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Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “I Can’t Stand It” by Chris Whitley

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45-adapter-logo2chriswhitley

Chris Whitley’s short, restless career encompassed folk, noise rock, jazz, country, mainstream rock and the blues. He was discovered by producer Daniel Lanois who helped him score a major label record deal with Columbia Records in 1988.

His first album, Living With The Law was a mainstream rock affair with good songs that gave him radio exposure, but it wasn’t until his second album and third albums, Din Of Ecstasy and Terra Incognita that Whitley came into his own with great songs ensconced in noise.

After being dropped by Columbia he began releasing records independently including his covers album Perfect Day where he was backed by Jazz musicians Chris Wood and Billy Martin (of Medeski, Martin & Wood). He also released some terrific solo acoustic records that are well worth seeking out.

Not only was Whitley a great songwriter, but he also had a knack for choosing interesting covers by artists like Bob Dylan, Kraftwerk, Gary Numan, Prince, The Clash, Nat King Cole, The Doors and many others. Today’s Song Of The Day is “I Can’t Stand It” one of his more inspired covers originally by The Velvet Underground. The track is from his War Crime Blues album which was originally released ten years ago.

Whitley died of lung cancer in 2005. He leaves behind his daughter, Trixie who has recorded several records under the name Black Dub with Daniel Lanois. She has also released four solo albums to date.

Today in Rock History – November 14

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1967, a 16 date UK package tour with Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, The Move, The Nice, and Amen Corner kicked off at the Royal Albert Hall, London. All acts played two shows per night.

1969, The Allman Brothers Band performed on the Boston Common in Boston, Massachusetts.

1969, “Sugar Sugar” by The Archies was at number one on the singles chart. The single became the longest running one hit wonder with eight week’s at the top of the charts. It was the first number one performed by cartoon characters. “Sugar Sugar” was written by Jeff Barry and Andy Kim, whose song “Rock Me Gently” went to number one in 1974.

1969, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young played at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, California.

1970, Derek & the Dominoes performed at the Fairgrounds Coliseum in Salt Lake City, Utah.

1970, Elvis Presley appeared at The Forum in Inglewood, California

1970, New Musical Express has part two of a large interview with Pete Townshend conducted by Richard Green. Also, Melody Maker carries the fourth installment of “The Pete Townshend Page.  This one is called “TV miming: who is being fooled?” In it Pete complains about the too-tight TV restrictions of the British Musician’s Union and he also discusses Top Of The Pops and memories of Ready, Steady, GO!

1970, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention appeared at the Fillmore East, New York.

1971, Velvet Underground, Renaissance and Audience all appeared at Bumpers, London.

1972, David Bowie appeared at Loyola University New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana.

1973, The Grateful Dead performed at the San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego, California.

1974, Rush played at Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Columbus, Ohio.

1975, Queen played the first of two nights at the Empire Theatre in Liverpool, England, the first night on their 78-date A Night At The Opera World Tour.

1976, Rush appeared at the RKO Orpheum Theatre, Davenport, Iowa.

1977, KISS played the first date on their 51-date Alive II Tour at the Myriad Convention Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

1978, Bob Dylan performed at the Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California.

1978, Eric Clapton appeared at Philipshalle, Düsseldorf, Germany.

1979, Bob Dylan performed at the Fox Warfield Theatre, San Fransisco.

1980, Van Halen played at the Bayfront Center Arena, St. Petersburg, Florida.

1981, Queen started a four-week run at number one on the UK album chart with their Greatest Hits album.

1981, The Police had their fourth number one single with “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic.”

1982, Heart played at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum, Biloxi, Mississippi.

1987, David Bowie appears at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, Sydney, Australia.

1987, George Michael went to number one on the UK album chart with his debut solo album Faith. The album won several awards including the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1989.

1987, The Grateful Dead performed at the Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, California.

1990, Record producer Frank Farin fired Milli Vanilli singers Rob Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan because they were insisting on singing on their new album.

1992, Bon Jovi went to number one on the UK album chart with Keep The Faith, their fifth studio album and second UK chart topper. The album produced six UK Top 20 hit singles, “Keep The Faith,” “Bed Of Roses,” “In These Arms,” “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead,” “I Believe,” and “Dry County.”

1995, Blur brought chaos to traffic in central London, England when over 3,000 fans turned up for a signing at Books Etc in Charring Cross Road.

2004, The Rolling Stones were refused permission to pursue a claim against their former record company Decca for unpaid royalties through the courts. A High Court judge in London said the dispute would go to arbitration and not be decided in court. The dispute was over their Forty Licks compilation CD, which was released in 2002 and was the first collection to span their entire career.

Born on November 14: Freddie Garrity, vocals, Freddie & The Dreamers (1936); James Young, Styx (1949); Stephen Bishop (1951); Alec John Such, bass, Bon Jovi (1956); Joseph ‘Run’ Simmons, Run-DMC (1966); Douglas Payne, bass, Travis (1972); and Travis Barker, drummer, Blink 182 (1975)

Link to Today in Rock History archive.

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Andy’s Chest” by Lou Reed

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“Swoop, swoop, oh baby rock, rock…” Only early ‘70s radio would play a song with blatant references to giving head and not have a problem with the lyrical content. Such was the atmosphere that welcomed Lou Reed’s second solo record after leaving the Velvet Underground and his biggest hit “Walk On The Wild Side.” If Lou standing on the back cover with a huge boner in his pants wasn’t enough, fans were treated to his usual lyrical fare – transvestites, drug use, Andy Warhol, frequent hookups and, or course, homosexuality. The album was produced by David Bowie and Mick Ronson who had been profoundly influenced by The Velvet Underground and had regularly covered several of their songs in their live sets. In fact, this song was originally a Velvet Underground outtake from 1969 sessions that went unreleased until the mid-1980s Velvet Underground compilation albums “VU” and “Another View.” Sundazed Records will be issuing a box set of all of the Velvet Underground vinyl albums this fall that is supposed to include the great lost 1969 Velvets album. “Transformer” came out in 1972, the same year as Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust” album, and in my estimation it has stood the test of time much better. With that said, it was Bowie’s golden production touch (and background vocals on this track) that revived Reed’s career, giving him his biggest album and hit. Bowie would go on to resuscitate the careers of Mott The Hoople and Iggy Pop from here, while Reed continues to release records on his own.

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “I Can’t Stand It” by Chris Whitley

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Chris Whitley’s short, restless career encompassed folk, noise rock, jazz, country, mainstream rock and the blues. He was discovered by producer Daniel Lanois who helped him score a major label record deal with Columbia Records in 1988. His first album, “Living With The Law” was a mainstream rock affair with good songs that gave him radio exposure, but it wasn’t until his second album and third albums, “Din Of Ecstasy” and “Terra Incognita” that Whitley came into his own with great songs ensconced in noise. After being dropped by Columbia he began releasing records independently including his covers album “Perfect Day” where he was backed by Jazz musicians Chris Wood (of Medeski, Martin & Wood) and Billy Martin. He also released some terrific acoustic records that are well worth seeking out. Not only was Whitley a great songwriter, he also had a knack for choosing interesting covers by artists like Bob Dylan, Kraftwerk, Gary Numan, Prince, The Clash, Nat King Cole, The Doors and many others. Here we have “I Can’t Stand It” one of his more inspired choices by The Velvet Underground from his album “War Crime Blues.” Whitley died of lung cancer in 2005. He leaves behind his daughter, Trixie who has recorded several records under the name Black Dub with Daniel Lanois.

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Kill Your Sons” by Lou Reed

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loureedsallyAfter the huge success of the Transformer album and its top-twenty single “Walk On The Wild Side,” Lou Reed delivered his most beautifully disturbing album as a follow up. The concept album, Berlin was considered at the time to be a depressing mess, and it was not exactly what fans expected or wanted from their newly minted glam rock star. Over time, Berlin’s stature has deservedly risen and is now not only considered a classic, but one of Reed’s greatest albums.

In order to calm the nerves of his record company and his fans, Reed followed Berlin with the live Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal that included readings of Velvet Underground classics with the blazing twin guitar attack of Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner who went on to back Alice Cooper.  The album, which was recorded in New York City at the Academy Of Music in December of 1973, sold very well and still does to this day.

Reed’s next studio album, Sally Can’t Dance was his best selling and highest charting (#10) record to date. The album was a hastily recorded reaction to all of the expectations fans and record company alike put on Reed, and while his involvement on the record was relegated to a minimum of tossed off vocals and some minor acoustic guitar parts, it did restore his standing in the decadent world of glam rock.

Sally Can’t Dance was not one of Reed’s most consistent collections of songs either, however there were a few standouts including the glammy “N.Y. Stars,” which was his comment on the many imitators that cropped up in the wake of the success he had with “Walk On The Wild Side,” the sadly beautiful and intimate album closer “Ennui” and “Billy,” a song about a school friend who chose a straighter path than Reed did. The latter track also reunited Reed with his ex-Velvet Underground band-mate Doug Yule on bass.

The album also featured horn charts, which was a first for Reed, and soulful female backing vocals on the funky “Ride Sally Ride,” “Sally Can’t Dance” and the somewhat misguided “Animal Language.”  But the album’s one true classic was also Reed’s most personal song “Kill Your Sons,” which found him reflecting on his childhood stint in a psychiatric hospital where he underwent shock therapy. It is perhaps one of Reed’s most harrowingly frank recordings (and that’s saying something), and also one of his very best.

The top-ten success of Sally Can’t Dance found RCA Records pressuring him for a quick follow up, so Reed acquiesced and delivered the much-maligned Metal Machine Music, which consisted of an hour of nothing but noise and feedback. I guess he showed them! RCA hastily rebounded by assembling the unused Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal tapes into the 1975 album Lou Reed Live.

Song of the Day – “Kill Your Sons” by Lou Reed

by

45-adapter-logo2loureedsally

Song of the Day by Eric Berman – “Kill Your Sons” by Lou Reed

After the huge success of the Transformer album and its top-twenty single “Walk On The Wild Side,” Lou Reed delivered his most beautifully disturbing album as a follow up. The concept album, Berlin was considered at the time to be a depressing mess, and it was not exactly what fans expected or wanted from their newly minted glam rock star. Over time, Berlin’s stature has deservedly risen and is now not only considered a classic, but one of Reed’s greatest albums.

In order to calm the nerves of his record company and his fans, Reed followed Berlin with the live Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal that included readings of Velvet Underground classics with the blazing twin guitar attack of Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner who went on to back Alice Cooper.  The album, which was recorded in New York City at the Academy Of Music in December of 1973, sold very well and still does to this day.

Reed’s next studio album, Sally Can’t Dance was his best-selling and highest charting (#10) record to date. The album was a hastily recorded reaction to all of the expectations fans and record company alike put on Reed, and while his involvement on the record was relegated to a minimum of tossed off vocals and some minor acoustic guitar parts, it did restore his standing in the decadent world of glam rock.

Sally Can’t Dance was not one of Reed’s most consistent collections of songs either, however there are a few standouts including the glammy “N.Y. Stars,” that comments on the many imitators that cropped up in the wake of the success he had with “Walk On The Wild Side,” the sadly beautiful and intimate album closer “Ennui” and “Billy,” a song about a school friend who chose a straighter path than Reed did. The latter track also reunited Reed with his ex-Velvet Underground band-mate Doug Yule on bass.

The album also features horn charts, which was a first for Reed, and soulful female backing vocals on the funky “Ride Sally Ride,” “Sally Can’t Dance” and the somewhat misguided “Animal Language.”  But the album’s one true classic was also Reed’s most personal song “Kill Your Sons,” which found him reflecting on his childhood stint in a psychiatric hospital where he underwent shock therapy. It is perhaps one of Reed’s most frank and harrowing recordings (and that’s saying something), it is also one of his very best.

The top-ten success of Sally Can’t Dance found RCA Records pressuring him for a quick follow up, so Reed acquiesced and delivered the much-maligned-yet-superb-and -classic Metal Machine Music, which consisted of an hour of nothing but noise and feedback. RCA hastily rebounded by assembling the unused Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal tapes into the 1975 album Lou Reed Live. (Yet another great Lou Reed album!)

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Kill Your Sons” by Lou Reed

by

45-adapter-logo2loureedsally

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Kill Your Sons” by Lou Reed

After the huge success of the Transformer album and its top-twenty single “Walk On The Wild Side,” Lou Reed delivered his most beautifully disturbing album as a follow up. The concept album, Berlin was considered at the time to be a depressing mess, and it was not exactly what fans expected or wanted from their newly minted glam rock star. Over time, Berlin’s stature has deservedly risen and is now not only considered a classic, but one of Reed’s greatest albums.

In order to calm the nerves of his record company and his fans, Reed followed Berlin with the live Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal that included readings of Velvet Underground classics with the blazing twin guitar attack of Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner who went on to back Alice Cooper.  The album, which was recorded in New York City at the Academy Of Music in December of 1973, sold very well and still does to this day.

Reed’s next studio album, Sally Can’t Dance was his best selling and highest charting (#10) record to date. The album was a hastily recorded reaction to all of the expectations fans and record company alike put on Reed, and while his involvement on the record was relegated to a minimum of tossed off vocals and some minor acoustic guitar parts, it did restore his standing in the decadent world of glam rock.

Sally Can’t Dance was not one of Reed’s most consistent collections of songs either, however there are a few standouts including the glammy “N.Y. Stars,” that comments on the many imitators that cropped up in the wake of the success he had with “Walk On The Wild Side,” the sadly beautiful and intimate album closer “Ennui” and “Billy,” a song about a school friend who chose a straighter path than Reed did. The latter track also reunited Reed with his ex-Velvet Underground band-mate Doug Yule on bass.

The album also features horn charts, which was a first for Reed, and soulful female backing vocals on the funky “Ride Sally Ride,” “Sally Can’t Dance” and the somewhat misguided “Animal Language.”  But the album’s one true classic was also Reed’s most personal song “Kill Your Sons,” which found him reflecting on his childhood stint in a psychiatric hospital where he underwent shock therapy. It is perhaps one of Reed’s most frank and harrowing recordings (and that’s saying something), it is also one of his very best.

The top-ten success of Sally Can’t Dance found RCA Records pressuring him for a quick follow up, so Reed acquiesced and delivered the much-maligned-yet-superb-and -classic Metal Machine Music, which consisted of an hour of nothing but noise and feedback. RCA hastily rebounded by assembling the unused Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal tapes into the 1975 album Lou Reed Live. (Yet another great Lou Reed album!)

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – "Femme Fatale" by Aloe Blacc

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Song Of The Day – “Femme Fatale” by Aloe Blacc

You may already know who Aloe Blacc is if you watch the HBO series “How To Make It In America.” It is his “I Need A Dollar” that is used as its theme song. Or perhaps you were a fan of the hip-hop group Emanon in which he was a member. If not, perhaps his soulful take on this Lou Reed/Velvet Underground classic from his 2010 album “Good Things” will make you a fan.

Our Tributes to Lou Reed

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velvet-underground-1966The sad news of Lou Reed’s passing on October 27th, 2013 stirred up a lot of emotions.

There is one person here at InternetFM.com that knew more about the co-founder of the Velvet Underground that any of us.

Eric Berman had all of the recordings by both Reed and the Velvets.  He saw Reed numerous times over the years, and even met him on one occasion.

He sat down in the studio and talked at length about both the wealth of material from Reed and what he meant to the music business.

Listen to his comments.

Also, Steve Leventhal dedicated his 10/30/13 WMXM show to Lou Reed, and included some of Eric’s comments.

 

Velvet Underground at Odds with Warhol Foundation over Banana Cover Licensing

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In the story that first appeared in the New York Post, among other places, the Velvet Underground have filed suit in Federal Court claiming that the Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts illegally licensed its iconic banana cover from the VU’s debut album.  Even though the artwork was conceived by Andy Warhol, the Velvet’s claim that the foundation’s licensing the logo for use in some iPad products implies their endorsement of the product.

While Warhol never trademarked the banana, the band used it in its 1995 box set, and did license it to Absolut Vodka for a promotional campaign in 2001, and thus representing that it was synonymous with the Velvet Underground.

Read more in the New York Post