Inside the Rock Era

Remembering Davy Jones...

2012-02-29T20:28:00.001-07:00

http://top5000-rocketman5000.blogspot.com/2011/07/five-best-songs-monkees.html

The #72 Guitarist of the Rock Era: Neil Giraldo

2012-02-29T17:00:00.001-07:00

We don't just publish a list; we actually put some work into it. That way, if you don't agree with the rankings (and let's face it, no one is going to agree with everything...), you can still enjoy the music and the information.

Inside the Rock Era began working on this about six months ago. We looked at some of the other lists as a basis to go on. Then we listened and listened to each of the top guitarists of the rock era. We evaluated them on their overall ability, the sound of their guitar-playing, their popularity, their longevity, their experience, their guitar riffs, the ability to play a melody, their speed, creativity, their entertainment ability and live stage presence. We narrowed it down to about 160. Then we listened some more, continuing to evaluate each on the factors above. We ranked them then re-ranked them, doing our best to compare each guitarist and rank them where they truly deserved to be ranked.

You always hear the term underrated and in a category as subjective as this, even more so. This is much of what you read about the #72 Guitarist:

#72: Neil Giraldo, Pat Benatar

35 years as an active guitarist

(some of his best solos)

Neil Thomas Giraldo was born in Cleveland, Ohio December 29, 1955. He got into music at an early age, starting to play guitar at age six at his parents' insistence. He is the driving force behind one of the most respected and successful female singers of the Rock Era.

Neil was influenced by Elvis Presley in those early years. Much as Neil is the great guitarist behind Pat Benatar, Scotty Moore was the great guitarist behind Elvis and Giraldo admired him and studied him. Soon, Neil began hearing about some of the British guitarists and was influenced by Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton. Giraldo soon took up the piano at age 12.

Neil's first performance was at a church when he was 12 and he soon played in several combos. His first professional playing was playing keyboards with Rick Derringer on the album Guitars and Women. Neil then left for New York City, where he met Jeff Aldridge of Chrysalis Records. Famed producer Mike Chapman had produced the Derringer album and was assigned to work with Benatar, so Aldridge introduced Neil to Pat. Neil was brought in as the lead guitarist and musical arranger for her band.

Today, Neil is known not only as a great guitarist but also an accomplished songwriter and producer. He began producing albums with the Crimes of Passion album. Giraldo has produced all of Pat's albums since as well as John Waite's album Ignition and he has worked with Kenny Loggins and Rick Springfield. Giraldo also played the guitar on Rick Springfield's songs "Jessie's Girl" and "I've Done Everything for You".

Giraldo plays GMP Guitars, Les Paul Standards, a 1958 Les Paul Special, a rare 1965 Fender Stratocaster in Ice Blue Metallic, a 1967 and a 1973 Telecaster, a 1951 Fender Nocaster and a ’59 Gretsch 6120, among his collection of 95 guitars.

This year, BC Rich came out with the Neil Giraldo Signature Eagle Guitar. He uses Line 6 amplifiers run through Marshall cabinets as well as Soldano SLO-100 heads. Neil plays a Maxon OD-808 and a Maxon compressor. He also uses a Way Huge Aqua Puss, a Klon overdrive and a Vox Wha.

The incredible Neil Giraldo at #72...

Davy Jones Has Died at 66

2012-02-29T14:01:00.002-07:00

Davy Jones, whose lovable grin and British accent won the hearts of music fans around the world as a member of the Monkees, has died at the age of 66.

Jones was in Indiantown, Florida when he began having trouble breathing. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. A law enforcement source in Martin County, Florida, said Jones apparently suffered a heart attack.

Jones was the lead singer on the Monkees' hits such as "Daydream Believer" and "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You". The Monkees were created to star in their own television show on NBC and capitalize on the teen market in rock and roll in the mid-60's. The Monkees exceeded all expectations, seeing their first four albums and three of their singles all go to #1 and selling 65 million albums worldwide.

The group's self-titled debut album was set a then-Rock Era record when it spent 13 weeks at #1. Their follow-up, More of the Monkees, further raised the bar with 18 weeks at #1. Both have now been certified 5X Platinum. Two of the Monkees' singles, "I'm a Believer" and "Daydream Believer", are still among The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era*.

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce placed flowers on the Monkees' star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame this afternoon in honor of Jones.

"That David has stepped beyond my view causes me the sadness that it does many of you," Michael Nesmith, Jones's bandmate in the Monkees, posted on his Facebook page Wednesday. "I will miss him, but I won't abandon him to mortality ... David's spirit and soul live well in my heart, among all the lovely people, who remember with me the good times, and the healing times, that were created for so many, including us."

Jones was born December 30, 1945 in Manchester, England. He had already made a name for himself in Great Britain for his role as the Artful Dodger in the musical Oliver! in London, and was nominated for a Tony for his performance in the play on Broadway in New York.

After the Monkees broke up, recording their final tracks in 1970 with their original lineup, Jones landed occasional acting roles, including a guest appearance of The Brady Bunch. He also took part in several Monkees reunions over the years and when he wasn't doing that, spent his time owning and racing horses.

Davy Jones, a part of life for people growing up in the 60's, has left this Earth, but he will be fondly remembered.

This Day in Rock Music History: February 29

2012-02-29T00:43:00.008-07:00

1960: Percy Faith's "Theme from 'A Summer Place'" again was #1.
1964: Meet the Beatles, the first album in America, was #1 for the third week.

1964: We were introduced to a new group on this date. The great Temptations first debuted on the chart with their first career single--"The Way You Do the Things You Do".
1964: "Fun, Fun Fun" from the Beach Boys moved from 69 to 27.

The Rivieras sing the praises of those wonderful California girls!

1964: The Beatles remained at #1 for the fourth week with "I Want to Hold Your Hand". Their follow-up "She Loves You" was up to #2 while the 4 Seasons made a bid with "Dawn (Go Away)", which moved from 11 to 3. The Rivieras had another hot song as "California Sun" moved from 14 to 8.
1968: Aretha Franklin won her first Grammy, taking home Best Female R&B Performance for "Respect".
1972: John Lennon's immigration visa in the United States expired. Lennon would go through hell for 3 1/2 years battling the Nixon White House to stay in the country. Lennon claimed, and was later validated, that Nixon was trying to deport him because Lennon didn't agree with the Vietnam War.
1976: Michael Nesmith, guitarist of the Monkees and a solo artist, married wife Kathyrn.
1980: The glasses belonging to Buddy Holly and a wristwatch worn by J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper) were found by the Mason City Sheriff in Iowa among old police files. The items had been worn by the two stars when their plane crashed February 3, 1959.
1992: Newcomers Mr. Big completed their run to the top with "To Be With You". The only new Top 10 song was "Masterpiece" by Atlantic Starr, which moved from 15 to 8.

1992: Garth Brooks was in the middle of one of the most amazing album runs in the Rock Era. Three times his album Ropin' the Wind had been bumped out of #1 only to return and now, the album scored its 14th week at the top.
1996: Wes Farrell, songwriter and producer of the Partridge Family, who also wrote songs for the Beatles, the Yardbirds, Van Morrison and Jay & the Americans and worked with the Everly Brothers and Lou Christie, died in Fisher Island, Florida.

2000: Autlan de Navarro, Mexico announced it would build a public monument Plaza Carlos Santa, to honor elite guitarist Carlos Santana.
2000: Dennis Danell, guitarist of Social Distortion, died of a brain aneurysm at the age of 38.
2000: Lonestar's "Amazed" became the first country song to reach #1 in 17 years. Certainly not because of quality, but rather because of the way Billboard measures success.

2004: Annie Lennox, Howard Shore and Fran Walsh won Best Original Song for a Motion Picture at the Academy Awards for "Into the West" from Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

Born This Special Day:
1904: Jimmy Dorsey, composer, big band leader and multi-instrumentalist ("So Rare" from 1957), was born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania; died June 12, 1957.
1940: Gretchen Christopher of the Fleetwoods ("Come Softly to Me") was born in Olympia, Washington.
1976: Ja Rule was born in Queens, New York.

The #73 Guitarist of the Rock Era: Peter Frampton

2012-02-28T17:00:00.003-07:00

One of the great masters of the guitar who exploded into the public consciousness in 1976 is next:

#73: Peter Frampton

Humble Pie, Solo

active guitarist for 47 years

Peter Kenneth Frampton was born April 22, 1950 in Beckenham, England. A member of Humble Pie, Frampton exploded onto the international music scene with the spectacular live album Frampton Comes Alive! Since that time, Frampton has continued to be recognized as one of the top guitar players in the world.

Peter became interested in music at the age of seven after discovering his grandmother's banjolele (a banjo-shaped ukulele) in the attic. He taught himself how to play, and later taught himself to play guitar and piano. Frampton began taking classical music lessons when he was eight years old. His father introduced him to the music og gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt and Peter was also influenced by guitarist Hank Marvin of the Shadows, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, the Ventures, Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles.

Peter attended Bromley Technical High School at the same time as David Bowie. Frampton joined the Little Ravens at the age of 10 then joined a group called the Trubeats the following year. After that, Peter hooked up with the group the Preachers, which were managed and produced by Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones. By 1966, Frampton was the lead vocalist and lead guitarist of the Herd, who had several British hits. Frampton was named "The Face of 1968" by the teen magazine Rave.

In early 1969, Frampton joined with Steve Marriott of Small Faces to form Humble Pie. Frampton was still only 18, yet in demand as a session guitarist. He played for George Harrison (on the album All Things Must Pass), Jerry Lee Lewis and Harry Nilsson. It was during his association with Harrison that Frampton was introduced to the 'talk box" that became one of his trademark guitar effects.

After five Humble Pie albums, Frampton left the group to pursue a solo career. Wind of Change, with help from Ringo Starr and Billy Preston, was his debut album in 1972. He followed with Frampton's Camel, Somethin's Happening and Frampton. Frampton was familiar to many from his days in Humble Pie, and he began to attract a following at his concerts. One venue, the Winterland Arena in San Francisco, California, was a place where Humble Pie had done well previously. So when Frampton performed there as a solo artist, the tape was running. What it captured live was the amazing audience response on this magical night in 1975 for an artist that still the masses had not heard of. They soon would.

Most of the tracks from the double live album Frampton Comes Alive were recorded at Winterland and the album was released in January, 1976. It turned out to be one of the biggest breakthrough albums of all-time, going to #1 on the album chart for 10 weeks, remaining in the Top 40 for 55 weeks and on the album chart for 97 weeks. The album beat out the self-titled album from Fleetwood Mac to become the top-selling album of the year, sold over six million copies and featured three huge hits. But start to finish, there's few albums in the Rock Era that can top it and no other live album so captures the very material that helped launch an artist's career.

Frampton's follow album, I'm in You,went platinum, but in the crazy world that is perception, it didn't measure up to Frampton Comes Alive and thus fell short of expectations. Frampton went on to star in the well-bashed movie Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1978 but his career was on the downswing as fast as he had taken off. Peter was in a near-fatal car accident in the Bahamas in 1978 that marked a time in which Frampton was not the artist he once was. He recorded Where I Should Be and Rise Up and set out to tour in Brazil. But Peter received another blow when all his guitars were destroyed in a cargo plane crash that killed three people. Among the guitars were his prized Les Paul Custom that is pictured on the cover of Frampton Comes Alive. Frampton had played the guitar throughout his solo career.

Frampton's albums did not give him commerical success, he did achieve a moderate comeback with the Premonition album in 1986, which featured the single "Lying". Frampton united with childhood friend Bowie and also worked on projects with members of Pearl Jam. In 1991, Frampton rejoined Humble Pie mate Steve Marriott for some concerts at the Half Moon in Putney, London. The two recorded some songs and prepared to tour together. However, Marriott died in a house fire prior to the tour.

Frampton was broken up by Marriott's death and did not tour for a while. In 1994, Frampton released a self-titled album and the following year, the album Frampton Comes Alive! II, which featured live versions of many of his solo songs since 1980. Peter then toured with Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings and Ringo Starr's All-Star Band.

In 2003, Frampton released Now and toured with Styx to support the album. In 2006, Peter released an instrumental album called Fingerprints. His band consisted of drummer Shawn Fichter, Audley Freed on guitar, bassist John Regan, keyboardist/guitarist Rob Arthur and guests including members of Pearl Jam and Stanley Sheldon, the bassist on Frampton Comes Alive and the only member of the backing band on that album still alive. Frampton won the Grammy Award in 2007 for Best Pop Instrumental Album and also that month appeared on the PBS television show Soundstage.

Frampton's fourteenth studio album, Thank You Mr. Churchill, was released in April of 2010. Frampton hit the road along with the group Yes; the two had played on a tour together in 1976. In 2011, Peter embarked on the Frampton Comes Alive 35th Anniversary Tour, in which he played the exact lineup of songs recorded on that famous night in San Francisco when Frampton Comes Alive! was recorded. Each concert began with a prerecorded thump of the microphone that was familiar to fans of the album, followed by the recorded voise saying, "If there ever was a musician that was an honorary member of San Francisco society, Mr. Peter Frampton"...and the crowds went wild. Frampton faithfully played the album song for song at 69 locations between June and October.

Frampton has been a natural performer since his teenage years. He checks in at #73 for the Rock Era*...

This Day in Rock Music History: February 28

2012-02-28T00:42:00.010-07:00

1962: In a precursor to industry changes later, WINS in New York City, which featured disc jockey Murray the K, switched formats from Top 40 to easy listening.

1966: The Beatles released the single "Nowhere Man".
1966: The Righteous Brothers released the single "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration".
1968: Frankie Lymon died from drugs at the age of 25.
1970: Led Zeppelin had to perform as the group the Nobs in Denmark after the family of Ferdinand von Zeppelin in that country threatened a lawsuit.
1970: "Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Simon & Garfunkel had become a mass-appeal smash. The song that would become a classic took over on the Adult chart on this date.

"The Midnight Special" the way only CCR could do it...

1970: Led Zeppelin II was #1 on the album chart for a seventh week while previous #1 Abbey Road by the Beatles was still at #2 after 20 weeks and CCR edged up with Willy and the Poorboys. The "stop the presses", however, was news that Simon & Garfunkel moved from 106 to 4 in just the third week of release for the album Bridge Over Troubled Water. The rest of the Top 10: Tom Jones Live in Las Vegas, the self-titled Engelbert Humperdinck, Chicago II was up to #7, Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5, Three Dog Night with their album Was Captured Live at the Forum and the Soundtrack to "Easy Rider" moved from 19 to 10.
1970: Here was a hot song--Edison Lighthouse jumped from #68 to #28 with "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)".

1970: "Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Simon & Garfunkel wasted no time to get to #1--just four weeks, one of the shortest times to get there of the Rock Era thus far. It debuted at #49 on February 7, moved to 13, to 3 and now to #1.

1972: Roberta Flack released the single "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face".
1974: Bobby Bloom died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, now considered accidental, at age 28.
1976: Stanley, Idaho's Carole King had the only new album in the Top 10--Thoroughbred, which vaulted from 16 to 10.
1976: "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" by Paul Simon was the new #1 song on the Adult chart.

1976: "The Theme from 'S.W.A.T.'" by Rhythm Heritage was the talk of the land as the new #1 song and one of The Top 100 Instrumentals of the Rock Era*. They bumped Paul Simon out of the limelight while the new Miracles song without Smokey Robinson--"Love Machine" moved up to become a factor. Eric Carmen's first solo hit "All By Myself" was fourth. The rest of the Top 10: The 4 Seasons continued their comeback by moving from 12 to 5 with "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)", "You Sexy Thing" by Hot Chocolate was losing its power, the hot Eagles were up to #7 with their latest--"Take It to the Limit", former Spooky Tooth member Gary Wright powered from 18 to 8 with "Dream Weaver", the Captain & Tennille had their third straight Top 10 to open their career with "Lonely Night (Angel Face)" and Nazareth scored their only Top 10 song--"Love Hurts".
1978: The Atlanta Rhythm Section released the song 'Imaginary Lover".
1979: The John Denver and the Ladies (Tina Turner and Cheryl Ladd) television special was broadcast on ABC-TV.

1981: Yarbrough & Peoples took advantage of an opening and moved to #1 on the R&B chart with "Don't Stop the Music".

1981: Listeners heard the new song "Just the Two of Us" by jazz great Grover Washington, Jr. with Bill Withers on vocals and loved it--the song rose from 65 to 41 on this date.

ABBA with one of their most emotional songs...

1981: Eddie Rabbitt enjoyed a big crossover hit as "I Love a Rainy Night" moved to #1. Dolly Parton fell with "9 to 5", John Lennon was now at #3 with "Woman" and Kool & the Gang's former #1 "Celebration" was still strong after 19 weeks. The rest of the Top 10: REO Speedwagon and "Keep On Loving You", Styx with "The Best of Times", Blondie's former #1 "The Tide is High" was now at #7, Delbert McClinton was at #8 with "Giving It Up for Your Love", Dan Fogelberg with "Same Old Lang Syne" and ABBA reached the Top 10 for just the fourth time (What a joke, America) with "The Winner Takes It All".
1981: Dolly Parton enjoyed a #1 Adult Contemporary hit with "9 to 5".

1984: Michael Jackson won a Rock Era record eight Grammy awards for his work on Thriller.
1987: "Ballerina Girl" notched a fourth week at #1 on the AC chart for Lionel Richie. It was Richie's 47th week at #1 as a solo artist in the genre.

"I'd Die for You" helped Bon Jovi stay on top.

1987: Slippery When Wet by Bon Jovi was still #1 for the eighth week after 25 weeks of release. Cinderella had the top album of their career with Night Songs at #3. Other notable albums in the Top 10: The Way It Is from Bruce Hornsby & the Range at #4, Control from Janet Jackson was still at #6 after a full 52 weeks, Genesis was right behind her with Invisible Touch, the Bangles were still in the Top 10 after 57 weeks with Different Light and Fore!, the great follow-up album by Huey Lewis & the News, was 10th.

Somewhere out there, we tuned in our radios and heard Linda and James.

1987: Not only was "Livin' on a Prayer" the breakthrough hit that Bon Jovi needed, with a third week at #1, but it was on its way to becoming one of The Top 100 Songs of the Rock Era*. "Jacob's Ladder" by Huey Lewis & the News moved to challenge. Other notable songs in the Top 10: "Will You Still Love Me?" from Chicago, the Jets were at #5 with "You Got It All", "Somewhere Out There" by Linda Ronstadt & James Ingram became her ninth Top 10 hit and former Genesis member had another Top 10 with "Big Time".
1989: Bon Jovi released the single "I'll Be There for You".
1991: The famous Record Plant in Hollywood, California closed.

1991: "Curtis Mayfield Day" was celebrated in Los Angeles.
1994: Enigma released the single "Return To Innocence".
1996: Phil Collins left the group Genesis for a solo career.

The Spice Girls were back and big as ever.

1998: The Soundtrack to "Titanic" was #1 after six weeks with the Celine Dion release Let's Talk About Love right behind. Yield from Pearl Jam lost ground while Sevens, the new album from Garth Brooks, moved from 24 to 4. The "Spiceworld" Soundtrack from the Spice Girls placed fifth while the self-titled Savage Garden still had plenty of steam. The rest of the Top 10: My Way from Usher, the debut by the Backstreet Boys, Matchbox 20 was at #9 after 50 weeks with Yourself or Someone Like You and K-Ci & JoJo found the Top 10 with Love Always.
2002: In today's two-part edition of Dangerous Inmates Run Rap Music, C-Murdger was indicted with second degree murder after a shooting at a nightcub.
2002: Mya, Lil' Romeo, Darius Rucker, India.Arie, Keb' Mo' and Carmen Electra recorded a song to benefit the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund.
2003: Linda Suffoletto, who was hospitalized after the nightclub fire in Rhode Island started by the pyrotechnics in Great White's show there, bacame the 97th casualty. Sixty people remained hospitalized after the incident.
2005: In today's second episode of Dangerous Inmates Run Rap Music, 50 Cent told a radio station in New York that The Game had been dropped from people he associated with. The Game tried to get into the station to talk with 50 cent, shots were fired and a man was injured. There's a place for people like this--it has bars and often not much of a view.
2005: The circus that was the child molestation trial of Michael Jackson began in Santa Maria, California. Jackson was cleared of all charges.

2005: Chris Curtis, drummer of the Searchers, was found dead in his home in Liverpool, England at the age of 63.
2006: Two security guards were shot at a Kanye West concert in Birmingham, England by a fan trying to gain admittance without a ticket. Has the disease crossed over the Atlantic now?
2008: Mike Smith, lead singer of the Dave Clark Five, died of pneumonia at age 64.
2008: Ian Anderson, flautist of Jethro Tull, was given the Order of the British Empire medal from Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace in London.
2010: Neil Young performed at the closing ceremonies for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Born This Day:'
1921: Saul Zaentz, industry executive who signed Creedence Clearwater Revival to Fantasy Records, was born in Passaic, New Jersey.

1940: Joe South ("Games People Play" and "Walk a Mile in My Shoes"), who also wrote "Rose Garden" for Lynn Anderson and "Hush" for Deep Purple, was born in Atlanta Georgia.

1942: Brian Jones (real name Lewis Brian Hopkin-Jones), founder and guitarist of the Rolling Stones, was born in Cheltenham, England.
1944: Bernadette Peters (real name Bernadette Lazzara, who had the hit "Gee Whiz" in 1980), was born in Queens, New York.
1944: Barbara Acklin ("Love Makes a Woman") was born in Chicago, Illinois.
1947: Marty Sanders of Jay & the Americans
1952: Edward Manion, saxophonist of Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes, who has also played for Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi
1957: Ian Stanley of Tears for Fears
1957: Philip Gould, songwriter, drummer and singer of Level 42, was born in Hong Kong, China.
1957: Cindy Wilson of the B-52's was born in Athens, Georgia.

1969: Pat Monahan, lead singer and songwriter of Train, was born in Waterford, Pennsylvania.

The #74 Guitarist of the Rock Era: Gary Rossington

2012-02-27T17:00:00.005-07:00

We are 26 guitarists into The Top 100 Guitarists of the Rock Era*. #74 is another experienced studio and live guitarist who is revered for his guitar solos, especially in the South:

#74. Gary Rossington, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Rossington-Collins Band

active guitarist for 49 years

(solo on "Gimme Back My Bullets"

Gary Robert Rossington was born December 4, 1951 in Jacksonville, Florida. He co-founded Lynyrd Skynyrd and is the only original member still with the group. He also co-founded the Rossington-Collins Band along with fellow Lynyrd Skynyrd mate Allen Collins.

Rossington playing slide guitar on "Free Bird"...

Rossington joined friend Ronnie Van Zant, Allen Collins, Bob Burns and Larry Junstrom to form Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1964. The group took off with their debut album in 1973 pronounced leh-nerd skin-nerd, which contained the now classic "Free Bird".

Rossington and Collins were both involved in separate car accidents in Jacksonville on Labor Day weekend in 1976. Collins' crash left him unable to play guitar again and eventually was responsible for dying early. Rossington ran into an oak tree, forcing a delay in the group's tour. Both accidents were alcohol-related and the song "That Smell" was based on the weekend.

That weekend was disastrous enough but more tragedy struck the group the following year. Members of Lynyrd Skynysrd and their entourage were on a plane on October 20, 1977 when it crashed near Gillsburg, Mississippi. Van Zant, Steve and Cassie Gaines and three others connected with the group died that fateful day. Although he broke both legs, both arms, both wrists, both ankles and his pelvis, Rossington was one of six members that survived the crash.

In 1980, Rossington and Collins co-founded the Rossington-Collins Band. The group released two albums but disbanded following the death of Collins' wife, Kathy.

Rossington still tours with Lynyrd Skynyrd. With the death of keyboardist Billy Powell in 2009, Gary is the only original member of the group remaining in the band.

Rossington and his wife, Dale Krantz-Rossington began a side project, the Rossington Band, that opened for Skynyrd for their 1987-88 reunion tour. The Rossington Band released two albums in the 1980's.

^{Rossington prefers his 1959 Gibson Les Paul guitar and a Gibson SG--it's the red SG with tremolo that Gary used to play "Free Bird".}

^{Gary Rossington ranks at #74 for the Rock Era*...}

This Day in Rock Music History: February 27

2012-02-27T02:47:00.014-07:00

1960: The Miracles made their television debut on American Bandstand.

1961: This woman first entered the charts with her first career single "Won't Be Long". Little did we know it, but she would go on to have 74 hits and become the Queen of Soul--Aretha Franklin.

One of Connie's biggest career hits...

1961: Chubby Checker had his second #1 with "Pony Time". Lawrence Welk had to take a bow with "Calcutta" while the Capris moved to #3 with "There's a Moon Out Tonight". The big story was Elvis Presley, who moved from 24 to 4 with "Surrender". The rest of the Top 10: "Don't Worry" from Marty Robbins, the Shirelles moved up with "Dedicated to the One I Love", Connie Francis had her 22nd hit with "Where the Boys Are", the Miracles' #2 song "Shop Around" was on its way down, the Everly Brothers moved from 18-9 with "Ebony Eyes" and the String-A-Longs remained stuck at 10 with "Wheels".
1964: The Rolling Stones performed "Not Fade Away" on Top of the Pops on BBC-TV.
1965: Herman's Hermits, Del Shannon and Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders began a U.K. tour at Sheffields City Hall.

1965: "My Girl" by the Temptations was #1 on the R&B chart for a fourth straight week.

1965: "King of the Road" by Roger Miller topped the Easy Listening chart for a third week.
1965: The Supremes' latest ("Stop In the Name of Love") was behaving the way several before had--moving from 80 to 41.
1966: The Supremes were guest stars on the television show What's My Line.
1971: The Carpenters collected their third straight #1 on the Adult chart with "For All We Know".

Lightfoot sings his first big hit...

1971: "One Bad Apple" by the Osmonds remained at #1 for a third week. "Mama's Pearl" by the Jackson 5 was #2 although most radio stations didn't have it that high. Dawn went down with their former #1--"Knock Three Times" while Lynn Anderson dropped with "Rose Garden" and Gordon Lightfoot remained in the #5 position with "If You Could Read My Mind". The rest of an excellent Top 10: "Sweet Mary" from Wadsworth Mansion, Jerry Reed had a big hit with "Amos Moses", the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and "Mr. Bojangles" and Janis Joplin moved from 25-10 with the posthumous release "Me and Bobby McGee".

"Mercedes Benz"

1971: Pearl moved to #1 on the album chart by the late Janis Joplin.
1974: Cher filed for divorce from Sonny Bono.

1976: Mick Jagger, lead singer of the Rolling Stones, checked into a hospital in New York City with a respiratory infection.

1977: Keith Richards, guitarist of the Rolling Stones, was charged with possession of heroin with the intent to sell (22 grams) and possession of cocaine (5 grams) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

1980: Billy Joel had officially arrived--he won the Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards for 52nd Street.

1980: The Doobie Brothers were at their career peak as "What a Fool Believes" won both Record and Song of the Year honors at the Grammys.

1980: Rickie Lee Jones was named Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards show.

Journey's "Open Arms" outlasted all of its competition.

1982: The J. Geils Band remained at #1 for a fourth week with "Centerfold" while "Open Arms" by Journey, which was #1 at many stations, moved up to #2. Hall & Oates were on the way down with "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)" with the Cars at #4 with "Shake It Up". The rest of the Top 10: "That Girl" from Stevie Wonder, Air Supply's new one--"Sweet Dreams" was sixth, Quarterflash and "Harden My Heart", Juice Newton was going the wrong way with "The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known)", Joan Jett & the Blackhearts had all the right signs as "I Love Rock 'N Roll" moved from 18 to 9 and Dan Fogelberg closed the list with "Leader of the Band".
1988: "She's Like the Wind" by Patrick Swayze and Wendy Fraser moved to #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

The great lead singer Paul Carrack kept one for himself.

1988: George Michael scored his third #1 solo hit with "Father Figure". The Pet Shop Boys & Dusty Springfield were passed over and they screamed "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" Patrick Swayze and Wendy Fraser moved from 7-3 with "She's Like the Wind" and Rick Astley made a strong move with "Never Gonna' Give You Up". The rest of the Top 10: Eric Carmen's "Hungry Eyes", former #1 "Seasons Change" from Expose, Foreigner with "Say You Will", Belinda Carlisle was back in the Top 10 with "I Get Weak", Paul Carrack had a solo hit with "Don't Shed a Tear" and Glorida Estefan & Miami Sound Machine moved up with "Can't Stay Away from You".
1990: Here's what Rob Pilatus of Milli Vanilli had to say in Time Magazine: "Musically, we're more talented than any Bob Dylan or Paul McCartney. Mick Jagger can't produce a sound. I'm the new Elvis." There's appropriate places for people like this where others can care for them.
1991: James Brown was given parole after serving in prison for two years of a six-year sentence. Brown had led police on an interstate car chase.

1992: Whitney Houston set a new Rock Era record with "I Will Always Love You" as it was the #1 song for the 14th week, breaking a tie with "The End of the Road" from Boyz II Men. The song still is tied as the second-longest running #1.
1999: Britney Spears had the #1 U.K. song with "...Baby One More Time".

2000: The movie The Beach Boys was televised on ABC.

Everyday.
2001: Carlos Santana was given the key to his hometown of Autlan, Mexico.
2002: Jennifer Lopez had the #1 album with the remix package J to tha Lo!

2003: Gary Rossington, elite guitarist of Lynyrd Skynyrd, had to have emergency heart surgery.
2004: Bobby Brown was sentenced to 60 days in jail for violating terms of his probation. Brown refused to take a drug test, did not pay court-supervision fees on time and couldn't prove he had completed his substance-abuse rehabilitation program.
2004: A judge in Chicago, Illinois dismissed seven of the 21 child pornography charges against R. Kelly. Meaning he did not dismiss 14 of them. Kelly's lawyers' best defense was that the charges of soliciting a minor to appear in a sex tape were based on a law that wasn't in effect yet.

2005: Nelly and Tim McGraw teamed up for the #1 U.K. song "Over and Over".
2007: Bobby Brown was sentenced to 30 days in jail for failing to pay $19,000 in unpaid child support. A warrant for Brown's arrest was issued in October, 2006 after the deadbeat failed to show up at a hearing for overdue child support for Kim Ward, the mother of two of his children. When you make the mistake of being with someone like Bobby Brown, you end up paying for it for the rest of your life.
2010: U2 made twice as much money from touring, record sales and royalties than anyone else in 2009, with a haul of $109 million. Bruce Springsteen brought in $58 million, followed by Madonna with $47 mil and AC/DC with $44 mil.
2011: Randy Newman won Best Original Song at the Academy Awards for "We Belong Together" from Toy Story 3.

Born This Day:

1927: Guy Mitchell ("Singing the Blues" from 1955); died July 1, 1999.
1948: Eddie Gary of Tommy James & the Shondells

1950: Robert Balderrama of ? & the Mysterians ("96 Tears")

1954: Neal Schon, elite guitarist with Santana and Journey, was born on Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma.

1957: Adrian Smith, elite guitarist of Iron Maiden, was born in Hackney, East London.

1959: Johnny Van Zant, lead singer of Lynyrd Skynyrd and the brother of former lead singer Ronnie Van Zant and the founder of .38 Special Donnie Van Zant, was born in Jacksonville, Florida.
1960: Paul Humphreys, co-founder of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark ("If You Leave"), was born in London.

1971: Chilli (real name Rozonda Thomas) of TLC was born in Columbus, Georgia.
1972: Jeremy Dean, saxophone and keyboard player of Nine Days

1981: Josh Groban was born in Los Angeles.

New Featured Unknown/Underrated Song--"Shine" by Collective Soul

2012-02-26T23:09:00.000-07:00

It's time for another song to be inducted into The Top Unknown/Underrated Songs of All-Time*, one of the great tabs at the top of the page at all times. I've just added this very deserving entry. Sometimes you look at these and all you can do is shake your head. Unbelieveably, the song never made the Top 10. Rather, it only made it to #11 in 1994 for Collective Soul, which by the way has many underrated songs in their career.

But today, the spotlight is on "Shine"

"Shine"

by Collective Soul

Words and Music by Ed Roland

Give me a word
Give me a sign
Show me where to look
Tell me what will I find
Lay me on the ground
Fly me in the sky
Show me where to look
Tell me what will I find
Oh, heaven let your light shine down

Love is in the water
Love is in the air
Show me where to look
Tell me will love be there
Teach me how to speak
Teach me how to share
Teach me where to go
Tell me will love be there
Oh, heaven let your light shine down

The #75 Guitarist of the Rock Era: Neil Young

2012-02-26T17:00:00.003-07:00

The next guitarist has been a fixture of the Rock Era, he's been right there at the front line helping to shape it:

#75: Neil Young, Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and solo artist
53 years as an active guitarist
("Cinnamon Girl" live)

Neil Percival Young was born November 12, 1945 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He began performing at the age of 15 in Canada, before moving to California and co-founding Buffalo Springfield.  Young later joined Crosby, Stills & Nash as a fourth member in 1969 and has periodically rejoined his mates from time to time at live shows. Neil has released over 34 studio albums as a solo performer.

Young is a great experimenter, delving into several musical styles and techniques. He began to take an interest in popular songs that he heard on the famous radio station CHUM in Toronto in the early 1950's, particularly rock and roll, rockabilly, doo-wop and R&B. Young idolized Elvis Presley; other influences were Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis and the Monotones. Young began playing a plastic ukulele, then progressed to a better ukulele to a banjo ukulele to a baritone ukulele.

Neil and his mother soon settle in Fort Rouge, Winnipeg and Neil went to Earl Grey Junior High School. Neil formed his first band the Jades at Earl Grey and later played in several instrumental rock bands at Kelvin High School in Winnipeg. Young's first stable group was the Squires.

After leaving the Squires, Young worked the folk music circuit in Winnipeg and wrote several songs including "Sugar Mountain" and "Flying on the Ground is Wrong", a Canadian hit for Winnipeg group the Guess Who. In 1965, Young toured Canada as a solo performer, then joined the group Mynah Birds, which was led by Rick James. The group signed a record deal with Motown but disbanded after James was arrested for being AWOL from the Naval Reserve.

Young and bass player Bruce Palmer moved to Los Angeles and met Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and Dewey Martin. They started the group Buffalo Springfield, which played a mix of folk, country, psychedelia and rock. The group was a critical and popular success but when Palmer was arrested and deported, the group split after just three albums.

Young then signed a solo recording contract with Reprise Records, home of colleague and friend Joni Mitchell. Young and manager Elliot Roberts began working on his debut album Neil Young from 1968. For his follow-up, Young brought in guitarist Danny Whitten, bassist Billy Talbot and Ralph Molina on drums. The three musicians named themselves Crazy Horse and the album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere in 1969 is credited to Neil Young with Crazy Horse. It includes the live staple "Cinnamon Girl".

Shortly after the release of his second album, Young joined the trio Crosby, Stills & Nash and the quartet debuted in Chicago, Illinois on August 16, 1969. They were one of the featured attractions at Woodstock, although Young skipped the acoustic set and refused to be filmed during the electric set.   During the making of the CSNY album Deja Vu, Stills and Young argued and fought for control of the group. Young wrote "Ohio" for the album, one of The Most Important Songs of the Rock Era*.

Deja Vu became a big hit and is still one of the great albums of the Rock Era. Later in 1970, Young released the album After the Gold Rush. He dismissed Crazy Horse early in the sessions and enlisted the help of Stills, CSNY bass guitarist Greg Reeves and Nils Lofgren. It was some of Young's best work, including the biting "Southern Man" and "Only Love Can Break Your Heart". Neil went on tour to promote the album, including a sold out show at Carnegie Hall in New York City and two acclaimed shows at Massey Hall in Toronto.

In 1972, Young released another of his great albums--Harvest. Harvest included the #1 "Heart of Gold" as well as the popular "Old Man". While Harvest was a commercial success, Neil's next three albums were collectively known as the "Ditch Trilogy", three failures that dealt with conflicts he was feeling and the decaying idealism of his generation in America.

Young's eighth solo album, Zuma in 1975 included "Cortez the Killer", a retelling of the Spanish conquest of Mexico.   He did a project with Stills and in 1976, Young performed with Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and others in the all-star concert The Last Waltz, the final performance by the Band.

By 1978, Young had formed a new Crazy Horse and went on the Rust Never Sleeps Tour, which featured an acoustic set and an uptempo, electric set. It was highly successful and the two accompanying albums, Rust Never Sleeps (live recordings of new material with studio overdubs) and Live Rust (a mix of old and new songs recorded live).

Young did several albums with little success and appeared at the 1985 Live Aid concert in Philadelphia, reuniting with Crosby, Stills & Nash for the first time in ten years. Neil's 1989 song "Rockin' in the Free World" from the album Freedom brought him back as a force in the music business. The song deals with homelessness, terrorism and criticizes the policies of U.S. President George H.W. Bush. The use of feedback and distortion on Freedom had a major influence on the rising grunge stars of the era, including Kurt Cobain of Nirvana and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam.

Alternative and grunge acts including Sonic Youth and Soul Asylum released a tribute album called The Bridge: A Tribute to Neil Young later that year. and Social Distortion and Sonic Youth opened for Neil during a 1990 tour. Young changed direction again, however, in 1992 with the release of Harvest Moon, which reunited him with Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor, who had helped Neil with the Harvest album. In 1993, Young collaborated with Booker T. and the MG's on a summer tour of Europe and North America. Pearl Jam joined him for the encore with a rendition of "Rockin' in the Free World" on some shows. Young reconnected with Pearl Jam in 1995 for the album Mirror Ball. Later that year, Neil was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, introduced by Vedder.

Young recorded the Soundtrack to "Dead Man" and in 1998, shared the stage with Phish at the annual Farm Aid concert. In 1999, Young reunited again with Crosby, Stills and Nash for the Looking Forward album and subsequent tour that netted the quartet $42.1 million, the eighth largest tour of 2000.

The studio album Silver & Gold and live release Road Rock Vol. 1 were released in 2000 and his 2001 single "Let's Roll" was a tribute to the victims of the September 11 attacks and effective action taken by the passengers of Flight 93. While working on the Prairie Wind album in March of 2005, Young was diagnosed with a bran aneurysm. He was treated successfully, and eventually was back on stage, appearing at the Live 8 concert in Barrie, Ontario, Canada.

Young had resisted writing protest songs for some time, giving younger artists an opportunity, but when they didn't say anything, Neil came out with the 2006 album Living With War, another of his best career efforts. The album dealt with themes from the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the casualties that were escalating.

Young's most recent appearance on an album was on Booker T. Jones' album Potato Hole, in which Young played guitar on nine of the album's tracks. He continues to tour extensively as well, headlining the Glastonbury Festival in Pilton, England, where he was joined onstage by Paul McCartney for a rendition of "A Day in the Life".

An original founder of Live Aid, Neil is still on the board of directors for the project. Each October, Neil and his wife host the Bridge School Concerts, which have drawn performers such as Sir Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, the Who, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Metallica, Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews, Sonic Youth and the Smashing Pumpkins in Mountain View, California.    Proceeds from the concert benefit the Bridge School, which uses advanced technologies to aid in the education of children with disabilities.

Young has received an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario in 1992 and an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from San Francisco State University in 2006. In 2006, Young was appointed to the Order of Manitoba, the highest civilian honour for a province and in 2009, Young was appointed to the Order of Canada, the highest civilian honour in the nation.

Young uses a 1953 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop nicknamed "Old Black" as his primary electric guitar. A Minihumbucker pickup from a Gibson Firebird was installed in the lead/treble position in 1972 and is a key component of his guitar playing. The Martin D-45 is Young's primary steel-string acoustic guitar that was bought by Stephen Stills in 1969. Young also plays a Martin D-28 nicknamed "Hank" after previous owner Hank Williams. Young also plays a Taylor 855 12-string, a 1927 Gibson Mastertone, a six-string bajo tuned like a guitar, a Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins model , a GIbson Flying V, a Fender Broadcaster and a Gretsch White Falcon.

Young uses several vintage Fender Tweed Deluxe amplifiers. The Tweed Deluxe is used in conjunction with a late-1950's Magnatone 280. Young uses the Whizzer to control the Deluxe, which is connected to footswitches in the manner of an effects pedal.

A guy who has contributed much to the Rock Era--Neil Young at #75...

Albums That Contain "Let It Be" by the Beatles

2012-02-26T16:01:00.000-07:00

One of the Beatles' last classics was released in 1970. You can find it on the following albums:

Let It Be
Beatles 1967-1970 (The Blue Album)
Anthology 3
I
Past Masters, Volume 2
Get Back and 22 Other Songs
Artifacts 1958-1970
Artifacts II 1960-1969
Compact Disc Singles Collection
The 20 Greatest Hits
Get Back
Reel Music

2012-02-26T14:31:00.000-07:00

Who has sold more albums--Eric Clapton or Kenny Rogers?

Answer by clicking the link below...

This Day in Rock Music History: February 26

2012-02-26T05:55:00.012-07:00

1955: LaVern Baker wrote a letter to Michigan Representative Charles Digges, Jr. requesting that the Copyright Act of 1909 be updated.

1955: 45 rpm records outsold 78's for the first time in history.
1955: Johnny Ace had the #1 R&B hit--"Pledging My Love".
1962: Shelley Fabares released the single "Johnny Angel".
1964: The Beatles worked on the final mixes for "Can't Buy Me Love" and "You Can't Do That".
1965: Jimmy Page released the album She Just Satisfies. When the album didn't seem to satisfy the public, Page joined the Yardbirds.
1966: Slim Harpo moved to #1 on the R&B chart with "Baby Scratch My Back".
1966: Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass racked up their eighth week at #1 on the album chart with Whipped Cream & Other Delights.
1966: Herman's Hermits had a hot song as their latest, "Listen People", moved from 41 to 13.

The Mamas & Papas were moving up with one of The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era*...

1966: Nancy Sinatra stepped up to #1 with "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'", sending "Lightnin' Strikes" by Lou Christie down below. Ssgt. Barry Sadler moved from 10-3 with "The Ballad of the Green Berets". Stevie Wonder was on his way down with "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" and the Supremes were steady at #5 with "My World Is Empty Without You". The rest of the Top 10: Petula Clark's "My Love", the Marvelettes were back with "Don't Mess With Bill", the Mamas & Papas were red hot with "California Dreamin'", which moved from 16-8, Bob Lind had #9--"Elusive Butterfly" and the 4 Seasons entered the Top 10 with "Working My Way Back to You".

1970: The Beatles released the album Beatles Again in the United States.
1972: Al Green had a hold on #1 on the R&B chart--he spent week #8 in the top spot with "Let's Stay Together".

1972: "Without You" by Nilsson once again was #1 with the Carpenters at #2--"Hurting Each Other". Newcomer Climax had one of The Top Love Songs of the Rock Era* with "Precious and Few" and Al Green's former #1 "Let's Stay Together" was fourth. The rest of the Top 10: The Osmonds with "Down By the Lazy River", Apollo 100 moved up with "Joy", Robert John's remake of the Tokens classic "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", Bread was at #8 with "Everything I Own", Don McLean's #1 classic "American Pie" was now at #9 and Stanley, Idaho's Carole King had the #10 song with "Sweet Seasons".

1973: Stealer's Wheel released the single "Stuck in the Middle with You".

1973: War released the single 'The Cisco Kid".
1975: Harry Chapin's play The Night That Made America Famous opened on Broadway in New York City.

1977: Sherman Garnes from Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers ("Why Do Fools Fall In Love") died while having open-heart surgery.

The great song "The Fire Down Below" from Seger's 'Night Moves"...

1977: The Soundtrack to "A Star Is Born" topped the album chart for a third week, with two great albums, Hotel California by the Eagles and Songs in the Key of Life from Stevie Wonder, right behind. Paul McCartney & Wings were next with Wings Over America and Al Stewart clung to #5 with Year of the Cat. The rest of an excellent Top 10: Fly Like An Eagle from the Steve Miller Band, Boston's debut, Animals from Pink Floyd moved from 25 to 8 in its second week, Night Moves by Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band was ninth and an album called Rumours by Fleetwood Mac made a high debut at #10.

1977: Natalie Cole's great song "I've Got Love On My Mind" was the new #1 on the R&B chart.

1977: The Eagles flew to #1 with "New Kid In Town", holding off "Evergreen" by Barbra Streisand for now. The previous #1 "Blinded By the Light" by Manfred Mann's Earth Band slipped to #3 while Steve Miller took flight with "Fly Like An Eagle". The rest of the Top 10: Kenny Nolan's "I Like Dreamin'", the Jacksons were back with "Enjoy Yourself", Mary MacGregor tumbled with "Torn Between Two Lovers", Bob Seger's breakthrough hit "Night Moves" was #8, ABBA moved from 14-9 with "Dancing Queen" and Barry Manilow had his fifth Top 10 hit with "Weekend In New England".

1977: Glen Campbell rose to the top spot on the Adult chart with "Southern Nights".
1980: After performing at National Boxing Stadium in Dublin, Ireland, U2 was offered a recording contract by Island Records.

1983: "You Are" by Lionel Richie, one of The Top 100 Adult Contemporary Songs of the 1980's, became the new AC #1 song.

1983: "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson spent a third week at #1 on the R&B chart.

1983: The new album by Michael Jackson, Thriller, moved into the #1 spot on the album chart. Built for Speed by the Stray Cats spent a record 14th straight week at #2. H2O by Hall & Oates came in third with Men At Work finally falling after 15 weeks at #1 with Business As Usual. The rest of the Top 10: The Distance from Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band, Journey vaulted from 23 to 6 in their second week with Frontiers, Duran Duran entered the Top 10 at #7 with Rio, Phil Collins and Hello, I Must Be Going!, Toto IV was still at #9 after 45 weeks and Foreigner Records, Foreigner's compilation album, was #10.

1985: Chuck Berry received a Lifetime Achievement award at the Grammys.

1987: Capitol Records released the first four Beatles albums on CD.

1990: Cornell Gunter of the Coasters was murdered in Las Vegas, Nevada at age 53.

"Round Here", one of the top tracks on 'August and Everything After'...

1994: The self-titled Toni Braxton moved from 7-1 on the album chart, flying over Music Box from Mariah Carey. Other notable albums in the Top 10: August and Everything After from the Counting Crows, the Greatest Hits by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Jar of Flies from Alice In Chains and Celine Dion entered the Top 10 with her great album The Colour of My Love.

1995: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, formerly with Led Zeppelin, began a world tour to support their reunion album No Quarter.
1997: Ben Raleigh, songwriter who wrote "Tell Laura I Love Her" (Ray Peterson's hit in 1960) as well as "Scooby Doo Where Are You" from the popular cartoon series, died when he set fire to his bath robe while cooking.

1997: Eric Clapton won Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the Grammy Awards for "Change the World". The Popular and Rock categories used to be merged when Rock songs were good enough to also be popular but were separated several years previous when the quality of rock songs went down.

1997: The Beatles won Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group, Best Music Video Short and Best Music Video Long for "Free as a Bird".

1998: Tommy Lee, drummer of Motley Crue, was arrested and charged with abusing his wife and his son Dylan.

2000: Lonestar topped the chart with "Amazed".
2001: The Darkness performed live for the first time at Camden HQ in England.

2001: In today's edition of Inmates Run Rap Music, DMX turned himself over to the police in Alden, New York after being charged with driving and drug offenses.

2006: Jack Johnson went to #1 in the U.K. with "In Between Dreams".

2009: A ten-minute version of "Revolution 1" by the Beatles was leaked onto the Internet, a version never heard before, that gave us an insight into Beatles' recording sessions. The group only recorded two takes of the version, and John Lennon took one of them home.
2010: The city of Barnstable, Massachusetts on Cape Cod named a street after Patti Page.

Born This Day:

1928: Fats Domino was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.
1930: Chic Hetti of the Playmates
1932: Johnny Cash was born in Kingsland, Arkansas.
1943: Paul Cotton, singer-songwriter and guitarist of Poco, Fort Rucker, Alabama.

1945: Mitch Ryder (real name William Levise, Jr.), who scored hits including "Devil With a Blue Dress On" from 1966 with the Detroit Wheels, was born in Hamtramck, Michigan.
1945: Bob Hite, lead singer and harmonica player of Canned Heat, was born in Torrance, California.
1947: Sandie Shaw, the first U.K. artist to win the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Puppet on a String" from 1967, was born in Dagenham, Essex, England.

1950: Jonathan Cain, great keyboardist and songwriter of the Babys, Journey and Bad English, was born in Chicago, Illinois.

1953: Michael Bolton (real name Michael Bolotin) was born in New Haven, Connecticut.
1961: John Jon of Bronski Beat
1968: Tim Commerford, bass guitarist with Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, was born in Irvine, California.

1971: Martin Karl "Max Martin" Sandberg, songwriter and producer who worked with the Backstreet Boys, 'N Sync, Britney Spears, Kelly Clarkson and Pink, was born in Stockholm, Sweden.

1971: Erykah Badu was born in Dallas, Texas.

1979: Corinne Bailey Rae, singer-songwriter and guitarist ("Put Your Records On"), was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.

Chicago's Five Best Albums

2012-02-26T03:57:00.000-07:00

This group appeared on the scene in the late 1960's as a fresh, exciting band with jazz and rock influences. Chicago's albums were red-hot through the first eight studio releases. They began to emphasize softer rock beginning with their tenth album and continuing forward. The five albums here represent all the unique parts that make Chicago one of the great groups of all-time:

1. Chicago Transit Authority

This might be a surprise to some, but the crisp sound punctuated by those trademark horns delivered with conviction still sounds as good today as it did back in 1969. There are essentially only four songs, but they're all good. Chicago's debut album features "Questions 67 and 68" and "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?"; "Liberation" is another great example of those early Chicago horns.

2. Chicago 17

This was the group's biggest album in a long time. It contains "Hard Habit to Break", "You're the Inspiration" and "Along Comes a Woman" plus "Please Hold On" and "Only You" are particularly good album tracks.

3. Hot Streets

Another album that might come as a surprise. As mentioned above, the album is well within the new direction for the group. You're probably familiar with the hits "Alive Again", "No Tell Lover" and "Gone Long Gone". The title song, "Love Was New", "The Greatest Love On Earth" and "Take a Chance" are all solid tracks.

4. Chicago V

The classic "Saturday in the Park" is the only flat-out smash on the album, but Chicago V is a consistent album. "Now That You're Gone" is the only songwriting contribution from James Pankow that features those popular horns. "Dialogue", "State of the Union", "Goodbye" and "Alma Mater", which were all written by keyboardist Robert Lamm (who penned 80% of the album) stand out.

5. Chicago II

This double album contains the most tracks (23) of any Chicago album. The group began to perfect its sound while still sounding new, fresh and exciting. There's the jazz-rock and harder rock elements here that were present on their debut, plus "Colour My World", "Make Me Smile" and "25 or 6 to 4". "Poem for the People", "In the Country" and "Wake Up Sunshine" are other solid tracks.

Honorable Mention to:

Chicago VIII

The #76 Guitarist of the Rock Era: Jack White

2012-02-25T17:00:00.008-07:00

We're up to #76 in our special feature of The Top 100 Guitarists of the Rock Era*. Our next guitarist hasn't been around long, but he's made quite an impact:

#76: Jack White, White Stripes

23 years as an active guitarist

John Anthony Gillis (Jack White) was born July 9, 1975 in Detroit, Michigan. He was the lead guitarist, lead singer and pianist with the White Stripes until they broke up in February of 2011, and is also the founder of the Raconteurs and the Dead Weather.

White was attracted to classical music at an early age and began playing the drums at age six. He became interested in blues and 1960's rock that would influence him later. Jack went to Cass Technical High School in Detroit. He was all set to go to seminary in Wisconsin and be a Catholic priest, but at the last second decided to go to public school. At the age of 15, friend Brian Muldoon introduced White to punk music and coaxed him into joining his group. Muldoon played drums so White decided to play guitar. The two worked in the upholstery business and recorded an album called Makers of High Grade Suites as the Makers of High Grade Suites, as The Upholsterers. White then became the drummer for the Detroit band Goober & the Peas, played in other local bands and did a few solo performances.

White formed the White Stripes in 1997 along with Meg White. The Stripes signed with Italy Records the following year and released their self-titled debut album in 1999. The follow-up, De Stiji, became popular with a limited following. In 2001, White Stripes released White Blood Cells, which was praised by critics. In 2003, the group released Elephant, which was their most successful album, containing the single "Seven Nation Army". The album Get Behind Me Satan represented a change to more piano-drive melodies and more rhythm-based guitar playing by White. The group's sixth release Icky Thump in 2007 debuted in the U.K. at #1 and at #2 in the United States. It included more punk influences than Get Behind Me Satan.

The documentary, The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights, capturing the group's 2007 tour in every Canadian province and territory, was shown at the 2009 Toronto Internaitonal Film Festival.

White formed the Raconteurs in 2005 along with Brendan Benson, Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler. They released their initial album Broken Boy Soldiers and went on tour to support the album, opening for Bob Dylan. Their follow-up album salute Your Solution in 2008 received a Grammy nomination.

In 2008, White worked with Alicia Keys on "Another Way to Die", the theme song from the James Bond movie Quantum of Solace. White also performed five songs for the "Cold Mountain" Soundtrack.

In 2009, White formed his third group, the Dead Weather, with lead singer Alison Mosshart, Dean Fertita of Queens of the Stone Age on keyboards and guitar, Raconteurs bassist Jack Lawrence and White plays drums. Dead Weather released the album Horehound in 2009 and Sea of Cowards in 2010.

White was featured in the movie It Might Get Loud, in which he, Jimmy Page and the Edge talk about the electric guitar and their unique styles.

White plays a 1965 JB Hutto Montgomery Airlines, an Airline Town & Country, a Crestwood Astral II, a Kay Hollowbody, a Grestsch White Penguin and a custom Grestsch Rancher Falcon acoustic. With the Raconteurs, White has played Grestch-styled copies of the Duo Jet double-cutaway guitar, a Grestsch Anniversary Jr. with a Bigsby vibrato tailpiece and three Filtertron pickups. Recently, White added a custom white Billy Gibbons/Bo Diddley signature Grestsch Jupiter Thunderbird.

Unlike some of our featured guitarists, which rely on their own talent to produce effects, White uses numerous special effects, including relying on a DigiTech Whammy WH-4. He uses a Fender Twin Reverb, a MXR Micro Amp and two 100-watt Sears Silvertone 6 x 10 combo amplifiers and custom Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Distortion/Sustainer, the Polyphonic Octave Generator, a Whammy IV and three Z.Vex Tremolo Probes.

White plays the power chords by using his little finger rather than his ring finger for the higher notes.

In 2011, White was awarded the title of Nashville Music City Ambassador by Nashville mayor Karl Dean. White is set to release his debut solo album, Blunderbuss, in April of 2012.

Jack White, one of the most talented of the newer guitar players of the last 20 years or so, ranks #76 for the Rock Era*.

The Greatest Guitarists of the Rock Era

2012-02-25T10:36:00.000-07:00

We have built this list so far:

#100--John Sykes

#99--Mick Barr

#98--Jerry Cantrell

#97--Mike Bloomfield

#96--Danny Kirwan

#94--Daron Malakian

#93--Kerry King

#92--Alex Lifeson

#91--Robbie Krieger

#90--Ted Nugent

#89--Jason Becker

#88--John 4

#87--Jake E. Lee

#86--Michael Wilton

#85--James "Munky" Shaffer

#84--Uli Jon Roth

#83--Richie Sambora

#82--Tom Morello

#81--Michael Schenker

#80--Rick Derringer

#79--Dave Mason

#78--Warren DeMartini

#77--Synyster Gates

New Featured Unknown/Underrated Song--"Questions 67 and 68" from Chicago

2012-02-25T07:50:00.000-07:00

Here's another great song that's an easy one for this category. Now, we hear it and say "How could this be underrated?" Everyone knows it's a great song now, but people who worked radio stations in 1969 and 1971 didn't know that. This was Chicago's debut single in August of 1969 and it went all the way up to.......#71. Yep, that is not a misprint.

They released it in 1971 after scoring hits with "Make Me Smile", "25 or 6 to 4", "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?", "Beginnings" and "Colour My World", thinking now that Chicago was known as a top group, the song would definitely be played by radio stations. This time it got to #24. Alas, you just can't convince some people.

Which makes it one of The Top Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*...

"Questions 67 and 68"

Chicago

Words and Music by Robert Lamm

Can this feeling that we have together

Ooh, suddenly exist between?

Did this meeting of our minds together

Ooh, happen just today, some way?

I'd like to know

Can you tell me? Please don't tell me

It really doesn't matter anyhow

It's just that the thought of us so happy

Appears in my mind as a beautifully mysterious thing

Was your image in my mind so deeply

Ooh, other faces fade away

Blocking memories of unhappy hours

Ooh, leavin' just a burnin' love

I'd like to know

Can you tell me? Please don't tell me

It really doesn't matter anyhow

It's just that the thought of us so happy

Appears in my mind as a beautifully mysterious thing

Yes, it does now, baby

Can this lovin' we have found within us

Ooh, suddenly exist between?

Did we somehow try to make it happen

Ooh, was it just a natural thing?

I'd like to know

Can you tell me? Please don't tell me

It really doesn't matter anyhow

It's just that the thought of us so happy

Appears in my mind as a beautifully mysterious thing

Yes, it does now, baby

Questions 67 and 68

This Day in Rock Music History: February 25

2012-02-25T05:54:00.015-07:00

1956: One of the great R&B records of all-time--"The Great Pretender" by the Platters, remained at #1 for the eighth week on that chart.

1957: Buddy Holly and the Crickets re-recorded "That'll Be the Day" with producer Norman Petty. A previous version was recorded July 22, 1956 but this new one was the one they would release as their first single.
1961: "Elvis Presley Day" was declared in Memphis and in the state of Tennessee as Elvis performed for the first time since being honorably discharged from the United States Army.

1963: The Chantay's released the single "Pipeline".

1964: The Beatles recorded their next single "Can't Buy Me Love", as well as the flip side--"You Can't Do That" and "I Should Have Known Better" at Abbey Road studios in London.

1965: The Rolling Stones performed "The Last Time" on the BBC television show Ready! Steady! Go!

1965: The Seekers reached #1 in the U.K. with "I'll Never Find Another You".

The title song of 'The Sound of Music' from Julie Andrews...

1967: The Monkees' second album, More of the Monkees, was starting out just as their self-titled debut album had. For the third week, it was #1. In fact, their debut sat at #2. S.R.O. by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass was third with the Soundtrack to "Doctor Zhivago" fourth. The rest of the Top 10: The Temptations Greatest Hits, That's Life from Frank Sinatra, the incredible Soundtrack to "The Sound of Music" was #7 after 102 weeks of release, Winchester Cathedral from the New Vaudeville Band, Whipped Cream & Other Delights re-entered the Top 10 after 94 weeks by Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass and Boise, Idaho's Paul Revere & the Raiders had #10--The Spirit of '67.

1968: Gary Puckett, from Twin Falls, Idaho, & the Union Gap released the single "Young Girl".
1968: The Box Tops released the single "Cry Like a Baby".
1968: Manfred Mann released the single "The Mighty Quinn".

1971: Led Zeppelin's concert from the Paris Theatre in France was broadcast live on BBC television.
1971: One of the hottest new songs on this date was "A Horse With No Name", the first career hit for America. It moved from #84 to #47.
1974: MFSB (which stood for Mother, Father, Sister, Brother) released the single "TSOP".

1978: The great soul song "It's You That I Need" from Enchantment was #1 on the R&B chart.

1978: Eddie Money first appeared on the charts with his first single--"Baby Hold On".

1978: Jefferson Starship declared "Earth Day" with the release of their new album Earth.
1978: Paul Simon, James Taylor & Art Garfunkel remained in the top spot on the Adult chart with "(What a) Wonderful World".

"Deacon Blues" helped 'Aja' reach the Top 10.

1978: The album that knocked Fleetwood Mac's Rumours out of #1 after a then-record 31 weeks--the Soundtrack to "Saturday Night Fever" remained at #1 for a sixth week. The Stranger by Billy Joel was a solid but distant second with Queen's News of the World third. All 'N All by Earth, Wind & Fire remained in the #4 spot with Rod Stewart fifth with Foot Loose & Fancy Free. The rest of the Top 10: Styx's worst release out of its last three albums (still good) but best-selling The Grand Illusion, Running On Empty from Jackson Browne, Eric Clapton entered the Top 10 with Slowhand, Randy Newman's Little Criminals and the excellent Aja from Steely Dan was #10.

1978: The Bee Gees remained at #1 with "Stayin' Alive" for the fourth week. They owned three of the Top 10 songs, a feat only accomplished by one other act in the Rock Era--the Beatles. Their new single "Night Fever" moved from 17 to 8 while their former #1--"How Deep is Your Love", remained at #10.
1980: Bob Seger released the excellent album Against the Wind.

1981: Christopher Cross won Album of the Year and Record of the Year for "Sailing" and Best New Artist.
1981: Bob Seger won Best Rock Male Performance at the Grammys for his Against the Wind album.

1981: Pat Benatar won Best Rock Female Performance with her album Crimes of Passion.
1984: A new rock & roll band from New Jersey first appeared on the charts as their debut single "Runaway" was first heard on radio. They would become quite well known to us as Bon Jovi.
1984: Christopher Cross held on to #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart for the fourth consecutive week with "Think of Laura".

1984: Van Halen landed the new #1 song with "Jump", knocking Culture Club's "Karma Chameleon" out of the top spot. Newcomer Nena was at 3 with "99 Luftballons" and Cyndi Lauper's first hit--"Girls Just Want to Have Fun" moved from 9 to 4. The rest of the Top 10: Michael Jackson with "Thriller", Kool & the Gang dropped down with "Joanna", the posthumous release from John Lennon--"Nobody Told Me", Shannon's "Let the Music Play", the Police moved to #9 with "Wrapped Around Your Finger" and Billy Joel slid in with "An Innocent Man".

"My City Was Gone" from the album 'Learning to Crawl'.

1984: Thriller by Michael Jackson was the #1 album for the 30th week. One more would tie Rumours by Fleetwood Mac as the longest-running #1 of the Rock Era. Culture Club was somehow #2 with Colour By Numbers while Van Halen remained third with MCMLXXXIV and Lionel Richie Can't Slow Down at #4. The Pretenders' excellent LP Learning to Crawl came in at #5, jumping Billy Joel's An Innocent Man. The rest of the Top 10: The former #1 Synchronicity by the Police, Duran Duran with Seven and the Ragged Tiger, Yes came in ninth with 90125 and the new John Cougar Mellencamp album Uh-Huh reached the Top 10.
1985: Sade released the single "Smooth Operator".
1985: Madonna released the single "Crazy for You".

1987: Frank Sinatra guest starred on Magnum P.I. on CBS-TV.

Roy Orbison sang "Rattled" for the Traveling Wilburys

1989: Listeners chose Bobby Brown to have the #1 album with Don't Be Cruel. One has to wonder if they're having second thoughts. Guns N' Roses remained second with Appetite for Destruction while the superb Volume One from the Traveling Wilburys was #3. Another great album that got lost in the shuffle--Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars from Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians captured the #4 spot. The rest of the Top 10: Debbie Gibson with her debut Electric Youth, GN'R Lies from Guns N' Roses, the incredible Hysteria by Def Leppard, now in its 80th week, Paula Abdul entered the Top 10 with Forever Your Girl, in its 32nd week and the Bon Jovi album New Jersey was on its way down.
1989: "The Living Years" was the new #1 song on the Adult Contemporary chart for Mike + the Mechanics.

Easton hit the Top 10 one final time.

1989: Paula Abdul held on to #1 with "Straight Up" for the third week. Debbie Gibson was one spot away with "Lost in Your Eyes" with Tone Loc third with "Wild Thing". Sheena Easton's seventh and final Top 10 song ("The Lover in Me") was fourth while Bon Jovi dropped with "Born to Be My Baby". The rest of the Top 10: "She Wants to Dance With Me" by Rick Astley, New Kids on the Block had "You Got It (The Right Stuff)", Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians remained in the #8 position with "What I Am", Mike & the Mechanics moved from 16 to 9 with "The Living Years" and "Walking Away" by Information Society dropped to #10.
1991: Roxette released the single "Joyride".

1992: James Brown received the Lifetime Achievement award at the Grammys.
1993: Toy Caldwell, guitarist of the Marshall Tucker Band and brother of bassist and co-founder Tommy Caldwell, died of respiratory failure in Spartanburg, South Carolina at age 45.

1995: Frank Sinatra sang before a live audience for the final time at a private party for 1,200 guests on the closing night of the Frank Sinatra Desert Classic golf tournament. His final song was "The Best is Yet to Come".
1995: "Baby" by Brandy topped the R&B chart for a third week.

"Ode to My Family" by the Cranberries...

1995: The Hits by Garth Brooks was #1 for the seventh week. II by Boyz II Men moved up to challenge with Van Halen's Balance dropping. Dookie from Green Day was still #4 after 53 weeks with the comeback album Hell Freezes Over by the Eagles #5. The rest of the Top 10: CrazySexyCool from TLC, Hootie & the Blowfish entered the Top 10 with Cracked Rear View, the great album Vitalogy from Pearl Jam, the Cranberries moved up with No Need to Argue and Smash came in at #10 for the Offspring.
1995: Madonna had her 11th #1 song with "Take a Bow".

1998: Bob Dylan won three Grammy awards, including Album of the Year for Time Out of Mind.

1998: Bo Diddley received the Lifetime Achievement award at the Grammys.
1998: Roy Orbison also received the Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously from the Grammys. You were 10 years late, Grammys.
2002: Dave Matthews purchased 1,261 acres from the University of Virginia Foundation, aiming to conserve trees and promote organic farming on the land.

2003: Billy Joel was named the MusiCares Person of the Year in Los Angeles.

2003: Paul McCartney and his band performed at the 50th birthday of fan Wendy Whitworth in San Diego, California. McCartney was paid $1 million to do the show and, being the classy guy he is, Sir Paul donated his fee to the Adopt-a-Minefield charity.

2004: Sixpence None the Richer ("Kiss Me") announced they were breaking up.

2004: A.C. Reed, blues songwriter, saxophonist, vocalist and bandleader, died at the age of 77 from cancer.

2005: Edward Patten of Gladys Knight & the Pips, died in a hospital in Detroit, Michigan after suffering a stroke at age 65.

2009: United States President Barack Obama honored Stevie Wonder with the highest award for popular music in America, the Library of Congress' Gershwin prize, at a White House ceremony.
2010: Marie Osmond's tennage son Michael Blosil was found dead on the ground below an apartment balcony in Los Angeles.

Born This Day:
1932: Faron Young ("Hello Walls" from 1961) was born in Shreveport, Louisiana; committed suicide December 10, 1996.

1943: George Harrison, the youngest and "The Quiet One" in the Beatles, a superstar solo performer and also member of the Traveling Wilburys, was born in Liverpool, England; died November 29, 2001 of lung cancer.

1947: David Stensen of the Grass Roots

1957: Stuart Wood, rhythm and bass guitarist of the Bay City Rollers

1957: Dennis Diken, co-founder of the Smithereens

1959: Mike Peters, lead singer of the Alarm, was born in Prestatyn, Wales.

1971: Daniel Powter ("Bad Day") was born in Vernon, British Columbia, Canada.

1973: Justin Jeffre of 98 Degrees

Who Had More Hits--the Bee Gees or the Rolling Stones?

2012-02-25T05:23:00.000-07:00

Two of the biggest acts of the Rock Era are paired here, and there are many ways to compare them. You could look at album sales, concert success, awards won, etc. Obviously, both acts are super talented and admired the world over.

Here, we just look at hits. When you throw in popular album tracks, the totals for both groups is much higher, but just for songs that were and are regarded as hit songs, the totals are:

Bee Gees 45
Rolling Stones 56

That said, most of the Bee Gees' songs were bigger hits than those from the Rolling Stones so there's a way to have them come out on top as well.

Rock Artists from Boston

2012-02-25T05:13:00.000-07:00

Boston hasn't produced big numbers of famous acts like you would find in San Francisco, Los Angeles, London or New York City, but they have produced some of the best. Here are some of the top acts from Boston and nearby Worcester:

Aerosmith

Bell Biv Devoe

Boston

Cars

Extreme

J. Geils Band
Godsmack
Lemonheads
Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch
Mighty Mighty Bosstones

New Edition

New Kids on the Block
Orpheus

Staind
Al B. Sure!

James Taylor

Songs on Cosmo's Factory by CCR

2012-02-25T04:45:00.000-07:00

Last year, Inside the Rock Era revealed that Cosmo's Factory from CCR is one of The Top 100 Albums of the Rock Era*. Here is the song list from that great album:

Side one
1. "Ramble Tamble" --7:09
2. "Before You Accuse Me" 3:24
3. "Travelin' Band" --2:07
4. "Ooby Dooby" --2:05
5. "Lookin' Out My Back Door" --2:31
6. "Run Through the Jungle" --3:09

Side two
1. "Up Around the Bend" --2:40
2. "My Baby Left Me" --2:17
3. "Who'll Stop the Rain" --2:28
4. "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" --11:05
5. "Long As I Can See the Light" --3:33

The #77 Guitarist of the Rock Era: Synyster Gates

2012-02-24T17:00:00.001-07:00

One of the fastest guitarists in The Top 100 takes position #77:

#77: Synyster Gates, Avenged Sevenfold

14 years as an active guitarist

Brian Elwin Haner, Jr. was born July 7, 1981 in Huntington Beach, California. He is the lead guitarist of Avenged Sevenfold.

Haner went to Mayfair High School in Lakewood, California but transferred and graduated from Huntington Beach High School. He pretty much taught himself how to play guitar by watching music videos and reading books and his father was also a guitarist. Haner studied jazz and classical guitar in the Guitar Institute of Technology program at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood. After a year at the Institute, he joined Avenged Sevenfold as lead guitarist after being invited by his best friend who goes by the stage name The Rev when they were both 18.

The group had just released their debut album Sounding the Seventh Trumpet. The group has released four stuio albums with Gates, Waking the Fallen, City of Evil, Avenged Sevenfold and Nightmare.

Gates has won several awards, including the 2006 "Young Shredder" award from Metal Hammer and the 206 Total Guitar Magazine "Guitarist of the Year". While he doesn't have near the experience of most of The Top 100 Guitarists of the Rock Era*, he has proven himself to be a guitarist with the talent necessary to make the list in the relatively short time he has been active.

Haner also played in the group Pinkly Smooth as a side project, releasing one album in 2001. Gates, as he is now known, has also played on several albums by other groups, including providing guitar on "The River" by Good Charlotte.

Gates prefers Schecter Guitars and they have several signature Avenger models with Duncan SH-8 Invaders and Sustainiac neck pickup sustainer. He also owns several other Schecters including the PT Fastback, the Banshee and the Cutom C-1 FR, and a Gibson Les Paul, a Parker Fly, an Ibanez RG Prestige and a 1957 Fender Stratocaster Deluxe.

Gates prefers Bogner amps but has also used others including those from Marshall (JVM205H), several Boss amps and Mesa/Boogie. He uses Krank (Distortus Maximus), the Frantone "The Sweet" Distortion, the Digitech Whammy Pedal, the Crybaby by Dunlop, the Budda Custom Wah, , the Ernie Ball Wah Pedal and several effects from MXR (the MC-401 Boost Pedal, the Carbon Copy Delay and the Custom Comp).

The rapid-fire approach of Synyster Gates...#77 for the Rock Era...

This Day in Rock Music History: February 24

2012-02-24T05:52:00.006-07:00

1956: Police in Cleveland, Ohio invoked a 1931 ordinance barring people under the age of 18 from dancing in public unless accompanied by an adult. Now seriously, folks...the only thing you get from that is adults contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Not very bright. Think things through.
1958: For the fourth week the Silhouettes shadowed the #1 spot on the R&B chart with "Get a Job".
1960: Carl Dobkins, Jr., dressed in full military attire live from Fort Dix in New Jersey, where he is serving in the national guard, appeared on The Perry Como Show on NBC-TV.

Dion's latest was hot.

1962: Pretty solid Top 5 here: "Duke of Earl" from Gene Chandler, Dion moved to second with "The Wanderer", Sue Thompson with "Norman", former #1 "The Twist" from Chubby Checker and Bruce Channel shot up from 13 to 5 with "Hey! Baby".
1965: The Beach Boys recorded "Help Me Rhonda".
1967: The Bee Gees signed a management deal with Robert Stigwood.

1968: The Beatles remained at #1 on the album chart for the eighth week with the Soundtrack to "Magical Mystery Tour", the movie in which they starred in. John Wesley Harding by Bob Dylan was second with Blooming Hits from Paul Mauriat & His Orchestra jumping to #3. Axis: Bold As Love from the Jimi Hendrix Experience moved from #24 all the way up to #4. The rest of the Top 10: Diana Ross and the Supremes Greatest Hits, the Rolling Stones with Their Satanic Majesties Request, Herb Alpert's Ninth by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, The Turtles! Golden Hits at #8, Are You Experienced? from the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Cream took position #10 with Disraeli Gears.

1968: "Love Is Blue" was #1 for a third week for Paul Mauriat.
1969: Blood, Sweat & Tears released the single "(You've) Made Me So Very Happy".
1969: The Jimi Hendrix Experience, which adopted England as its second home, played its final British concert before breaking up at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
1973: The Byrds (with Roger McGuinn, Gene Parsons, Clarence White and John York in their final lineup) were in concert for the final time at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey.

1973: "Love Train" by the O'Jays has the distinction of being in three prestigious lists. It is one of The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era*, one of The Most Important Songs of the Rock Era* and one of The Top 100 R&B Songs of the 1970's*. "Love Train" remained #1 again on this date on the R&B chart.

1973: Roberta Flack reached #1 for the second time in her career with "Killing Me Softly With His Song". Eric Weissberg & Steve Mandell were second with "Dueling Banjos" while previous #1 "Crocodile Rock" by Elton John fell to #3. Carly Simon's former #1 "You're So Vain" was still hanging around after 13 weeks while the Spinners were up to #5 with their latest--"Could It Be I'm Falling In Love". The rest of the Top 10: Steely Dan with "Do It Again", newcomer Edward Bear with "Last Song", which rose from 13 to 7, Lobo's "Don't Expect Me to Be Your Friend", the O'Jays rode from 15 to 9 with "Love Train" and John Denver spent a second week at #10 with "Rocky Mountain High".

1975: Led Zeppelin released the album Physical Graffiti.

1976: The Eagles' Greatest Hits became the first album to be certified platinum (one million sales) by the RIAA.

1978: Barry Manilow starred in The Second Barry Manilow Special on ABC-TV with guest Ray Charles.

1979: One of the main New Wave acts to cross into the mainstream, this group first appeared on the radio as their debut single "Roxanne" entered the charts.

"In the Gallery" was helping Dire Straits become a sensation.

1979: Rod Stewart owned the top album for a third week--Blondes Have More Fun. The Bee Gees were close behind with Spirits Having Flown. Cruisin' by the Village People amazingly was third while the Blues Brothers dropped with Briefcase Full of Blues. The rest of the Top 10: Billy Joel proved he was a star with staying power with the album 52nd Street, the debut from Dire Straits came in #6, Totally Hot from Olivia Newton-John, the Doobie Brothers entered the Top 10 with Minute By Minute, the self-titled Toto at #9 and Love Tracks by Gloria Gaynor ranked 10th.

1979: Anne Murray had the #1 Adult Contemporary song for a third week with "I Just Fall In Love Again".

1979: Rod Stewart spent a third week at #1 with "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" The Bruce Springsteen-penned song "Fire" by the Pointer Sisters rose to #2 with Olivia Newton-John a solid #3 with "A Little More Love". Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" edged closer while "Y.M.C.A." by the Village People was #5. The rest of the Top 10: The Bee Gees shot up from 19 to 6 with "Tragedy", Chic's former #1 "Le Freak" was still at #7 after 18 weeks, Nicolette Larson's "Lotta' Love", Barry Manilow had his 14th hit ("Somewhere in the Night"), with an impressive nine of those reaching the Top 10 and Leif Garrett had #10--"I Was Made for Dancin'".
1981: Peter Noone of Hermans Hermits and Stephen Bishop appeared on Laverne & Shirley on ABC-TV.

1982: Double Fantasy by the late John Lennon won the Grammy for Album of the Year.
1982: Sheena Easton captured the Grammy for Best New Artist.

1982: Kim Carnes won Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards for "Bette Davis Eyes". The writers of the song--Jackie DeShannon and Donna Weiss, win the Grammy for Song of the year.
1986: The Pet Shop Boys released the single "West End Girls".

1987: Ray Charles received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys.

1987: The Fat Man, Fats Domino, was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys.
1988: Alice Cooper announced he would run for Governor of Arizona as a member of the "Wild Party". Yeah, good one there Alice.

1990: Bob Dylan, David Crosby, Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman sang "Mr. Tambourine Man" in Los Angeles as a tribute to the late Roy Orbison.

1990: Johnnie Ray, singer-songwriter and pianist, died of liver failure in Los Angeles at the age of 63.

1990: "Opposites Attract" by Paula Abdul was #1 for a third week. Janet Jackson was second with "Escapade". Roxette moved to #3 with "Dangerous".

1990: "Here We Are" by Gloria Estefan was #1 for the fifth week on the AC chart.
1990: Paula Abdul racked up her fifth week at #1 on the album chart with Forever Your Girl. Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 was second.

1993: Eric Clapton won six Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year for "Tears In Heaven".
1995: Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys left a hospital in London after two weeks of treatment by an AIDS specialist.

1996: 19 weeks after it left the #1 position on the album
chart, Alanis Morissette's landmark Jagged Little Pill returned to #1.

1996: "One Sweet Day" by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men was making history with a 13th week at #1. That tied "End of the Road" by Boyz II Men for third in the Rock Era for the most weeks at #1. Only "I'll Make Love To You" by Boyz II Men and "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston, each with 14 weeks, were ahead of Carey & the Boyz.

1998: The genius John Fogerty was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Orville H. Gibson award ceremony.

1998: Elton John was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in London.

1999: Lauryn Hill received five Grammy awards for her debut solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.

2002: Bon Jovi, Christina Aguilera, N' Sync, Kiss and Moby performed at the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics.

2002: Paul McCartney performed "Yesterday" at a concert tribute to George Harrison in Liverpool, England.
2002: Arthur Lyman, who gave us one of The Top 100 Instrumentals of the Rock Era* ("Yellow Bird" from 1961) died of throat cancer at the age of 70.
2002: Sting, the Very Best of was the #1 album in the U.K.

2003: Howie Epstein, bassist of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, died from drugs at age 47.

2004: Estelle Axton, co-founder of Stax records, which included Booker T. & the MG's, Otis Redding and Isaac Hayes, died of natural causes at age 85 in Memphis, Tennessee.

2006: In today's episode of Dangerous Inmates Run Rap Music, Black Rob was arrested on a fugitive warrant in New Jersey after he did not turn himself in to begin a sentence for burglary.
2008: Larry Norman of the group People ("I Love You" from 1968) died of heart failure.

Born This Day:

1932: Michel LeGrand, jazz composer who wrote the music to the great Dusty Springfield song "Windmills of Your Mind" from 1969, was born in the gorgeous city of Paris, France.

1942: Paul Jones, singer and harmonica player of Manfred Mann, was born in Portsmouth, England.

1944: Nicky Hopkins of Quicksilver Messenger Service and a session pianist on The White Album by the Beatles, Volunteers by Jefferson Airplane and more than a dozen Rolling Stones albums, among others, was born in London.

1947: Rupert Holmes, who had the great album Partners In Crime and also wrote "Timothy" for the Buoys, was born in Cheshire, England.

1947: Lonnie Turner of the Steve Miller Band

1959: Colin Farley of the Cutting Crew "(I Just) Died In Your Arms"

1962: Michelle Shocked (real name Michelle Karen Johnston) was born in Dallas, Texas.
1974: Chad Hugo, who along with partner Pharrell Williams, has produced for Britney Spears, 'N Sync, Nelly, Jay-Z and Mystikal, wad born in Portsmouth, Virginia.
1974: Noah "Wuv" Bernardo, Jr. of P.O.D.

The #78 Guitarist of the Rock Era: Warren DeMartini

2012-02-23T17:00:00.001-07:00

This guy has speed. And appeal. As one of the favorite heavy metal acts of the 1980's, he got plenty of opportunities to show his stuff:

#78: Warren DeMartini, Ratt, Whitesnake

32 years as an active guitarist
(Live from New York City)

DeMartini was born on April 10, 1963 in Chicago, Illinois. By the time his family moved to San Diego, California, DeMartini became interested in rock and roll as his older brothers Bernard and James played in a band that rehearsed in the family basement. Warren's mother bought him a guitar at age seven. But when he experienced the frustration of learning an instrument, he smashed it as he had seen Pete Townshend of the Who do onstage.

His mother didn't think the stunt was as great as Townshend seemed to think and refused to buy Warren another one. So DeMartini had to wait until he was 15 and has save up enough money to buy a new electric guitar. This time, he took lessons and was able to learn fast enough to start a band called the Plague. His next band was called Aircraft and in 1979, DeMartini played his first concert at La Jolla High School in San Diego.

Warren was beginning to get attention as one of San Diego's most talented guitarists, winning the Guitar Center contest in Mira Mesa. He graduated in 1981 and began taking classes in college. It was here that he was invited to move to Los Angeles to join the group Mickey Ratt, replacing Jake E. Lee, whom we've already heard from in The Top 100 Guitarists*. That band eventually became the group Ratt.

Ratt co-wrote several of the group's best songs, including "Round and Round" and "Lay It Down". Ratt released four straight platinum albums before breaking up in February, 1992. DeMartini toured with Whitesnake in 1994 and then worked on a few solo projects. Ratt reunited in 1996 and released two more albums but not up to the level of their earlier albums. DeMartini briefly joined the band Dio but they were short-lived. Ratt reformed again in 2007 for a summer tour.

DeMartini was influenced by Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, Joe Walsh, Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick, Townsend, Steve Lukather of Toto, Uli Roth, Jake E. Lee and Joe Perry of Aerosmith. DeMartini often plays chromatic runs that sound almost like jazz fusion. He has good speed and will often use fast minor scales. Warren uses finger vibrato, which involves moving the finger back and forth rapidly along the length of the string to alter the pitch.

Warren DeMartini...The #78 Guitarist of the Rock Era*.

This Day in Rock Music History: February 23

2012-02-23T05:51:00.014-07:00

1959: Lloyd Price logged a third week at #1 on the R&B chart with "Stagger Lee".

1959: "Stagger Lee" by Lloyd Price made it to a third week at #1. "Donna" from the late Ritchie Valens was next with "16 Candles" from the Crests down a spot.
1963: "Hey Paula" by Paul & Paula took over at #1 on the R&B chart.
1963: The Rooftop Singers stayed up there for the fifth week on the Easy Listening chart with "Walk Right In".

The Cascades with the memorable "Rhythm of the Rain"...

1963: Paul & Paula remained at #1 for a third consecutive week with "Hey Paula". Dion moved to challenge with "Ruby Baby" while the Four Seasons held steady with "Walk Like a Man". The Rooftop Singers said to just "Walk Right In" while the great Cascades song "Rhythm of the Rain" was at #5. The rest of the Top 10: "From a Jack to a King" by Ned Miller, Bobby Darin entered the Top 10 with "You're the Reason I'm Living", Eydie Gorme blasted from 18 to 8 with "Blame It on the Bossa Nova", the Miracles' latest--"You've Really Got a Hold On Me" and the Rebels' instrumental "Wild Weekend" was #10.
1964: The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show for a third time.

1970: Three Dog Night released the single "Celebrate".
1970: John Lennon released the single "Instant Karma".
1970: Norman Greenbaum released the single "Spirit in the Sky".
1970: The 5th Dimension were guest stars on It Takes a Thief on NBC-TV.
1970: Ringo Starr was a guest star on the popular television show Laugh-In on NBC, his first solo television appearance.
1972: Elvis Presley and wife Priscilla separated.

1974: Led Zeppelin announced they would call their new record label Swan Song.
1974: Planet Waves by Bob Dylan was #1 for a second week on the album chart, just ahead of John Denver's Greatest Hits. Two new albums joined the Top 10: The amazing Court and Spark from Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon moved from 16-7 with Hotcakes.
1974: Eddie Kendricks had it all going on with the #1 R&B song for the third week--"Boogie Down".
1978: The Police signed a recording contract with A&M Records.

1978: Three hallmark winners at the Grammys that are all some of the best of all-time in their categories: Album of the Year--to Rumours by Fleetwood Mac.

1978: The Eagles won Record of the Year for "Hotel California".

1978: Best Pop Vocal Performance went to the Bee Gees for "How Deep Is Your Love".

1979: Dire Straits began their first tour of North America in Boston, Massachusetts.
1980: A new rock group first appeared on the charts, although most of us wouldn't get to know them until later. Survivor debuted with their first single--"Somewhere in America".

1980: "Give It All You Got" from Chuck Mangione, the theme of the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, was the new #1 song on the Adult Contemporary chart.

1980: "Special Lady" by Ray, Goodman & Brown was the new #1 on the R&B chart.
1980: Officially, Queen scored their first #1 song with "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", although anyone with sense reported "Bohemian Rhapsody" as a #1 song in 1976.

1983: Toto deservedly dominated the Grammy Awards with six trophies, including Record of the Year ("Rosanna") and Album of the Year (Toto IV).
1985: "Missing You", the Diana Ross tribute to the late Marvin Gaye, hit #1 on the R&B chart.
1985: Like a Virgin was #1 on the album chart for Madonna.
1985: "Careless Whisper" from Wham! was #1 on the AC chart for the third straight week.
1988: Michael Jackson was in concert at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri.
1989: Isaac Hayes was thrown in jail in Atlanta, Georgia for owing $346, 300 in child support and alimony.

1991: C&C Music Factory reached #1 on the R&B chart with "Gonna' Make You Sweat".

1991: Whitney Houston amazingly had her ninth career #1 in 14 releases with "All the Man That I Need". C&C Music Factory politely gave way with "Gonna' Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)". Timmy T remained third with "One More Try" and Mariah Carey hit #4 with "Someday". The rest of a good Top 10: Celine Dion with "Where Does My Heart Beat Now", Surface dropped with "The First Time", Chris Isaak moved into the Top 10 with "Wicked Game", Keith Sweat and "I'll Give All My Love to You", INXS with the excellent "Disappear" and Warrant moved to #10 with "I Saw Red".

1993: Little Richard received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy.

1995: Melvin Franklin of the Temptations died of heart failure at the age of 52.
1999: Paul Arthurs, guitarist of Oasis, was arrested and thrown in jail in London for drunk and disorderly conduct.

1999: Garth Brooks attended spring training camp as a non-roster player with the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball. The Padres' organization agreed to donate to the Touch 'Em All Foundation in lieu of a salary for Brooks.

2000: In today's episode of Dangerous Inmates Run Rap Music, Sean "Puffy" Combs was indicted on charges of bribing a witness. In Combs' trial for a nightclub shooting in New York City on December 27, 1999, the Manhattan District Attorney's office learned that Combs offered money and jewelry to his driver if the driver would claim ownership of the gun that police recovered from Combs' car.

2000: Carlos Santana received a record-tying eight Grammy Awards, tying the mark set by Michael Jackson.
2001: Frankie Avalon appeared on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch on ABC-TV.
2002: LeAnn Rimes, 19, married dancer Dean Sheremet, 21.

2002: The Bee Gees gave their last concert at the Love and Hope Ball in Miami Beach, Florida.
2003: Howie Epstein, bassist of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, who also worked with Bob Dylan, Linda Ronstadt, Stevie Nicks, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins and Del Shannon, died from drugs in New Mexico.

2003: John Mayer won the Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal for "Your Body is a Wonderland".
2003: Sheryl Crow took the prize for Best Female Rock Vocal for "Steve McQueen" at the Grammys.

2003: Norah Jones captured five Grammy Awards for her superb album Come Away With Me--Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance ("Dont' Know Why"), Album of the Year, Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Album.

2003: Simon & Garfunkel appeared together for the first time in 10 years to accept the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Grammys.

2004: Not the way to win friends and influence people. Wes Scantlin of Puddle of Mudd was arrested in Toledo, Ohio when he halted a concert after just four songs, saying he was too loaded to perform. Scantlin then wouldn't leave the stage for half an hour, lacing the crowd with profanity. Thanks for reminding me why I'm not a fan of theirs.

2006: The surviving members of Alice in Chains announced they would reform for a series of concerts.
2007: Donnie Brooks ("Mission Bell" from 1960) died of a heart attack at the age of 71.

2009: Stevie Wonder received the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song from the Library of Congress in the United States.

2010: England made Abbey Road studios in London a listed building, which protected it forever from any plans to radically alter it.

Born This Day:

1944: Johnny Winter of the Edgar Winter Group was born in Beaumont, Texas.

1944: Mike Maxfield of Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas

1946: Rusty Young, pedal steel guitar player of Buffalo Springfield and Poco

1949: Terry Comer of Ace ("How Long" from 1975)

1950: Steven Priest, founding member and bassist of Sweet, was born in Hayes, Middlesex, England.

1952: Brad Whitford of Aerosmith was born in Winchester, Massachusetts.

1955: Howard Jones was born in Southampton, England.

1962: Michael Wilton, elite guitarist of Queensryche, was born in San Francisco, California.
1967: Chris Vrenna, Grammy award-winning producer and engineer who worked with U2, the Smashing Pumpkins, David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails and more, was born in Erie, Pennsylvania.

1971: Jeff Beres of Sister Hazel ("All for You")

1973: Lasse Johansson of the Cardigans ("Lovefool")