On The Cover of the Rolling Stone

The very first issue of The Rolling Stone:



All credibility of this once great magazine has officially been flushed.

The current issue has Snooki on the cover of it.

Snooki.

If you don't know who she is, I admire you.  If you do know, and like her, I'm sorry if I insulted you.

Life Changes and It Changed Me

This was my very first blog, my baby. I am not going to stop writing here but I'm not the same person that started this blog in 2005, I'm not the one who lovingly wrote of my personal rock and roll memories, shared my favorite songs, kept up to date on all the music news. On 12/19/08 that person started to die, and a new person has replaced her


It was on that day that I realized my son was addicted to heroin. He had just turned 18, he was still in high school. The first year and a half was a nightmare I tried to wake up from - suicide attempt, jail, mental hospital, jail, overdose, jail, hospital, rehab, jail, another rehab, another hospital visit....

Somewhere during this time I changed. When I chose to skip seeing U2 at the Rosebowl I knew it was serious, that a part of me had died.

I became less fun, but more strong. I learned a lot about myself and I learned more about heroin addiction than I ever wanted to know. I never gave up hope on my son, and I never will. But the person who wrote this blog, well she's just gone. She may show up now and then to throw something up here. She may get her mojo back and get this blog back to the popular, interesting place it used to be.

Until then, I will leave this blog here because I still get tons of hits from people searching for specific things. It makes me feel good to know that Layla's Classic Rock still has a purpose.

Right now, I've got a song on my mind, so I'll leave you with a few words from Mr. David Bowie:

Time takes a cigarette, puts it in your mouth

You pull on your finger, then another finger, 

then your cigarette

The wall-to-wall is calling, it lingers, then you forget

Ohhh how how how, you're a rock 'n' roll suicide...

New Pearl Jam Documentary

A documentary entitled Pearl Jam Twenty, directed by Cameron Crowe, will be coming out later this year. The documentary will be celebrating Pearl Jam's 20th anniversary and will combine new interviews and performances with archival footage. The film will also have a soundtrack. 

Saw this on my radio station: KSWD 100.3 The Sound - All About The Music - New Pearl Jam Documentary

Steve Prestwich (1954-2011)

I read the sad news today that Cold Chisel and former Little River Band drummer, Steve Prestwich died this past Sunday, January 16, 2011.  He was diagnosed with a brain tumor about 2 weeks ago.  Sadly he never awoke after being put under for brain surgery to remove the tumor.  Prestwich was only 56 years old.

Being a fan of Australian music I first came to be familiar with Prestwich from his work with Little River Band (on their Playing to Win and No Reins albums).  As I acquainted myself further with Australian music I learned of his contributions to the definitive Australian pub rock band, Cold Chisel. 

In addition to being their drummer, Prestwich sometimes also played guitar, sang, and wrote music for Cold Chisel including two of their biggest hits-- When the War Is Over and Forever Now (both from their Circus Animals album).  In the early days of Cold Chisel the British Prestwich and Scottish vocalist Jimmy Barnes often came to blows sometimes resulting in Barnes departure from the band (although Barnes always returned).
In honor of Prestwich, below is a live clip of When The War Is Over from Cold Chisel's 2003 Ringside tour.

50 Greatest Guitar Riffs in Rock and Roll

A friend sent this list to me, 

thought some of you would enjoy it.

Offensive Rock and Roll Song Lyrics

Did you hear that Canada is banning a Dire Straits song from the radio because it contains the word "faggot"?

"Money for Nothing" came out 26 years ago and was a number one hit.  The word faggot was not used in a deragatory manner, it was used (imo) sarcastically to describe  Boy George or maybe a metal hair band (it was 1985).  You have to understand the song and the context it was used in.  Its a song about a working class guy  watching music videos and thinking, "these dudes have it made, I should have been a rock star..."

"See the little faggot with the earring and the makeup, Yeah buddy that’s his own hair. That little faggot got his own jet airplane. That little faggot he’s a millionaire."

I think its ridiculous to ban this song from the air.  If these lyrics are offensive what about all the other lyrics out there that are no longer politically correct in today's overly sensitive world?

Let's lists a list of all the "offensive" song lyrics we can think of.  (Please note - rock and roll type songs only, rap/hip hop doesn't count...which by the way they play on Canadian radio with the N word because that is not offensive.....?)

(I've heard Mark Knopfler was in an appliance store when he thought of this song, that's why the references to all the appliances, but I don't know if that's true).

Brain reacts to music like a drug - chicagotribune.com

You know that feeling you get when you listen to a favorite part of a favorite song? Some scientists have a refreshingly unscientific word for it: They call it the "chills." In the lab they can measure the chills, which correspond with a specific pattern of brain arousal and often are accompanied by increases in heart and breathing rates and other physical responses.

Now neurologists report that this human response to music -- which has existed for thousands of years, across cultures around the world -- involves dopamine, the same chemical in the brain that is associated with the intense pleasure people get from more tangible rewards such as food or addictive drugs. The research will be published Sunday in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

Kind of changes what it means to be addicted to your iPod.

Read the rest here:  Brain reacts to music like a drug - chicagotribune.com

(Thanks, Jim!)

Top 20 - 2010

Check out last years 2010 bestselling albums and tell me if you have purchased any of them.

http://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200#/charts/billboard-200
Dave at http://classicrock.about.com/ 
has posted that album sales are down 15.3% for the year.

How are your album purchasing habits? I can't say that I would have purchased any of them with the exception of number 13. Must be getting old and I am still stuck in the 60's and the 70's.

First Music Loss of the New Year - Gerry Rafferty

Please visit "Gone But Not Forgotten" for my thoughts on this loss.  His voice was always so soothing to me for some reason.  He may be gone, but his music lives on and is still played on the airwaves regularly.

This may seem like a morbid question, but many of our Rockers are getting up their in age.  I sometimes wonder who will go next.  I hope all my favorites live well into their 80's.  Isn't Mick already in his 80's?

Classic Rock News for a New Year

I've told Dave White on several occasions that I WANT HIS JOB!  I would love to be paid for writing about one of my favorite topics.  But the truth is, he does a great job and I would miss him if he ever left.

Here's the latest news for Classic Rock in 2011 taken from Dave's site at About.com :

STUDIO ALBUMS

Some of the most familiar A-list classic rock acts have announced plans for new studio albums in 2011.

• ZZ Top will celebrate the 40th anniversary of their debut album with the release of of their 15th.

• The Zombies will celebrate their 50th anniversary with a new album, expected sometime in Spring 2011.

• Yes, Journey, The Cars, Steve Miller Band, Jeff Beck, Motorhead, Blondie, Paul Simon, and Joe Walsh have announced 2011 album release plans.

• Supergroups Chickenfoot, Black Country Communion, and Them Crooked Vultures plan to release their second albums in the coming year.

• Look for the release (CD and DVD) of live performance footage of Jimi Hendrix during a European tour in 1969. Expect to see the catalogs of Queen, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Thin Lizzy and Rory Gallagher being reissued.

• And then there are the "maybes" -- the ones that have been the subject of conversations about possible (but by no means confirmed) 2011 albums: Aerosmith, Van Halen, Rolling Stones, Rush, Crosby Stills & Nash.

ON TOUR

• Judas Priest will begin a long farewell tour, as Scorpions continue theirs. Allman Brothers Band will return to Beacon Theater for their annual New York City residency.

• James Taylor will be joined by his son, Ben on the road. Robert Plant and his recently reconstituted Band of Joy will be touring.

• Rush, Eric Clapton and John Mellencamp will continue tours already in progress. Jeff Beck, Ozzy Osbourne and Thin Lizzy have 2011 gigs booked.

• Mentioned as possible, but far from certain: The Who, Rolling Stones, and Van Halen.

REUNIONS

• Already on the books are reunions of The Zombies, The Cars and Toto.

• Very possible but not certain are 2011 Pink Floyd and Buffalo Springfield reunions.

• Discussed but nixed: there will be NO reunions in the new year for the original members of Black Sabbath or The Kinks.

ALSO NOTEWORTHY

• Sammy Hagar will publish his autobiography

• Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, David Crosby, Charlie Watts, David Clayton-Thomas, Richie Havens, Paul Kantner, Neil Diamond and Mike Love will turn 70.