October 19, 2011

In the beginning

Do you remember when you first became aware of rock music? Maybe you were so young that it was more pop than rock, but you get the idea.

My moment came in early 1964, when the Beatles took America by storm. My introduction came from the girls at Russell Boulevard Elementary School in Columbia, Missouri. It came almost as a taunt.

“She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah.”

That got old pretty fast, especially when you are in first grade and you can’t figure out why all the girls are going so gaga over it. Like this.

Yet it wasn’t all that long before I heard something I liked so much that I learned the whole song. It was the summer of 1965. I was 7, maybe 8 by then. I must have heard it on one of the TV variety shows my dad so loved watching.

“I’m Henery the Eighth I am, Henery the Eighth I am, I am.”

You get the idea. A song that’s easy for a kid to learn and sing over and over.

Peter Noone came to town earlier this year, playing an outstanding Herman’s Hermits show. Our tiny casino lounge was jam-packed. The overflow crowd snaked out around the slot machines. A woman standing in front of me fanned herself with a copy of 16 magazine from November 1965. This one.

I hope Noone signed it for her. Autographs aren’t my thing, and there were plenty of the faithful on hand, so I didn’t stay for a meet-and-greet. Besides, my night was made when we got to sing along. I’ve known the words for 45 years.

“I’m Henery the Eighth I am, Henery the Eighth I am, I am.”

Ever since that night, I’ve been keeping an eye out for a good Herman’s Hermits record. I found one the other day.

“I’m Henry VIII, I Am,” Herman’s Hermits, from “Herman’s Hermits On Tour,” 1965. This is their second American release. It’s out of print. The song is available on “Herman’s Hermits: Their Greatest Hits,” a 1990 CD release, and digitally.

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October 14, 2011

Slouching toward Cabo

There are is lot of vinyl in the crates and on the shelves behind me. There are not, however, any Sammy Hagar records.

OK, there is the Montrose record we listened to in Jerry’s basement all those years ago. And I do have a review copy of his last solo CD, released three years ago. But otherwise no solo Sammy Hagar, no Van Hagar, no Chickenfoot.

Even so, Sammy Hagar is one of my favorite live acts. I dig the energy and irreverence he brings to his shows, which are parties in themselves. It’s a bit like a Jimmy Buffett show cranked up … and more irreverent.

This week, those of us who dig the so-called Red Rocker had a little treat. Hagar’s birthday was Oct. 13. He’s 64 and seemingly has the energy of a 24-year-old.

He treated the faithful to live streaming video of four birthday shows from his Cabo Wabo Cantina in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. There weren’t many of us watching on the nights I caught them, maybe 1,200 the first night and maybe 1,000 the third night, but it was something to see and hear.

They used one camera, pointed directly at the stage. They let it rip — visually unpolished and unedited — as Hagar, bass player Michael Anthony and a host of celebrity guests gleefully tore through tunes from all the groups Hagar has been in, plus Led Zeppelin and the Beastie Boys among the covers.

Think about that. Here’s one of your faves having a party with his friends, jamming in a little club, and you’re invited. Watch the streaming video and chat with other fans online if so inclined. Nice.

I’ll probably never make it to Cabo for one of those birthday bashes. I’m neither young enough nor cool enough for the room, nor could I drink enough for the room. So having Sammy’s party streamed all the way to Wisconsin was a nice way to enjoy it vicariously.

So why don’t more acts do this? I’m guessing Reason No. 1 is they don’t want to give away the product.

Somehow, I doubt Mr. Hagar was in any way shortchanged by streaming four shows in real time. That club looked plenty full every night. Nor do I think streaming those shows will cut into his record or merchandise sales in any way. Hagar may be on to something, not that anyone will follow his lead.

This is a little bit of what it was like.

“Dreams/Cabo,” Sammy Hagar, from “Cosmic Universal Fashion,” 2008. It’s a live cut from the 2007 birthday bash in Cabo. Here’s what he says about this cut on the liner notes:

“We record shows all the time, but the audience in Cabo at the Cantina during the Birthday Bash is a very special crowd. This was ‘07 so if you were there then that’s you singing on Dreams and Cabo. If you go there once you’ll be there twice …”

The latter holds true for his live shows. Trust me.

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October 8, 2011

Don’t be frightened

There are lots of scary things out there these days.

Please feel free to insert the political joke of your choice at this point, but this is not really about that. No, it soon will be Halloween, which isn’t my bag.

If Halloween is your bag, please go visit the lovingly crafted posts by my friends Dane over at All Eyes and Ears and Andrew over at Armagideon Time. They really dig it, and they do a nice job with it. Each will have a full month’s worth of Halloween posts for your trick-or-treat pleasure.

In the unlikely event I want to get into the Halloween frame of mind, I’ll dig out “Tales of Mystery and Imagination,” the 1976 debut LP by the Alan Parsons Project. I’ve long loved its musical interpretations of Edgar Allan Poe stories. Perfect mood music for the moment.

“The Raven” is the song everyone remembers from this record, and rightly so. Great song. But did you know “(The System of) Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether” actually was the single?

To get you in the mood for Halloween, here’s another cut off that record.

“The Fall of the House of Usher,” the Alan Parsons Project, from “Tales of Mystery and Imagination,” 1976.

This is a 15-minute instrumental epic, complete with five movements titled “Prelude,” “Arrival,” “Intermezzo,” “Pavane” and “Fall.” It’s the only cut on the record on which arranger and conductor Andrew Powell shares a writing credit with Parsons and executive producer Eric Woolfson.

By the time he teamed up with Parsons for this record, Powell already had worked with Donovan, Leo Sayer, the Hollies, Al Stewart, Humble Pie and John Miles. Powell and Parsons worked together on all the Alan Parsons Project records that followed.

While you’re surfing: You also may wish to wander over to The Midnight Tracker, our other, more lightly traveled blog, for a little bit of click or treat.

Bonus video: Suggested by my friend Larry in the comments. Enjoy “The Raven” by Glass Prism, recorded in 1968 and released in 1969.

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September 17, 2011

Are you ready? A little surprise

Having found myself with some time to kill on this sunny afternoon, I stopped by our local indie record store and did a little digging.

Just when I started getting that dread feeling of having seen all of their used vinyl on previous visits, I came across something I hadn’t seen before.

This record — a Pacific Gas & Electric greatest-hits comp — didn’t blow me away, but it looked like it had some interesting covers. Then I started asking myself the same question I’d asked myself the last time I pondered a record by Pacific Gas & Electric. Am I in the mood for old West Coast blues-rock jams?

Well, I decided to support my local indie record shop, and I took it home. After popping it on the turntable, I found it be quite different than what I expected. Quite pleasantly so, and not just because the vinyl grooves were almost pristine.

Turns out that Pacific Gas & Electric, which became PG&E, was more of a soul and R&B outfit than I thought. Or at least as represented on this 1973 record, which draws tunes from three LPs recorded for Columbia from 1969 to 1971.

Here’s proof:

“The Time Has Come (To Make Your Peace)” and ““Thank God For You Baby,”” both from “PG&E,” 1971.

The first cut is an upbeat, gospel-tinged rocker with a great horn chart. The second cut, which barely dented the charts in the winter and spring of 1972, compares favorably to the elegant Chicago and Philly soul love songs of the time.

These originals turned out to be more interesting than the covers of “When A Man Loves A Woman” and “(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave.”

Pacific Gas & Electric, fronted by singer Charlie Allen, was racially mixed. That was quite something for the time. The liner notes tell this story:

“One night in Raleigh … several members of a rather uppity Southern audience objected to the presence of a black lead singer in a rock and roll band and pulled guns on the band. Their exit, had it been filmed, would have made excellent Clint Eastwood footage.”

That was April 25, 1970. As the band’s van drove away, some members of that uppity North Carolina audience fired their guns at it. Four shots hit the van, but no one was hurt.

PG&E was a five-piece band from its founding in Los Angeles in 1967 until 1971, when it became a nine-piece band and started to unravel. The end came in 1973, after PG&E released a Dunhill Records LP that features Allen and session musicians. Allen was 48 when he died in 1990.

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September 3, 2011

What’s that in your pocket?

America’s pent-up passion for football is about to explode.

You feel it every day when you live in the shadow of Lambeau Field. You feel it this weekend as college football starts. Some of it remains simply a love of the game. But not much.

That passion for football, be it the NFL or college football, is increasingly driven by equal parts marketing, gambling and fantasy leagues. Even the TV and radio talking heads are geeked up.

Is that a microphone in your pocket or are you happy to see me?

This week, we’re getting our close-up. Right here in the shadow of Lambeau Field, it’s the NFL Kickoff Weekend, starring Kid Rock, Lady Antebellum and Maroon 5! Oooh, Matt Lauer and Al Roker will be live from here, too! Oooh, Jay Leno is going to talk about us in his monologue!

It is, in the eyes of one David Fantle, the deputy secretary of tourism in Wisconsin, “almost like a mini-Super Bowl.” Then he added:

“It’s invaluable. It’s the kind of exposure you can’t buy
— or you can’t afford to buy.”

Is that a brat in your pocket or are you happy to see me?

I wonder what Vince Lombardi would think of all this. His teams won championships, then opened the next season with little more than a baton twirler and a marching band. That was a different time, of course.

I also wonder what George Carlin would think of all this.

“Baseball-Football,” George Carlin, from “An Evening With Wally Londo Featuring Bill Slaszo,” 1975.

Baseball isn’t so innocent anymore, either, but Carlin’s take still goes a long way toward exposing the absurdity of what we’re seeing this week. That this was spoken in March 1975 and still holds true is testament to Carlin’s genius.

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