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Today in Rock History – May 25

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1965, Blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, Sonny Boy Williamson died in his sleep. Van Morrison, Aerosmith, The Who, The Animals, Yardbirds, and Moody Blues all covered his songs. According to the Led Zeppelin biography Hammer of the Gods, touring the UK in the 60’s, Sonny Boy set his hotel room on fire while trying to cook a rabbit in a coffee percolator.

1965, The Rolling Stones perform “How Many More Years” with their hero Howlin’ Wolf on ABC’s Shindig!

1967, Procol Harum’s “A Whiter Shade Of Pale,” entered the UK charts for the first time, it went on to be a number one hit. The first video for the song was shot in the ruins of Witley Court in Worcestershire, England. Directed by Peter Clifton whose insertion of Vietnam War newsreel footage caused it to be banned from airplay on the Top Of The Pops TV show. The band subsequently made another video.

1967, Pink Floyd appeared at the Gwent Constabulary (‘A’ Division) Spring Holiday Barn Dance, held at The Barn, Grosmont Wood Farm in Cross Ash, near Abergavenny,Wales, England. Support acts were Volume IV with MC Eddie Tattersall.

1967, Janis Joplin performed at the Carousel Ballroom i San Francisco with the Clara Ward Singers and H. P. Lovecraft.

1968, The Yardbirds appeared at Fillmore West in San Francisco.

1968, Pink Floyd performed at Mayfair Suite, The Belfry Hotel, Wishaw, Sutton Coldfield, near Birmingham, England. Support acts were Young Blood and Pineapple Incident. Admission included dinner.

1968, Simon and Garfunkel scored their second US number one album with Bookends.

1968, The Doors performed at Patio Gardens in Farmington, Utah.

1969, Jimi Hendrix played at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds in San Jose, California.

1969, A benefit concert was held for Fairport Convention at The Roundhouse, London to raise money for the families of the bands drummer Martin Lamble, Richard Thompson’s girlfriend, and clothes designer Jeannie Franklyn who were all killed in an accident driving back from a gig. Also on the bill, Family, Pretty Things, Soft Machine and John Peel.

1969, The Who and Led Zeppelin appeared at the Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, Maryland, USA. This was the only time the two group’s ever performed together, with Zeppelin opening the show. On the tickets Led Zeppelin was spelled Lead Zeppelin.

1971, King Crimson appeared at Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England.

1972, David Bowie played at Chelsea Village, Bournemouth, England.

1973, During a 21-date UK tour Wings played the first of three sold out nights at the Hammersmith Odeon in London.

Deep Purple

1973, Deep Purple’s single “Smoke On The Water” was released.

1974, Aerosmith performed at Cape Cod Coliseum, South Yarmouth, Massachusetts.

1974, Rick Wakeman became the first member of the group Yes to have a number one album when Journey To The Centre Of The Earth went to the top of the UK charts.

1975, Rush played at the Paramount Theatre, Seattle, Washington.

1976, The Who perform at the Palais Des Sports in Lyons, France.

1976, Bob Dylan appeared at the Salt Palace, Salt Lake City, Utah.

1976, The Rolling Stones performed at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London.

1977, The Broadway tribute Beatlemania opens at the Winter Garden Theater.

1977, The Grateful Dead appeared at The Mosque, in Richmond, Virginia.

1978, After seeing The Hype (soon to become U2) appearing at the Project Arts Centre, in Dublin, Paul McGuinness became their manager.

1979, Yes appeared at the Long Beach Civic Arena, Long Beach, California.

1980, Black Sabbath played at the Odeon, Birmingham, England.

1983, Roxy Music performed at Radio City Music Hall in New York.

1984, David Gilmour appeared at the Orpheum Theater, Boston, Massachusetts.

1985, Dire Straits scored their second UK number one album with Brothers In Arms, also a chart topper in the US and 24 other countries. Brothers In Arms was one of the first albums to be directed at the CD market, and was a full digital recording (DDD) at a time when most popular music was recorded on analog equipment.

1990, Fleetwood Mac played the first of 42 North American dates on their Behind The Mask world tour at the PNE Coliseum in Vancouver, Canada. Squeeze were the opening act.

1997, A report showed that Elvis Presley was now the world’s bestselling posthumous entertainer with worldwide sales of over one billion, over 480 active fan clubs and an estimated 250,000 UK fans who still buy his records. Ironically he had died owing $3 million (£1.76 million).

1998, Coldplay released their first ever record, an EP called Safety, which featured 3 tracks, “Bigger Stronger,” “No More Keeping My Feet on the Ground,” and “Such a Rush.” The EP was intended as a demo for record companies and is now such a rarity that it is known to fetch in excess of £2000 ($3000) on eBay.

2003, Marilyn Manson were at number one on the US album chart with The Golden Age of Grotesque, a number four hit in the UK and the bands second US chart topper.

2005, The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office in California announced that it was officially closing the stabbing case of Meredith Hunter, the 18-year-old American who was killed at the 1969 Rolling Stones Altamont Free Concert. Investigators, concluding a renewed two-year investigation, dismissed the theory that a second Hell’s Angel took part in the stabbing.

2006, Jamaican reggae singer, songwriter Desmond Dekker died of a heart attack at his home in London, England. Had one of the first international Jamaican hits in 1968, with the song “Israelites.”

2013, American rock and roll bassist, Marshall Lytle, died aged 79. He was best known for his work with the groups Bill Haley & His Comets and The Jodimars in the 1950s. He played upright slap bass on the iconic “Crazy Man, Crazy,” “Shake, Rattle and Roll,” and “Rock Around the Clock.”

Born on this day: Hal David (1921); Tom T. Hall, country music singer-songwriter (1936); Brian Davison, The Nice (1942); John Palmer, English keyboard player, Family (1943); Mitchel Margo, The Tokens (1947); Klaus Meine, German singer-songwriter, guitarist, The Scorpions (1948); Robert Steinhardt, American violinist, singer, Kansas (1950);  Paul Weller, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, The Jam, Style Council (1958); Glen Drover, Canadian guitarist, songwriter, Megadeth, Eidolon, King Diamond (1969); Joe King, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, The Fray (1980)

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Song Of The Day – “Speak To Me/Breathe/On The Run/Time” by Pink Floyd

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 PinkFloydDarkSo Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon hit its 40th anniversary this past week,  and not only did most of us know upon first hearing it that it was a classic, but it has also held up awfully well over the years.

The anniversary got me thinking about some of my favorite records from 1973. Back then, a new record was a much anticipated event. Sure, I still look forward to some new releases (like the new Bowie album, coming out this week), but with the advent of downloaded music, it’s nearly impossible to have a cultural moment anymore just by releasing a new record.

That’s because nobody experiences new music at the same time anymore. We all listened to radio back then; making it more likely we’d all experience a new record roughly at the same time. However with the internet as the primary channel for music distribution, music is either leaked early or streamed before the release date to build hype. As a result, people tend to experience a new song or album at different times. (The new Bowie album has been streaming on iTunes for over a week.) And when you finally get a copy of the record after hearing it online, it somehow lessens its impact.

The early ‘70s was the height of what would end up being the era of classic rock radio. And I still regularly turn to so many of the great albums that came out that year, records like Todd Rundgren’s A Wizard, A True Star, The Rolling Stones’ Goats Head Soup (which most people hated back then), Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Stevie Wonder’s Innervisions, Alice Cooper’s Billion Dollar Babies, David Bowie’s Pin Ups, Gentle Giant’s Octopus, The World Is A Ghetto by War, Foreigner by Cat Stevens, Led Zeppelin’s Houses Of The Holy, The Doobie Brothers’ The Captain And Me and even Chicago VI.

And, of course each of the ex-Beatles was in the early stages of a solo career. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr each released a career-best album in 1973 with Band On The Run and RINGO respectively. Meanwhile George Harrison and John Lennon were hardly slouches with their albums Living In the Material World (by George) and Mind Games (by John) either.

Neil Young’s Time Fades Away and Lou Reed’s Berlin were both totally misunderstood and much maligned when new in 1973, and I can remember initially not liking them much either, but each is rightly recognized as a classic today.

So, no matter how many times they get around to re-releasing them, or how many multi-disc permutations they can manage to squeeze out of a classic album over the span of 40 years (immersion editions anyone?), we still seem to always come back to the original.

OK, so now I toss the ball to you…what were your favorite albums from 1973?

Today in Rock History – July 11

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The First Edition

1964, The Beatles appeared live on the ABC Television program Lucky Stars (Summer Spin,) performing “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Long Tall Sally,” “Things We Said Today,” and “You Can’t Do That.” To avoid the crowd of fans waiting for them, The Beatles arrived at the Teddington Studio Centre by boat, traveling down the River Thames.

1965, The Who performed two shows on this Sunday, first at St. George’s Ballroom in Hinkley, and later at the Savoy Ballroom, South Parade, Southsea, Portsmouth. The second show was supported by the Crow and promoted by Rikki Farr of the Birdcage Club Portsmouth.

1967, Having left the New Christy Minstrels the day before, Kenny Rogers forms the First Edition with fellow ex-Minstrels Thelma Camacho, Mike Settle, and Terry Williams.

1968, Fleetwood Mac appeared at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan.

1969, The Velvet Underground performed at the Boston Tea Party in Boston.

david-bowie-space-oddity-rca1969, “Space Oddity” by David Bowie was released in the UK for the first time. It was timed to coincide with the Apollo moon landing but had to be re-released before it became a hit, later in the year in the UK, and not until 1973 in the US.

1969, The Grateful Dead appeared at the New York State Pavilion, Flushing Meadows, New York.

1969, Led Zeppelin performs at The Laurel Pop Festival along with Jethro Tull, Johnny Winter, Al Kooper, Buddy Guy, and the Edwin Hawkins Singers at the Laurel Race Couse on the outskirts of Baltimore, Maryland. Ticket prices ranged from $4.75 – $10 (£3 – £6.75).

1970, The soundtrack album Woodstock started a four-week run at number one on the album chart.

1970, Three Dog Night started a two-week run at number one in the with their cover of the Randy Newman song “Mama Told Me Not To Come.”

1971, Creedence Clearwater Revival played at Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan.

1971, The Bruce Springsteen Band opened for Humble Pie at the Sunshine Inn, Asbury Park, New Jersey. After the show an impressed Peter Frampton from Humble Pie, tells Springsteen and the band he’d like to have them open for them on a national basis. Frampton also said he would be happy to get the band an audition with his record label, A&M Records.

1972, The Rolling Stones played at the Rubber Bowl in Akron, Ohio.

1973, Brownsville Station performed at Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, Maryland.

1974, KISS was at the West Palm Beach Auditorium, West Palm Beach, Florida.

1974, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The site is now a parking lot for the new baseball and football stadiums in Pittsburgh.

1975, Fleetwood Mac release their self titled tenth album under the Fleetwood Mac name. It was the first to feature Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. The album reached number one on the Billboard 200 over a year after entering the chart, spent 37 weeks within the top 10, and more, than fifteen months within the top 40. It launched three top twenty singles, “Over My Head,” “Rhiannon,” and “Say You Love Me,” the last two falling just short of the top ten, both at number eleven.

1975, Yes performed at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio.

1976,  Frank Sinatra marries Barbara Marx, his fourth and final wife. She had been married to Zeppo Marx.

1976, ZZ Top played at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri.

Siouxsie and the Banshees

1977, This was opening night of a new punk venue, The Vortex Club, on Wardour Street, London, with Siouxise, Adam And The Ants, The Slits and Sham 69.

1978, Bob Dylan performed at Scandinavium, Göteborg, Sweden.

1979, Van Halen played at the Music Hall, Houston, Texas.

1981, Def Leppard releases High ‘n’ Dry, their second album. It was the last to feature Pete Willis as a full member. He was sacked during the “Pyromania” sessions in July 1982. It featured the title track, plus “Let It Go”, “Another Hit and Run,” and “Switch 625.”

1981, The Specials had their second and final UK number one single with “Ghost Town.” Despite being a song about Coventry, the band chose to film the video of themselves driving a Vauxhall Cresta around some empty London streets.

1982, The Rolling Stones played at Stadio Comunale, Turin, Italy.

1983, Robert Plant releases The Principle Of Moments, scoring big with his second solo album. His supporting players include Robbie Blunt, Paul Martinez, Jezz Woodroffe, Phil Collins and Barrimore Barlow. It featured the hits “Big Log” and “In The Mood”.

1984, David Gilmour appeared at the Stanley Theater, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1992, A range of eight men’s ties designed by Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead went on sale in the US. President Bill Clinton bought a set. The collection grossed millions in the US by the end of the year.

1994, The Rolling Stones release Voodoo Lounge, their 20th British and 22nd American studio album. The Stones recapturing some of their classic mojo and swagger. Voodoo Lounge is also the Stones’ first album without long-time bassist Bill Wyman, who left the band in early 1993.

1996, Jonathan Melvoin, keyboard player with the Smashing Pumpkins, died from a drug overdose in New York City aged 34. Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin who was with Melvoin tried, but failed to revive him after Chamberlin was allegedly advised by 911 operators to put Melvoin’s head in the shower. Several songs were inspired by his death, including Sarah McLachlan’s hit single “Angel.” He was the brother of Susannah and Wendy Melvoin of Prince and the Revolution. Melvoin had also been a member of The Dickies.

1999, Limp Bizkit started a three week run at number one on the US album chart with Significant Other, the band’s first US chart topper.

2002, The funeral of The Who’s bass player John Entwistle took place at a church in The Cotswolds. More than 200 mourners filed into the 12th century church of St Edward in Stow-on-the-wold.

2009,“I Gotta Feeling” by the The Black Eyes Peas started a 14-week run at number one on the US singles chart ending the 12-week run of the band’s previous single “Boom Boom Pow.” It made the band only the fourth to replace themselves at the top spot in chart history, following The Beatles, Boyz II Men, and OutKast.

2014, Producer and drummer Tommy Ramone (Thomas Erdelyi), from the influential punk rock band the Ramones died at his home in New York aged 65, following unsuccessful treatment for bile duct cancer. He was the last surviving original member of the Ramones before his death. In 1970, Erdelyi was an assistant engineer for the production of the Jimi Hendrix album Band of Gypsys.

Born on July 11: Jeff Hana, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (1949); Bonnie Pointer, singer, The Pointer Sisters (1951); Pete Murphy, vocals, Bauhaus (1957); Richie Sambora, guitarist Bon Jovi; (1959) Suzanne Vega (1959); and Kimberly Jones, aka Lil’ Kim (1975)

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Today in Rock History – July 5

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1964, The Irish band Them, featuring Van Morrison, record “Gloria.”

1965, The Four Tops record their number five hit “It’s the Same Old Song,” which resembles their number one “I Can’t Help Myself.”

1965, Marty Balin and Paul Kantner formed a Folk-Rock group that would evolve into the Jefferson Airplane, the premier San Francisco psychedelic band of the late ’60s. The Airplane made its debut the following month at a Haight-Ashbury club, and was signed to RCA later in the year.

1966, On the recommendation of Rolling Stone Keith Richards’ girlfriend, Chas Chandler from The Animals went to see Jimi Hendrix play at The Cafe Wha? in New York City. Chandler suggests that Hendrix should come to England, which he does and Chandler became his manager.

1967, Jimi Hendrix played at Wollman Skating Rink Theater in New York City.

1967, Pink Floyd performed at The Dance Hall, Eel Pie Island Hotel, Twickenham, England.

1968, Bill Graham opens the Fillmore West in San Francisco.

1968, The Jeff Beck Group appeared at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan.

1969, The Rolling Stones gave a free concert in London’s Hyde Park before an audience of 250,000, as a tribute to Brian Jones who had died two days earlier. Mick Jagger read an extract from Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Adonais and released 3,500 butterflies. The event was also guitarist’s Mick Taylor’s debut with the Stones.  King Crimson, Family, The Third Ear Band, Screw and Alexis Korner’s New Church also appeared on the day.

1969, The Who, Chuck Berry and Bodast all played two shows, one at 5:30 and another at 8:30pm, at The Royal Albert Hall.

1969, Vanilla Fudge performed at Place des Nations in Montreal, Quebec.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band were part of the Atlanta Pop Festival lineup held at Byron, Georgia.

1971, A Led Zeppelin gig in Milan turns violent when police fire tear gas at the crowd. The band escapes unharmed, but numerous arrests are made and a roadie is hit in the head with a bottle.

1972, The Rolling Stones performed at the Norfolk Scope, Norfolk, Virginia.

1972, Procol Harum and The Eagles appeared at the Golden Hall, San Diego, California.

1974, David Bowie played at the Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Roger Waters – photo by Danny Clifford (dannyclifford.com)

1975, Pink Floyd, Captain Beefheart, Steve Miller and Roy Harper all appeared at The Knebworth Festival, England, tickets cost £3.50 ($5.60). Pink Floyd premiered their new album Wish You Were Here with the help of Spitfires, pyrotechnics and an exploding plane which flies into the stage.

1975, Yes performed at Roberts Municipal Stadium, Evansville, Indiana.

1976, Elvis Presley appeared at the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1978, The Grateful Dead appeared at the Civic Center in Omaha, Nebraska.

1978, the Electric Light Orchestra performed at the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1978, The manufacturing of Some Girls the new album by The Rolling Stones was halted at EMI’s pressing plant after complaints from celebrities including Lucille Ball who were featured in mock advertisements on the album sleeve.

1979, Foreigner played at the Hollywood Sportatorium, Pembroke Pines, Florida.

1980, ZZ Top performed at the Tangerine Bowl, Orlando, Florida.

1981, Van Halen played at Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan.

1981, Rush appeared at Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, Wisconsin.

1982, Sun records musical director Bill Justis died of cancer aged 55. He worked with Sam Phillips at Sun Records, and also worked with Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Charlie Rich and Jerry Lee Lewis. He had the 1957 US number two single “Raunchy,” the first Rock and Roll instrumental hit. Also had a number one hit in Australia in 1963 with “Tamoure.”

1983, Eric Clapton played at Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, Maryland.

1984, Van Halen performed at Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, Indiana.

1984, David Gilmour appeared at the Sunrise Musical Theater, Sunrise, Florida.

1995, More than 100 Grateful Dead fans were hurt when a wooden deck collapsed at a campground lodge in Wentzville, Missouri. Hundreds of people were on or under the deck sheltering from heavy rain. More than 4,000 Deadheads were staying at the campground while attending Grateful Dead concerts in the St. Louis suburb.

1999, The Eurythmics announced their first world tour for more than ten years, with all profits would be given to charity. The duo made the announcement from the Greenpeace boat ‘Rainbow Warrior’ moored on the River Thames in London.

2007, English jazz and blues singer and film critic George Melly died at his London home at the age of 80 of lung cancer and vascular dementia.

Born on July 5: Robbie Robertson (1944); Michael Monarch, guitar, Steppenwolf (1948); Huey Lewis (1951); Nick O’Malley, bass, Arctic Monkeys (1985)

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Concert Review – Nick Mason at the Paramount Theatre in Denver

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former Pink Floyd drummer brings his Saucerful of Secrets tour to North America

“I got tired of waiting after twenty years for David (Gilmour) or Roger (Waters) to ring me up, so put my own band together,” explains the seventy-five year-old founding member of Pink Floyd. The ensemble includes long-time Pink Floyd and David Gilmour bass player Guy Pratt, Blockheads guitarist Lee Harris, Spandau Ballet’s Gary Kemp on guitar and vocals, and producer/composer Dom Beken on keyboards.

Last week, the group came to downtown Denver’s Paramount Theatre on the seventh stop of the North American leg of the tour playing a variety of songs from the band’s early catalog. The six albums whose material was performed were all release before the classic Dark Side of the Moon.

Mason thanks the enthusiastic audience

Throughout the two-hour and fifteen minute show, the band paid their respects to the various members of Pink Floyd, including Syd Barrett, who had to leave the band as his continued use of psychedelics got him kicked out of the band. Nonetheless, Barrett as the original songwriter left his legacy on Floyd’s first two singles and debut album. The also included his solo composition “Vegetable Man”, which Mason acknowledged had never been performed at a Pink Floyd concert.

Two new songs were added for this leg of the tour, “Remember A Day” from 1968’s Saucerful of Secrets, and “Childhood’s End”, which can be found on Obscured by Clouds, released four years later. The later song, is loosely based on the Arthur C. Clarke novel of the same name.

The musicians did an amazing job of reproducing the album vocals of Barrett, Gilmour, and Waters, as well as a nearly note for note on the songs. Any fan of the vintage Floyd, was treated to the kind of show they would have seen in 1972, in an intimate setting, as opposed the large arenas and mammoth stadium gigs of the later years.

Here’s a good YouTube video with highlights from the show.

https://youtu.be/xLQudvIbHMY

If you can catch this show at any of the remaining tour stops, you won’t regret it.

Setlist (courtesy of setlist.fm)

  1. Interstellar Overdrive
  2. Astronomy Domine
  3. Lucifer Sam
  4. Fearless
  5. Obscured by Clouds
  6. When You’re In
  7. Remember a Day
  8. Arnold Layne
  9. Vegetable Man
  10. If
  11. Atom Heart Mother
  12. The Nile Song
  13. Green Is the Colour
  14. Let There Be More Light
  15. Childhood’s End
  16. Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun
  17. See Emily Play
  18. Bike
  19. One of These Days
  20. Encore:
  21. A Saucerful of Secrets
  22. Point Me at the Sky

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “A Pillow Of Winds” by Pink Floyd

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This song’s title was inspired by the games of mahjongg that Roger Waters and Nick Mason would play with their wives during the recording of their 1971 sixth album called “Meddle.” We’re all familiar with the albums that followed this one — the brilliant “Dark Side,” “Wish” and “Animals”…and the colossal turd that is “The Wall.” Everything else after “The Wall” is completely and utterly expendable and disposable. Everything before “Meddle” was a mixed bag with the “Sid” period giving us some classic singles and interesting psychedelia on uneven records like “Piper At The Gates Of Dawn” and “A Saucerful Of Secrets,” a couple of soundtracks that are worth a cursory listen but probably worked better within the context of their films, a couple of compilations like the brilliant “Relics,” and the patchy “A Nice Pair” and “Ummagumma,” and then there’s “Meddle’s” predecessor “Atom Heart Mother,” which has its moments but ultimately was a warm-up for what was to follow. “Meddle” is a record that rightly gets overshadowed by the records that followed it even though it includes a clutch of classics like the side-long “Echoes,” “One Of These Days,” “Fearless” and this mellow masterwork featuring the vocals of David Gilmour.