the Rock Report

One of the acts I admired most in the Sixties (in fact, it’s one that really turned me on to performing, thanks to their — er, unusual — stint on Lloyd Thaxton’s show) was the Byrds. Jim (now Roger), the late Mike Clark, David Crosby, the late Gene Clark and Chris Hillman could cook up a batch of kickin’ tunes while, at the same time, laying some Dylan and … well, just brainfood songs down in their live sets (in fact, the guys are the only ones who could “turn, turn, turn” a few verbatim lines of Bible into a popular song!).
Their “Eight Miles High” was considered one of the first real psychedelic tunes to mainstream … and their rebellious attitude (pre-Dead) was premier and pioneer (much to the chagrin of hosts like Lloyd, Ed Sullivan and others).
Wait a minnit — that’s the description I was looking for: Lloyd Thaxton was the teenager’s Ed Sullivan! His show wasn’t just music, singers and dancing. He had comedy, banter — a superbly mixed bag for the under-18 viewing audience!
Anyway … back to the story:
When I had a chance to meet McGuinn in Charlotte, NC (this was long post-Miles), I came away with the impression that he was a “snob” … he didn’t even acknowledge that I was in the same room, and had just asked him a question.
Little did I know …
McGuinn was going through some mindbending changes in his life in the ’70s, and was trying to rebuild. So he was a very private person during this time, very pensive.
Today, he’s dedicated himself to education, to his family, children in general, and the preservation of pure music in all its forms. Not only that, but the man has a brain that most high-ticket university professors would envy! A deep thinker. So my appreciation of him has grown … and I understand the “snub”.

Speaking of “snub” brings me back to the word “snob” which brings me to the next point: In working on articles for the new Gotta ROCK! new Spaper, I ran across a vid by a British group called The Snobs. They played once on the Skelton show, and I thought, in ‘65, “these guys have gotta be one of Red’s spoofs!” They wore powdered wigs, played like a bunch of one-hit surfer wonders (sorta like the groups you’d see in “B” movies, Beverly Hillbillies or Petticoat Junction) and actually pinched snuff while onstage! However, the vid showed me I was wrong; they weren’t a spoof. They were real, and they really did suck! Probably called back to England by an irate wig-manufacturer …

Another group that I always enjoyed was the Hollies. Tony, Graham and the rest did an excellent job of harmonizing … and laid down an instrumental backing that would make Phil Spector jealous! Today, they’ve just released a new CD, and it’s unusual to say the least: All the tracks, as I understand it, were laid separately … I mean, away from the studio by each individual member (yes, they’ve a few new names!). Then it was taken to the studio and mixed … the end result is finally getting some rave reviews in UK (Britain, not Univ. of Kentucky), and it should be released stateside soon.

One more note: Willie Nelson, WHY?!? This legendary country singer has released a new track on the Internet only (for now) extolling the virtue of gay cowboys (gee … I wonder why? He didn’t suffer a “broke back” from climbing that musical “mountain”, did he??)! In the song, he tells why the cowboys turn that way (sorry … no pun intended. Too gross to think about …). Now, why would he shoot down his illustrious career over something like that? If your “Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys”, what … are … you … on second thought, don’t answer.

Leave me to my memories …

CHAIN-EY REACTION …

Okay, so the story’s already overworked by every comedian/writer/grocery boy in the nation … but, DAMN!, it’s so good ya don’t wanna let it go: Dick Chaney, tired of shooting down hopes, rifling through files and pistol-whipping those who disagree with him, has now taken aim at the elderly lawyers of the nation.
Tsk … what a shame.
Oh … of COURSE he used scattershot; after all, he was only one letter off from what he normally scatters. Come to think of it, that woulda been safer.
And can you imagine the songs that can relate to this? “Bang, Bang”, “Shotgun”, “Double Shot”, “I Fought The Law(yer)” and a few others come to mind.

Okay … enough about Chaney and his predicament (except for one thing: NOTE TO THE VICE-PRESIDENT: Now would be a good time to switch back to using the name “Richard.” It’s okay to show you’re a Richard …).

Thank God for freedom of speech.

I wanna take a sec to congratulate Craig Ferguson (sure … like he reads this or something …) on being the most inventive late-nighter on the tube. I mean, the dude (a) has no live house band, (b) a minimal set and (c) does most of his vignettes by himself. So he’s gotta be inventive to carry the audience; and he does. ‘Course, I dig Dave, Paul, Jay, Kevin and Max (dunno about Conan. Ever since he dropped his Barbarian days …) but Craig carries the show on his own, just like in the early days of TV.

Back to Chaney ….
on second thought, let it ride.

GRAMMYNOTES:

Okay … I coulda written this earlier, but I wanted to wait ’til the smoke cleared:
The Grammy Awards, seen Wednesday night on CBS, was nothing short of awesome … even for an old rock relic like me. Natch, I kinda expected those Irish boys to get the nod for a lion’s-share of the ‘phones (what? U2?). How many singers are as humble and sincere as Bono, anyway?
And McCartney sounded great, as always, with the cut from his Chaos and Creation CD … but brought the friggin’ house down not once, but twice: First, when he ripped through Helter Skelter, and then when he joined Jay-Z and Linkin Park for Yesterday. The man’s still got it … and ain’t about to lose it anytime soon! Guess Springfield was right when he sang, You’re Never Too Old to Rock and Roll”! Ellen DeGeneres probably gave the shortest intro of the night when she said (before Paul’s set), “Now here’s a performer who needs no introduction.” Paul’s a true legend … and she’s right
And Latifah proved why she’s “Queen” when, after the Richard Pryor vid glitched, she segued perfectly, without missing a beat in wording or grace! That lady made a lotta friends that night!
The tribute to Sly and the Family Stone was hot … until the Man Himself came out. Tsk. Even the producers didn’t know exactly what would be up when he got onstage. While the members of Stone grooved with some of the best in the biz, when Sly entered (after a prompt by Steven Tyler) you could almost see a walking ad: “Look, kids … this is what drugs can do to you over time.” Quite frankly, his performance (and exit … and stance … and hair) was poor — and left the performers having to finish “I Wanna Take You Higher” with a bit of confusion on their faces. They didn’t expect him to walk off like he did. No doubt, the dude can “do it again,” but he’s GOTTA straighten up his act!
But then they had a twofer tribute: The first, to the N. O. vics of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, totally rocked. To see Toussant and hear that magnificent voice of his was refreshing; you could tell Dr. John was still feeling the effects of the double whammy, though Mac’s voice is as strong as ever. Good to hear about the Music Lives! campaign, and the funds it’s raising to get the N. O. performers back on their feet and on the road again.
The second was one for Wicked Pickett. Wilson died earlier this year, and his signature song, “Midnight Hour” was done to perfection by the great Sam Moore (of “Sam and Dave” fame. Of course, Dave’s already left us for higher ground RIP) and the Boss, Bruce Springsteen (who’s rendition of “Devils and Dust” was so Dylanish it wasn’t funny). Bruce strained a bit (gee … did it show?) but he hit every harmonious note perfectly.
Of course, you also had the great Keith Urban, who, in my opinion, seems to wanna rock more than do his “country” thing. During his solo performance, he looked as if he was gonna come through the platform with that left leg going wild (he was sitting down!). And, when he backed Faith Hill on the electric, the man showed he’s the master of the guitar! Fan-friggin-tastic!
As I said earlier, it was awesome …

I JUST FED MY BLOG THIS MORNIN’, A-AN’ … IT … (geewhiz!)… SEEMED HEALTHY ….

Actually, I couldn’t get my blog up and runnin’ for awhile, but I took it to the vet (veteran blog-fixer) who told me it had too much exposure to the secret ingredient in Mozilla&#8482, which caused its internal organ(ization) to shut down temporarily. Finally, after a shot of IE6, it’s back to normal! Since I just finished a decent fish dinner at the local Captain D’s, I can truthfully say, COD BLESS THAT VET!

Now … where were we (or were we goin’ anywhere with this?)?

OH, yeah …

Gettin’ the gears greased for a new tab Spaper, which is gonna take us back in time to when rock was king … and Queen hadn’t made its debut yet. That’s right … we’re gonna rollback Prices (as well as the rest of the Animals), turn back the Clarks (Dave’s group), and wish upon a Starr (on fresh Lennon, no less … not to mention those other two guys) to the creatively fab years from mid-’50’s to mid-70’s. News? We’ll have that, too … but not with Huey Lewis. It’ll be a tongue-in-cheek look at events of the year(s) we feature in each issue.

And, get this … the plan is to go target-market (no, I didn’t say “market it at Target”. They got a dog on their commercials, and dogs and newspapers don’t go well together …) for about five major metropolitan cities. If it goes well, we’ll go further with it …

Now … wanna talk about rock? Remember the guys you see on your right … no, the right!! The left is blank! They’re called American Minor, and are gonna be hittin’ the big time with a heavy dose of down-to-earth, working-man rock-and-roll extremely soon (they cut a deal with Jive! Records — the dudes that put Britney Spears and R. Kelly on the charts — just last year!). The boys are from Huntington, WV (just north of my office), and are moving up the gig chain with our kinda music! Get their new CD, also titled American Minor, at your local grocery … er, music … store … and keep a close eye on ‘em!

HEYYY! My cats have gotten into the remnants of my take-home tray of fish! Oh, my COD! I better straighten this out … be back shortly …