we have been witness to a crisis of craft.

Rock and Roll is the working class art form.

So let's go back to basics.

What is our craft?

So as to our craft – performance, record making, songwriting-what happened exactly?

The crisis in performance is I believe based on one simple fact. When it started, Rock and Roll was dance music. One day we stopped dancing to it and started listening to it and it's been downhill ever since.

We had a purpose. We had a specific goal, an intention, a mandate. We made you dance or we did not work – we did not get paid – we were fired – we were homeless. That requires a different energy. It is a working class energy. Not an artistic intellectual waiting around for inspiration energy. It's a get up, go to work, and kill-energy. Rip it up or die trying.

The advent of the video was just the final nail in the performance coffin, a coffin that had already been constructed by years of excessive immersion in ganja, hashish, and all forms of water cooled bong therapy. You didn't have to make people dance anymore. They were too stoned to dance! You didn't even have to play your instrument anymore – all you had to do was act!

Act like a Rock Star and bada bing you were a Rock Star.

And now there's a new trend that's even more dangerous. And this affects songwriting as well as performance. Bands are starting to skip the bar band stage of their development. The club stage. Where, ideally you're still a dance band, but equally important, you get the opportunity to play other people's songs. Your favorite songs. All of a sudden I'm hearing it's not cool to play other people's songs. That's for the less gifted. The losers. The way we thought of the top 40 bar bands growing up has been extended to include any songs that didn’t come from your own personal genius.

This is a major problem.

Performance-wise the energy you discover, manufacture, and harness as a dance band stays with you for the rest of your life. You never lose it.

You learn greatness from greatness.

Nobody is born a great performer. Nobody is born a great songwriter.

The Beatles were a club and bar band for five years. And then continued playing covers for five albums. Let me say that again. The Beatles were a club and bar band for five years. And then continued playing covers for five albums! Then the Rolling Stones were a bar band for three years and played covers for their first five albums. Do you think you're better than them?

If you want to write then you’ve got to learn how to do it. This is why the great song publishers like Lance Freed are always encouraging the young writers to co-write with the older ones.

Just as it’s important to perform with a purpose, it is equally important to write with a purpose. Whether that purpose is to express your most personal anguish or to simply have a hit record. If you’re going to do it, do it right.

The third part of our craft is record making and that discipline has been almost completely abandoned.

A record is four things – Composition, Arrangement, Performance, and Sound. Four different crafts overseen by a Producer that understands, to some extent all four elements plus the Big Picture of the Industry, plus the psychological stuff of being the artist’s psychiatrist, plus the liaison with the business people, etc. etc.

Where are the Producers? Where are the Arrangers? The point being once upon a time it took an army of very talented people to make great records. Writers, singers, musicians, producers, arrangers, engineers and now you have to do it yourself? No wonder everything sucks!

We must reintroduce a new dedication to the Craft.

And worry about the new technology, and the Art, later.

Dave Matthews Fans:

I'll be honest, for some reason I never really listened to Dave Matthews much. Any opinions of him out there?

Just heard more news from FUSE TV, I think I'll check this out to find out what I think:

In case you haven’t heard, Dave Matthews Band will be playing a commercial free concert special at the Beacon Theater June 1st and Fuse will be airing it LIVE! DMB wants to celebrate their classic hit songs including their new album Big Whiskey and the Groogux King, in its entirety with their fans all around the world!

Yes, DMB will be playing live on Fuse, June 1st, at 9pm/8c, and everyone can hear their entire new album!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQEhfnFQV4I

The Next Best Thing to Being There:

I would love to be at Bonnoroo this year, but since I can't, I'll just tune into FUSE:

Music’s best of 2009, the 2009 Bonnaroo Festival, will be televised on June 20th only on Fuse. Featured artists in the festival include Beastie Boys, Nine Inch Nails, Snoop Dogg, Bruce Springsteen and more! The eighth annual Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival will be covered exclusively on Fuse through the week long Fuse Fest programming (June 15-19) culminating with the highlight show “Fuse Fest: Bonnaroo 2009” on June 20^th. Fuse’s original Bonnaroo programming will include live performances, backstage interviews, and documentary footage from various Bonnaroo artists. Viewers can join the celebration by sharing the Bonnaroo Nabbr widget: http://media.nabbr.com/fuse_bonnaroo_2009.html

. Additional information about “Fuse Fest: Bonnaroo 2009” can be found on Fuse.tv

: http://www.fuse.tv/tours/bonnaroo

.

thanks Randi Kraemer @ Special Ops for the head's up on this :)

Randy Rhoads - Still Influencing Young Musicians Everywhere

Okay, I'd seen this video on several sites and have to admit I was not in the mood for yet another cute kid playing guitar or drums or singing. But when I saw this little boy show up yet again over at The Six Strings, I broke down and watched. He's only 9, he's good. Really good. He has such little fingers!

This vid is actually from a year ago when he was only 8!

Counter-Clock Records

My vinyl loving friends will be especially interested in this! 

I recently met Jane Geddis, another female that loves rock music right here in Orange County!  She and her husband, Norm,  are owners of Counter Clock Records.  I have to say her music tastes range far wider and more obscure than mine - you must check them out to see for yourself!

A bio snippet from one of their sites:

Norm has been collecting records since he got kicked out of a record store in 1978 for trying to order "Black Market Clash".  Jane met him at a Grateful Dead concert in 1985 and for some reason they woke up some mornings later to the sound of gunfire at a camp ground 200 miles from home.  The militia consisted of  a very friendly bunch who fed Norm and Jane breakfast.

More than twenty years later Norm and Jane find themselves the proprietors of Counter-Clock Records and have decided to unleash their humour, knowledge and strange music collection on the world with their radio show, Accidental Nostalgia.

They also have a weekly radio show called Accidental Nostalgia that airs Thursdays at 7pm.

You can find their blog and radio show linked HERE.

And of course, check out their record store which lives HERE on eBay.

Back Door Slam - Live From Bonnaroo

It's no secret that my favorite NEW BAND from last year was "Back Door Slam". Sadly they dispersed after one recording together, but lucky for their fans there is a new CD out of their performance at the Bonnaroo in '08. There are some great songs on the new CD, I highly recommend it and have a copy to give away. I will do a drawing of names on Sunday the 17th to let you know who wins, so if you'd like it leave your name in the comments.


Outside Woman Blues (Live Version)

Heavy On My Mind (Live Version)

Gotta Leave (Live Version)

Riding With The King (Live Version)

Almost Cut My Hair (Live Version)

Come Home (Live Version)

Back Door Slam (Live Version)

It'll All Come Around (Live Version)

Redhouse (Live Version)

Been Down So Long (Live Version)

I'm a Statistic!

I am now one of the many people that make up the high percentage of unemployed here in the USA. It was a bit of a shock to get the news on Friday.

But the good news is....maybe I will finally be able to catch up with all your blogs! There are so many great music blogs out there now that I can't keep up as well as I'd like.

Also - PLEASE DO ME A FAVOR - leave me a comment even if it just says "hi". I am trying to figure out something with my sitemeter. It looks like a lot of people read here but not many comment so please help me figure that out. I appreciate it!! (You can comment as anonymous, just don't say anything mean!)

Happy Birthday, Dear Bono!

Today Bono celebrates his 49th. I wish him a very happy one.

Today's Birthday's

1972, Born on this day, Darren Hayes, singer, songwriter, Savage Garden

1955, Born on this day, Alex Van Halen, Van Halen, drums

1951, Born on this day, Chris Frantz, drummer, Talking Heads

1951, Born on this day, Philip Bailey, vocals, Earth Wind and Fire

1947, Born on this day, Rick Derringer, producer, guitar, vocal

1944, Born on this day, Bill Legend, T Rex

1943, Born on this day, Paul Samwell-Smith, The Yardbirds

1911, Born on this day, Robert Johnson, blues singer, guitarist

Do you pray? Pray for all the people in our world that are struggling with drug addiction. Its an epidemic we don't talk about much. Its ripping the futures out of the hands of our children who fall into the snare. Families are tormented, numbed, helpless. Its ugly. Its scary. Its happening in a home near you....

Must Read Interviews for Floyd Fans

Isorski's Musings has a great post on some interviews with David Gilmore and Roger Waters done back in 2000. Here's a teaser, you can read the rest by checking out his site.

Now really. I thought I knew all there was to know about Floyd and its internal strife and the break with Roger Waters after The Final Cut. But in the interviews with Waters and especially Gilmour, I learned a lot. For example, the two were not really fighting during the recording of The Wall except for a couple of artistic arguments. It was really during the filming of the movie that things got bad.

The Light in Darkness, by Lawrence Kirsch

Lawrence is creating his second book about Bruce and its sure to be as excellent as his first one, For You. This book is called "The Light in Darkness". He's looking for contributions so stop by his site and share your thoughts! I contributed to the last one and its kind of a thrill to see your name in such a high quality collection of tributes from Bruce's fans.

Here is a description of the new book:

Featuring stories and recollections by Bruce's legendary fans. Plus... Incredible never-seen-before original concert photos from the 1978 tour.

Bruce Springsteen's Darkness on the Edge of Town broke new ground for The Boss in 1978.
A counterpoint to the operatic elegance of Born to Run, the album was an angry, raw record that burst forth after a three-year hiatus.

Because of its darker tones, Darkness is a difficult album for the casual listener, but for Bruce's legion of dedicated fans, it is a cherished gem.
The Light in Darkness is a forthcoming book that celebrates this classic Springsteen work.

This new book allows fans to tell their tales of incredible shows from the 1978 tour and recount how this great Springsteen album has touched their lives.

Contribute your story now!

(I agree with my friend over at Blogness on the Edge, Clarence really needs to wear red more often!)

Pete Ham, a Sad Ending

I spent a few minutes updating my blog, Gone But Not Forgotten. Its very sad to read about some of the deaths - especially suicide. I added Pete Ham of Badfinger today. I never really knew the details of his death until I read this.  Kinda makes me sick to read about this Stan Polley guy:

During the Warner Bros. Records era from 1973-75, Badfinger became embroiled in many internal, financial and managerial problems and their music languished. By 1975, with no income coming in and his business manager non-communicative, Ham's spirit became broken and he hanged himself in the garage of his Surrey home. He was discovered by his girlfriend in his garage the very next morning. His blood alcohol was .27%. He was 27 years old. He left behind a pregnant girlfriend Anne (his daughter Petera Ham was born one month after his death); Anne had a son, Blair, from a previous relationship. Ham's suicide note was accusatory toward Badfinger's business manager, Stan Polley. It read: "Anne, I love you. Blair, I love you. I will not be allowed to love and trust everybody. This is better. Pete. P.S. Stan Polley is a soulless bastard. I will take him with me." Many of Polley's artist-clients also accused him of corruption over the years. More than a decade after Ham's death, Polley pleaded Nolo contendere to unrelated embezzlement and money laundering charges, but no collection of restitution was ever made. Ham's death was brushed under the rug, as no Beatles made public comment, nor did Apple Corps Ltd nor Warner Bros. Records come out with any official notice of his death. (taken from Wikidpedia)

Musicians on Call

I wrote about this on my other blog earlier this week. I am putting a link to them in my sidebar. This is the kind of organization I like to support - something that makes an immediate difference in the lives of people who are suffering. I'm glad someone had the idea of putting the power of music to work in this way. Very cool.