Good News for Zappa Fans

Dave White has this article over on his site: 

"It seems fitting somehow that the box set commemorating the 40th anniversary of the release of two early Frank Zappa albums was about a year late. I mean, the guy lived in a log cabin with a bowling alley in the basement, so what's a year, give or take, among friends?"  read the rest here

Bob Gruen - Rock Photographer

Bob Gruen is well known for his photos of musicians, especially rock and rollers. He's probably the best out there. I took these from his site. Do you recognize them?  (i tried to number them but it wouldn't work)

Memories....

This is a bit personal, but what the hey.  I am listening to a Zeppelin song right now that always rushes me  back to a very specific place in time:

It was 1980.  I had been living in Oregon for year.  I was there because I had fallen “in love at first site” with a bass player named Bob and he asked me to live with him and be in the band.  How could I resist?  He looked like a cross between one of the Ramones (tall, thin, wild black hair) and David Cassidy – cute baby face).  ANYHOW I had been dating the same guy for four years and dumped him for this rock n roller.

After a year of Bob, our relationship was starting to fizzle out. – I think the novelty of if (he was the hot rock star, I was the blonde girl from California) simply wore off. 

So, I am sitting there on the floor one day looking out the window at the rain and my ex bf calls from California.  He says something like “hold on and listen, you're on the radio and they are going to play a song for you.”  So I stayed on the line and a KMET disc jockey announces that he is dedicating the next song from Jon in California to Layla in Oregon.  Even though the words of the song may seem insulting to some, it really got to me.  A week later Jon drove up and brought me “home”.  I think we stayed together for two weeks and finally broke up for good (then he stalked me for a year, but that’s a story for another time!)

Here are some facts about the song….can you guess what it was based on this:

 Until it was released on their boxed set in 1990, this could only be found in America on the B-side of "Immigrant Song" and in England on an Atlantic Records record sampler.

Intended for release as a single. This was odd because Zeppelin put out very few singles in order to put a premium on albums.

Never performed live by Led Zeppelin. Jimmy Page and Robert Plant played it on their 1995 tour.

(taken from Songfacts)

Happy Birthday to George Harrison

George would have been 66 years old today.

Here are some quotes I found attributed to him:

The Beatles will exist without us.

 

All the world is birthday cake, so take a piece, but not too much.

 

   As long as you hate, there will be people to hate.

 

I think people who can truly live a life in music are telling the world, "You can have my love, you can have my smiles. Forget the bad parts, you don't need them. Just take the music, the goodness, because it's the very best, and it's the part I give most willingly.

 

I wanted to be successful, not famous.

 

The Beatles saved the world from boredom.

 

When you've seen beyond yourself, then you may find, peace of mind is waiting there.

 

With our love, we could save the world.

 

The Beatles exist apart from my Self. I am not really Beatle George. Beatle George is like a suit or shirt that I once wore on occasion and until the end of my life people may see that shirt and mistake it for me.

 

I began to write more songs when I had more time, especially when we began to stop touring. Having Indian things so much in my head it was bound to come out.

Recognize These Lyrics:

I haven't done this in a while.  I heard a few of these songs today, can you guess what they are by these lines from they lyrics?


1.  "Mama told me not to look into the eyes of the sun, but Mama, that's where the fun is."

2.  "Alvin Tostig has a son today"

3.  "Now me and my mate were back at the shack, we had Spike Jones on the box
She said, I can't take the way he sings, but I love to hear him talk."

4.  "To find a queen without a king
They say she plays guitar and cries and sings."

5.  "How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget  ."

Bonus points:  Song 2 has a connection to something about song 3, do you know what it is?

Why I am Boycotting the Oscars Tomorrow Night:

My favorite part of the Oscar ceremonies is the red carpet - seeing who wears what and who makes a fool out of themselves by being an arrogant twerp and who seems like a sincerely nice person. But I won't be watching any of it tomorrow night because, as my friend, Pete, over at Blogness on the Edge of Town says so eloquently: this year the Oscar nominating committee really F'd Up.

Why? By leaving off what is CLEARLY one of the best movie track songs of the year. It deserved a nomination (I believe it deserved to win, but I am trying to keep my personal bias out of this as much as humanly possible).

Bruce wrote the theme song to "The Wrestler" after Mickey Rourke talked with him on the phone and told him about the movie. Bruce came through with a song that fits the movie like a glove, its perfect. Why then would the Academy not nominate it? I am not the only one who thinks this was a blatant snub, Rolling Stone agrees with me as do countless others who have seen the film and or heard the song.

Springsteen fan or not - does anyone think this song was not worthy of a nomination?  Did you see what WAS nominated?  Two songs from  Slumdog Millionaire tracks and Peter Gabriel’s “Down To Earth” from Wall-E.  (BTW Peter Gabriel is boycotting the Oscars too for his own reasons - you can read that over at Blogness).  Obviously once again its all about  power and politics in Hollywood and nothing to do with who deserves to win.  I wonder if the people who win these awards feel that way?  It must be as obvious to them as it is to us, right?

So....therefore, there will be one less person watching their silly show that obviously does not use talent and excellence as a criteria for their nominating process.

This Day in Music...

On 2/20/80 Bon Scott died of alcohol overdose.

Kurt Cobain was born on 2/20/67

Happy Birthday, Tony Ionni

I can remember listening to "Paranoid" for the first time (on an 8 Track tape!!) and thinking "who is this guy playing guitar???".   Truly one of the great rock guitarists.

I wish him a happy birthday 

Also, good news for his fans:  

HEAVEN & HELL SET TO REVEAL THE DEVIL YOU KNOW

Highly Anticipated New Album From Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice To Be Released April 28 From Rhino.

LOS ANGELES —Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice returned to the stage after 15 years in 2007, launching a triumphant world tour as Heaven & Hell. Revitalized and inspired by its time on the road, the quartet recently returned to the studio, recording the band’s first album since 1992’s Dehumanizer. The highly anticipated album, THE DEVIL YOU KNOW, will be available from Rhino on April 28.

photo by John McMurtie

New Classic Rock Blog to Check Out!

There's a new classic rock blog authored by an 18 year old college student.  Check out her blog!  She just started it, I hope she keeps it up.  Love to see a young person with excellent taste in music :)

Classic Rock for the Soul

Speaking of Dee Snider

Several of you mentioned Dee in the comments of my last post.  I remember when he appeared before Congress to speak out against Tipper Gore's Censoring campaign.  It was quite impressive.  I've never been a huge fan of Twisted Sister (although who can't like "We're Not Gonna Take It", its just a fun song!) but I am a fan of Dee.  Here is an excerpt from his address to Congress and here is the entire transcript if you care to read it.

My name is Dee Snider. That is S-n-i-d-e-r. I have been asked to come here to present my views on "the subject of the content of certain sound recordings and suggestions that recording packages be labeled to provide a warning to prospective purchasers of sexually explicit or other potentially offensive content."

Before I get into that, I would like to tell the committee a little bit about myself. I am 30 years old, I am married, I have a 3-year-old son. I was born and raised a Christian and I still adhere to those principles. Believe it or not, I do not smoke, I do not drink, and I do not do drugs.

I do play in and write the songs for a rock and roll band named Twisted Sister that is classified as heavy metal, and I pride myself on writing songs that are consistent with my above-mentioned beliefs.

There are many facets to this complex issue and time does not permit me to address all of them. However, my feelings are expressed for the most part by the August 5, 1985, letter¹ to the Parents Music Resource Center from Mr. Stanley Gortikov, president of the Recording Industry Association of America.

This letter was a formal response to the PMRC petition of the RIAA. The only part of this document I do not support is Mr. Gortikov's unnecessary and unfortunate decision to agree to a so-called generic label on some selected records. In my opinion this should be retracted.

Since I seem to be the only person addressing this committee today who has been a direct target of accusations from the presumably responsible PMRC, I would like to use this occasion to speak on a more personal note and show just how unfair the whole concept of lyrical interpretation and judgment can be and how many times this can amount to little more than character assassination.