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Post by ShivaTD on Sept 10, 2013 14:20:22 GMT
Yesterday's post on the documentary "Hear My Train A Comin'" on Jimi Hendrix lead me inevitably to today's music theme.
The 27 Club
It was the rash of death by major musicians at age 27 fundamentally starting with the Brian Jones, Alan Wilson, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison died between 1969 and 1971 that eventually lead to the formation of the "27 Club" as it was an unusual age for so many top musicians to die. There are currently 45 members of the 27 Club listed in Wikipedia as of 2012 and it goes back to the 19th Century. I'm not going to repeat those that I've recently posts such as Jim Morrison or Jimi Hendrix but will post a few of the others to be representative of this exclusive "club" that no one really wants to be a member of.
I'll start with the first "recorded" member of the "27 Club" that is perhaps the most influential blues musician of all times. Know for classics like Crossroad Blues and Sweet Home Chicago (perhaps the most covered blues song in history) I've selected Me and the Devil Blues. Robert Johnson died on Aug 16, 1938.
Next is Brian Jones that was the founder of the Rolling Stones. Brian's lead guitar work. especially on slide guitar, was instrumental (forgive the pun) in the success of the Rolling Stones. To showcase his slide guitar work I've selected the Willie Dixon song "Little Red Rooster" that was released by the Rolling Stones as a single in 1964. Brian Jones died on July 3, 1969.
For my third selection I'll address someone that I actually knew, Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson, that was a founding member of Canned Heat. When I was a guitar player in the Red Vial we opened for Canned Heat several times in the 1960's (probably because we were cheap only charging $250) and we got to know all of the members. Canned Heat often requested our group to open for them when they did LA gigs. I've selected what many have called the anthem of Woodstock, On the Road Again, which highlights Blind Owl. Alan Wilson died on Sept 3, 1970.
Not wanting to post too many songs I'm going to end with Janis Joplin. She became famous throughout the US with Big Brother and the Holding Company's 2nd Album "Cheap Thrills" that went to #1 on the charts. Perhaps the best song on that album IMO that exemplifies Joplin is the ballad "Summertime" which I present here. Janis Joplin died on Oct 4, 1970.
The "21 Club" list of members continues to grow over time with notables like Ron "Pigpen" McKernan from the Greatful Dead, Kurt Cobain from Nirvana, and more recently Amy Winehouse. Each is sadly missed and perhaps someday the membership will cease to grow. The only thing we can do is to always remember them and the music they created.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2013 18:06:17 GMT
This is a little known Canadian artist. I hope you like it.
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Post by ShivaTD on Sept 11, 2013 0:31:14 GMT
This is a little known Canadian artist. I hope you like it. |
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Post by ShivaTD on Sept 11, 2013 11:29:08 GMT
I have to admit after listening to Colin James "Limelight" album he's really not a sober Tom Waits. LOL He is very good though and I appreciated being turned onto his music that I wasn't familiar with.
But I did mention Tom Waits that's one of my favorite songwriters and performers so I want to go in that direction this morning with a couple of his songs. I saw Tom Waits many times when I lived in LA and it was always in an intimate night club setting. He really was a common drunk back then although I believe he's cleaned up his act in recent years but the man could write a song. He wasn't even that well known in LA but those that knew about him also knew that he stayed at the Tropicana Motor Lodge so it wasn't like he was hiding out like a major musical star. He was "underground" for the most part with only a relatively small following but his outstanding songwriting gained the attention of many well known musicians.
The first Tom Waits song was made famous by the Eagles, and their arraignment and recording is outstanding, but I've always had a soft spot for his original recording. I'm sure everyone knows this song because of the Eagles recording.
Next is a song that I don't believe has been covered by any major group but one that I really enjoy. I believe it touches all of us because we've all "been there, done that" at some point.
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Post by ShivaTD on Sept 12, 2013 13:32:15 GMT
With my "politics" completed for this morning its time to turn my attention to music. This morning I was thinking about those groups that made a dramatic contribution right out of the gate of which there are many. I'm selecting Steely Dan that burst onto the music scene in 1972. My selection is based upon personal experiences because I was involved in their debut tour and have a promotional copy of the Can't Buy a Thrill album signed by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker from this tour. I later got to know them casually through a mutual friend, another aspiring guitar player Rick Beginco (sp?), that lived in Walter Becker's guest house.
Becker and Fagen have received exceptional accolades for their musical composition and recordings over the years and Can't Buy a Thrill was the beginning and so here are a couple of selections from that album.
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Post by cenydd on Sept 12, 2013 18:53:19 GMT
This morning I was thinking about those groups that made a dramatic contribution right out of the gate of which there are many.
Interesting angle. I'll offer a couple of metal bands that have done the same within metal, by coming out with things straight off that have begun whole new trends and sub-genres: |
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Post by ShivaTD on Sept 13, 2013 14:35:03 GMT
Two great selections Cenydd,
New subject for today and it's that song that fits the situation at the time. We've all experienced times where a certain song just seems to fit the situation.
I've been in semi-retirement again since December doing a little consulting but not much more. A few short motorcycle road trips, a trip to Canada, and way too much work around the house. LOL
I've recently begun looking for a little contract work for maybe a 3-6 month assignment because the truth be known I really enjoy working. It's not about the money, although the money is very good for what I do, but more about just the work that I've spent a lifetime being extremely good at.
With that in mind this song fits my current situation pretty well.
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Post by ShivaTD on Sept 13, 2013 15:08:35 GMT
Too much time on my hands? Absolutely!!
In the new "Albums" thread I mentioned that I love the Rubber Soul and Revolver albums by the Beatles and they're really the first of the Beatles' albums that I considered to have outstanding merit. They earlier albums, which achieving commercial success, were never as good as Rubber Soul and Revolver and these were the first to Beatles albums I actually purchased at the time. So let me share a few songs from each that reflects why I believe they were the first of the really good Beatles albums.
From Rubber Soul:
From Revolver:
I do love these albums and no record collection is complete without them.
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Post by cenydd on Sept 13, 2013 19:42:02 GMT
The Beatles - Norwegian Wood
Used to do a cover of that one - great song. Something brand new now, from Joey Jordison's latest project: |
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Post by ShivaTD on Sept 13, 2013 20:25:28 GMT
The Beatles - Norwegian Wood
Used to do a cover of that one - great song. Something brand new now, from Joey Jordison's latest project:
We did several Rolling Stones covers because we basically liked the Stones a lot more. A couple of those were:
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Post by cenydd on Sept 13, 2013 20:46:50 GMT
The only Stones one we did was this:
That was the days before the internet made lyrics easily accessible, too - I had to try to work them out, and from a live recording (a scene from a film, of course, but the same thing happened to me)!
Here's another that we used to do:
We played it with part of the extended middle section from their later live days, and then ran it (via an improvised jam for a couple of minutes around the bass line from Jeff Wayne's 'War of the Worlds') into this:
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Post by cenydd on Sept 13, 2013 20:48:55 GMT
This was the other Hawkwind one we used to do:
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Post by ShivaTD on Sept 14, 2013 2:50:45 GMT
The only Stones one we did was this: <<< Rolling Stones - Jumping Jack Flash >>> That was the days before the internet made lyrics easily accessible, too - I had to try to work them out, and from a live recording (a scene from a film, of course, but the same thing happened to me)! Here's another that we used to do: <<< Led Zeppelin - Dazed and Confused >>>
Like you we didn't have the lyrics and often spent all night with a cassette tape replaying the song over and over only to get them wrong. LOL What the hell, no one really knew what they were saying anyway.
Of course we predated Led Zeppelin as I left the group in 1968 when I was drafted and the group no longer existed when I got out. The members had moved on.
But in getting a few more "miles" out of this theme here are two other songs we covered:
This next one was one that we picked up when a 3rd guitar player, Steve Ferry, joined the group because: A) He could play the lead, and B) he owned a Rickenbacker 12-string that is really necessary for the song.
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Post by ShivaTD on Sept 15, 2013 14:21:01 GMT
Sunday morning is a good time to address an obscure group from the '60's that I first heard play at my former high school on May 17, 1967 (two years before this album was released).
Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce It's a Beautiful Day.
The final track is a live recording from the Fillmore West and the song was inspired by the Berkley "riots" protesting the Vietnam War.
Postscript ~ While listening to these selections two thoughts came to mind. First of all for the musicians I'd like to point out the equipment used in the photos of the last selection. No huge wall of Marshall amps but instead a hodgepodge of miscellaneous amplifiers that was very typical of the times. Next is the fact that the Fillmore West had weird acoustics. It was really just a large "warehouse" at the corner of Market and Van Ness in the Mission District of San Francisco and it had a "warehouse" sound quality. It was buffered somewhat when it was full of people that probably maxed out at between 3,000 to 5,000 but the high ceilings still gave it a hollow sound. All in all it was a very cool venue and we often traveled from Los Angeles to San Francisco, about a 9 hour drive, for concerts there.
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Post by ShivaTD on Sept 15, 2013 15:13:06 GMT
While live recording of groups rarely have the quality of studio recording there are some groups that really are far superior live while some fail. We could certainly list dozens or hundreds of these groups but I just wanted to ensure that this group isn't overlooked. These are the studio recordings but live Jethro Tull simply blew you away.
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