the Rock Report

Its the most absurd thing Ive ever heard.  How can that have happened since we started it?

And that, yardbirds, is the third sentence of an email I received just this morning!  It was from a guy in Nawth Cackalacky (North Carolina, to you purists) who could not beee-lieve that a bunch of English people came over here and changed our music!

Ummmm … NEWS FLASH:  Once before, as I recall, a bunch of English people came over here and changed things.  It was called … the settlement of America (like around, say, 1620 or so??  Got it … pilgrim??).

But I digress (??? I have … never … used that word before in a sentence!  Sumbuddy look it up quick!!).  Yes, the British Invasion took ahold of America (as it did every other country whose name started with a vowel or consonant!). 

Y’see, the Invasion bands hit with something that our rockers were lacking for the most part:  stage presence.  And they weren’t concerned about being formulaic — everything they did emitted spontaniety … excitement … LIFE!

Now, these same qualities … coupled with the strong backbeat, solid rhythm, great harmonies and song structures that made the Invasion famous … are being carried on in the new UK band, The Fore.  You’ve heard me talk about ‘em time and again, and many of you have become solid fans of Matt, Spencer, Si, and …

Nathan.  Now, I’ve talked a bit about the others (Spencer, the most tremendous tailor of tempo and tunes [bass player, vocalist, soon to have a lovely Mrs. by his side], Matt, a man who’s destined to give Clapton a run for his money [lead guitar, vocals; also destined to be a daddy again soon!] and Si, whose drumming would make Ringo jealous [and possibly Dave Clark.  If Dave played drums …]).
But Nathan (their rhythm guitarist/vocalist) adds a versatility, humour and creativity that makes this band the one to watch for in 2010!!  He’s multi-fingered as well as talented, has a voice that some have compared to Elvis, Gene Vincent and Liza Manelli

 NOW to see if he’s really reading this … lol …

(JUST KIDDING, of course!  I’ve also heard from mates in the UK that the pipes are somewhat like The Pirates’ Johnny Kidd).

Already with a great following and reputation (can that be done at the same time??), he and Spencer have also branched out into a new ELO-style venture called The 286 with Nathan “Roy Wood” Persad on the drums (he also plays bass, guitar, bass guitar, cello and stereos when the salesmen aren’t looking).  I’ll have more on them soon. 
No, make that on “The 286“.  I understand Van Morrison doesn’t want his old group promoted anymore …

But, next … the story of the legend of BritBlues … ALEXIS KORNER!  (Now, if ya dig the blues, you’re not gonna want to miss this!!)

So, stay tuned, and I’ll see ya on the flip side!

He was one of the truest legends from the British blues scene of the Sixties — yet very few Americans have actually heard of him.
Long John Baldry (6′ 7″ — hence, the “Long” in his name), a strong-voiced blues singer from Northamptonshire, England. was born in 1941 and, by the early Sixties, had already established a name for himself by playing blues gigs in clubs like the Station Hotel in Richmond — one of the earliest venues of The Rolling Stones.

Then came a shot with Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated (I’ll have a post on Korner next week).
In fact, with them, he  recorded the first British blues album in 1962, R&B at the Marquee.  As part of the band, he found himself occasionally amongst future superstars Charlie Watts and Mick Jagger (Stones) and Jack Bruce (Cream).  At times, Keith Richards and Brian Jones would appear with Blues, Inc. as well … and, as the fame of the Stones spread, so did John’s:  He appeared with them in support at their first concert at the Marquee Club, and was the announcer on their only live album, 1966’s Got Live If You Want It! He also became friends with Paul McCartney after a show at the Cavern, and was invited to play on one of The Beatles’ 1964 TV specials.

Baldry also had his hand in the careers of other superstars by way of the bands he either joined or created:  First, there was the Cyril Davies R&B All-Stars, which boasted a young Jimmy Page on guitar.

Then, at Cyril’s death, he took over and renamed the band Long John Baldry and the Hoochie-Coochie Men.  Jimmy left the band (Geoff Bradford took his place) and John found a new singer in a busker named Rod Stewart (Rod already had a taste of success with Jimmy Powell and the Five Dimensions, and occasionally busks, even today*.)
(*=for our stateside readers: busking was simply “street corner music”, usually with just a guitar, harmonica and a hat or box in front for donations. See the beginning of The Fore’s video, Love For Sale, as an example …)

By 1965, there was another name change for John’s band — it became Steampacket and included himself, Rod, Brian Auger (later of Trinity) and Julie Driscoll.  A year later, though, the band broke up and John formed a new ensemble called Bluesology. This included Elton Dean on vocals, John Baldry on vocals and guitar, and a young keyboardist named Reg Dwight … who, eventually, changed his name to reflect both Dean and Baldry and became … Elton John!

(Pt. II will be posted on Monday, so stay tuned …)  For more on Long John Baldry, just click the following link:

Lemme quote the email verbatim:
Dear Traiter
re youre blog
who do u thnk u r braging about being part them? if u so proud of it go on back over 2 them we dnt need ur likes here.

Hmph … now why do I get the impression this guy’s not a brain surgeon in his off-web life??

Man, I love the UK, and am honoured to have their blood running through my veins.  But I am American, and very proud of it!!

CONTRARY TO COUNTRY??

WAIT!  The story gets better!
Y’see, bein’ from the Appalachian foothills, where country music runs through the backwoods thicker than gravy over a plate of mashed potatoes, the people who know me as a music journalist expect coverage of their favorite twangin’ stars instead of this (quote) “bonga-banging s**t that kids are playing today” (man, I’ve gotta get better filters on my inbox!).

But, if ya listen to today’s “country” (no longer “and Western” since, according to Nashville, it doesn’t reflect the “Western” acoustic style — and because, they say, it almost “stereotypes the West”), you’ll find it’s based on … electric guitars, harmony, drums — and, often, a 4/4 beat.  Listen to some hits from Rascal Flatts, Miranda Lambert, Keith Urban and others … and tell me it’s not basically the same as classic rock!  Just a different singing style, a couple/three extra instruments (fiddle/steel guitar or banjo/steel/fiddle) … but the tempo, rhythm, attack and even song structure is almost identical in many cases.

Now, when ya listen to The Fore do That’s A Lie, you can almost hear The Everly Brothers.  The Beatles covered Act Naturally — the Buck Owens classic — on the flip side of Yesterday.  McCartney put a very country-flavoured tune called Sally G on the back side of Junior’s Farm — in fact, there were some who thought it was a cut from some live country radio show (and, speakin’ of country:  Is it just me, or does anybody else see a resemblance between Macca and an early Bill Anderson?)!

And let’s not forget that one of the biggest hits of the Invasion era — the DC5’s Bits and Pieces (written by my friend [IMHO, along with Lennon/McCartney, one of the greatest songwriters in the UK] Ron Ryan) was a country song at first!

So, what I’m sayin’ to the lady who wrote is: Don’t Knock The Rock!!  If not for the classic rock and roll, you wouldn’t have country as you like it today!

Now, I’m workin’ on a piece on one of the most legendary blues/rock forces in history — a chap named Long John Baldry — and hope to have it on here soon.  If any of you have personal notes, acquaintances, memories or whatever of or with him, just send ‘em in to therockrelic@yahoo.com.

Okay … that’s it for now. But stay tuned, ’cause, along with info on LJB, I’m gonna be unveiling a brand new act that’s … well, lemme keep it a secret for now (don’tcha just hate it when someone does that?? But, trust me, it’ll be fab!).

I’ll see ya on the flip side …

So ya dig classic rock, huh??
Well, ya oughtta meet the creatures that inhabit this info superhighways’ fave rock oasis, a Sixties-and-beyond-and-before rock forum called, appropriately, Rock-Talk!

Now, you’ll not only get to talk oldies and more, but you’ll be able to listen to them through their “jukebox” page.  And dig this:  It’s the first actual community (not just names on a screen; these folks actually become your friends if you approach them gently and feed them right. lol) I’ve ever been involved with (and this bird has been around the pike a few times)!

Oh … and, after ya join, be sure to check out the tracks from the man who wrote some of the Dave Clark Five’s greatest hits and introduced Jimi Hendrix’s drummer to rock, Ron Ryan!  In fact, in the main forum, you’ll be able to talk a bit with him!

The membership is free, btw, and it doesn’t matter if yer a guy, a gal or a Martian: just come on over and check it out!

THE FORE TO (sorta) DOUBLE??

Well, not exactly (that is, as far as the band itself), but there are a few “additions” that require some serious and happy congrats and props:

First, to superstar guitarist Matt Hardy (center, on the Rickenbacker) , as he and his lovely wife are expecting their second child soon!  (Y’know, it proves the flexibility of math:  When two people get together, it shows that “1+1=2″.  But, when the lady luv gets in “the family way”, it shows that “1+1=1″!  [Think about it])  Anyway, Matt and Victoria, your children are just as blessed to have you as parents as you are to have them as your own!

And the band’s fearless leader (and amazing bassist and songwriter), Spencer Hannabuss, has just announced his engagement to the lovely Natalie (sorry, ladies!  But she is a treasure, and they complement each other so much …).  Hope they have a zillion years together in happiness and love …

BEHIND THE SCENES …

There are a lotta things happening over here in RockCentral, and even more great things going on in The Fore camp!  It’s a pleasure working with these lads (who’ve just come back from their respective holidays), and their star just continues to rise in the worldwide skies of rock …
Speakin’ of holidays:  I want to send out a special and heartfelt wish for the good health and recovery of the lady Annette.  She’s wife of Fore manager Neil, and, whilst he was away, she suffered a nasty fall.  With her hubby at side now, though, she’s recuperating well.  Still, keep her in yer thoughts and prayers, okay?

Me?  Gotta get off here for awhile.  My quarter’s about to run out …
See ya on the flip side …

Man, I dunno about you, but I really admire Bruce Springsteen.  He’s sorta taken center-stage as America’s “working class hero”, and has worked just about every type of gig in his career.

The Boss’ first big gig was years ago when superstar Anne Murray brought him onstage as support act.  Before that, though, he was honestly thinkin’ of packing it in (musically), thanks to a promoter who thought his last name was Springsong.  

Anyway, he’s gonna be playin’ the 25th anniversary concert for the Rock Hall of Fame tonight (Thursday) — three days after the death of his cousin (and assistant road manager) Chris Sullivan. Bruce was to play Kansas City on Monday night but cancelled when Chris was found dead in his hotel room there. According to police, there doesn’t appear to be any foul-play, drugs or whatever involved.
Obviously, we send our heartfelt condolences to Bruce, the team and Chris’ family …

But while Bruce is playing the show, another big star has backed out. Eric Clapton will be recovering at home in England after gall bladder surgery, so he won’t be making his scheduled Friday evening appearance. But another Yardbirds’ mate, Jeff Beck, will take Eric’s place on the bill that night.

Two more hit-makers have also had to take a bite outta their schedule:  Elton John had to cancel both his Sheffield and Newcastle shows due to a serious bout of the flu (I understand they will be rescheduled, though), and Rod Stewart — who was supposed to be on the stateside gabfest The View this past Tuesday — had to cancel due to a viral infection.  He’ll probably pop up on one a bit later (btw, he was dynamite on the new Jay Leno Show recently.  Did an old Four Tops number, (It’s The) Same Old Song.

WAS LED ZEPPELIN TO RE-FORM?

According to the RockFeed, yes!  Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and the late Bonzo Bonham’s son, Jason, were pulling together some material as they tried to decide who would take former lead singer Robert Plant’s place.
Verdict:  Since no one seemed to fit the bill, John went on with the new “supergroup”, Them Crooked Vultures (with Josh Homme and Dave Grohl).  Still, they did try, so, for just a little while, we had some hope …

THE FORE ON NEW BEATNIK GEEK LABEL!

Just got word from the home office that Spencer, Matt, Si and Nathan — collectively known as The Fore — are now one of the anchor signings on the new Beatnik Geek record label! The band is wildly popular throughout the UK and, now officially with the label, their stars are gonna soon be shining here in America as well as they have in Europe!
Keep watching this blog for more frequent updates …

But, for now, we’re gonna take a short break for a few hours’ zzzzz’s, so I’ll see ya tomorrow … on the flip side!

Awww, I knew the day would come sometime …

This weekend, whilst trying to fend off this (fortunately only the) seasonal flu, a run to m’ local grocer brought out a very irate rapper-wannabe, who came down hard on my cuts on electronic sound-enhancements like the dreaded Auto-Tune and computerized loops.

When he said (and I nearly quote): “You ain’t never done it on stage, so how you know what it’s like, man?? We makin’ the sound, man, and the bxxxxs dig it!”

Well, first of all, “man,” I’ve been on stages, big and small (the largest venue was in Charlotte, about 10 grand at the time. The smallest? About 30 children at a birthday “sock hop”).

Secondly, I take the word of a Byrd over the palaver of a musical cadaver: In 1967, the leader of famed rockers The Byrds, Jim McGuinn (known as “Roger” since 1921), said that if you wanna know how good a band/act is, unplug ‘em (obviously, this does not apply to Keith Richard, who, if unplugged, would just stand there …). That way, if they can (no, I meant the man … not the guitar …) still sing/perform (albeit acoustically) and wow a crowd, they deserve the biggest breaks and fan bases.

Ahhhh, but if you need one (or more) of those little headaches on yer right in order to do a show, you’re sunk, IMHO (me, not Jim … er, Roger … talkin’ here. Still a Byrd-brain, though …). You’ve gotta alter your voice, your sound doesn’t come outta yer amps or from your guitar licks but from some weird machine that chews it up and spits it out differently — in other words, you do a 360, musically-tantric Milli Vanilli!

And don’t think yer “fame” is gonna last, either. Back-in-the-day (and still with The Fore and other top young rock acts), the acts WORKED for their sound … their gigs … their balance. The money was small at first, if it was there at all.
Fortunately, all the work and devotion paid off for quite a few of them. And, today, they’re true legends of the music world.

But, man, to think that one simple glitch in your computerized, synthesized and hardly-homogenized nonsense can take ya down! It just doesn’t add up!
And whilst acts like The Searchers, Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and The Fore are rockin’ the bejabbers outta the world (the first three I mentioned have been doin’ it for nearly fifty years, all told), your act ain’t gonna do squat if you don’t get serious and get some serious blood, tears, toil and sweat into building that act.

Huh??? Yeah, I did tell him all that. Didn’t set well at first, but he was unarmed and … I mean, he understood where I was coming from. In fact, he’s sending me a demo of one of his unaltered rap songs, just to prove he can do it.

I’m not really into rap, and am involved as US Press Agent for The Fore (a gig I really enjoy!) … but, tell ya what: If I can get clearance from this artist, I’ll share the demo with ya and get your feedback …

More in a bit. See ya on the flip side …

Eight years ago, on a dark and stormy night in A-Town, I’d just finished the first edition of a hand-held (hmph … sounds more timely.  Usedta be “hard-copy”) newspaper called The Window and didn’t wanna just twiddle thumbs (well, if they’d been mine, maybe …).  Realizing that newspapers have the mystical power of stimulating cats’ bladders, I wanted to build one that would be impervious to the incontinent. 
 
TA-DAAAAA!!!  Enter the Great Internet Newspaper,  a sort-of-literary speed-bump on the info superhighway!! It lasted for all of 312 weeks!  And it apparently caught on pretty well, because, by the time all was said and done, the ’spaper netted around 35,000 faithful followers each month (I assume they were faithful.  Dunno if Letterman or Gosselin were readin’ it or not …).

Due to endeavour-overload (sounds like a NASA phrase, for some reason …), I hadta close shop in 2006 with the promise to readers that it’d be back just as soon as the smoke cleared a bit.

Suddenly, all the cheering stopped … Anyway,

It’s back online as promised (awright … just cussed me out??) with news from both sides of the Atlantic and other articles that no cat can pee on.  And, since I just put it back online, there’ll be a lot more added to it as time goes on!
In this issue (and, btw, each one will be archived [andnoitsnotablog]) you’ll find The Fore, Ron Ryan, Look To The Stars, Marge Simpson naked, strange news (other than the preceding), quotes, links and more!

So here’s yer invite to join in the fun!  But, ABOVE all, keep yer dial set Right HERE … because this is where the rock’s gonna thrive, beyond nine-to-five,  stayin’ alive and in overdrive!
Now … enough jive … I fergot to give ya the link to the site: Just click greatinternetnewspaper.com … and yer there (no ads, pop-ups or coffee served …)

Okay … that’s it for my little off-subject thang. So, until tomorrow, when we get back to the bidness of Rocque and Rolle …
see ya on the flip side.

Okay … I gotta admit, Topo Gigio (the little Italian mouse) isn’t gonna be on the program tonight. He just agreed to lend his name to the bill so it’d sound more like one of Ed Sullivan’s “really big shews”.

Remember?? Between the legendary pop singers like Sammy, Tony Bennett or Mel Torme and the new bands like The Beatles, Rolling Stones or Dave Clark Five, ‘Ed-deeeee’ would introduce him and have a little chat with the tiny dude.
And they’d always close the segment with Sullivan giving the little guy a kiss (awwwww!) …

But, before that, there was Sammy. Now, no matter where you are in music, you’ve just gotta give props to that amazingly-cool singer/dancer/actor/writer/comedian and musician (he played drums and some trumpet).
And, in San Diego, California, a stage musical debuted today on the Sultan of Smooth.
“Sammy” was written by Leslie Bricusse, who composed music for the “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” movie (remember Sammy’s mega-hit, Candy Man, came from that film!) and “Stop The World, I Want To Get Off” on stage. I’m told that a relatively-unknown Obba Babatundé is playing the role of Sammy.

Now, I know this cat had some baggage, and was a high-rollin’, solid gold star. But even if he just made eye contact with ya in an airport, he’d flash that famous smile, point at you and make ya feel like he’d known you for years.
Man, I hope that musical really sings, because he deserves the honor, even if it is posthumous. (btw, my favorite song of his was a rendition of Ray Stevens’ Have A Little Talk With Myself)

INTERMISSION If ya thought that Lynyrd Skynyrd’s hung it up, yer wronggggg! They played Craig Ferguson’s Late, Late Show last night, doin’ The Simple Life — and these guys haven’t lost a step! Man, if the gig provided some bread, that band really added the jam!

AND NOW, INNNNNNNTRODUCING … FORE LADS FROM … LLLLLLLONDON WHO ARE RRRRRRRRREALLY SETTING ENGLAND ON … FIRE: THE FORE!
Last weekend, the lads had a fab show in LondonTown — one that had some great perks with it. Lemme share what Spencer (bass/vocals) told me a coupla days ago:

“The sun was shining, we played like a well oiled machine and the crowd really loved it. We’re picking up quite a few fans now in Sutton and it’s great seeing that, whilst we’re still selling plenty of albums we are seeing more and more people singing along with the songs. Mad huh?
The Fore have become a familiar friend to everyone in Sutton and we must be household names by now. We also hear rumours (form no less than 6 different sources) that a Fore song was played Saturday morning on a prime national FM radio station (Absolute FM). On top of this, the former guitarist of indie band The Babyshambles (2006/7’s ‘IN BAND’ without a shadow of a doubt) saw us play and wants to throw his weight behind the band and record us in his London studio!”

If you haven’t done it yet (and you oughtta!), come on and join us here at the ForeFront! Just click this link and dig into the greatest UK band since that famous Invasion a few decades ago!!

HOLY COW! DIDJA SEE WHAT TIME IT IS??Man, I’ve been so busy gettin’ things caught up webwise that I forgot to check! So I’m gonna do what Dr. K and even “Dr. Hannabuss” says and get some rest!