Darkness

I wish I lived then

2012-02-14T12:32:00.000-06:00

Every time I search you tube videos, for some old favorite songs, there, in the comment sections are younger people with the comments on how they wished they lived , back in the day. How they wished to have witnessed many of the events that took place , musically.

The sad fact is, so many of us who did live back then, either never appreciated it, or , didn't realize what a wonderful time it was in the music world.

This is evidenced by all the of musicians themselves who died at their own hands with drug overdoses or alchol related issues.

Not only did these artists die too young, but, many of their fans passed as well. These artists were role models for this generation, and yes, we blindly followed in their paths into drugs, sex, free will, to hell with the establishment type of attitudes.

Some of us came out the other side, alive. With regrets.

I am going to revive this long dead blog, with some thoughts on what a particular musician, or group, was attempting to say in their music, from back in the day, and what message, if anything, I personally, took away from the songs.

Guess Who, American Woman

So, What I thought upon hearing this song for the first time? I just wanted to Dance. Even when they keep saying over and over, American Women, get away from me, my thoughts were only, "Ha! We are too much for them to handle"! Thats it.

Today, I am reading that this was a song to the Statue of Liberty, and had ties to the vietnam war, which, this Canadian group , who wast not subject to the draft, thought the USA was stepping outside of her boundries and forcing our opinions on the world as a whole.

Another Line of thought on this song, implies, the band was gay, and one member, actually quit the band as his religious beliefs did not jive with the group.

So, who knows which was real, and which is fiction. Obviously, my friends and I , could care less, we just wanted to Dance!


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Deep Purple Lead Guitarist Richie Blackmore turns 66 today.

2011-04-14T07:00:00.000-05:00

Blackmore was ranked #55 in Rolling Stone magazine list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".
One of Blackmore's best-known guitar riffs is from the song "Smoke on the Water". Contrary to the way most guitar players perform it, he plays the riff without a pick, using his fingers instead. He has two guitar solos ranked on Guitar World magazine's "Top 100 Greatest Guitar Solos" ("Highway Star" at #19 and "Lazy" at #74, both from the album Machine Head).

Child in Time, Live from 1970.

Blackmore was in a lot of different bands and did studio session work before Deep Purple. With organist Jon Lord, he co-founded Deep Purple in 1968, and continued to be a member of Deep Purple from 1968-1975 and again from 1984-1993. Blackmore came up with the name of the group, named after his grandmother's favorite song. He left the group in 1993 due to conflicts with the other band members.

In 1997, Blackmore and his wife,Candice Night, formed a folk music group, Blackmores Knights. They have toured and released new music every few years.

I can tell you that in approx. 1973 or 74, I was lucky enough to see this group in concert. On the stage that night was also a group called, " Blue Oyster Cult", and "Savoy Brown". What a night it was. My best friend and I, rode along with a fellow, that neither of us knew real well, and at the end of the night, his car broke down, remember it to be a flat tire and he had no spare, so we ended up hitch hiking back home to Salina.

John Kay, [Joachim F Krauledat], (Steppenwolf)

2011-04-12T05:48:00.000-05:00

John Kay, celebrating his 67th birthday. The Entire history can be found here in this interview, "its been a wild ride" . John and his wife currently have a peaceful refuge in Tennessee,wolf world.

Peace was a long-sought destination for Joachim Fritz Krauledat — John Kay — who was born in 1944 in East Prussia. His mother, a widow due to the intense fighting on the Russian front, fled to West Germany when he was 4 — "something for which I will forever be grateful." They eventually landed in Canada, then into New York and finally , Santa Monica, Calif. It was there that John got his first taste of folk rock music.

Here he is today. Still singing his heart away.

Julian Lennon turns ......Gosh, 48?

2011-04-08T06:46:00.000-05:00

Hard to believe this man is 48 today. Like me, he was named after his Paternal Grandmother, Julia .

Julian was the inspiration for his Famous Fathers song, titled, "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. After his parents divorced, Julian , had little interaction with his famous father, John Lennon.

Too Late for Goodbye and Valotte, are his best known works , from his earliest recordings. Just this year, 2011, finds his latest release , "Everything Changes".

1947 Steve Howe of Yes Celebrates 64th Birthday!

2011-04-08T06:13:00.002-05:00

After recording with the Rock Group , "Yes", Steve Howe, lead Guitar, goes on to perform with the group ASIA, and then recorded several solo LP's.

Yes, has reformed and on tour along with the group Styx, promoting a new CD entitled, "Fly From Here". The touring lineup consists of guitarist Steve Howe, bassist Chris Squire, drummer Alan White,keyboard player Geoff Downes and lead singer Benoit David.

Musical Birthday, Mick Abrahams

2011-04-07T13:33:00.000-05:00

Who is that? Ever hear of a group called Jethro Tull? Mick Abrahams was the original guitar player of Tull, way back in 1969, when the groups very first album ,titled, "This Was", was released. The original group did not stay together long. Mick moved on through several other endouvers, eventually forming Blodwyn Pig. They had a huge blues following in England.

I can see why. Have a listen. Oh, by the way, he is 68 today!

The Man, The Legend, Bob Seger

2011-04-06T09:45:00.001-05:00

One can NOT fail to notice, when it comes to Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, the reviews are all positive.

My all time favorite group, is on tour for what is said to be for the last time. I have never had the privilege of attending a single solitary performance. When it was announced they would be in Tulsa, I started my quest in finding suitable tickets.

Tulsa has an anti-scalping law on the books. This law states it is illegal to sell a ticket for more than face value. The problem with this law, it was written long before the days of the Internet. There is no way to enforce it. Tickets on Craigslist are ridicules and of course, those are the people that have the seats I want.

Well, as it happens, the tour also has a stop in Little Rock, Arkansas. Not that far on down the road from Tulsa. This area does have restrictions in place to keep the ticket prices from skyrocketing. I don't fully understand how it works, but, from what I gather, the person who buys them online, must show up with the same credit card that paid for them, plus show a photo ID, in the same name. However its done, don't really care in the details, cause, this is where we will attend the show. Take that Tulsa Scalpers! HA HA HA!

If given a single wish, it would be for the performance to be scheduled on one weekend day. Every date on the calender withing a days drive from me, is on a Tuesday or Thursday. That will not hinder me in any way, however, my husband will be using a vacation day!

I located the set list from an earlier show. There is no way to verify that the entire tour will include the same tracks, but, here is the list:
ROLL ME AWAY

TRYING TO LIVE

HER STRUT

MAINSTREET

OLD TIME ROCK AND ROLL

DOWNTOWN TRAIN

RAMBLIN’ GAMBLIN’ MAN

C’EST LE VIE

GOOD FOR ME

SHININ’ BRIGHTLY

TRAVELIN’ MAN

BEAUTIFUL LOSER

NUTBUSH

COME TO POPPA

IT’S YOUR THING

PUMPIN’

BETTY LOU

WE’VE GOT TONIGHT

TURN THE PAGE

SUNSPOT BABY

HORIZONTAL BOP

KATMANDU

AGAINST THE WIND

HOLLYWOOD NIGHTS

NIGHT MOVES

ROCK & ROLL NEVER FORGETS

Holly Molly, look at all those songs. Most of them are get up and boogies, high energy , tunes. And the Man is about 65 years old.

This old woman of 52 writing this blog, will have very sore legs from all the dancing that's going to spontaneously, break out.

Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band - Her Strut

2011-04-06T09:45:00.000-05:00

Then VS Now

2011-04-04T12:46:00.000-05:00

MeatLoaf Revisited

2011-04-04T11:40:00.001-05:00

I want to put out there first and foremost, my love for his music goes back as far as an adult from the 70's, has the ability to remember! The songs from, " back in the day", had the ability, to stir up emotions, thoughts and feelings, that few have ever rivalled. Bob Seger would be another example.

MeatLoaf is touring with a new band and played a venue close to my home. Having this opportunity to hear him in person, there was no question, of course, my body would be in that auditorium. To say I was excited, would be the understatement of the year!

In the days leading up to this event, I dug up you tube videos of all my favorites. Listened to them over and over, subjected all our friends and relatives, via facebook, to listen to them with me!
The concert was OK. He did sing some of the old favorites, even made a joke about his ability to hit a few of notes.  He really seems to like the words "fuck you", LMAO! MeatLoaf has surrounded himself with much younger band mates. All very or should I say, extremely talented. I will never forget that awesome piano player, but, like the others, his name escapes me.

What prompted me to write this up, however, is something my Husband kept saying. I did not, in the moment understand what he was trying to say, but, here I am, a few days later, completely in agreement with him.

The music over took the songs. If one were to listen to the earlier music, the instruments took a back seat to the vocals. This is now reversed. At times the music blared so loudly, one had a hard time picking up the words to a song. This is a problem for me. MeatLoafs words never needed music. Those words had the ability to make you feel. Happy, sad, anger and joy, like a good book that one could not put down.

During the concert, it became apparent, there was a need for the audience to purchase his Cd, titled, "Hang Cool Teddy Bear".   MeatLoaf pointed out how hard they had worked on this new music, and put it out there about a year ago. I had no knowledge. My opinions of the marketing of new music should be a topic for another post. The band sang several of the tracks from this cd, again, the music over powered the voices.

I have to point out, it was not bad music. At times, however, I felt as if all the musicians, lost their place. Out of nowhere, the beat completely changed, finding its way back, moments later. This was more than likely , on purpose, as the music was written, but, confusing for someone who is hearing for the first time.

Getting to my point here, the reason for this blog post, I come to a question.

Do we continue to support a favorite musician, by purchasing music that is so far removed from the original artist that we loved? My thoughts are along the lines of does he make the same amount of money should I purchase a cd, that blares the music, but hides the voices, VS, purchasing one that you hear very clearly, his and Ms. Patricia's very distinct and favored stories.

My opinion matters to no one, but, I will type it up here.

MeatLoaf's voice has changed. Its hard to put into words a description of the change but I will try.

Perhaps it has to do with state of mind. In younger years, we are all filled with hopes and dreams and our outlook in life reflects this. The way we looked at our world and trying to imagine what our lives would be like in later years put a hopeful type tone , so to say, in our spoken word. Now, I can only say it seems the world no longer promises to make those hopes and dreams a reality and the tones in MeatLoafs voice seem to reflect a hardened, defeated man.   The voice is more muffled, the words are not as distinct and clear, more of a mumbling. This is maybe why the music is so much louder on this latest CD. An attempt to cover up this new voice? A lack of the releasing studio spending ample time cleaning it up? I have no idea. Heck, this voice will probably gain him new supporters from the younger generation, with all the f bombs and what not!

I still Love my MeatLoaf, and will continue to support him. Hope there is someone out there that can answer the question regarding loyalties on earlier music, Ha, maybe I will ask the Meat myself. Along with everyone who is anyone, MeatLoaf , does have a facebook page!

ZZ TOP Drummer Frank Beard

2009-12-10T06:35:00.000-06:00

Frank Beard, Drummer for ZZ top, celebrates 58th Birthday!

Gary Rossington of Lynyrd Skynyrd Birthday Today

2009-12-04T06:08:00.000-06:00

Who on the earth is not able to rumble off at least five Skynyrd tunes?

Here is a video of a lesser known song, They are all great!

OZZY OSBOURNE TURNS 61

2009-12-03T06:06:00.001-06:00

Black Sabbath in the early years. Loved the "album" that Paranoid was on.

Doobie Brothers Michael McDonalds Celebrates Birthday

2009-12-02T05:57:00.000-06:00

1952 - Michael McDonald, St Louis, rock keyboardist/vocals (Doobie Brothers)

Today's Musical Birthday

2009-11-12T07:36:00.000-06:00

1947 - Donald Roeser, rock guitarist/vocalist (Blue Oyster Cult)

Dirty Daugherty, Black Oak Arkansas

2009-11-11T05:37:00.000-06:00

Today is the Birth day of Pat "Dirty" Daugherty,1947, rocker {Black Oak Arkansas}
Its been a few years, aka, I have slept since then, however, I seem to recall them playing
in a barn dance type thing in Dodge City, Kansas. Black Sabbath was also there.
Would have been approx 1972.

Today's Musical Birthday

2009-11-07T19:19:00.000-06:00

1951 - Nick Gilder, London England, singer (Hot Child in the City)

Herman's Hermits, Peter Noone, Celebrates 62nd Birthday!

2009-11-05T06:04:00.000-06:00

Other hits included, A kind of Hush, and I'm into something good!

Rocker guitarist, Jeff Watson celebrates birthday today!

2009-11-04T07:10:00.000-06:00

Sister Christian and Don't tell me you love me are the two biggest hits for the group Night Ranger.

Rich Gooch, rock bassist (Quarterflash)

2009-11-02T06:24:00.000-06:00

Another birthday from the music scene today. This is the groups only real hit although you can find later tunes.

Grace Slick

2009-10-30T11:30:00.000-05:00

If your like me, your going to have a very hard time believe this woman is turning 70 years old today.
Just wow. Here is a Jefferson Airplane song that I love.

2009-10-24T07:40:00.000-05:00

I love the music of the late 60's and early 70's. Browsing yourtube, the ones that catch my attention more than anything, are the black and whites. I remember the days before color television. Being it was a time in my life as a young child, my memories are happy ones. My siblings and I , had no idea what a tragedy our lives were. Thanks to a overzealous welfare worker, we would come to know that soon enough. For then, however, we were all happy, spent our days playing with other kids in the neighborhood. We loved summer. Up and out the door first thing in the morning, and we would spend the entire day and late into the evenings, building forts, riding our bicycles, roller skating, without a care in the world.