Happy Christmas! Merry New Year! Feliz Navidad! Prospero Ano Nuevo! Happy Kwanzaa! I hope you had a wonderful Chanukah! And, for the rest of us, happy belated Festivus!
I'm about to do my Christmas break. I actually meant to do another long post this month, but since the subjects have been deceased for many years, I think it can wait until January without doing any real damage. But until then...
Let's do some Christmas tunes!
"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
This is my favorite traditional Christmas song and my favorite version of it. I used to listen to it on my dad's copy of A Motown Christmas (I have my own copy now that I'm grown) and I always dug how jazzy it is.
This is another lovely one from Smokey Robinson and the Miracles.
When I lived down south, I used to hear this song at Christmas a lot. It's Robert Earl Keene's "Merry Christmas From the Family." Some would say this is a "white trash version" of Christmas, but to me, it just seems like a down-to-earth version of the holiday in America. Especially with the mention of "AA." Heh.
"Santa and His Old Lady" by Cheech and Chong
I am not ashamed to say that this has been my favorite Christmas song since I was a teenager.
And now, because of this tune, I know that Santa and his reindeer get around the world in one night due to "magic dust." *holds back a snicker*
If you really like irreverence, you can't go wrong with South Park's Christmas selections. I love Cartman's version of "O Holy Night," especially when he proclaims Christmas to be "the night when I get presents." Heh. And there is this version of the same song but with a cattle prod. And then, of course, there's "The Most Offensive Song Ever," sung by Kenny and Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo; if you never heard it, there is a definite and rather accurate warning in that title. There is an uncensored version sung solely by Mr. Hankey, but if you're trying to get into heaven, I wouldn't recommend listening to it. However, if you figure you're already going straight to hell, click away right here!
Merry Christmas everybody!
I wish you peace, love, safety, and good music!
EDIT: Holy crap! I forgot to post these other classics!
It's Christmas time in Hollis, Queens; Mom's cookin' chicken and collard greens!
This song provides the sample for Run DMC's holiday rap classic. And if you think the title "Backdoor Santa" is suggestive, Clarence Carter had a hit years later with a tune called "Strokin'." Now that song is filthy. Just imagine your grandfather singing about how much he loves sex. Yikes. Then again, an older man bragging about how great his, ahem, "stroke game," ahem, is before Viagra existed may qualify as a Christmas miracle to certain segments of the population. Ahem.
Bruce Springsteen does a pretty good version of this, but Big O's rendition is the one that I grew up with. My favorite part: "Santa came down the chimney, half past three y'aaaaalll!"
I don't remember Kurtis Blow before he got his Jheri Curl but here he is rockin' his Teenie Weenie Afro and looking like Al Green performing "Christmas Rapping."
We lost James Brown on Christmas Day 2006, so I think it is appropriate that he close out this post.
Have a great holiday!
24 December 2009
15 December 2009
"The ice age is coming, the sun's zoomin' in..."
Today is the birthday of a fellow named Paul Gustave Simonon (click on "menu" and then "about" to read about Paul Simonon and his bandmates, using the grey button on the inner right side to scroll down). The band that he used to play bass and sing for, the Clash, released their seminal album London Calling in the UK thirty years ago yesterday, the day before Paul's 24th birthday. And it is Paul who graces the album's cover, caught by the lens of Pennie Smith as he threw his bass guitar at the stage floor during a performance at NYC's Palladium, next to lettering that recalls Elvis Presley's debut album (though it was the Clash's third, after their eponymous debut in 1977 and 1978's Give 'Em Enough Rope).
These days, Paul concentrates on his painting but there's no doubt that due to his time with the Clash, his musical legacy is solidly secure.
This is the first song Paul wrote and sang on, "The Guns of Brixton," which is featured on London Calling. He grew up in Brixton, a rough section of London with a sizable Jamaican population. He studied reggae music in order to help himself learn to play the bass guitar. (Props for littlewonder80 for posting this. I love this clip!)
The official video for the title track. Note Paul's style of playing, as though he is a gunslinger!
A live video of Mick Jones singing "Train in Vain." The song is not listed in the track sequence on the original album as it was added at the last minute.
"Lovers Rock" was also on London Calling, but it is not as well known. I have heard several interpretations of this song's meaning: a reference to oral sex; the need to take sexual relationships seriously instead of just resorting to one night stands; and the notion that men need to take as much responsibility for birth control (i.e. wearing condoms) as women. Take a listen and decide for yourself. You may come up (no pun intended) with something completely different.
"Crooked Beat" was not on London Calling; it was part of the next album Sandinista! It's another one of Paul's that he wrote and sang on, showcasing his love of reggae and dub. Check it out!
If you want to read more about the Clash, here is a blog that is updated quite frequently and is about all things Clash.
These days, Paul concentrates on his painting but there's no doubt that due to his time with the Clash, his musical legacy is solidly secure.
This is the first song Paul wrote and sang on, "The Guns of Brixton," which is featured on London Calling. He grew up in Brixton, a rough section of London with a sizable Jamaican population. He studied reggae music in order to help himself learn to play the bass guitar. (Props for littlewonder80 for posting this. I love this clip!)
The official video for the title track. Note Paul's style of playing, as though he is a gunslinger!
A live video of Mick Jones singing "Train in Vain." The song is not listed in the track sequence on the original album as it was added at the last minute.
"Lovers Rock" was also on London Calling, but it is not as well known. I have heard several interpretations of this song's meaning: a reference to oral sex; the need to take sexual relationships seriously instead of just resorting to one night stands; and the notion that men need to take as much responsibility for birth control (i.e. wearing condoms) as women. Take a listen and decide for yourself. You may come up (no pun intended) with something completely different.
"Crooked Beat" was not on London Calling; it was part of the next album Sandinista! It's another one of Paul's that he wrote and sang on, showcasing his love of reggae and dub. Check it out!
If you want to read more about the Clash, here is a blog that is updated quite frequently and is about all things Clash.
07 December 2009
The Feast of the Immaculate Conception
Those of you who are Roman Catholic know that the Feast of the Immaculate Conception is celebrated every year on the 8th of December, a date which improbably ties together two musical figures: John Lennon and Sinead O'Connor. It's the date that Lennon was murdered in New York City in 1980 and, in 1966, O'Connor chose the same date to enter the world via Dublin, Ireland.
It seems more logical to me to start with the birth.
Sinead Marie-Bernadette O'Connor is famous for a few things: her cover of "Nothing Compares 2 U", her shaved head, and ripping up that picture of Pope John Paul II during her second appearance on Saturday Night Live.
I'm actually surprised that the song is available on YouTube since its author, Prince, is notoriously against any of his work showing up on any websites other than his own. But you can click the link and watch the video. I remember Sinead's Behind the Music special on VH1 from around the year 2000 (some of those episodes used to run so much, I ended up memorizing parts of quite a few of them). I can recall her saying that when shooting the video, her tears started on the line,"All the flowers that you planted, Mama, in the backyard..." because her own mother, whom O'Connor said abused her and her siblings, died in a car accident a few years before.
That abuse that she spoke of indirectly led to the Papal photo incident, as she was trying to make a statement about the Vatican's reluctance to punish any Roman Catholic priests when they were accused of sexual assault on the underage portion of their congregations. (In recent years it has become public knowledge that the Catholic Church would just shuffle an accused priest to a different diocese in order to quiet those types of allegations.) NBC and Lorne Michael will not allow the footage of that particular SNL moment to be shown again; when the episode is replayed, the tape of O'Connor's dress rehearsal is shown instead. I actually watched it live (Tim Robbins was the host). I remember the deathly silence in the audience after O'Connor tore up that picture and then walked offstage. I also remember thinking,"Ooooooh boy. That's gonna be in the paper tomorrow!" And then at the end of the show when everyone stood on stage to say goodnight, there was a definite bubble of space around Sinead, as if standing near her would demonstrate support for what she did. And, on a more personal note, I remember my devoutly Roman Catholic mother stabbing her finger at Sinead's picture in that Monday's paper and asking me,"Did you watch this?!?!" and me replying with a simple,"Yep," and Mom shaking her head in disbelief that such a thing could happen on television. (Full disclosure: I became Catholic at age five which, in my case, was not early enough for the religion to take hold so I was not personally offended by O'Connor's gesture but I understood that a lot of folks were gonna be pissed.)
And finally, regarding the hair, I don't think she really needs it. I mean look at that face; I think she's a beautiful lady.
Here's Sinead with a little help from MC Lyte
I saw a performance of this song on television (it might have been the other song Sinead sang on that imfamous SNL episode but I'm fuzzy on that) and thought it was gorgeous. It's from her collection of torch songs that she listened to growing up called Am I Not Your Girl?
Sinead during one of her "hairy" phases singing out against child abuse
Now for the death.
Paul McCartney wrote a tribute to his old friend called "Here Today," the video of which is below. The tall, lanky gentleman with the greying hair is George Martin (now entitled Sir), the man who produced all of the Beatles' albums.
Elton John collaborated with Lennon for "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night" for Lennon's Walls and Bridges. Elton John bet Lennon that the song would reach number one. Since "Whatever" hit the top spot on the Billboard chart on 16 November 1974, Elton collected on the bet twelve nights later at his Thanksgiving performance at New York City's Madison Square Garden when he brought Lennon out to play and sing. Lennon would never make another major concert performance. (I've heard there is no live footage of this appearance, hence the picture with the audio attached.)
Elton John is reportedly the godfather of Lennon's second son, Sean. After the 1980 murder, Elton and his long-time lyricist Bernie Taupin wrote a song for the fallen friend called "Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)," a reference to Madison Square Garden.
As I was about to post this, I found out that 8 December is Gregg Allman's birthday as well. So let's throw a little love Gregg's way and spread some of that Allman joy! (The Allman Joys was the name of the first band that Gregory Lenoir and his older brother Howard Duane formed. Catchy huh?) Below is the Allman Brothers performing my favorite of theirs, "Whipping Post," in two parts on 23 September 1970. Gregg, all of 22, is singing and playing the organ. You can spot long-time, and now former, Allman Bros. guitarist Dickey Betts looking like Errol Flynn in Robin Hood with his chin length hair and mustache. The shaggy blonde axeman in the tie-dye T-shirt is Duane. He would die in a motorcycle accident thirteen months later.
It seems more logical to me to start with the birth.
Sinead Marie-Bernadette O'Connor is famous for a few things: her cover of "Nothing Compares 2 U", her shaved head, and ripping up that picture of Pope John Paul II during her second appearance on Saturday Night Live.
I'm actually surprised that the song is available on YouTube since its author, Prince, is notoriously against any of his work showing up on any websites other than his own. But you can click the link and watch the video. I remember Sinead's Behind the Music special on VH1 from around the year 2000 (some of those episodes used to run so much, I ended up memorizing parts of quite a few of them). I can recall her saying that when shooting the video, her tears started on the line,"All the flowers that you planted, Mama, in the backyard..." because her own mother, whom O'Connor said abused her and her siblings, died in a car accident a few years before.
That abuse that she spoke of indirectly led to the Papal photo incident, as she was trying to make a statement about the Vatican's reluctance to punish any Roman Catholic priests when they were accused of sexual assault on the underage portion of their congregations. (In recent years it has become public knowledge that the Catholic Church would just shuffle an accused priest to a different diocese in order to quiet those types of allegations.) NBC and Lorne Michael will not allow the footage of that particular SNL moment to be shown again; when the episode is replayed, the tape of O'Connor's dress rehearsal is shown instead. I actually watched it live (Tim Robbins was the host). I remember the deathly silence in the audience after O'Connor tore up that picture and then walked offstage. I also remember thinking,"Ooooooh boy. That's gonna be in the paper tomorrow!" And then at the end of the show when everyone stood on stage to say goodnight, there was a definite bubble of space around Sinead, as if standing near her would demonstrate support for what she did. And, on a more personal note, I remember my devoutly Roman Catholic mother stabbing her finger at Sinead's picture in that Monday's paper and asking me,"Did you watch this?!?!" and me replying with a simple,"Yep," and Mom shaking her head in disbelief that such a thing could happen on television. (Full disclosure: I became Catholic at age five which, in my case, was not early enough for the religion to take hold so I was not personally offended by O'Connor's gesture but I understood that a lot of folks were gonna be pissed.)
And finally, regarding the hair, I don't think she really needs it. I mean look at that face; I think she's a beautiful lady.
Here's Sinead with a little help from MC Lyte
I saw a performance of this song on television (it might have been the other song Sinead sang on that imfamous SNL episode but I'm fuzzy on that) and thought it was gorgeous. It's from her collection of torch songs that she listened to growing up called Am I Not Your Girl?
Sinead during one of her "hairy" phases singing out against child abuse
Now for the death.
Paul McCartney wrote a tribute to his old friend called "Here Today," the video of which is below. The tall, lanky gentleman with the greying hair is George Martin (now entitled Sir), the man who produced all of the Beatles' albums.
Elton John collaborated with Lennon for "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night" for Lennon's Walls and Bridges. Elton John bet Lennon that the song would reach number one. Since "Whatever" hit the top spot on the Billboard chart on 16 November 1974, Elton collected on the bet twelve nights later at his Thanksgiving performance at New York City's Madison Square Garden when he brought Lennon out to play and sing. Lennon would never make another major concert performance. (I've heard there is no live footage of this appearance, hence the picture with the audio attached.)
Elton John is reportedly the godfather of Lennon's second son, Sean. After the 1980 murder, Elton and his long-time lyricist Bernie Taupin wrote a song for the fallen friend called "Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)," a reference to Madison Square Garden.
As I was about to post this, I found out that 8 December is Gregg Allman's birthday as well. So let's throw a little love Gregg's way and spread some of that Allman joy! (The Allman Joys was the name of the first band that Gregory Lenoir and his older brother Howard Duane formed. Catchy huh?) Below is the Allman Brothers performing my favorite of theirs, "Whipping Post," in two parts on 23 September 1970. Gregg, all of 22, is singing and playing the organ. You can spot long-time, and now former, Allman Bros. guitarist Dickey Betts looking like Errol Flynn in Robin Hood with his chin length hair and mustache. The shaggy blonde axeman in the tie-dye T-shirt is Duane. He would die in a motorcycle accident thirteen months later.
30 November 2009
"Billy Is Idle" and America's Oldest Teenager
William Michael Albert Broad was born in Stanmore, Middlesex, England on this day in 1955. He lived in New York for a few years as a child but was mostly brought up in England. Young William was a good student but he was bored, which led a teacher to write in the margin of his homework,"Billy is idle". When young William grew up and became a musician, he remembered that instructor's comment and renamed himself Billy Idol. (Or so the story goes.)
I used to watch him on MTV when I was small. I was totally hot for him when I was 6 (I liked the sneer, the body, and the accent). Still hot for him, in fact. And why not? He's still got the sneer and the body and the accent!
Two of my favorites of Billy's. The first is "Eyes Without a Face". The background singers are saying "Les yeux sans visage" which is "eyes without a face" in French (hopefully I spelled it right because I took Spanish instead of French). Random fact that has nothing to do with Billy Idol but everything to do with backing vocals in other languages: In the Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go?", the background vocals on the second verse are just a repeat of the original lines but in Spanish and the Beatles sang "Frere Jacques" over and over as the backing vocal for "Paperback Writer."
The second is "Flesh For Fantasy".
"Do you like good music? Do you like to dance?"
Sigh.
And hey, look what I dug up? Billy Idol played Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve show back in 2005. And, coincidentally, today, Dick Clark (AKA "America's Oldest Teenager" partly because of his long stint hosting the music show for and with adolescents "American Bandstand" and partly because the man didn't age until he was, like, sixty) celebrates his birthday as well. He turns 80!
If you never saw "American Bandstand" you sure missed out on seeing some up-and-comers. Prince was on the show early in his career and refused to talk. And I don't mean he walked away from the interview. I mean whenever Dick Clark asked him a question, he answered with a frickin' hand gesture! And it was the first show that displayed the egomania that is Madonna. He asked what she wanted for her career and she replied," To rule the world!"
With red strings on her wrists and young Brazilian men by her side?
Nah. Kidding. She didn't add that part.
Anyway, do you see what I mean about Billy Idol still having the body? Have mercy!!!!
I used to watch him on MTV when I was small. I was totally hot for him when I was 6 (I liked the sneer, the body, and the accent). Still hot for him, in fact. And why not? He's still got the sneer and the body and the accent!
Two of my favorites of Billy's. The first is "Eyes Without a Face". The background singers are saying "Les yeux sans visage" which is "eyes without a face" in French (hopefully I spelled it right because I took Spanish instead of French). Random fact that has nothing to do with Billy Idol but everything to do with backing vocals in other languages: In the Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go?", the background vocals on the second verse are just a repeat of the original lines but in Spanish and the Beatles sang "Frere Jacques" over and over as the backing vocal for "Paperback Writer."
The second is "Flesh For Fantasy".
"Do you like good music? Do you like to dance?"
Sigh.
And hey, look what I dug up? Billy Idol played Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve show back in 2005. And, coincidentally, today, Dick Clark (AKA "America's Oldest Teenager" partly because of his long stint hosting the music show for and with adolescents "American Bandstand" and partly because the man didn't age until he was, like, sixty) celebrates his birthday as well. He turns 80!
If you never saw "American Bandstand" you sure missed out on seeing some up-and-comers. Prince was on the show early in his career and refused to talk. And I don't mean he walked away from the interview. I mean whenever Dick Clark asked him a question, he answered with a frickin' hand gesture! And it was the first show that displayed the egomania that is Madonna. He asked what she wanted for her career and she replied," To rule the world!"
With red strings on her wrists and young Brazilian men by her side?
Nah. Kidding. She didn't add that part.
Anyway, do you see what I mean about Billy Idol still having the body? Have mercy!!!!
27 November 2009
The Cast of Jimi Hendrix
It's my favorite celebrity birthday: Jimi Hendrix!
Here's his birth chart, if you're interested in that sort of thing.
What was the story I promised you all for his birthday?
Ah, yes!
The following comes courtesy of Charles Cross and his Hendrix biography, Room Full of Mirrors. (Warning: Because of the subject matter, if you are prudish in any way, you should probably stop reading here.)
Once upon a time, in the land known as Chicago, a twenty-year-old named Cynthia Albritton wanted to get closer to the rock'n'roll/ groupie scene but she knew she needed a novel approach. She decided that making plaster casts of rock stars' genitalia would be her gimmick, and she recruited two female friends to assist and then printed up a bunch of T-shirts. Even though groupies from as far away as Los Angeles knew what she was up to, after awhile, Cynthia had yet to make even one mold.
All that changed on 25 February 1968 when the Jimi Hendrix Experience arrived in Chicago for two sold out shows (3 pm and 7 pm) at the Civic Opera House. As Jimi, bassist Noel Redding, and drummer Mitch Mitchell rode in the limo to their hotel after the matinee performance, a car pulled up next to them and a young woman leaned out the window and pointed to her briefcase, which read, "Plaster Casters of Chicago." Jimi motioned the car to follow.
The Experience had no bodyguards so when the two vehicles arrived at the Chicago Hilton, three young women were able to run up to the band as they stood on the sidewalk.
"We are the Plaster Casters from Chicago and we want to plaster-cast your Hampton Wick!" (Cynthia wanted to make her Chicago accent seem more worldly so she decided on using the Cockney phrase "Hampton Wick.") Jimi, having heard of the crew from those aforementioned groupies in LA, invited them up to the room. Jimi agreed to go first and Noel said he'd be second while, as Cross put it," Mitch, in a rare moment of clarity, politely declined."
The following is the verbatim account from Charles Cross:
Would that we all could have our genitalia celebrated after our deaths and have their dimensions be deemed pieces of art! Heh.
Happy birthday Jimi!
Jimi performing "Foxey Lady" (after the Experience broke up) at Rainbow Bridge in Maui in 1970. The clip showcases his signature guitar moves, as mentioned above.
And lastly, Cynthia Plaster Caster has her own website! At the site, you can hire her to teach you and your lover how to take plaster casts of each other, order the famous "Plaster Casters of Chicago" T-shirts (Noel Redding wore one on The Lulu Show on the BBC; the second link in this post has the video of that), view a list of her casting conquests, and check out her "Upcumming Events." Heh heh.
Here's his birth chart, if you're interested in that sort of thing.
What was the story I promised you all for his birthday?
Ah, yes!
The following comes courtesy of Charles Cross and his Hendrix biography, Room Full of Mirrors. (Warning: Because of the subject matter, if you are prudish in any way, you should probably stop reading here.)
Once upon a time, in the land known as Chicago, a twenty-year-old named Cynthia Albritton wanted to get closer to the rock'n'roll/ groupie scene but she knew she needed a novel approach. She decided that making plaster casts of rock stars' genitalia would be her gimmick, and she recruited two female friends to assist and then printed up a bunch of T-shirts. Even though groupies from as far away as Los Angeles knew what she was up to, after awhile, Cynthia had yet to make even one mold.
All that changed on 25 February 1968 when the Jimi Hendrix Experience arrived in Chicago for two sold out shows (3 pm and 7 pm) at the Civic Opera House. As Jimi, bassist Noel Redding, and drummer Mitch Mitchell rode in the limo to their hotel after the matinee performance, a car pulled up next to them and a young woman leaned out the window and pointed to her briefcase, which read, "Plaster Casters of Chicago." Jimi motioned the car to follow.
The Experience had no bodyguards so when the two vehicles arrived at the Chicago Hilton, three young women were able to run up to the band as they stood on the sidewalk.
"We are the Plaster Casters from Chicago and we want to plaster-cast your Hampton Wick!" (Cynthia wanted to make her Chicago accent seem more worldly so she decided on using the Cockney phrase "Hampton Wick.") Jimi, having heard of the crew from those aforementioned groupies in LA, invited them up to the room. Jimi agreed to go first and Noel said he'd be second while, as Cross put it," Mitch, in a rare moment of clarity, politely declined."
The following is the verbatim account from Charles Cross:
The women followed Jimi to his room. Cynthia retreated to the bathroom to begin the delicate process of mixing the dental plaster used in the castings while the other two women began working on Jimi. One woman took notes on a clipboard like a scientist, although never having seen a penis before, she could barely contain her surprise at the proportions of Jimi's member. "We were not prepared for the size of it," Cynthia wrote in her notes later. As Cynthia mixed the plaster, another girl began to orally stimulate Jimi. Once he was aroused, they stuck a vase filled with plaster around his penis, and he was told to stay still- and turned on- for one full minute while the plaster dried. Cynthia's notes read: "He has got just about the biggest rig I've ever seen! We needed to plunge him through the entire depth of the vase." The whole process, as Noel Redding would later say of his own casting, was "more clinical than erotic." The room was silent during the molding. "It wasn't very sexy, really," Cynthia recalled. "Jimi was one of the first molds we ever did, and we didn't lubricate his pubs [pubes] enough. A lot of his pubs [pubes] got stuck in the plaster, and there was only one way to remove them, which was pull them individually." To remove the hair took the better part of ten minutes. Jimi, no longer a cooperative model, began to use the now-hardened mold for self-stimulation. "He was bumping and grinding the mold, fucking it really, because being a mold it was the perfect size for him," said Cynthia. As Jimi ground against the mold, in a move that looked much like the way he handled his guitar onstage, tour manager Gerry Stickells opened the door to the room. It said much about the riotous nature of an Experience tour- and Jimi's lifestyle- that witnessing Jimi humping a vase filled with dental mold as a young woman with a clipboard took notes didn't even raise Stickell's eyebrows. "Just, uh, let me know when you're ready" was all the tour manager said before leaving.
The Casters next journeyed to Noel's room, though his casting didn't go as well. Noel wrote in his memoir," My offering was unusual- a corkscrewed rendition." Noel blamed the inferior cast on bad plaster and on Stickell's opening his door at the wrong moment. At one point Jimi inquired as to what Cynthia intended to do with the casts. "I told him I wanted to put them on display, and he was cool with that," she said. When she later exhibited the casts at an art gallery, one newspaper called the Hendrix cast "the Penis De Milo."
Jimi may have been the Penis De Milo, but he was also a very tired man in the middle of a long tour. At the after-concert party, most of the band and crew hooked up with groupies- Noel and Cynthia went off together- but the Penis De Milo lusted for nothing more than rest, and sat in the corner by himself. As the other members of the band partied away, Jimi fell asleep in a chair, his hat resting peacefully over his face.
Would that we all could have our genitalia celebrated after our deaths and have their dimensions be deemed pieces of art! Heh.
Happy birthday Jimi!
Jimi performing "Foxey Lady" (after the Experience broke up) at Rainbow Bridge in Maui in 1970. The clip showcases his signature guitar moves, as mentioned above.
And lastly, Cynthia Plaster Caster has her own website! At the site, you can hire her to teach you and your lover how to take plaster casts of each other, order the famous "Plaster Casters of Chicago" T-shirts (Noel Redding wore one on The Lulu Show on the BBC; the second link in this post has the video of that), view a list of her casting conquests, and check out her "Upcumming Events." Heh heh.
26 November 2009
Street Survivors
In my last post, I mentioned the connection between Neil Young and Lynyrd Skynyrd, in life and in death. The death part occurred on 20 October 1977.
Original members Ronnie Van Zant, Allen Collins, and Gary Rossington formed the first incarnation of the band, then known as The Noble Five, as teenagers in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1964. They later wanted a more distinctive moniker so they named the group after their old high school nemesis, Leonard Skinner, a phys-ed teacher who enforced the school's strict policy against long hair by sending the boys to the assistant principal's office when their locks reached their back collars. By the time "Lynyrd Skynyrd" was being used, the fellas had dropped out of high school and had started toiling away on the Southern bar circuit. Skynyrd's hard work, constant practice, and fine musicianship led to opportunities such as opening for the Strawberry Alarm Clock and recording demos at the legendary Alabama music studio in Muscle Shoals (it earned a mention in the song "Sweet Home Alabama"). Skynyrd finally caught their big break in 1973 when they were discovered by musician and songwriter Al Kooper during a week-long gig in Atlanta. Not only did he sign the band to his MCA label offshoot, Sounds of the South, but he also produced their first three albums. Their debut, titled "pronounced leh-nerd skin-nerd", served up choice tunes like "Tuesday's Gone", "Gimme Three Steps", "Simple Man", and the now-legendary "Freebird".
After awhile, constant touring and alcohol and drug abuse began to take a toll on the band (see their songs "The Needle and the Spoon" and "That Smell"). In 1976, after considering leaving the band due to his flagging health and the birth of his daughter, lead singer Ronnie Van Zant instead made changes in management and studio production; added a third lead guitarist, Steve Gaines, and a three-member female back-up vocal group known as The Honkettes which included JoJo Billingsley, Leslie Hawkins and Steve's older sister Cassie; and insisted he and the rest of the band cut back on the partying and drugs. Zan Vant wrote "Gimme Back My Bullets" to celebrate the new positive direction.
Unfortunately, that new direction did not last. Skynyrd released the album Street Survivors on 17 October 1977. Included on the album was "That Smell", a tune Van Zant wrote as a warning to at least two of his bandmates about the dangers of drugs. Both Allen Collins and Gary Rossington had been in serious car accidents over the Labor Day weekend of 1976 and the band was forced to cancel some tour dates as well as slow down the album's recording. According to Wikipedia (and this bio), "Rossington has admitted repeatedly that he's the 'Prince Charming' of the song who crashed his car into an oak tree while drunk and stoned on Quaaludes. "
Three days after their new album's release, Lynyrd Skynyrd was in a chartered airplane en route from Greenville, South Carolina, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for a gig at LSU when, at 1842, the plane's pilot radioed that the aircraft was low on fuel. Less than ten minutes later, after attempting an emergency landing on a small airstrip, the Convair 240 crashed in a wooded swamp in Gillsburg, Mississippi. Pilot Walter McCreary, co-pilot William Gray, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, as well as Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines, and Ronnie Van Zant perished in the crash while the other band and crew members suffered serious injuries. I remember watching the Lynyrd Skynyrd episode of VH1's Behind the Music repeatedly and I can recall that, according to that episode, Van Zant was ejected upon impact and his head hit a tree. Though Van Zant died from massive head trauma, one of the surviving members (maybe Gary Rossington, I don't remember exactly now) of the band said, "Ronnie didn't have a scratch on him!"
Because of the crash, the cover art for Street Survivors had to be adjusted. The original cover showed the band, Steve Gaines in particular, engulfed in flames. Out of respect for those who didn't survive the crash, as well as at the insistence of Steve's widow Teresa, MCA began releasing the album with a similar band photograph but with an all black background instead of the fire. The original artwork was restored, however, when the 30th anniversary version of the album was released.
The Official Lynyrd Skynyrd History website (see the link about the plane crash) says that Ronnie Van Zant was buried with his famous black hat and his favorite fishing pole (it gives no mention of the legend of him wearing his Neil Young T-shirt).
The surviving members of Lynyrd Skynyrd decided to disband permanently and performed in various other music groups over the years. But in 1987, Lynyrd Skynyrd, using the writing and singing talents of Van Zant's younger brother Johnny (another brother Donnie leads the band .38 Special), began to tour again and released an album of all new material in 1991. Johnny still tours and records with Skynyrd to this day (I grew up in the South and when Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers swing through, it's an annual summer event). The band's latest effort, God & Guns, was released on 29 September 2009 and debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at number 18, the band's highest chart position since Street Survivors.
Lynyrd Skynyrd in its latest incarnation, performing on Craig Ferguson's show in October 2009
Original members Ronnie Van Zant, Allen Collins, and Gary Rossington formed the first incarnation of the band, then known as The Noble Five, as teenagers in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1964. They later wanted a more distinctive moniker so they named the group after their old high school nemesis, Leonard Skinner, a phys-ed teacher who enforced the school's strict policy against long hair by sending the boys to the assistant principal's office when their locks reached their back collars. By the time "Lynyrd Skynyrd" was being used, the fellas had dropped out of high school and had started toiling away on the Southern bar circuit. Skynyrd's hard work, constant practice, and fine musicianship led to opportunities such as opening for the Strawberry Alarm Clock and recording demos at the legendary Alabama music studio in Muscle Shoals (it earned a mention in the song "Sweet Home Alabama"). Skynyrd finally caught their big break in 1973 when they were discovered by musician and songwriter Al Kooper during a week-long gig in Atlanta. Not only did he sign the band to his MCA label offshoot, Sounds of the South, but he also produced their first three albums. Their debut, titled "pronounced leh-nerd skin-nerd", served up choice tunes like "Tuesday's Gone", "Gimme Three Steps", "Simple Man", and the now-legendary "Freebird".
After awhile, constant touring and alcohol and drug abuse began to take a toll on the band (see their songs "The Needle and the Spoon" and "That Smell"). In 1976, after considering leaving the band due to his flagging health and the birth of his daughter, lead singer Ronnie Van Zant instead made changes in management and studio production; added a third lead guitarist, Steve Gaines, and a three-member female back-up vocal group known as The Honkettes which included JoJo Billingsley, Leslie Hawkins and Steve's older sister Cassie; and insisted he and the rest of the band cut back on the partying and drugs. Zan Vant wrote "Gimme Back My Bullets" to celebrate the new positive direction.
Unfortunately, that new direction did not last. Skynyrd released the album Street Survivors on 17 October 1977. Included on the album was "That Smell", a tune Van Zant wrote as a warning to at least two of his bandmates about the dangers of drugs. Both Allen Collins and Gary Rossington had been in serious car accidents over the Labor Day weekend of 1976 and the band was forced to cancel some tour dates as well as slow down the album's recording. According to Wikipedia (and this bio), "Rossington has admitted repeatedly that he's the 'Prince Charming' of the song who crashed his car into an oak tree while drunk and stoned on Quaaludes. "
Three days after their new album's release, Lynyrd Skynyrd was in a chartered airplane en route from Greenville, South Carolina, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for a gig at LSU when, at 1842, the plane's pilot radioed that the aircraft was low on fuel. Less than ten minutes later, after attempting an emergency landing on a small airstrip, the Convair 240 crashed in a wooded swamp in Gillsburg, Mississippi. Pilot Walter McCreary, co-pilot William Gray, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, as well as Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines, and Ronnie Van Zant perished in the crash while the other band and crew members suffered serious injuries. I remember watching the Lynyrd Skynyrd episode of VH1's Behind the Music repeatedly and I can recall that, according to that episode, Van Zant was ejected upon impact and his head hit a tree. Though Van Zant died from massive head trauma, one of the surviving members (maybe Gary Rossington, I don't remember exactly now) of the band said, "Ronnie didn't have a scratch on him!"
Because of the crash, the cover art for Street Survivors had to be adjusted. The original cover showed the band, Steve Gaines in particular, engulfed in flames. Out of respect for those who didn't survive the crash, as well as at the insistence of Steve's widow Teresa, MCA began releasing the album with a similar band photograph but with an all black background instead of the fire. The original artwork was restored, however, when the 30th anniversary version of the album was released.
The Official Lynyrd Skynyrd History website (see the link about the plane crash) says that Ronnie Van Zant was buried with his famous black hat and his favorite fishing pole (it gives no mention of the legend of him wearing his Neil Young T-shirt).
The surviving members of Lynyrd Skynyrd decided to disband permanently and performed in various other music groups over the years. But in 1987, Lynyrd Skynyrd, using the writing and singing talents of Van Zant's younger brother Johnny (another brother Donnie leads the band .38 Special), began to tour again and released an album of all new material in 1991. Johnny still tours and records with Skynyrd to this day (I grew up in the South and when Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers swing through, it's an annual summer event). The band's latest effort, God & Guns, was released on 29 September 2009 and debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at number 18, the band's highest chart position since Street Survivors.
Lynyrd Skynyrd in its latest incarnation, performing on Craig Ferguson's show in October 2009
22 November 2009
Happy Belated Birthday, Eh?
Fellow Canadians and musicians Neil Young and Joni Mitchell both celebrated birthdays this month. Neil Percival Young was born on 12 November 1945 in Toronto while Roberta Joan Anderson (Mitchell was the surname of her first husband Chuck) entered the world two years earlier on 7 November in Fort Macleod, Alberta. The two met and became friends in their early days of playing small clubs in Winnipeg; besides sharing country and music, Young and Mitchell both contracted polio as children. The two intersected in at least two other ways: Young and his sometime bandmates David Crosby (whom Joni dated at one time), Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash (whom Joni was dating at the time of Woodstock) had a huge hit with their cover of Mitchell's tune "Woodstock", which she wrote after watching news reports and hearing Nash's firsthand descriptions of the 1969 music festival (while Mitchell was not in attendance, CSN was there playing "a medley of our hit," as they put it, "Suite: Judy Blues"); and Joni and Neil both played at "The Last Waltz" on Thanksgiving 1976, which was the last hurrah of The Band.
Some trivia:
Both of Neil Young's sons have cerebral palsy while Young himself is an epileptic. In fact, one of his working pseudonyms is Bernard Shakey.
Joni Mitchell had a daughter that she gave up for adoption. Even though it was not public knowledge throughout most of her career, she often made passing references to her daughter in her songs (in fact the tune "Little Green" is all about her daughter). Mitchell's daughter found her once she grew up and they still enjoy a relationship.
Martin Scorsese directed the concert film The Last Waltz. It is rumored that the footage had to be altered in order to remove white powder around Young's nose (I have a feeling that he wasn't grinding up his epilepsy meds and snorting them, but hey that's probably just me).
Mitchell's song "Free Man in Paris" from the album Court and Spark is about music mogul/producer David Geffen.
Young played in a Toronto-based band in the mid-60s called The Mynah Birds. They signed with Motown Records in 1966 and started recording an album that was never released because one of the group members was arrested for going AWOL from the US Navy. That musician's name? Rick James, bitch!
Janet Jackson sampled Mitchell's song "Big Yellow Taxi" for the tune "Got 'Til It's Gone" on the Velvet Rope album. Jackson's song also featured Q-Tip and I can recall that Mitchell participated in an MTV commercial (back when the channel played music videos and didn't suck) about older musicians listening to younger musicians, such as Isaac Hayes declaring that he liked Maxwell, and Mitchell enthusiastically praised Jackson's song and how the sample was used.
Joni Mitchell performing "Free Man in Paris"
CSN&Y doing Young's tune "Down By The River"
If you liked "Down By The River" here is the cover by Buddy Miles, former drummer for Jimi Hendrix's post-Experience band, The Band of Gypsys.
Janet Jackson's "Got 'Til It's Gone"
Lynyrd Skynyrd's hit "Sweet Home Alabama" was written in response to Young's scathing songs "Southern Man" and "Alabama". Skynyrd's lead singer Ronnie Van Zant remained a fan and a friend of Young's though, wearing a Neil Young T-shirt on the cover of Street Survivors, the album released three days before the 20 October 1977 plane crash that killed Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, backup singer and Steve's sister Cassie Gaines, the assistant road manager, and the pilot and co-pilot. And legend has it that Van Zant was buried in a Neil Young T-shirt.
Some trivia:
Both of Neil Young's sons have cerebral palsy while Young himself is an epileptic. In fact, one of his working pseudonyms is Bernard Shakey.
Joni Mitchell had a daughter that she gave up for adoption. Even though it was not public knowledge throughout most of her career, she often made passing references to her daughter in her songs (in fact the tune "Little Green" is all about her daughter). Mitchell's daughter found her once she grew up and they still enjoy a relationship.
Martin Scorsese directed the concert film The Last Waltz. It is rumored that the footage had to be altered in order to remove white powder around Young's nose (I have a feeling that he wasn't grinding up his epilepsy meds and snorting them, but hey that's probably just me).
Mitchell's song "Free Man in Paris" from the album Court and Spark is about music mogul/producer David Geffen.
Young played in a Toronto-based band in the mid-60s called The Mynah Birds. They signed with Motown Records in 1966 and started recording an album that was never released because one of the group members was arrested for going AWOL from the US Navy. That musician's name? Rick James, bitch!
Janet Jackson sampled Mitchell's song "Big Yellow Taxi" for the tune "Got 'Til It's Gone" on the Velvet Rope album. Jackson's song also featured Q-Tip and I can recall that Mitchell participated in an MTV commercial (back when the channel played music videos and didn't suck) about older musicians listening to younger musicians, such as Isaac Hayes declaring that he liked Maxwell, and Mitchell enthusiastically praised Jackson's song and how the sample was used.
Joni Mitchell performing "Free Man in Paris"
CSN&Y doing Young's tune "Down By The River"
If you liked "Down By The River" here is the cover by Buddy Miles, former drummer for Jimi Hendrix's post-Experience band, The Band of Gypsys.
Janet Jackson's "Got 'Til It's Gone"
Lynyrd Skynyrd's hit "Sweet Home Alabama" was written in response to Young's scathing songs "Southern Man" and "Alabama". Skynyrd's lead singer Ronnie Van Zant remained a fan and a friend of Young's though, wearing a Neil Young T-shirt on the cover of Street Survivors, the album released three days before the 20 October 1977 plane crash that killed Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, backup singer and Steve's sister Cassie Gaines, the assistant road manager, and the pilot and co-pilot. And legend has it that Van Zant was buried in a Neil Young T-shirt.
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