Vintage Bowie

This is OLD!  It was his first musical appearance on TV.  Have always and will always love David.



AND THIS IS TOO FUNNY! David Bowie, age 17, started the "Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Long Haired Men" and was interviewed on TV.

Bass Lines

Here are a few songs that I believe have the best bass lines all the way thru the song. Can you think of any others?


The Allman Brothers, Berry Oakley


Pink Floyd, Roger Waters


Yes,Chris Squire


Give me some others you enjoy.

Thinking About Some of My Favorites....

Sadly, I had to add a name to the list on Gone But Not Forgotten today.  Paul Gray of Slipknot.  I can't say that I'm a fan of their music, but they're one of my son's favorites.  Not sure how he died, they found him in his hotel room dead.  

Name That Drum Fill

I got five of these, see how many you can get, listen here:

Drum Fill Music

Agents of Fortune

Another album that just missed my top 25 classic rock albums.



The band was formed in 1967 but did not break into the big time until 1972's self-titled album, followed by Tyranny and Mutation and then Secret Treaties. They then released a double live album entitled On Your Feet Or On Your Knees.

Led by Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser on lead guitar, Eric Bloom on lead vocals, Allen Lanier on keyboards and the Brouchard brothers on bass and drums they produced a guitar driven sound that influenced many heavy metal bands that came after them. Their live concerts contained laser light shows and extended improvisations as seen in the video above.

Agents of Fortune was an important album for them as it peaked at #29 on the Billboard charts and the single Don't Fear the Reaper charted at #12.It also earned them much critical success being voted one of the ten best albums of 1976 by the Village Voice. Patti Smith was also instrumental in their career and lent her voice on the song The Revenge of Vera Gemini.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Bono Has Spinal Surgery!

U2’s Angel Stadium shows could get postponed  (this is my concert...)

Bono has undergone emergency spinal surgery in Munich after injuring himself during preparation for the next North American leg ofU2’s 360 Tour, according to Reuters and BBC News.

The singer-activist, who just turned 50, is expected to remain at a specialist neurosurgery clinic in Germany for a number of days before flying home to Ireland for further recuperation.

Of course, this casts serious doubts on whether Bono and the band will be ready for its June 6-7 shows at Angel Stadium. Already the June 3 launch in Salt Lake City has been postponed. Were he back in action in time, the Anaheim dates would now kick off the tour — though I wouldn’t bank on that. Even if he were ready to perform again in two weeks, would it really be advisable? Could he possibly be at his strongest again? Postponing seems the smartest move.

After that, U2 is slated to play Denver on June 12, Oakland on June 16 and Seattle on June 20. The British press is also wondering if Bono will be recovered enough to face a headlining appearance at the annual Glastonbury festival on June 25.

U2 manager Paul McGuinness advises fans to monitor U2’s website for the latest updates. “We will make plans to reinstate the dates as soon as possible,” he said of the potential for postponements, adding that it was “unfortunate that we’re inconveniencing fans” and that it was causing disruption to the band’s 400-strong crew.

Photo by Steven Lovekin, Getty Images.

Please get better, Bono!  We (I) love you!

Bret Michaels Back in the Hospital After Suffering Transient Ischemic Attack, or Warning Stroke - ABC News

Bret Michaels Back in the Hospital After Suffering Transient Ischemic Attack, or Warning Stroke - ABC News

Ripple Effect Forms Record Label!

I am thrilled to announce that my friends (and yours) Pope and Racer (aka John and Todd) of the Ripple Effect have made a personal dream come true and formed their own record label!

I've been listening to their radio show for a long time and it never fails to introduce me to a band I would have NEVER FOUND on my own (my personal favorite is Black Bone Child).

Anyhow, check out the site for Ripple Music and congratulate the guys and wish them well on this exciting new adventure!

Listening to Nick Drake

We've lost some amazing musicians, song-writers.  He's one of my favorites.  I can get lost in his lyrics and melodies.  A brilliant mind.  One of the many who wrote from the depths of despair and was unable to tolerate this world...But his music lives on.

(Nicholas Rodney Drake), 6/9/48 - 11/25/74. Nick was born in Arden, England. He landed a record deal at age 20 and went on to make several albums. Nick was known for playing the guitar but also played piano, clarinet and sax. His music continues to gain audiences to this day and he is considered one of the most influential English songwriters of the last 50 years. Nick suffered from severe depression which led to his overdose andsuicide at the age of 26.

Mick Jagger on Larry King Tonight

Larry King Live at 9:00pm ET
on Tuesday, May 18, 2010


Rock legend Mick Jagger! The Rolling Stones
frontman sits down face-to-face with Larry.
An unforgettable hour you won't want to miss!
Mick Jagger on Larry King Live! 

Ronnie James Dio Died :(

I opened Seano's blog and was shocked to see than Ronnie had lost his battle with cancer.  I thought he was getting better.  I cried.

My heart goes out to his wife, Wendy, his family, friends and fans.

Here is a Facebook page where you can leave your condolences.

Here's a memory my sister has of Ronnie:

"Back in August 1983 he was opening for Aerosmith and showed up at Tower Records in El Toro to sign albums. It was more like a gathering of fans, not really a "wait in line" kinda thing.  Ronnie was very sweet and gentle, not at all like the persona he has on stage. He was very short even with his platform shoes.  I still have the album he signed.  I've seen him in concert three times, once with Black Sabbath, once with Rainbow and once with Dio."

Thank you, Ronnie, for the great music and your passion for hard rock and roll.  You will be remembered and missed. 

Is it better to burn out or fade away?

There's a scene in the film High Fidelity where Barry (played by Jack Black) asks Rob (played by John Cusack) if the latter day "sins" of a musician nullify their earlier career achievements/succeses.  He was referring specifically to Stevie Wonder asking if a musical atrocity like I Just Called to Say I Love You suddenly made null and void the brilliance of material like Songs in the Key of Life. That's just an example of course... With that in mind what do you feel are some of the most egregious musical offenses of great bands?

Here are some of the more profoundly putrid musical atrocities perpetrated on the public by some of rock's most preferred performers:

Emerson Lake & Palmer - Love Beach 
How could they do this to us?!  How could the same group that gave us such brilliant albums as Tarkus and Brain Salad Surgery inflict this fetid festering pile of musical dung upon us?  And please don't feed me a line about "contractual obligations" as there are other ways to get around that than to scar the eardrums of their fans and leave such a fecal stain on their otherwise brilliant legacy.

Chicago - 25 or 6 to 4 (1986)
I actually heard THIS version first.  Having never heard the original version up to that point.  I kind of liked it.  Then I heard the original and it begged the question, "Huh?"  Meaning, "How the hell could they do this to themselves?"  David Foster resurrected Chicago from their abysmally bad late 70s material and gave them a renaissance of sorts with Chicago 16 and 17... And then Peter Cetera leaves, Foster sticks around for one more album and I've heard that this remake was actually HIS idea...  If it ain't broke... don't fix it.  The only good thing I'll say about this remake is that it's better suited to Peter's replacement, Jason Scheff's voice than the original.  If I have to hear Jason Scheff sing 25 or 6 to 4 I'd much rather hear him sing this remake than try to sing the original. 

Blood Sweat & Tears - Sympathy For the Devil
It takes stones to cover the Stones and cover them well.  David Clayton-Thomas & Co. did not have said stones to pull it off.  The greatest mistake BS&T ever made was firing Al Kooper and replacing him with David Clayton-Thomas.  While they briefly recaptured the brilliance of Child Is Father to the Man with their self-titled follow-up subsequent albums showed what a mistake DCT was... And nothing put it on display more than BS&T's abysmal cover of Sympathy for the Devil.

The Who - Live @ the Super Bowl
Some musicians age well, some actually even get better with age.  Pete can still play a mean guitar but as much as I love The Who's early catalog, Daltrey's voice is now shot.  Please please please don't tarnish my memories of how great Roger once sounded by making me listen to how poor he sounds today by comparison.  Not to mention, to me it's just not The Who any more without John and Keith.

Styx - Cyclorama
Styx put out a halfway decent album in 1999, Brave New World.  I'd argue that it hearkens back to their pre-Kilroy Was Here days.  Then Dennis DeYoung was forced out/fired/let go/whatever.  In 2003 with Tommy Shaw steering the Styx ship and DeYoung replaced by Lawrence Gowan they released this flat, bland, uninspired piece of crap-- Cyclorama.  I gave it a chance, I really did but it was unoffensive and boring.  Without DeYoung's contributions the only thing this album excelled at was its own mediocrity.

Chicago XIII
I know Chicago already made the list once, but this album deserves at least a dishonourable mention.  This was Chicago's foray into disco just as it was coming OUT of vogue.  The only shining star on this album is guest trumpeter, Maynard Ferguson's killer trumpet work on Street Player.  The band was a generally coked up mess still coping with the death of guitarist Terry Kath.  And while he performed at least respectably on Hot Streets (aka XII), guitarist Donnie Dacus was at best a disappointment and at worst a downright embarassment on XIII.  This was Chicago's rock bottom. 

What albums/songs/moments/etc. would make your list?  Do you think when once great bands release real lemons it tarnishes their legacy?  Why or why not?  And to Barry's (Jack Black) corollary question-- is it better to burn out or fade away?

Hughes, Bonamassa, Sherinian, and Bonham Supergroup album completed

Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple), Joe Bonamassa, Derek Sherinian (Planet X, ex-Dream Theater, former touring keyboardist with Buddy Miles, KISS & Alice Cooper), and Jason Bonham have completed recording on their debut album.  Initially this supergroup was to be called "Black Country" but have had to drop that name upon learning that another band already has that name. 

Incidentally, Bonamassa was recently voted best guitarist in the world. 

Their debut CD has been completed and is being/has been produced by Kevin Shirley and (as of today, 5/12/10) is scheduled for a September release.

Sometimes with these supergroups the egos are over the top and the whole doesn't match up to the sum of the parts (GTR and The Firm come to mind).  Other times there's enough mutual respect and love of music that the whole actually becomes greater than the sum of the parts (Asia, or more recently Them Crooked Vultures). 

Until September I will remain cautiously optimistic.  Is anyone else looking forward to this one?

Speaking of Glenn Hughes, in addition to this supergroup project he's been working on a new remaster of Deep Purple's Come Taste the Band after the original multi-track source tapes (long thought lost) were located last year.  Many previous CD releases came from later sources and not the original source tapes:

...  in December 2009, the Deep Purple Appreciation Society reported that the original multi-track masters had recently surfaced and that an official remastered version with bonus tracks (including remixes by Glenn Hughes and Kevin Shirley) would see release in 2010. The release is now due in late July (for the world outside the US).[2]

On January 6, 2010 it was announced at the DPAS website that there were two extra tracks from the Come Taste The Band sessions. One is a five minute jam with Ian Paice and Tommy Bolin, the other a proper three minute track that was taken out from the final release in 1975. It was also stated on the website that the remastering was still in an early state, but that it moved forwards. Two days later it was reported that Glenn Hughes had finished his involvement with the remixes at Stateside at the very end of December 2009. On a January 1, 2010 diary entry on his official website[3], producer Kevin Shirley also stated that David Coverdale had been involved in the process. This 2-CD Deluxe 35th Anniversary edition will include the original album plus a rare US single edit on the first disc, and the remixes plus the two unissued tracks on the second disc. (from wikipedia)

Hopefully the US release will not be long after the worldwide re-relesae.

Wish You Were Here

As some of you may know this album did not crack my top 25 classic rock albums of all time that I published a while back. I can tell you though that it just missed.

This was one of the better albums released in 1975. I had just graduated high school and was working full time by its September release. This regular income enabled me to buy the album immediately and I loved it from the very first listen. I have to say that by this time I felt it was somewhat better than Dark Side of the Moon. I had listened to that album to death and had basically become tired with it. This was like a breath of fresh Pink Floyd air.

From the opening of side 1 and parts I-V of Shine On You Crazy Diamond to parts VI-IX of Shine On You Crazy Diamond on side 2, the album spoke volumes of their detachment from their friend and former collegue Syd Barrett. It also spoke of their disdain for the record industry and the business of making music.

The concept of this album was largely created by Roger Waters and it implicated his feelings that the band was missing something deeper. Waters was the domineering leader of the band and his lyrics speak to his idealism of a record industry gone awry and a band that was short on togetherness.

Critics were not initially enamored by the album and some called it lackadaisical and without passion. It was loved by the Pink Floyd members though. Richard Wright said "its an album I can listen to for pure pleasure and there aren't many Floyd albums that I can." Gilmore also called it his "favorite" album.



One interesting note about the song "Have a Cigar". It was originally planned that Waters would carry lead vocals for this song, but was having a bit of trouble singing due to his limited range and the stress his voice had been through recording other songs on the album. Gilmore was asked to sing it and declined.

Their friend and colleague Roy Harper was recording just down the hall at Abbey Road studios and was asked to stand in. Waters said he later regretted the decision and should have recorded the song with his vocals after all. Later yet, at a concert that Pink Floyd and Roy Harper were both at, Harper became angry due to a missing stage costume. He proceeded to set a Floyd van on fire and was hurt himself in the process.

All and all an album of the ages and will be on many others top classic rock album lists I am sure.

New Music Blog!

There's a new blogger out there.  Her name is Lauren and she likes all genres of music.  Check out her blog here:  Set List

California

Layla, This one is for you.

Help Keep Layla's Alive

Looking back over the last few years, I've had many fun moments and great conversations about music right here.  It makes me sad that one of my passions has taken a back seat in my life, but that's how things go.

I'm writing mostly on my blog "Recovery Happens" about my journey as the parent of a recovering heroin addicted who is diagnosed Bipolar.  Learning all I can and becoming an advocate for the mentally ill is my number one passion right now.

I miss so many of you and still try to keep up with your blogs, but am not so great at it.

If there's anyone of you out there that would like to occasionally throw a post up here, please let me know.

New Neil Young

Check out Circle of Fits for details (under the video of the dinosaur and all the hot chicks)

Jungleland

There are some things in life that can't be explained, only experienced.  Hearing this song live is one of those things.

I know every word of this song.  So does most of the audience.  Its not about the lyrics though.  Its about Bruce and the band giving it their all.  You have to be standing there during the sax solo to really feel it.  This video will give you a slight hint.  I know not many people will watch for the full ten minutes...In concert it often lasts up to 20 and we're still bummed when its over.

I like what Melissa Ethridge said in Rolling Stone magazines 100 Greatest Singers Of All Time issue: "When Bruce Springsteen does those wordless wails, like at the end of 'Jungleland,' that's the definition of rock & roll to me. He uses his whole body when he sings, and he puts out this enormous amount of force and emotion and passion."

Here it is from 1975 followed by 2009. If your going to choose one to watch, I recommend 2009, some things get better with age - Bruce and The E Street Band definitely did. But damn - its amazing to see him back in the day. Watch both - I dare you to.