Have a Rockin 08!

Happy New Year's to all of you wonderful people who read here! Thanks for your comments the past couple of years, keep em coming....I need contact with other music lovers or I shall perish!

Lady Has the Blues

I wish I had something exciting to write about on this blog, I've neglected it lately because I've been in such a blah mood. Hopefully I will cheer up soon and have something fascinating to say :) In the meantime, I am honored to receive an honorable mention on the very famous blog of David Amulet!!!!





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Listening to: Joss Stone - Killing Time
via FoxyTunes

Top Albums of 2007

I was invited to share along with the bloggers listed below, what my top ten albums of '07 are. I have to say first off - thanks to those of you who read here. I have to smile sometimes because my old school taste (classic rock) is so different from what many of you like, but you keep stopping by. I thank you for that!

Good old rock and roll didn't have much for me this year, but as far as music that came out in 2007 this seems to be what I listened to the most:

So to all my metal hard rock fans, here is my list for 2007:

1. MAGIC by Bruce Springsteen
2. Mothership, (reissue) Led Zeppelin
3. Neon Bible, Arcade Fire
4. The Heroin Diaries, Sixx AM
5. Late Nights and Early Mornings, Miggs
6. Wincing the Night Away, The Shins
7. Sky Blue Sky, Wilco
8. It Won't Be Soon Before Long, Maroon 5
9. Icky Thump, The White Stripes
10. I can't think of a tenth one.....

Bring Back Glam http://www.bringbackglam.com

Axeman http://hairbangersradio.ning.com/profile/axeman

Hard Rock Hideout http://hardrockhideout.wordpress.com/
Heavy Metal Addiction http://hardrockheavymetal.wordpress.com/

Heavy Metal Time Machine http://www.metalmark.org

Imagine Echoes http://www.imagineechoes.com/

Metal Minute http://rayvanhornjr.blogspot.com/

Raise your fists http://raiseyourfists.wordpress.com/

Rock of ages (Top 10) http://rockofages.wordpress.com/

Rock and roll and meandering nonsense (Top 20) http://www.rnrnonsense.com

Still Recovering from the Dreaded Flu!

I rarely get sick, but these last few days I've been re-introduced to THE FLU and am still not over it, but am well enough to crawl to my computer and post a big thank you for the nice comments and condolences left about me missing Van Halen.

SO, what could be more appropriate than dedicating this little clip to Michael, since he missed the show too:

this sucks so bad ....

no van halen for me
sick
can't stop coughing
fever
i don't want to talk about it

Happy Birthday, Keith Richards!

Keith turns 64 today!
My friend, Malcolm, has a great post on him today. I have always loved the Stones and remember seeing them WAY BACK WHEN I was just kid on the Ed Sullivan show and several times live since then.

I'm sure a few people are surprised that Kieth is still going strong despite his hardy partying, but he's still a great performer today and makes a dang good pirate!

Goodbye to Dan Fogelberg

It's with a very heavy heart that I announce the death of Dan Fogelberg. He died today from cancer, he was only 56. Two weeks ago I had dinner with a friend of Dan's who shared some stories about what a generous and sweet guy he was - an image I already had of him, but it was interesting to hear it from someone that knew him well. The same person told me that it looked like Dan would not be around much longer, but it was still a shock to hear the news. Here are more details for you.





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Listening to: Dan Fogelberg - Longer
via FoxyTunes

Umm, have I mentioned lately what I will be doing on Tuesday night?

A Warning from Bono:

Yes, I am a HUGE fan of U2 and am anxiously waiting for their next release - which means a tour - which means another awesome experience for me!

Here's what Bono has to say about the new album, which sounds very itneresting:

Bono has warned U2 fans they will "feel the difference" with the material they are working on for their next album.

"U2 in dancefloor shock!" joked Bono. "Normally when you play a U2 tune, it clears the dancefloor. And that may not be true of this. There's some trance influences. But there's some very hardcore guitar coming out of the Edge. Real molten metal. It's not like anything we've ever done before, and we don't think it sounds like anything anyone else has done either."

He explained that fans might even get more than they bargained for.

"We have enough material for two albums but it has to be extraordinary," he explained. "And I think we've got that."

an Open Letter to Led Zeppelin:

Dear Jimmy, Robert, John Paul and Jason,

Please guys, PLEASE, just say yes to a tour.
Please.
Its historical. Its a chance for millions of us to fulfill a lifelong dream that died on 9/25/81 but has been resurrected as closely as humanly possible....
How about New York and Los Angeles?
I do see one problem - tickets. It would be even harder for most of us if you went on tour but then we could not get our hands on tickets to see you.
Please think about all of this and get back to me.
My readers and I would be thrilled if any of you left a comment.
I look forward to hearing from you.
A fan forever,
Layla (aka Barbara)

Cocaine Overdose

DAMN IT! Sad news on the cause of death for Kevin DuBrow. Just got an email form my buddy Darrin, the autopsy showed a cocaine overdose. Sad, sad, sad.

When i first created my blog "Gone But Not Forgotten" it was disturbing to see the pattern of drug induced deaths among musicians. Its a huge problem in our society that affects all types of people.

Live from London

CAN YOU EVEN IMAGINE THE ENERGY IN THAT ROOM, THE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE THAT ARE SEEING AND HEARING LED ZEPPELIN (well, as close as it will ever get to the true LZ)

Live Daily News

Where do you get updated info about the latest tour dates? I get an email from Live Daily News but am always looking for new resources, so if you have any, pass them on! THANKS!

http://www.livedaily.com/news/13297.html

Happy Birthday Nikki

27 years ago today we lost John

Free Party Music!

I am giving these two CDs away on my other blog, Writing from the Inside Out ,put your name in the hat if you are interested.

My review of the above:

The first CD features 20 songs by people I have heard of, but am not familiar with (click on the photo for a playlist). I think "NOW" does a good job of picking out hits that appeal to a wide audience so I am going to assume that these songs are all upbeat and suited for a fun party with a younger crowd that does not have our impeccable taste in tunes.

The Christmas CD is excellent...it has all the classic Christmas songs by the traditional singers, I love it!

Grammy Nominations Announced

From previous posts on the topic of Music award shows - I don't think too many of you who read here think too hightly of them. I don't either really but I do like to check out the "Rock" categories. I'd really like to see who wrote the definition of "Rock". Does anyone know who Lucinda Williams is? She's wearing a COWBOY hat, can she really be a rocker? Would I like her? At least Bruce is being recognized (and deserves to win, imo) in all three:

ROCK FIELD

Nominations for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance go to:

"Timebomb" -- Beck

"Only Mama Knows" -- Paul McCartney

"Our Country" -- John Mellencamp

"Radio Nowhere" -- Bruce Springsteen

"Come On" -- Lucinda Williams

Best Rock Album nominees are:

Daughtry -- Daughtry

Revival -- John Fogerty

Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace -- Foo Fighters

Magic -- Bruce Springsteen

Sky Blue Sky -- Wilco

Nods for Best Rock Song go to:

"Come On" -- Lucinda Williams, songwriter (Lucinda Williams)

"Icky Thump" -- Jack White, songwriter (The White Stripes)

"It's Not Over" -- Chris Daughtry, Gregg Wattenberg, Mark Wilkerson & Brett Young, songwriters (Daughtry)

"The Pretender" -- Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel & Chris Shiflett, songwriters (Foo Fighters)

"Radio Nowhere" -- Bruce Springsteen, songwriter (Bruce Springsteen)

He sure looks damn good for his age....

Special birthday greeting to _________________.

Update on Kevin DuBrow

This breaks my heart, that he may have gone unnoctied for six days. It made me stop and count my blessing because if certain people in my life hadn't heard from me in 6 HOURS they would probably start to wonder where I was. Then again, I am not a rock star, my life is pretty dang predictable. Still....there's an exceptionally sad element to his death.

"According to police reports, they believe that Quiet Riot vocalist
Kevin DuBrow may have been dead for about 6 days before being
discovered. The band's former bassist Kelli Garni was alerted to a
problem when he couldn't reach DuBrow and his voicemail had been
full. After contacting drummer Frankie Banali, both of them talked
two of friends. One, former girlfriend Lark Williams, asked a
paramedic friend to check in on him. The paramedic saw DuBrow's keys
were still on the counter, through a window, and broke into the
building which lead to the discovery of the singer's body on his own
bed. After a cause of death is determined, DuBrow is expected to be
buried this Sunday in Corona del Mar, California, next to his father."

this info is from Martin's weekly newsletter, The 80's Nut

Tom Petty at the Superbowl!

This is probably old news by now, but I just heard the Tom Petty will be the "headliner" at the halftime game on Superbowl Sunday this year. I wonder what songs he'll so. Its usually very entertaining but I haven't watched it in a few years. This year I probably will.

Top 50 Guitarists

Mad Hatter has a great post up. The age old question that I NEVER tire of....his picks are interesting, no huge surprised other than I haven't heard to some of his picks. I have a very hard time listing my top 5 let alone my top 50.

Who should get that number one spot?

Its hard for me to base my decisions on skill alone, personality and how I personally feel about the artist at that time in my life (ok, so I am a female ok, I think with both sides of my brain!)

So for today only my top five are: Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmy Page, Slash, Eddie Van Halen and Alex Lifeson.

One thing I love about his reviews is his rating system, its clever and it speaks volumes! Check him out!
A - You will never be whole without it
B - Highly recommended
C - Flawed, but still pretty good
D - It's your money, not mine
F - Why couldn't this have been burned in Fahrenheit 451?

Rockin Rory

Quick - name three great bands/musicians that hail from Ireland....

Let me guess who you came up with:
U2 (even my mother knows this one)
Van Morrison?
The Boomtown Rats?

What about - RORY GALLAGHER?

Rory was an incredible R&B guitar player who at one time "dethroned Eric Clapton" as musician of the year (awarded by UK's Melody Maker Magazine). Several successful guitar players (The Edge, Slash, Johnny Marr, Glenn Tipton and Brian May) give Rory credit for being one of their main influences.

I recently met a very enthusiastic fan of Rory's which prompted this post. If I lived in NYC I would for sure attend the tribute they are having for him next weekend!

Sadly his life ended after a liver-transplant with complications. His brother, Donal, keeps the memories alive. If you've never heard his music...maybe you should give it a listen:)

Paul McCartney and James Taylor

Now don't get too excited - these two gents are not touring together, they only share a headline here on my blog because I am reviewing each of their new releases. I admit I am not a huge McCartney OR JT fan but I wanted to give them both a chance. Here are my thoughts:


I tried to like this "Memory Almost Full, but frankly, other than the songs he wrote with John and "Maybe I'm Amazed" I don't really care for his music. I downloaded onto my iTunes but then deleted it knowing I would never listen to it again.



JT's "One Man Band", on the other hand, has a very worthwhile listen here. If your a fan you must have this. Not only does he play all his hits live, but also shares stories behind the songs. Not really into his mellow sound I thought I'd be bored with it, but I am keeping this on my iPod for when the mood strikes for some Sweet Baby James.

PS -
Special thanks to Randi Kraemer for always thinking of me when new music comes out!

Here are a few I can't wait for:

- Nirvana Unplugged and Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival 2007! Yeah, Baby now we are talking GOOD music!

Was it suicide?

More on Kevin duBrow and my personal thoughts on Suicide
Damn it. It sad to lose someone, anyone. But there is a deeper kind of sadness felt when we discover someone has taken their own life. The lastest reports on the death of Keven DuBrow sound familiar to me, he was found alone in his home, dead, under suspicious circumstances.

I identify with depression. I have had suicidal thoughts. I have had three people in my life (two cousins and a close friend) and numerous acquaintances that have chose to end their existence here on earth.

Its tragic. Its disturbing. It causes feelings of anger in some because its seen as a selfish act. I'm sure some suicide's are done out of selfishness or maybe desperation but I believe most happen out of sheer despondency and hopelessness. I will never judge someone for making the choice to end their life, but I will do anything and everything I can as a person to reach out to those I know suffer from depression.

My 26 year old nephew has often spoken of suicide - I hope he never goes throught with it and I have asked him to please tell me if he ever gets to that point - but the thing is, when you get to that point (I have been close) you can't tell anyone because you are in so much pain you just want it to end.

Statistics have shown that THIS IS THE TIME OF YEAR that there is an increase in depression and therefore suicide. It happens to people of all ages and backgrounds, there is no "stereotype" for hopelessness. It can come as a result of an incident or be part of one's own unique make-up.

PLEASE - if you know of anyone, or if you yourself suffer from this very common condition, please talk to someone. If you feel you have no one to talk to - please talk to me. You can email me and I promise to write you back or call you if you prefer. We're all in this thing called life together.

Danny Ferderici Takes a Break for Cancer Treatment

I just read saw a video over at Blogness on the Edge of Town (my favorite resource for all things Bruce), the video of Danny's send off fromt he tour. As you may have heard he was diagnosed with melanoma and will undergoing treatmetn rather than being on the road with the E Street Band. He will be missed.

Here is some Danny F. trivia for you: Along with playing the organ, he also plays the glokenspeil (I had no idea that's what it was called until just now) and the accordian. He taughtr himself how to play the accordian at age seven while wtaching Laurence Welk on TV. Pretty cool if ya ask me.

My prayers are with you, Danny! You will be missed on the rest of this tour, I hope you make a full recovery!

Quiet Riot Singer, Kevin Dubrow, Dead

Very sad news.
Apparently he died in his home in Las Vegas, cause unknown at this time. Kevin was 52 years young.

More details can be found on livedaily.com:


I was just telling someone YESTERDAY that I was so glad I had not had to update my "Gone But Not Forgotten" blog recently. I spoke too soon.

Sensual Plant

Wow. I am watching the new edition of "The Song Remains the Same". Several obvervations:

- I must have been really stoned back when I saw this in the theater, its weird and the fantasy scenes don't appeal to me at all today

- The footage is pretty much perfect

- Disc 2 had some never been seen before footage of songs that didnt' make it onto the film

- Robert MUST have his jeans tailor made to fit because they are literally skin tight

- Jimmy Page is a rock god

- John Paul Jones ............? I know he was an important part of the band but I just can't think of a thing to say about him

- John, dear John, John had the look in his eye he was an extremist to his own detriment, but definitely one of the best drummer of all time

- No one exudes sensuality as effortlessly as Robert Plant. He doesn't have to DO a thing. By today's standards some would even call him "an out of shape bloke with bad teeth and no sense of style". BUT....as Robert stands there with his girly looking shirt open and sings and moves naturally to the music....The look in his eyes, the curl of his lips, the gorgeous golden locks, the sounds of his voice...you can't try to be that kind of sensual, you either are or your not. He IS.

Thankful Lyrics

In honor of Thanksgiving here in the USA, help me think of songs, titles, lyrics and or band names with any form of the word "Thanks" in the title, including words such as grateful, thank you, etc. etc.

I will start off with the most obvious:

Thank You by Led Zeppelin
The Grateful Dead
"I just want to THANK YOU for letting me be myself" (from song by Sly & the Family Stone")

Poco

Does anyone out there remember the band from the 60's - 80's called Poco? I have a vivid memory of them playing at the Laguna Bowl one Sunday afternoon in the sumer of 198?. I lived in Laguna Canyon which was basically right across the street from the Bowl. Rather than paying to see the concert, we (my roommates and neighbors) decided it would be fun to sit on our roof with a plenty of beer and make a party of it. It was a great concert, they played all their hits, but for the life of me, I can't think of a single one at the moment.

HELP!

When I was younger so much younger than toooooooo day---ayyyyy


News for Beatles fans:

In honor of the DVD release of Help! on November 6, 2007, the FIRST EVER Beatles podcast has been created! Narrated by Michael Palin, click on the link below to check out the 2-part installment (with a 3^rd part coming soon)

Check it out HERE

Goober Won the Zeppelin Set

Well I did a drawing and there were four names, Goober won! I initially was only going to give away the DVD because I wanted to keep the 2 CDs for myself, but that seems really selfish - I mean who wants JUST the DVD? So I am going to mail him out the whole thing.

But on MY CHRISTMAS LIST at the very top is this:

DAMN IT YOU STUPID TICKET BROKERS

Just tried my luck at getting tickets to Bruce for April. Got four crappy seats. Tried for better ones but no go. All the brokers are laughing their way to the bank again as the fans sit here helplessly with the leftover seats. Oh well, at least I am going again.

Blackmore's Night - Paris Moon (live in Paris)

I have another CD/DVD set to review and give away.

If you are into "Renaissance Rock" you will love this CD/DVD. There are a lot of talented musicians in this group, including Ritchie Blackmore. Instruments include violins, flute, mandolin, guitar, piano.

I read one person's review who states it succinctly:

"this is what rock and roll would have sounded like 500 years ago"

I gave it a listen and enjoyed the music, but found myself wanting to fast forward the vocals....I have never been into the Celtic type sound and that's what Candace Night reminds me of. Her personality got on my nerves a bit too (its a live performance so she talks between songs).

My favorite part of this set is the packaging - It looks like an old book with an inlay of a photograph of Paris on the front. Its the same size as a small book and opens up to some well done graphics. Very dark, old looking - kind of mystical.
If anyone would like to check this out, its up for grabs for the small price of maybe linking back to me and saying something nice :)


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Listening to: Blackmore's Night - World Of Stone
via FoxyTunes

The MOTHERSHIP has Landed!

I received my copy of Mothership this week and what can I say - its Zeppelin at their finest - only BETTER. These 2 CDs/DVD have been remastered to bring out the best in the four British blokes that changed musical history back in the 70's.

To quote Andrew Bartlett:

For its part, Mothership's crisper, warmer audio owes its heft to the troika of Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, who helped oversee the mastering, bringing out untold shades even in the throes of "Heartbreaker" and the sinews of "No Quarter." It's an impressive sonic leap. Where tinny high-ends and muffled lows used to co-exist, fatter and louder depths prevail.

Undertstandably some of us may see our personal favortie missing - most noteably for me "The Ocean". But the songs were handpicked by Plant and Page so I guess I will have to email my complainsts to one them.

and guess what: I AM GIVING AWAY the DVD disc of this set to YOU(?). If you are interested let me know in a comment and if there is more than one person I will diplomatically pull a name from a hat on Monday or Tuesday next week and send it to you. Sorry, this time I am keeping the 2 CD discs for myself, but I am expecting some other gems to review and will be giving lots of good stuff away in the near future...its so fun to share music!!!

See below for full track list:

Disc: 1
1. Good Times Bad Times
2. Communication Breakdown
3. Dazed and Confused
4. Babe I'm Gonna Leave Yous
5. Whole Lotta Love
6. Ramble On
7. Heartbreaker
8. Immigrant Song
9. Since I've Been Loving You
10. Rock and Roll
11. Black Dog
12. When The Levee Breaks
13. Stairway To Heaven
Disc: 2
1. Song Remains The Same
2. Over The Hills And Far Away
3. D'Yer Maker
4. No Quarter
5. Trampled Under Foot
6. Houses Of The Holy
7. Kashmir
8. Nobody's Fault But Mine
9. Achilles Last Stand
10. In The Evening
11. All My Love
Disc: 3
1. We're Gonna Groove
2. I Can't Quit You Babe (DVD)
3. Dazed & Confused (DVD)
4. White Summer (DVD)
5. What Is & What Should Never Be (DVD)
6. Moby Dick (DVD)
7. Whole Lotta Love
8. Communication Breakdown
9. Bring It On Home
10. Immigrant Song
11. Black Dog
12. Misty Mountain Hop
13. Going To California
14. In My Time Of Dying
15. Stairway To Heaven
16. Rock and Roll
17. Nobody's Fault But Mine
18. Kashmir
19. Whole Lotta Love(DVD)