As Townsman Al pointed out, Little Richard is 80 years old today. Happy birthday! Although he’s alive he seems to be a bit forgotten as the rock legend he was. These days early rock ‘n roll seems thought of more in terms of Chuck Berry, Elvis, and a few semi-obscuro figures who make us feel high minded. Has Little Richard’s legacy shifted to more of a cultural icon for his influence on our age’s more fluid notions of sexuality? So be it. That in itself is a significant contribution to this world.
My uncle turned me onto him as a kid, and I always found him fascinating on both musical and cultural levels. There’s some concert movie from the early ’70s my uncle took me to see the culminated in an All-Star Jam among these early rock ‘n roll titans. Maybe it was the movie from which this clip was pulled. I remember Richard winning a fierce battle by scaling a tower of monitors in a white cape, or something like that. Baby, that’s rock ‘n roll! My uncle also owned a few of his gospel albums. He told me stories about seeing Richard pre- and post-ministerial days. After high school my uncle briefly entered a seminary. He’s always straddled the lines between rock ‘n roll and religion. He clearly identified with that part of Richard’s story. Does that part of his story still mean anything to people, or is he just a shadow of the caricature he played so well in Down and Out in Beverly Hills?
Kids, take a moment before it’s too late to tune into all the power and glory that was Little Richard.
Although I don’t believe rock ‘n roll has provided any photographs as disturbing as the most disturbing images we’ve seen published from wars, terrorist attacks, natural disasters, and so forth, it has produced its own collection of disturbing images that, once seen, are forever burned in the viewer’s mind. Before you click on any of the following linked images, please beware that, although safe for work, they may cause the viewer irreparable harm, or at the least a crisis in the viewer’s faith in rock ‘n roll.
Press for the reunited Graham Parker & The Rumour tour (and album) focuses much attention and credit on the band’s appearance in Judd Apatow‘s upcoming movie, This Is 40. I’m sure that played a small part, but longtime members of the Halls of Rock know this 2010 interview with Rumour guitarist Martin Belmont is the main reason the band is back together and playing at Philadelphia’s Theater of the Living Arts tonight. OK, our interview is a distant second to the documentary Belmont discusses in the following interview, but let’s give ourselves credit ahead of Apatow. Next thing you know the Farrelly brothers will be taking credit for exposing Jonathan Richman to a mainstream audience. Go Graham! Go Martin! Go Rumour! I will be at tonight’s show with bells on.
This post initially appeared 3/19/10.
The guitar playing of Martin Belmont has graced recordings and concerts by Graham Parker & The Rumour, Ducks Deluxe, Nick Lowe, Carlene Carter, Johnny Cash, Elvis Costello, and many more. He continues to keep a busy schedule, playing the music he loves with a reunited Ducks as well as three other Americana-oriented British artists. In 2009 Belmont released The Guest List, a collection of covers sung by most of the singers he’s backed for a significant time over the years. For someone like myself, who grew up listening to Belmont’s work in the 1970s and 1980s, it’s an intimate, low-key way of catching up with the old gang and getting introduced to some Belmont collaborators who are not as well known in the States.
The first sign that Belmont might get into the spirit of a Rock Town Hall interview is when, as we settle into our trans-Atlantic, webcam chat via Skype, he wants to describe his “top-shelf” CD collection lining the walls behind him. There’s a Beatles box set, a Folkways Anthology of American Folk Music, a couple of Elvis Presley box sets. Then he wants to know how we operate in the Halls of Rock. After I basically run him through our mission statement, in which Rock Town Hall serves as a sort of methadone clinic for rock ‘n roll addicts with increasingly busy lives, he says, “I know exactly what you mean.”
I describe my experiences finding out about Graham Parker & The Rumour as a teenager, trying not to come off too much like Chris Farley’s mouth-breathing Paul McCartney fan from Saturday Night Live. Belmont asks if I’ve seen Parker perform solo in recent years – I have. He raves about his old friend’s abilities as a performer and songwriter, and then we get down to talking.
And talk we did. There are a topics we didn’t have time to cover, but as we chatted, rock lover to rock lover, I hope you get a sense of Belmont’s ultimate sideman’s dedication, warmth, and regard toward his collaborators. At one point he talks about the importance of the guitarist serving the song and being able to weave into whatever situation the song and its musicians requires. It was clear to me that these abilities to weave extend well beyond Belmont’s fretboard.
The patented Rock Town Hall Dugout Chatter segment that concludes this interview is presented in audio form. Through my space-age, retro technology for recording this interview, I hope the audio Chatter gives you an added sense of Martin’s enthusiasm and passion for rock ‘n roll. Take it away, Martin!
While searching for something completely unrelated I stumbled across this Frank Zappa performance of “Dumb All Over,” (sorry, the YouTube poster doesn’t seem to allow embedding) a song I’d not previously known existed. As usual, I can appreciate Zappa’s intelligence and wit, but the song raised a question that gets at the root of why I can never embrace Zappa’s records: Did Frank Zappa actually like music?
By “music,” I mean the musical elements at the root of songs: melody, rhythm, and harmony. At the 4:20 mark he sits down, shuts up, and fires off an excellent guitar solo. Clearly there was a side to Zappa that at least liked the music that could be made on a guitar. The rest of this song, however, displays no appreciation for music itself. He seemed to have a penchant for hiring shit-hot musicians and then punishing them by making them play stuff they could have been playing had they accepted offers to join Loverboy or a second-rate rock-fusion band. Was this Zappa’s twisted way of punishing dedicated musicians?
I look forward to other examples of Zappa’s direct connection with music, points in his songs that indicate that the music itself was more than a vehicle for his stand-up comedy act.
What makes for a great soloing face? We know one when we see one, but is there a combination of facial structure and timed facial expressions that ensures successful face solos?
The following clip of bluesman Freddie King got me thinking about the science of face soloing. We’ve touched on this topic in some detail a few times in the past, such as here, here, and here (the last link being NSFW), but there may be more to learn from Freddie King. I open this conversation to our researchers in RTH Labs, that is, you.
King’s got a face for every lick he plays. It’s as if the notes are sweating out of his face. Along with his timing and pathos he’s blessed with jowls and bushy sideburns. I think they bring a lot out in his face soloing.
Babyfaced Mike Bloomfield also gave great face. What he lacked in jowls he made up for by eagerly leaning forward at all times. The man aimed to please.
