ZML^2 - Bonamassa Does British Blues

This is a theme I'm very excited about, and one I've been wanting to do for a long time. In spite of the title, however, there aren't actually going to be any Joe Bonamassa songs. This theme is about the British blues songs that Joe has covered over the past decade. I've stated on many occasions how great a cover artist Joe is - both in his taste in selecting songs to cover, and in his ability to perform them well - and now you'll be able to discover first hand some of the original source material he has worked from. Joe has recorded a lot of truly great covers, so this isn't going to even necessarily be the songs that inspired his greatest covers, but a thematic selection focusing on one of my favorite sub-genres of blues rock - the British blues boom of the 1960s (with a tiny bit of leeway). Let's get started.


John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers - Steppin' Out [Bluesbreakers With Eric Clapton, 1966] + Jeff Beck - Rice Pudding [Beck-Ola, 1969]
Comments: Unique to the live version of the A New Day Yesterday album (Joe Bonamassa's first live album, and the first album of his that I heard) is a guitar instrumental mash-up consisting of two great tracks by two of the greatest rock guitarists of all time. The first is Steppin' Out, recorded by Eric Clapton with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers for the album many consider to be the quintessential representative of the 1960s British blues scene (informally referred to as the Beano album, thanks to the comic Eric is holding in the photo on the cover); and the second is a quirky meandering piece titled Rice Pudding (as far as I know, the abrupt ending is intentional), from Jeff Beck's second solo album, Beck-Ola. In Joe's composite jam, he manages to flawlessly weld the two central riffs from these songs together.

Jethro Tull - A New Day Yesterday [Stand Up, 1969]
Comments: This Jethro Tull track from 1969 (granted, they may not have been a straight blues rock band, but they were bluesy to start) lent the title to Joe Bonamassa's solo debut album, which is the first of a few of his albums named for a prominent cover song. With all due respect to Jethro Tull, Joe's version of this song is incendiary, and the version from the live album was the track that single-handedly introduced me to and got me hooked on Joe Bonamassa, for good reason. Honorable mention goes to Irish blues rocker Rory Gallagher's Cradle Rock, which also appears on Joe's debut album (as well as the live version of the album).

Jeff Beck - Blues Deluxe [Truth, 1968]
Comments: Jeff Beck returns, with the track that titled Joe Bonamassa's third studio album, a riveting blues penned by Beck and bandmate Rod Stewart, appearing on Jeff's own solo debut album, Truth. Bonamassa again shows his ability to smooth out the original Jeff Beck Group's rough-edged recordings, creating a very compelling track that, in addition to showcasing his celebrated guitar talent, features an impressive vocal performance which demonstrates his continuing improvement as a singer in addition to guitar god. Joe's eighth studio album, Black Rock, features another winning Jeff Beck cover in the form of Spanish Boots (found on Beck's second album from 1969, Beck-Ola).

Blind Faith - Had To Cry Today [Blind Faith, 1969]
Comments: Eric Clapton returns this time, and with the song that titled Joe's fourth studio album. This track is from the self-titled (and only) album released by the short-lived supergroup Blind Faith, which was Clapton's first diversion after the breakup of Cream. Even with all the hype, and having become familiar with half of the album before ever hearing it in full (thanks to the popularity of those songs), when I recently picked it up, I was pleasantly surprised by the overall quality of the album. For this song, which has a nice rock edge, and a good jam format, Joe scores another faithful and successful cover, a highlight of his earlier live shows.

John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers - So Many Roads [Looking Back, 1969]
Comments: Joe's fifth studio album, You And Me, marks a turning point of sorts in his career. It marks the beginning of his partnership with producer Kevin Shirley, and thus a crystallization of his "studio sound". One of my favorite tracks on the album is the blues So Many Roads, which was recorded by John Mayall's Bluesbreakers in the 1960s - but this time with Peter Green as the guitarist instead of Eric Clapton. It's a powerful song, and even with Peter Green being one of my top favorite musical artists of all time (granted, even as lead guitarist, he was still mostly backing for John Mayall in that band, and hadn't yet hit his stride), Joe's version of the song rises above this previous version. But don't stop there, legendary bluesman Otis Rush does a pretty mean version himself. Two other tracks worth mentioning that were recorded by the Peter Green-era Bluesbreakers, and were covered by Bonamassa, are Your Funeral And My Trial, and Another Kind Of Love.

Led Zeppelin - Tea For One [Presence, 1976]
Comments: Also appearing on the album You And Me was Joe's much-anticipated Led Zeppelin cover, Tea For One, a slow, melancholy blues featured on Zep's oft-overlooked 1976 album, Presence. Being pioneers of hard rock, Led Zeppelin weren't strictly a British blues band, but they were a British band, and their roots were steeped in the blues. For Bonamassa's competent cover of this song, he utilized a rare guest singer (Doug Henthorn). Whether it was to allow him to concentrate on pulling off his interpretation of divine rock god Jimmy Page's licks, or to mimic the guitar + singer dynamic featured in the original band (Henthorn does sound similar to Robert Plant), regardless, the result sounds good. I can't say that Joe one-ups Led Zeppelin here (that would be a feat), but his effort is impressive, and there's really nothing lacking from this cover. Not many could pull that off. (Zep fans: don't miss Joe Bonamassa's cover of ZZ Top's Just Got Paid on Live From Nowehere in Particular, or the Royal Albert Hall DVD - it's got a long jam that includes the instrumental portion from Dazed and Confused!)

Ten Years After - One Of These Days [A Space In Time, 1971]
Comments: I had been waiting for Joe Bonamassa to do a Ten Years After cover, ever since catching a mention of them in the liner notes to one of his albums, and on his sixth studio album, Sloe Gin, he pulled through. Like Led Zeppelin, Ten Years After were a hard rock band (with a variety of accompanying flavors), and not strictly British blues, but, also like Zep, they were British, and they had a concentration in the blues. Joe's cover of the opening song to TYA's most popular album is adequate, but I regret to say that this is one of the times when the original is clearly superior. Sorry Joe - it's just that Alvin Lee has this totally unmatchable rock charisma, and this song benefits more from the rough edges than the smoother melodies which Bonamassa likes to emphasize. You can't win them all. I'm still very excited that Joe covered this song and I would be happy to hear him try his hand at another, as Ten Years After is one of my favorite blues rock bands, and they deserve the attention and recognition.

Bonus Track: Although it's probably even less British blues than anything else on this list (although still not completely off topic), I just have to mention Tim Curry (yes, that Tim Curry)'s Sloe Gin [Read My Lips, 1978], which titled Joe's sixth studio album. It's a powerfully depressing song, delivered passionately by Tim Curry, and covered impressively by Joe Bonamassa. Joe stays true to the soul of the song, while giving flesh to the bones of its structure, building up a truly captivating piece that stands out even in his impressive catalogue of great music.

Honestly, I could still go on and list even more great covers performed by Joe Bonamassa, but we've reached our limit (and plus some) for this edition of Zharth's Music Log^2. If you're already a Bonamassa fan, then I hope this was an enlightening experience, and if not, then you just may be curious about these covers I keep mentioning. In that case, give Joe a listen, you won't regret it. ^_-

Black Rock

Joe Bonamassa's latest album, Black Rock (released about a month ago), continuing Joe's partnership with producer Kevin Shirley, has a bit of a world flavor, while not straying too far from Joe's blues rock foundation. It was recorded in Greece, which inspired the mood of the album. From the liner notes:

"Our mandate was clear - first instruction: play loud. Second: play reckless. Third: channel the music that inspired you to pick the damn thing up in the first place. Fourth: have fun with it. The result is an album that is the product of good times, reckless abandonment and the environment in which it was recorded."

Sounds like a raucous good time, right? As one could expect from any Joe Bonamassa album. Even so, the album didn't hit me the first time I listened to it, unlike when I first listened to The Ballad of John Henry. This is likely due to my ambivalence towards "world" music. Still, as could be expected, a few more listens has warmed me up considerably to the material on this album, and it fits snugly into Joe's constantly growing catalog of good music.

The album opens with an upbeat track, Steal Your Heart Away, penned by Bobby Parker, who played the riff that Led Zeppelin surreptitiously "borrowed" for the guitar part to their song Moby Dick, once upon a time. After a couple more steady rockers, including one with a title - When The Fire Hits The Sea - that definitely makes me think of Greece (Greek fire, anyone?), we get Quarryman's Lament, which recalls the previous album's Story of a Quarryman, except with a heavy coating of that world flavor.

Following that is Joe's third cover of a Jeff Beck Group song (the first two being Rice Pudding and the magnificent Blues Deluxe) - Spanish Boots. Joe's version sounds great, a heavy rocker, and I'm inclined to say that I like it better than Jeff Beck's! Granted, Joe Bonamassa is one of the better cover artists I've heard (though not to downplay his equally impressive writing ability), but with cover songs, it's always going to be a case of hit and miss. Joe just happens to be a star hitter, and this one counts toward his total.

The album then rests with a Leonard Cohen song, Bird on a Wire, the first truly laid-back song on the album. It's a slow acoustic piece, with a heavy dose of world-style accompaniment. If you like those kind of songs, you'll probably like it. I, however, live for the higher-energy songs. Speaking of which, the next song is an Otis Rush number titled Three Times A Fool - a standard blues. Following that is the track that guest stars Joe's inspirational mentor and friend (and blues legend) B.B. King, a song called Night Life. Joe and B.B. trade off licks and vocals through the song, and it's a very B.B.-flavored track, and a nice addition to Joe's recorded legacy. You knew it was just a matter of time before they got together in the studio.

The next song, Wandering Earth, is a slow paced bluesy rocker with a melancholy theme - just my style. Look Over Yonders Wall picks up the pace a bit, then it drops back down a notch for the worldly (and acoustic) Athens to Athens. Then we get hit with what is probably my favorite track on the album - Blue and Evil, which is just like it sounds. It's got a mean, heavy riff, and a persistent recurring chorus of the song's title. The song opens and closes with an acoustic line that gives it texture, when placed in stark contrast to the electric energy of the bulk of the song. If you can't tell, I like it a lot. The album then finishes with an acoustic Blind Boy Fuller song, Baby You Gotta Change Your Mind. It's a good blues, and while the almost quirky acoustic mood is not my style, it's a nice way to close out the album on a bit of a mellow note.

To reiterate, as a piece, Black Rock isn't my favorite Bonamassa album (and honestly, they can't all be), but it's a solid effort with a lot of substance, and though the world flavor isn't my bag (others may respond significantly better to it than I), I think it's good for Joe to continue to experiment, to keep his material from sounding all the same. Although, there is a striking character to Joe's music that manages to keep it all internally consistent - even his covers take on a "Joe Bonamassa" feel. Considering the importance for a guitarist and a musician to create a unique style, I'd say this is a good thing. In any case, I like Joe Bonamassa's style, and as long as he continues to make music, I'll be listening.

For clarification: everywhere that I've used the word "world" above, you can probably interpret that to mean the addition of instrument(s) not commonly found in a rock band. :p

Jailbait Rock

I tried to write up a cohesive post about The Runaways after seeing the movie (the first time ;p), but it didn't quite come together. But since The Runaways is definitely my current obsession (or at least one of them), I just have to spend some time talking about them.


The Runaways was an all-girl rock band (officially the first) that formed in Los Angeles and existed during the latter half of the 1970s, and included Joan Jett, who would go on to a successful solo career. I, personally, didn't know about The Runaways until I heard that a film about the band was being shot, starring Hollywood hotties Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning (former Hollywood cutie). I'm not ashamed to admit this was my introduction to the band - and anyway, I love the music, and I've become a genuine fan, so it's win-win, right?


So what's the appeal of The Runaways? It should be obvious. The band (and the movie) combines two of my favorite things in the world - rock music...and jailbait! And on that note, I recommend this refreshingly honest review of the movie. (Go ahead, read it now. I'll wait.)


Isn't the poster hot? "It works on so many levels - and most of them will get you arrested." If you're feeling uncomfortable right about now, then you're probably not a rocker. Rock is raw and rebellious; it is violent and sexual. For all the verbal abuse producer/manager Kim Fowley spewed, he was right about the music. Although I think women's lib was an important part of what The Runaways did (i.e., prove that girls can rock just as hard as men - and boy, can they ever!), women's libido was an equally important component. Which is why I was disappointed by the scene where the band gets upset over Cherie's risqué photoshoot. It's not a distraction, it's an integral part of the formula!


The movie, I am told, is based on the real Cherie Currie's memoir, Neon Angel. As such, it focuses on her and Joan Jett's part of the story, emphasizing the chemistry between the two. The end product is a wildly entertaining rock biopic with lesbian overtones (which gives it a decided advantage over other rock biopics), complete with the requisite kickass soundtrack (I was particularly delighted to hear The Stooges during an especially memorable scene). I saw the movie twice in its limited run (don't be fooled, there was no true "wide" release) and enjoyed it just as much both times. I bumped into a fan after the second showing who [enthusiastically] confessed that it was her ninth viewing! This is a movie that I really recommend.

Compare
After my first viewing of the new movie, I tracked down the other Runaways movie that's been made - Edgeplay. Rather than a fictional dramatization, it's a documentary featuring interviews with the band members (minus Joan Jett, unfortunately) and those who were close to the band. So you get a nice picture of the "true" story (at least how it's remembered by those who were there) of the band, and get to know the real members (instead of actresses playing those members - although Kristen and Dakota did a fantastic job). If you're interested in the gritty details of the band, I definitely recommend it, though for sheer entertainment, the new movie is where it's at.


Now let's talk about the actual band. The Runaways had punk and glam influences, but they were a solid rock band through and through. The drummer (Sandy West) and lead guitarist (Lita Ford) were known to have jammed on Deep Purple songs; Cherie Currie (lead singer) was fond of David Bowie; and Joan Jett (guitar, vocals, songwriting) was largely inspired by Suzi Quatro. The band released their self-titled debut in 1976, followed by Queens of Noise in 1977, and a live album recorded during their tour of Japan in that year (they were an instant hit in Japan). Their first two albums are really good, with a lot of great tracks, and the live album is even better. The lead guitar has more room to breathe in concert (compared to the studio), and the live sound on the album is just great.


What are my favorite tracks? Cherry Bomb, which kicks off the first album, is an infectious hit (in a good way). It was written by Joan Jett and Kim Fowley for Cherie Currie when she was added to the band as the lead singer/frontgirl. The song itself is good, but the symbolism behind it - how it represents Cherie, and the raw sexuality of it - adds to its appeal for me. The closing track of the first album, Dead End Justice, is captivating, with the traded off vocals between Joan and Cherie telling a whole story. I was excited to hear part of that song performed in the movie. I can't possibly name all the songs I like, because then I'd just end up listing their whole discography, but from the second album I like Johnny Guitar, which is a bit different from the rest of the band's songs, and has more guitar noodling than average (hence my interest). Really though, the more I listen to these songs, the more I like them, and the more of them I like.


After the Japan tour/album, Cherie unfortunately quit the band. The next album, Waitin' For The Night, features a stronger (and heavier) Joan presence, as she steps up to fill the gap left by Cherie's departure. Don't get me wrong, I love Joan, and I think the songs on this album are strong - they would sound fantastic played out of context - but together they get a little repetitive, as it sounds like the same basic formula repeated song after song (Fantasies is a standout track, though). The band's fourth and final studio album before disbanding, And Now... The Runaways, took the band in a new direction (thanks to new management). The end result is kinda light and poppy, and mostly not as interesting as the band's earlier material.

But there is plenty to love about this band, that much is certain. And instead of writing a conclusion, I'm gonna take the band's example and just run away. :p If you like what you've read/seen/heard here, be sure to pick up one of their albums, or keep your eye open for the movie.

Still, Waters Runs Deep

I was browsing photos of pretty girls on flickr, and I came across one that was titled Empty Spaces, which, incidentally, gave me a craving to listen to the song of the same name (I haven't really listened to Pink Floyd a whole lot in a long time). Anyway, because the live version of Empty Spaces is more complete, and I love the What Shall We Do Now? part that doesn't show up on the studio version, I loaded in the live version of The Wall to listen to. And at the end of The Thin Ice, I thought of two things. The first is that, in perfect counterpoint to Gilmour's fluid leads, Roger Waters has a great talent at writing lyrics (and singing them in such a way) that makes them very singalongable. The other thing I thought, while listening to the final lines in the song:

Don't be surprised when a crack in the ice appears under your feet. You slip out of your depth and out of your mind, with your fear flowing out behind you as you claw the thin ice.

was that Roger Waters has an uncanny ability to describe quite horrific experiences in not only a poetic language, but he sings them in a way that almost belies their terror. Not to say that Waters' voice isn't capable of matching the horror of his lyrics (it certainly is, and frequently does), but then there are cases like this one, and when he sings about nuclear holocaust in Two Suns in the Sunset (the meaning of which would have completely escaped me, by the way, if it weren't for my brother's more lyric-oriented approach to listening to music) -

Like the moment when the brakes lock, and you slide towards the big truck (oh, no). You stretch the frozen moments with your fear. And you'll never hear their voices (daddy! daddy!), and you'll never see their faces. You have no recourse to the law anymore. And as the windshield melts, my tears evaporate, leaving only charcoal to defend.

which is sung in an astonishingly calm voice (once you realize what's really going on). And that's just part of Roger Waters' charm, itself only part of what makes Pink Floyd such a great band. And with that thought on my mind, I can't help thinking that I really need to learn a good David Gilmour solo once and for all.

Anime Chekku

What with a certain anime convention coming up in just under a month, I figured it was a good time for me to watch some anime to really get in the mood. Here's what I've been watching recently:

Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
First up is the fourth incarnation of one of my favorite series, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. I've been waiting for the right moment to watch this since it aired, before the holidays. As expected, Zan is on par with the rest of the series' incarnations, and is very much more of the same (which, if, like me, you like the same, is a good thing). If you're unfamiliar with Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, it is, in my opinion, the perfect blend of social satire, cynical humor, psychological disorders, and adorable moe. And if you think that last element sounds out of place, you may be right, but that's precisely the reason I adore the series so much. And because the art is so good (and the girls so cute), here are a few more screen caps:












Moving on...

Mongolian Chop Squad
Er, that is, Beck. Despite the premise being quite obviously right up my alley, and in spite of the recommendations I've received, I've been slow to catch Beck, and the reason is in the title. Although I could see it being a reference to revered guitar god Jeff Beck, the fact is, my first reaction is to think of a decidedly different Beck who, though I'm not actually familiar with his music, kind of turns me off. In fact, even within the anime series, when the band debuts in America, they have to come up with a different band name (which ends up being Mongolian Chop Squad) for (I think) that very reason.

In any case, it was a good series, about the initial tribulations surrounding the formation of a Japanese rock band. Featured in the band is a hot young guitarist who spent some time in New York, and played alongside another musician currently in a more popular band, and a high school student who turns out to be something of a musical prodigy. Together with the other members of the band, they struggle to make it both as performing and recording artists. Though I liked Chiba's character, his hip hop approach to the vocals wasn't really my style. Koyuki's singing style was better, but still more ballady. What that band needed was a rock vocalist.

The liberties taken with the story of the guitar Lucille are hilariously patchy, though I'm sure that was intentional. But Sonny Boy Waters? The character with the best taste in music was the guitar teacher/humorously awkward old guy, who is a fan of old British rock - he even mentioned the Yardbirds! There were a few minor time jumps in the story that felt a little awkward, but it was nice to see the passage of time that was covered. I wasn't really satisfied with the stilted development of Koyuki and Maho's relationship, though. For the characters who spoke some English, the accents were (mostly) expectedly bad, which was kind of distracting. And to end on a good note, the band's performance at the music festival near the end was really inspirational.

Toradora!
Toradora! is a story of romance, involving a fragile-looking but aggressive girl named Taiga (tora = tiger), and a boy with a mean face but a gentle heart (representing the dragon = doragon). It's one of the many series featuring a tsundere character voiced by Queen of Tsundere Kugimiya Rie, who also voiced hikikomori (and yes, tsundere) Nagi-ojousama from Hayate no Gotoku, who I am rather fond of.

To my surprise, Toradora! featured a number of other familiar voices, including Maria (Tanaka Rie) - also from Hayate no Gotoku (and to my complete surprise, also the voice of my beloved Chii) - as the sensei. I recognized the distinct voice of one Nonaka Ai, who plays Kafuka Fuura in Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, as one of the minor characters. One voice I [shockingly] didn't recognize was that of Horie Yui, playing one of the supporting characters, who also voiced two characters I've had my eye on in the past - Sawachika Eri from School Rumble (<3), and Narusegawa Naru from Love Hina (now I'm showing my age ;_;).

I kind of didn't want to like Aisaka Taiga at first, because to me, she was just a character trying to usurp the voice of Nagi-ojousama (like how Kannagi's Nagi usurped her name), but I got to like her in the end. Although I missed Nagi's usage of "zo" at the end of her sentences. Even though I have the impression that it's more of an aggressive male pattern of speech, I always thought it was cute when she used it. But Taiga doesn't use it.

I think the thing I like about tsundere characters, is that I can relate to their reluctance to show their feelings, especially when those feelings are embarrassing (which usually involves admitting that you like someone). And while I may not have the violent or downright standoffish fronts associated with tsundere characters (at least I hope not), I find that attempt to shield their vulnerabilities immensely attractive (at least in fantasy).

But hiding one's feelings can have painful consequences, for yourself and for those around you. And the way in which this series deals with those consequences is what lifted my appreciation for it above merely a fun show to watch. When I got to the end of the "intervention" scene, it was so good, I went back and watched it three more times in a row before continuing on (I'm not sure I can even remember the last time I've done that). The ending may not have been perfect (or completely satisfying), but that confrontation was worth the price of admission alone.

Alvin Lee

There's this really good video of Ten Years After doing their unique version of the classic song Good Morning Little Schoolgirl on YouTube (just watch it, it's great). I've been learning [this version of] this song, and I was hoping to get some hints on how to do the solo, which I'm pretty helpless about. I'm not good at picking things up strictly by ear (one of the primary reasons I've never considered myself a real musician), and I have a hard time working things out just by watching someone play, unless I can get a good look at what they're doing (and they're not going too fast). Unfortunately, live videos, as great as they are, aren't real good for musicians trying to pick out their individual parts. It would be boring if the camera just focused on the guitarist's fretboard, but if you want to figure out what he's playing, it doesn't help looking at his face, or at the drummer, or what the bass guitarist is playing.

Anyway, the performance of the song I linked above is nice and tasty. It's crisp, and concise. Alvin Lee is often criticized for "noodling", although noodling has always been a good thing in my book. There's a difference between noodling and meandering, by the way. The Grateful Dead meanders. Alvin Lee noodles. Granted, if you're not a big fan of the electric guitar (gasp!) I can imagine it getting kind of boring. Like those dragging drum solos (although I think I at least enjoy them more than the average listener, maybe because I'm a musician, even if not a drummer). But to me, a huge fan of electric guitar, I think noodling is exciting.

Still, it's hard to copy. It's a hell of a lot to tab out, and as much [deserved] respect Alvin Lee gets as a guitarist and among guitarists (and enlightened rock fans), he and the great band Ten Years After are not super popular, and tabs are sparse. Of course, you could take an Alvin Lee solo from the perspective (as "real" musicians undoubtedly do) of an improvisation in a certain key (or scale or whatever), in the Alvin Lee "style". Every [good] guitarist has their unique style, which, in the context of guitar solos, generally indicates certain types of licks that come up often. The more guitar solos I'm learning, the more I'm coming to understand this, and it's quite fascinating. Alvin definitely has his style, and I've learned some of those licks off of the tab of the intro to I'm Going Home that I scrounged up a while back.

But still, I'm not real keen on improvising a bunch of semi-accurate licks. If I was a much better player, and could pull it off impressively, I'd do it, but I'm not. At this point, it's akin to the ever-popular "hand-waving" technique in physics lectures. That's where you sort-of-explain a concept in vague terms because you don't really understand it yourself, but it's just enough to fool the people you're explaining it to. That's what it would be like to fake my way through a solo well enough to trick people into thinking it was effective. But it still wouldn't be on the level of an Alvin Lee solo. And I'm not interested in tricking people, I'm interested in getting better and learning how to play as well as the players I admire.

Coming back, yet again, to the video I linked above, what's nice about it is that - although I'm not bothered with noodling to start with - it is, as I said, concise. It's robust, and it's got everything it needs, including a nice 2:30 long solo, but it doesn't really have anything extraneous tossed in. And the solo just sounds great. It doesn't drag at all, it's just one melodic lick after another. And those are the licks I really want to learn. That's the kind of solo I'd love to be able to play on that song. Just like Alvin himself.

I don't know if there's even any chance of me figuring out what he's playing there. But I really want to.

Joe Bonamassa - Live From The Royal Albert Hall

Joe Bonamassa's Live From The Royal Albert Hall concert DVD would be an interesting watch even if it was a mediocre show. But this is Joe Bonamassa, one of the greatest guitarists living, and the best of his generation. And this is a fantastic show. But beyond the surface of whether or not the performances are captivating (and they are), is the meaning behind this show. Joe Bonamassa's Royal Albert Hall performance was 20 years in the making - his own personal dream and goal for himself, ever since watching Cream's original farewell concert played there in 1968 - and it shows both in the way this DVD is presented, and in the performances themselves.

Regardless of what raw talent he has (which is undeniable, given that he was opening for B.B. King at the ripe young age of 12), Joe presents himself as the working man of today's blues rock scene, and there's no denying the effort he's put in - honing his craft, garnering a fan base, and slowly climbing the ladder of stardom. This performance at the Royal Albert Hall represents his dream come true, and when he plays to that crowd, you can really feel the payoff.

The nervousness is palpable as the camera tracks Joe's advance to the stage at the beginning of the concert. In the first song, I heard the first bum note I have ever heard Joe play - but the rest of the night was flawless. And when the legend himself, Eric Clapton, finally joins the stage, I felt like that was me up there in Joe's place, after 20 years of effort, finally having a chance to trade licks with God.

Joe Bonamassa is truly an inspiration, not just in the music he plays, but in his approach to that music, and life in general. It's almost enough to make me believe that even I could one day play the Royal Albert Hall (or the Budokan, or the Madison Square Garden, where Led Zeppelin played the performance that first inspired me to pick up the guitar), if only I work my ass off for twenty years. I don't quite believe it, but I almost do. I want to.


Highlights of the first half of the show include the solo in So Many Roads, which Joe really gets into; trading licks with Clapton, which I mentioned above; and, of course, Sloe Gin, which opens real quiet with piano, followed by a somber guitar lead. Joe's wearing a nice suit at the open of the show, but after his duet with Clapton, and just before Sloe Gin, he switches to a black shirt, becoming the man in black. As an aside, I love that all black look, and the sunglasses only add to it.

Joe loosens up in the second half, playing some truly great leads. Paul Jones plays harp on Your Funeral My Trial. The highly polished finesse of Blues Deluxe here - which I love in rougher versions - actually sounds really good. Joe dons a sparkly strapped Flying V (I've got to get a strap like that) for the set-closing Just Got Paid - Zeppelin jam included. And for the encore, we get the beautiful Mountain Time, the intro to which I noted was reminiscent (in structure if not strictly content) of Jimmy Page's White Summer showcase, followed by the also beautiful Asking Around For You, which despite its religious overtones ("if I ever get to heaven"), still manages to get to me.

"Thank you, London, for making this the greatest night of my life."


The bonus interview included on the DVD with Joe in a bus (a snazzy tour bus, not a city bus) is enlightening, and really showcases the depth and breadth of Joe's talent. He talks about a handful of his songs - mostly from the Ballad of John Henry album - both lyrically and musically, delving into his influences and giving impromptu demonstrations on guitar. It's impossible not to be impressed by both the physical talent at playing guitar, and the mental ability to understand music, that this man possesses. Truly inspiring.

I recommend this DVD highly.

Music Haul

In addition to Mystery To Me, here are the CD's I got over the holidays (in no particular order), with a couple [hundred] words about each:


Stevie Ray Vaughan - Couldn't Stand The Weather [1984]

This is SRV's second studio album, following his debut Texas Flood. Both that album and this one are consistently good, serving up Stevie's trademark style of swinging Texas blues rock. The album kicks off with a short but impressive instrumental, Scuttle Buttin', which showcases Stevie's rapid fretting capabilities. The most radio-friendly tracks on this disc are the title track and Cold Shot, as well as the not-to-be-missed cover of Jimi Hendrix's Voodoo Chile (even if, in all fairness, I think Jimi's version is better). I also like the bluesy The Things (That) I Used To Do, but the standout track is the long slow burner Tin Pan Alley (aka Roughest Place In Town), whose praises I've sung elsewhere.


Harvey Mandel - The Snake [1972]

I really enjoy Harvey Mandel's music. He's a straight-up instrumentalist, who rarely bothers to add vocals to his songs (which is a-ok by me). He has experience playing the blues in Chicago - his path crossed that of Mike Bloomfield's on more than one occasion - and he had a stint in California blues band Canned Heat at the end of the sixties. But his solo material has a bit of a jazz flavor - that is, interesting guitar jazz, not that horn bullshit. His songs do have a tendency to melt together and blend into the background, but where others may count that as a negative, I consider it to be part of The Snake's charm. Oh, by the way, the title for this album borrows Harvey's nickname - the origin for which I've heard multiple stories, but I like to believe it has something to do with his fluid, "slithering", guitar lines. For example, in the track Bite The Electric Eel.


Gary Moore - Blues Alive (Live) [1993]

I'm a fan of Gary Moore. He's a good guitarist in the blues rock vein, but he's got more of a modern touch - and when I say "modern", I mean, like, from the blues revival of the eighties. He's got great technique, and he wouldn't sound out of place in the shredding hair metal scene, I guess. For blues purists that might be a sin, but hey, he's a fantastic guitarist. He's not my top favorite, but his chops are solid (though some argue that he's got more technique than soul), he's a lot of fun to listen to, and he's got great taste - he's covered Roy Buchanan, and he's a dedicated devotee to Peter Green (to the point of having recorded an album of Peter Green covers, which he played on Peter Green's classic guitar, that he inherited).

This live set sounds great. Many good songs on here, including one of my favorites from Gary's catalog - Still Got The Blues. Albert Collins makes a guest appearance on Too Tired (a Collins song - though I'd rather it was Cold Cold Feeling, like on the DVD I got last year). Got some blues classics, including Further On Up The Road, Albert King's Oh Pretty Woman, and the perennial favorite, The Sky Is Crying. Parisienne Walkways is also worth mentioning, which is a beautiful song. The encore is one of my favorite Peter Green songs - Jumping At Shadows (disclaimer: Peter Green didn't actually write the song, his friend Duster Bennett did, but his version is the one I am familiar with, and fond of). Peter of course does it better than Gary, but it's still really cool to hear someone else doing the song.


Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Re*Ac*Tor [1981]

Re*ac*tor is the Crazy Horse album following 1979's Rust Never Sleeps (which was half solo/acoustic); and if Rust Never Sleeps was the Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere of the seventies (vaguely speaking), then Re*ac*tor is akin to the Zuma of the eighties. It doesn't have any timeless radio hits, but it rocks, it's hard, and it's great for Crazy Horse fans such as myself. I would also classify it as a bit of a "road record", considering it has a lot of road-themed songs (Get Back On It, Southern Pacific, Motor City, Rapid Transit). The opening track, Opera Star, is a great one lyric-wise - although I don't usually pay much attention to lyrics. The 9+ minute jam on T-Bone, which has all of two lines ("got mashed potatoes, ain't got no t-bone") repeated to infinity, may not be the best in Crazy Horse's long line of jam songs, but it's a good one. I'm also fond of the train song (Southern Pacific) and Rapid Transit, complete with its exaggeratedly stuttered vocals. But my favorite track on the album is probably the fierce closing number, Shots.


Albert King - Wednesday Night in San Francisco (Live) [1968]

This disc of tracks from a classic live Albert King concert (his first performance at the legendary Fillmore West, playing to a mostly hippie crowd) is actually one part of three separate releases, which also include Thursday Night, and the original Live Wire/Blues Power. To my understanding, Wednesday and Thursday night are just more performances from the same (two) concerts that the original live album Live Wire/Blues Power comes from. So, I probably should have gotten that one first, but for some reason (possibly the track list, possibly including songs I've heard on a web radio station), this is the one I asked for. I have no regrets, however. This is classic Albert King; and as much as I love and respect B.B. King (and I really do), I like this album more than B.B.'s more popular concert album Live at the Regal (from 1964). Wednesday Night contains a great (if short) tracklist, including two songs from Albert's popular Born Under A Bad Sign album from the previous year - the title track and Personal Manager - plus the classic Don't Throw Your Love On Me So Strong which Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield adopted for their live shows in support of their Super Session project from the same year as this concert. And my favorite track on the set is the rousing blues, Got To Be Some Changes Made.


Cheap Trick - Cheap Trick [1977]

I'm not any kind of real big Cheap Trick fan. Dream Police and Surrender are fun songs, but I've never been fond of I Want You To Want Me, which is a piece of sap that gets so totally overplayed on rock radio that it's not even funny. I mean, does it even make sense that a rock radio station would take one look at a rock band and pick out the lightest, sappiest, boy bandiest song in their catalog and play it on endless repetition? Or maybe it's the fans' (or the non-fans') faults for making that song so damn popular. But it's apparent that Cheap Trick is not a band that is very adequately represented on corporate radio (at least not the Cheap Trick I know, which is the Cheap Trick that recorded this album). And, the bottom line? Cheap Trick's debut album rocks, hard. There's not a radio hit on this album (at least not one we still hear today), but I'd be hard pressed to choose a bad track off this record. There's a reason they originally named the sides "Side 1" and "Side A". With songs like Taxman, Mr. Thief and the wild opener ELO Kiddies, not to mention my favorites, the deliciously evil Daddy Should Have Stayed In High School ("I'm sorry, but I had to gag you") and The Ballad of TV Violence ("I need a gun to have me some fun"), this album delivers. The guitars are hard and the vocals rough. Forget that other song I Want You To Want Me, this album here is the product of a rock band.


Roy Buchanan - Roy Buchanan [1972]/Second Album [1973]

Roy Buchanan is one of my top favorite guitarists of all time. And he has been since the first I heard of him (via the ethereal The Messiah Will Come Again). His style is unique and emotive, his playing rough but delicate. He has total control over every note he plays. It only took one song for me to know that he was one of the best that ever was. But even so, I was at first hesitant to put all the weight of my dedication behind him, simply because I hadn't heard a lot of what he had recorded (and you will never hear his songs - some of the best that were ever recorded - playing on the radio, I guarantee you that). Well that is slowly changing, and the more I listen to Roy Buchanan, the stronger my conviction is that he is one of the best of the best.

These two albums are his first "official" studio records, and they contain some slammin' tracks - my favorites being the instrumentals of course. On the first album, you've got the beautifully melodic Sweet Dreams, the country-tinged melancholy of I Am A Lonesome Fugitive (which is growing on me), the afore-mentioned (and unmatched - except by Roy's live versions, of course) The Messiah Will Come Again, the soulful John's Blues and Pete's Blue, and a couple others for the less heavy-hearted listeners. The second album features yet more instrumentals, including the impressive After Hours and I Won't Tell You No Lies, and the plodding Five String Blues (which actually has a few short vocals in the middle) - apparently that song was named so because Roy broke a string at some point but kept on playing. He clearly doesn't need all six strings to impress. Treat Her Right has a little surf flavor to it, and Tribute To Elmore James (a bluesman hailed as the king of the slide) is self-explanatory. All in all, the showcase of these albums is Roy Buchanan's incredible talent, and for that these albums most certainly do not disappoint.


The Allman Brothers Band - Beginnings [1973]

Released as early as 1973, Beginnings actually contains both of the Allman Brothers Band's first two albums, their self-titled debut from 1969, and Idlewild South from 1970. Both of these albums contain top-notch music from one of the greatest jam rock bands of all time. You hear about Eat A Peach and Brothers And Sisters more often (and those are also both great albums), but think of these as the fresh, early, bluesy beginnings of the band - like Zep's first two albums, for example. Immortal songs found on these two albums include Dreams, Whipping Post, Revival, Midnight Rider, and In Memory of Elizabeth Reed, but the rest of the tracks are almost as good (and in some cases, just as good or better!). My favorite moment is when the first album kicks off with that intense one-two hit - the instrumental Don't Want You No More, which flows seamlessly into the brooding It's Not My Cross To Bear. The vocals on Hoochie Coochie Man on the second album, sung by bass guitarist Berry Oakley, sound so much like Johnny Winter that, until I looked it up, I was convinced that they had gotten Johnny to appear as a guest on that album!


Derek and the Dominos - The Layla Sessions [1970]

I've told the story a million times before - Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs is the album that came out of Eric Clapton's obsession and unrequited love for his best friend George Harrison's wife Patti Boyd. The album is tortured and romantic, and I count it as the best collection of love songs ever recorded. And unlike Clapton's other bands of the time - specifically, Cream and Blind Faith - which exploded due to creative differences, in Derek and the Dominos, the importance of the music rose above and beyond the individual members of the band. And that's saying a lot, considering the talent that was focused in that band. Aside from Clapton himself, legendary slide player of the Allman Brothers Band, Duane Allman joined in on the studio sessions. The result was (and still is) sublime.

The Layla Sessions collects the entire [I am to believe] studio sessions recorded while working on the Layla album. Which isn't actually a whole lot, beyond what made it onto the album. The Sessions is a three disc box set. One disc is a newly remixed version of the original album. Another is a collection of alternate takes - which is interesting, but I think 20+ minutes of Mean Old World (which is acoustic, and on the shorter side in terms of length) is a bit much. But the meat of the Sessions set is the Jams disc, which contains five instrumental jams: three featuring the core Dominos band; one with the addition of Duane Allman, forming the ultimate lineup that appears on the album; and one with the entire Allman Brothers Band sitting in with the Dominos. One thing that becomes apparent, listening to these jams - as good as they are - is how much the vocals add to the mood of the album. And this is coming from someone who often tunes out the vocals in a song!

Musical Discoveries

Inspired by a post by Satanic Thoreau, which characteristically turned out to be way fucking longer than I was expecting, I've decided to discuss where I discovered some of my favorite musical artists.

Classic Rock (Popular)

Most of the classic rock artists I'm into I discovered from a combination of my parents' listening habits as I was being raised (more of a subconscious inspiration), and the stuff I heard on RRK, which was (alas, no longer) the classic rock station in this area when I first *consciously* started recognizing music and acquiring a taste for it (around the end of my high school years). But here are a few specific stories:

Led Zeppelin

Stairway To Heaven was one of the first songs that I really got into in a big way. During the first semester of my senior year in high school, I spent a lot of time at home after school sitting in the dark and listening to RRK. I was "earning my chops" as a listener, in terms of getting to know all the most popular classic rock tracks (at least on big name radio, anyway). But everytime Stairway To Heaven came on - which was relatively frequently - I went into a total trance. It was practically a spiritual experience. The magic of the song, and the power and emotion of the solo. Once, a little later, after acquiring a girlfriend, I pulled the car into the driveway when Stairway came on. She was anxious to get inside, so she shut the radio off - cutting off my reverie. I was pissed.

As far as the rest of Zep's catalog, in addition to what RRK played, they did a Top 50 Albums countdown over Thanksgiving weekend that year. I got introduced to a lot of good albums on that countdown (as opposed to just songs), and I actually used it as a guide for writing up my Christmas list, since before then I didn't really know what albums were good. The albums on that countdown that made the biggest impression on me were Zep's.

Another formulating experience, if I haven't mentioned it already, was the weekend with the ZoSocar. One weekend that December, my brother 'traded' cars with me for the weekend, because he wanted to take the van up to Canada. So I got to drive his white Firebird. It was a sweet ride. He left Zep's fourth album in the CD player, so naturally, driving the car meant listening to the album. It was an amazing experience, that I am sure only increased the magic of that album.

Pink Floyd

I discovered Pink Floyd pretty much the same way as Led Zeppelin, though there wasn't necessarily one song that stood out for me as much as Stairway To Heaven did. But I do remember one Floyd-related incident from my childhood. I was in some way familiar with Dark Side of the Moon, because I remember I would sometimes beg my mom to put it on so I could listen to my favorite part, which was the ambient portion at the very beginning of the song Time. Floyd was probably the band I was most consciously aware of during the early years. In the discovery period, during the end of my high school years, I attached myself to Pink Floyd because they seemed a bit more sophisticated than the average rock band, and also because their music had a certain emotion to it - something a bit more introspective and atmospheric - which attracted me. I remember driving back from the mall one day, by myself, and Hey You came on the radio, and I thought back on my experiences, since I was approaching graduation, and I just had this feeling that Pink Floyd had some underlying connection to me.

The Doors

Something about The Doors reminds me of our family vacations to Deep Creek Lake in my childhood. It probably has a lot to do with hearing them a lot during those vacations. But it might also have to do with a very important experience that has stuck in my memory all these years. We were just coming off the lake as a storm broke out. While our relatives were tying up the boat, my brothers and I ran ahead to the cottages for cover. The doors were locked and nobody answered. We ran along the road from our parents' cottage to our grandparents' cottage, and the van drove right up to us, coming back from shopping. They opened the door and we climbed in out of the rain, and Riders on the Storm was playing on the CD player. Perfect.

The Who

The Who was actually the first rock concert I ever went to. But it wasn't me, it was my brother, that suggested it to my dad in the first place. I wanted to get a better idea of who The Who was - in essence, which of the songs I knew from the radio was actually The Who. I heard Who Are You one day, and I remember coming to the realization that "this is The Who". So I've kind of always felt a little behind the curve in my appreciation for The Who, but there's something very unique about the band, particularly Pete Townshend's approach to playing the guitar, that I've come to appreciate more and more over the years.

The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones is my dad's favorite band, so my awareness of them is pretty self-explanatory. They don't really have a searing guitar god - Keith Richards has always been more of the rhythm/song-writing type - so I've always spent less attention on them than other bands. But there's no doubt that they have a solid groove, as well as being just downright cool. And listening to them a lot, and learning about them on the side, from my dad's influence, I've learned to appreciate them more and more.

Neil Young

My first encounter with Neil Young was the song Cinnamon Girl which came on every once in awhile on the radio. I remember separating it in my mind from Brown-Eyed Girl, since the title was similar in structure. But between the two, Cinnamon Girl was more interesting because it was electric and had a rock edge. Another time, in a rare occurence, I heard Down By The River playing on the radio, and I was captivated by the electric jamming and groovy atmosphere. Yet another time, I heard Like A Hurricane, and I wasn't sure it was Neil Young, but I had a pretty good idea that it was, because I could hear the stylistic similarities to Down By The River. I tried to look it up, but kept getting Rock You Like A Hurricane, which obviously wasn't right.

I knew my dad had some Neil Young in his collection, so I looked through it one night, and discovered the album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, with the song Down By The River - bingo! Listening to the album, I heard Cowgirl in the Sand for the very first time, and it blew me away. I loved it, but I didn't become totally obsessed with the song until my freshman year in college, sitting in the window, watching the students pass by down below, listening to the song on repeat for hours, waiting for just a glimpse of heaven.

Other Classic Rock/Blues

Robin Trower and Ten Years After

I'm lumping these two together only because I 'discovered' them simultaneously. Ten Years After has more or less been my dad's second favorite band, and my introduction to them during the Woodstock film (Alvin Lee totally smoking on the guitar throughout I'm Going Home) whetted my appetite for more. As for Robin Trower, I heard about him from an online classic rock forum, and decided he was worth checking out. So sometime during my college days, I ordered a TYA album and a Trower album. When they arrived, I took them to the library to listen to while doing some homework (I'm thinking this must have been sophomore year). I was entranced by Trower, and TYA blew me away. One of the TYA songs, You Give Me Loving, actually sounded familiar to me. It was bizarre, because I know I hadn't consciously heard the song before, but the riff must have been burned into my brain subconsciously from listening to TYA a lot during childhood, as I'm sure I did.

Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac

My first introduction to Peter Green was waking up halfway in the middle of the night, with the radio still playing, and hearing the song Oh Well, including the full acoustic portion. It mesmerized me, and I made a point to jot down the name of the song and the band, that the DJ announced after it ended, on a strip of paper so I would remember it the next morning. I woke up and looked at the piece of paper, and told myself that there was no way that song was by Fleetwood Mac, the band that did the Rumours album. So I shrugged it off for the time being.

I don't recall how Peter Green re-entered my consciousness, but I was curious, perhaps still wondering about that Oh Well song, so I went and bought the BBC Sessions featuring not just Fleetwood Mac, but Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. I was sold instantly, after listening to it. Peter Green, with his heart-rending soulful blues licks, and his melancholic sensibilities, immediately became one of my favorite artists of all time. He's an amazing musician, and the very personal songs he sings, I feel like it could have been me that wrote those songs. There's a deep connection there.

Michael Bloomfield

I came upon Michael Bloomfield in a roundabout way. It's pretty ironic, actually. One day, jumping into (or maybe just before getting out of) the car at Guitar Center, I heard on the radio - a rare occurrence, indeed - the version of Season of the Witch which turned out to be by Al Kooper and Stephen Stills. Not at first, but this gradually led me to the Super Session album, from which the track comes, which features some of Bloomfield's best playing. The session was conceived for just that purpose, and Stills' contribution came only after Bloomfield skipped out halfway through the proceedings. So by chance, I was drawn to Super Session by one of the non-Bloomfield tracks!

And then there was the Monterey Pop Festival DVD. Bloomfield plays on it with a band called Electric Flag. But what caught my attention even more, was the Paul Butterfield Blues Band's performance on Driftin' and Driftin'. Once again, I just barely missed Bloomfield, because shortly before Monterey, he had quit the Butterfield Blues Band to form Electric Flag! Still, I got interested in the Butterfield Blues Band, and bought the anthology, half of which features Bloomfield on guitar. So from both this and Super Session, I came to discover, in a roundabout fashion, the genius of Michael Bloomfield, forgotten blues virtuoso guitar god of the sixties (and to a decidedly lesser extent, the seventies).

Other Genres

Joe Bonamassa (Modern Blues Rock)

I don't recall exactly how I came across Grooveyard Records, but when I did, I realized that here was a potential treasure trove of modern music that could appeal to my guitar-driven blues-influenced rock sensibilities. I downloaded all of the sample tracks from the various albums they were offering, and I listened to them, paring them down to the very best four. Then, I ordered the albums those best tracks were from. This is how I discovered Lance Lopez, also. One of those first tracks was A New Day Yesterday from Joe Bonamassa's live album of that title. I got the album and I've been a dedicated fan ever since. He's my favorite modern guitarist.

Shannon Curfman (Modern Blues Rock)

One day during my senior year in college, I was sitting at my desk in my room, reading from a hometown mag I had just got in the mail. I scanned through it for anything interest-catching. Well, in the live performances section of the magazine, there was an article about an upcoming performance by a young female blues rocker. My interest was piqued. When I read that she had recorded a blues album at age 15, I was fascinated. I couldn't get home to see her perform that time, but I bought her album and got a chance to see her next time 'round.

Silvertide (Modern Classic-style Rock)

When Silvertide were just getting popular over in Philly, there was a Philly-based member on an online Zeppelin forum I frequented at the time. He was advertising the band, but I pretty much ignored them at first. Finally, this member sent me an audio track or two, and I was really impressed. I also visited the band's website and heard a few more songs, and I was hooked. I got a chance to see the band live as an opening act, and I eagerly anticipated their first album release. Afterward, I even hoofed it out across the stateline to see them perform for a future live DVD release, which never happened. Unfortunately, the band faded into the void behind lies of a second album. Nobody knows if they will ever resurface, but at this time, it looks highly doubtful. Ah well, they were good while they lasted.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor (Post-Rock)

My initial foray into the post-rock and, more generally, the ambient and atmospheric music genres, came out of my discovery of the band Godspeed You! Black Emperor. And that occurred while initially watching zombie horror flick 28 Days Later. Despite their anti-publicity stance, Godspeed allowed one of their songs to be used in the movie - and to breathtaking effect. It certainly made an impression on me. Not only did I fashion the main riff of the first "original" song I wrote on guitar after the riff in that song, but I tracked the song down (which doesn't appear on the film soundtrack, by the way), and I've been a fan of the band ever since. The post-apocalyptic soundscapes that journey from very loud to very quiet sections entrances me.

Hippie Ideals

"When in the flow of human events it becomes necessary for the people to cease to recognize the obsolete social patterns which have isolated man from his consciousness and to create with the youthful energies of the world revolutionary communities of harmonius relations to which the two-billion-year-old life process entitles them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind should declare the causes which impell them to this creation. We hold these experiences to be self-evident, that all is equal, that the creation endows us with certain inalienable rights, that among these are: the freedom of body, the pursuit of joy, and the expansion of consciousness, and that to secure these rights, we the citizens of the earth declare our love and compassion for all conflicting hate-carrying men and women of the world.

We declare the identity of flesh and consciousness; all reason and law must respect and protect this holy identity."

 - A Prophecy of a Declaration of Independence, Fall 1966

I've never actually considered myself a hippie, despite being sympathetic to their cause and lifestyle ever since discovering them in the course of my fandom of rock from that era (specifically, the late 60's and early 70's). There have even been times when I've felt that I was born too late; that I would have fit in so much better in the [counter-]culture of the 60's. From what I've come to understand, the hippie movement rose to some extent out of the earlier beatnik culture, embracing a more positive outlook on life, and formed a counterculture largely reactionary to the politics of the day, particularly relating to the unpopular Vietnam War. Hippies preached love and peace, and greatly admired their freedom of expression.

Today, the stereotype that prevails is that of the "dirty hippie". Frankly, I think that's an unfortunate stereotype. Just because you have a deeper connection with the earth, or that you let your hair grow long, doesn't mean that you've given up all notions of cleanliness. It's a fact that, at Woodstock, not only were hippies washing themselves in a nearby pool of water - with soap, I might add - but some of them were also shaving - even their armpits! And in spite of all the Rastafarians and Deadheads and generic Gypsies you see these days, it's the groovy people at Woodstock that form the ideal picture of a 'hippie' in my mind.

So what do I get out of hippie idealism? Besides the music, the three main things are peace, love, and freedom.

Peace

Now, I don't necessarily consider myself a pacifist. I believe that there are times when violence is warranted. However, I believe that those times are (or at least should be, in a rational society) rare, and extreme. I believe that a lot of people are way more aggressive, in physical and non-physical ways, than they should be. Anger really pisses me off. It's kind of ironic, but it's true. When people start getting mad, the funny thing is, I'm angrier at the fact that these people (especially if I happen to be one of them) have allowed themselves to get to a point where they feel it necessary to resort to this kind of aggressive behaviour, rather than keeping a cool head and being rational about it, than I am about whatever topic the people have gotten angry about. I hate arguments - I think they're utterly pointless, and serve only to damage the relations between people. You can have rational discussions, and you can agree to disagree, but if you get two people shouting at each other because they each want the other to do or think in their own way, then you've already lost sight of what's important.

People often say I'm a pretty groovy person - in terms of being relaxed and chilled out a lot. Part of that is because I'm pretty timid, and it's not natural for me to express myself and my thoughts and beliefs over other people's. I like to avoid confrontation by letting things be. But if part of that is fear of agression, I'd like to think that part of it is the knowledge of how little aggression usually accomplishes - or the fact that when it accomplishes something, it tends to accomplish the opposite of what I consider to be important in life. Maybe other people put a premium on power and coercion and control, but I'm more interested in mutual understanding and respect. And aggression never accomplishes that.

So chill out, live and let live, and expend your energy in a more positive way. You'll feel a lot better in the long run.

Love

I believe in love. I believe that loving your fellow man does so much more for both you and him than hating him ever could. There's too much hatred in the world. What's all this fighting about, anyway? Can we for once consider our victims' perspectives and stop being so selfish? Love your enemy as you would your friend.

There's another aspect to the hippie's perspective on love - and that's the sexual angle. This one I'm slightly less aligned with. Hippies were all about free love. There was a great sexual liberation in the 60's, and I'm all for that. But the idea of sharing sex with strangers I'm not so keen on. I understand it can be a great way to connect with people, and promote love. But, particularly with all the complications involved, love can inspire some pretty wicked feelings too. Jealousy, resentment, control, possession, obsession. There is a dark side to love, as much as there is a light side. And then you've gotta worry about pregnancy, as well as diseases.

So in this case, I'd say I'm more on board with the psychological component of promoting love. I still don't think people should be too hung up on the physical aspect of love, but I'm not exactly about to promote having sex with everyone you meet.

Freedom

Freedom of mind and body. Freedom of expression. Freedom to be yourself. Freedom from the rules of the Establishment. I'm all about freedom. Dress code? Fuck that, I'll go naked if I feel like it. Only girls wear their hair that long? Fuck that, I'll let my hair grow as long as I want. You can't do or say or think or feel this or that? Fuck you, I am who I am and I'm gonna embrace that, not hide away from it, locking myself up into a rigid shape of a man that's been defined for me by an inanimate entity (the Establishment) that doesn't know a single thing about me, and cares only to further its own cause. If you really gave a damn for me, I'd be more willing to listen to your suggestions, but if that were the case, you'd understand that restricting me from expressing the things that are important to me is tantamount to slavery of the soul. And there's no way I'm gonna stand for that!

 

(This discussion is continued in the following entry titled "Drugs")

My Favorite Bands

My brother goes through phases in terms of his music fandom. He'll be totally obsessed with something for awhile, then he'll reach some kind of breakthrough and find something new. I've known a lot of people that are like this, that seem to drift from one scene to another. In contrast, I've always had a certain respect for a person who stuck fast to the things he enjoys. My taste evolves and my moods change just like anyone else, but I like to think that I'm a little more stable than the average person. Granted, I'm much more into blues these days than I ever have been, and I tend to focus more concentration on it than my beloved classic rock. But if you look behind the outer layer, I think you'll see that my focus really hasn't changed at all these past 6 years or so, since I've really gotten into music. My favorite band in high school was Pink Floyd, and my favorite band in college was Led Zeppelin. I don't listen to Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin as much as I used to, because frankly, I've kind of worn them out (not to say that I don't still enjoy listening to them when I get the chance, though). But in their place, I'm listening to bands a lot like Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. It's not really new, it's kind of just more of the same. I haven't switched genres, I've just gone deeper. Instead of Pink Floyd, I listen to Tangerine Dream, post-rock bands like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and various ambient/atmospheric stuff. And instead of Led Zeppelin, I listen to other blues rock bands like the original Fleetwood Mac, and Robin Trower, etc. So I feel like, where other people might like to journey laterally, I like to spend my time going deeper into the environment in which I'm already ensconced.

So my brother's favorite bands seem to change every year or two, and he comes up to me and asks me what my favorite bands are. And I sit there, and I have to think, "why are you asking me this question? You already know what my favorite bands are. I told you a year ago, and a year before that." But anyway, in case my list has changed slightly over the years, and for those who have never asked me, here are my favorite bands, and an example of an album or two from each which represents well what I like about them.

 

Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Studio: Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (1969)
Live: Live At The Fillmore East (1970)

I have great respect for Neil Young as a musician, and the things he stands for, but when he combines his style with the engine of Crazy Horse, that's where it all comes together in the perfect package. People are hesitant to praise Neil Young's rough and idiosyncratic approach to lead guitar, but to me, the rawness of his licks touch the base frustration of my soul like nothing else can. The lead lines in Cowgirl in the Sand - the definitive version presented on Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, and a powerful live version on the newly released Fillmore concert - express perfectly the frustration within me at the mental struggles I endure. Wanting so badly to be more than I am, but being held back by unreasonable fears and insecurities, and the anger that stirs within me. Neil's stinging leads are the vocalization of that, in Cowgirl, as well as the other songs where he plays in that style.

 

Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac
Studio: Then Play On (1969)
Live: Live At The Boston Tea Party (1970)

The beauty of the original Fleetwood Mac, as I see it, is three-fold - and each fold covers the leader, Peter Green. On the one hand, you have Green's intensely personal rendition of the blues, stimulated by his tasteful and deeply emotional guitar style. Tracks like Jumping At Shadows, A Fool No More, and Love That Burns, are legitimate proof that white boys can play the blues just as sincerely as anyone. On the other hand, you have Fleetwood Mac's amazing rockers, epitomized by Rattlesnake Shake, which itself expanded into a beautifully intense exploratory musical jam inspired by bands like The Grateful Dead, but with a much harder edge. On the third hand, you have Peter Green's depressing personal songs, like Man of the World, Oh Well, Closing My Eyes, and The Green Manalishi, which convey a sense of sadness, paranoia, and even anger at the pattern of the world, as well as his confusion about the path his life was taking him in, from being nobody to a superstar, leading him to question the value and worth of it all. These feelings of being lost in a lost world I can relate to, and sympathize with, and they are a beautiful expression of the same kind of feelings I've been trying to communicate in my own music.

 

Led Zeppelin
Studio: Led Zeppelin (1969)
Live: The Song Remains The Same (1973)

Led Zeppelin was one of the first bands I got into. Not only do they have a certain cool factor that crosses all kinds of social and cultural barriers, but they actually have the talent and the style to back it up. Although the untitled fourth album was as influential in my development as a rock fan as any of Zep's albums were, their debut is probably their most bluesiest album, and while I'd be hard-pressed to pick one album as my definite favorite, this one would have to be considered. Among other things, the relaxed tightness of the band, their confidence in their own abilities, and the communication between Plant's voice and Page's guitar totally enthralled me. The band's live performance in The Song Remains The Same awed me to the point that I actually went out and bought a guitar, with the intent to learn to play like Jimmy. And I'm still working on that.

Pink Floyd
Studio: ?
Live: Live At Pompeii (1972)

As you can see, it's just about impossible for me to pick out one of Pink Floyd's albums as my favorite. I could easily choose Dark Side of the Moon, and it would be deserving of the position, but doing so would leave out so much other greatness the band accomplished, including the lesser known stuff that gets overlooked by pop culture - which is represented in the mind-blowing live show at Pompeii. Pompeii to me represents the height of what Pink Floyd was about, even more so than Dark Side of the Moon. Rather than a perfectly polished meditation on life's mysteries, Pink Floyd was originally about experimentation, and journeying unprepared into the unknown, which they would later spend so much time relating to the world, after they had returned from the intellectual voyage.

 

Robin Trower
Studio: Twice Removed From Yesterday (1973)
Live: Live (1976)

I got into Trower from a tip on a classic rock forum, but it was love at first listen. Trower's guitar style is gorgeously emotive. And his aesthetic carries a kind of spacey mystery. It's like Pink Floyd mixed with Led Zeppelin, in a way. Additionally, Dewar's vocals are the perfect match for Trower's licks, and that combination makes a powerful impression. Most people who know of Trower would cite Bridge of Sighs, but I'm more impressed by the original Robin Trower Band's debut album, Twice Removed From Yesterday. Besides featuring a lot of Trower's awesome guitar work (such as in the sublime Daydream and the torching Rock Me Baby), some of my favorite, and most heartbreaking, songs are on that album - specifically, I Can't Wait Much Longer and Hannah. For the live side of things, the Live album from 1976 is amazing in that it's not quite as self-conscious as a lot of live rock albums are. The band is truly in top form, and while the setlist regrettably does not include the hit title track from Bridge of Sighs, Trower's outstanding - and unmatched - playing on Daydream more than makes up for it. Nowhere else does that track sound quite as good.

 

 

Ten Years After
Studio: Cricklewood Green (1970) or Rock & Roll Music To The World (1972)
Live: Recorded Live (1973) or Live At The Fillmore East (1970)

Like most, my first conscious exposure to Ten Years After was the stage-stealing performance of I'm Going Home featured in the Woodstock film. However, after the Stones, my dad's favorite band is Ten Years After, so it partly runs in my blood. Alvin Lee never fails to impress with the fluidity of his lightning-fast licks. I'm the kind of guy who takes substance over speed, but Alvin Lee's got both. As if that weren't enough, his vocals, while maybe not musically on par with the legendary rock vocalists, capture his songs perfectly, and add a unique touch that really make the songs his own. The band as a whole is very tight, and has a strong foundation in the blues, which naturally appeals to me. At their heart, Ten Years After were a monster live band, and you can check out either of the live albums I've picked to witness not only their impressive improvisational expansion of the track I Can't Keep From Crying, Sometimes, but also the heavy emotional power, and the neverending guitar drama, of the blues Help Me - my personal favorite from the band.

Derek And The Dominos
Studio: Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs (1970)

Despite only releasing one album, I still consider Derek and the Dominos to be one of my favorite bands. Part of that is because it's that good an album. And part of it is because it represents to me the pinnacle of Eric Clapton's career. Better than his solo career; even better than Cream. Part of the magic is the addition to the album of Duane Allman's prowess on the slide guitar, but the bulk of it comes from Clapton's inspiration - his unrequited love for the wife of his best friend. The result is the most beautiful, sincere, and moving collection of love songs ever recorded. My personal favorite track is the unconventional Hendrix cover of Little Wing. Clapton's version is decidedly unique, but it plods on with a power that speaks to me more than the delicate phrasing of Hendrix's original, and even Stevie Ray Vaughan's fantastic version. But to single out that track alone would be a disservice to the rest of this amazing album. Eric Clapton's never performed better.


And of course, there are other names not listed here, that I greatly respect. For example, guitarists like Michael Bloomfield and Roy Buchanan, whom I consider primarily as musicians and less as members of a great band. Then there are bands like The Doors, The Rolling Stones, The Who, and others whom I've always loved, that I would place only slightly lower on the list than the ones I've detailed above. And there are others, but these are primarily the best, in my mind.