My inner horny 13-year-old has lost a special friend today.
The Seeds’ Sky Saxon has also died. It’s hard to beat “You’re Pushing Too Hard” for original Nuggets tracks.
NEXT: Rock Town Hall’s Official Eulogy…
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Jun 252009
Mr. Moderator
Jun 222009
Early Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band may be among the the only rock musicians in to make the hat work for them on stage and in publicity shots. The Specials are the only other band that come to mind from the highly scientific top of my head. Am I missing someone obvious? Most of the hat-wearing rock musicans I can think of look silly: all those truck driver chic sorts from Brooklyn and other non-farming communities in high-resting John Deer caps; anyone who’s tried rocking a baseball cap on stage; rockers in cowboy hats (which work quite well on actual country musicians); the guy from Modest Mouse in his G.I. Joe cap… The beret is inherently silly looking, so Dr. John and Mink DeVille look as silly as anyone else who’s ever worn a beret.
With the hat’s rich tradition in blues, country, soul, jazz, and other building blocks of rock ‘n roll, it’s a wonder the hat hasn’t fared better in rock. For a rock musician to look good in a hat, is it necessary that the musician is playing a hat-appropriate form of rock ‘n roll, such as ska or horn-fueled R&B-based rock? Note how the E Street Band dropped the hats once they moved past their early horn-fueled era.
As a side thought, is it a coincidence that country music’s most rock-friendly musician, Johnny Cash, didn’t wear a hat?
Jun 202009
What is the best father-related song, anyhow – totatlly negative ones like “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” excluded? “Daddy’s Home” is the first that comes to mind for me. I liked this John Hiatt song as well, but man does that guy possess a troubling Look!
Jun 202009
Courtesy of Townsman cherguevarra. News of this astounding find was first posted within a recent All-Star Jam. I knew you wouldn’t want to miss it. An alternate Beatles “Butcher Cover” has been found in among a private collection of Beatles memorabilia in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Check it out…after the jump!
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Jun 202009
A couple of thoughts and questions in the minutes following a very enjoyable birthday:
- Please explain the psycho-drama that ensues at the 2:25 mark of this video.
- Is there a better “yolk” in rock than Bjork’s?
- Were you surprised that the second song in this clip was not actually a continuation of the first song?
- Is the guy at the 2:46 mark contemplating Bjork’s yolk or the psycho-drama of the guy in the powder blue ruffled shirt?
- Is the guitarist’s Look the logical step after Rick Nielsen or the inspiration for Ali G?
- Is the “ax man” joke funnier in Icelandic?
- At the 5:13 mark a guy in the audience can be seen yelping in unison with Bjork. Is that a common practice at her concerts to this day, the way audience members sing along to, say, Tom Petty’s “Breakdown?”
Jun 182009
For your pleasure, may I invite you to turn on with Eric Burdon and the Animals. Following are some tracks from the band’s 1966 to 1968 period. You may recall we discussed this period last week. I’ll spare you the studio version of my personal favorite, “San Franciscan Nights,” and if you don’t think “Sky Pilot” is one of the coolest “acid rock” songs ever we may have to part ways, baby.
As you listen to these tracks, think about the whole concept of Eric Burdon getting tuned in, think about an age in which Angry, Young Eric could begin to feel like he belonged, man. I mean, just a couple of years earlier he had to get outta that place. Check out the video that opens this thread and tell me you’re not witnessing the transformation at work. These songs must have begun the process of lifting a tremendous weight off Angry, Young Eric.
Another day, perhaps, we can explore the next phase of Eric’s career, in which he wrestles with his Black Man’s Burdon, so to speak.
Jun 172009
Don’t think twice, it’s all right. The following set of questions require nothing more than your gut answers. There’s no right or wrong answer, but some answers may be correct. What’s most important is that you answer. Are you ready? Let’s roll!
Name an album you frequently dismiss or lampoon, despite the fact that you have never heard it!
Excepting your own band’s releases or releases you have recently received as a critic, do you own any unopened albums or CDs?
Have you ever purposely placed a certain lp at the front of a stack minutes before rock-nerd company arrives, you know, to impress them? Similarly, have you ever filed away an album that you’d rather not have your company find sitting in front of your stereo?
Honestly, do you get the slightest charge out of an lp’s surface noise?
What’s your favorite record that’s set at the “wrong” speed (ie, a 7-inch at 33 1/3 rpm or an lp at 45 rpm)?
What’s the first lp you remember buying with your own money?
What’s your favorite record label – not as in “record company” but the sticker on the record itself, be it a 45 or an lp. The graphics on a CD itself will be allowed as an answer only if you’re younger than 40.
Have you ever worn a record sleeve on your head, Pope’s mitre-style?
Whatever you do, please don’t…
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