This week our word of the week is Hurricane. Unfortunately, we currently have Hurricane Isaac headed into the Gulf of Mexico. Don’t know for sure which direction it will head at this point but it certainly has everyone’s attention. So….while we are watching to coverage of Isaac, and keeping our finger’s crossed that it doesn’t cause any significant damage, let’s listen to some of the best Hurricane songs ever recorded.
After listening to the music, please take the time to read my note after the last song in the post. Have a great weekend!
Hurricane Carter – Bob Dylan
Rock You Like a Hurricane – Scorpions (with full orchestra)
Today I bring you the second best live album of all time, Kiss Alive!, which slots in right behind At Fillmore East by the Allman Brothers (in my opinion). To many of you this is probably a strange choice but it makes perfect sense to me. While the Allman Brothers album was a virtuoso musical performance, Kiss represented the other aspect of rock music. They were loud, fun, and had a performance that was unlike anything that I had ever seen. For that matter I have not seen anything like it since then.
Kiss had put out three studio albums prior to 1975 and everyone had the same complaint, the albums didn’t capture the excitement of a Kiss live show. With one more shot to hit the big time, Kiss decided that if everyone wanted the excitement of their live show why not do a live album. Alive sold over 9,000,000 albums, and as they say, the rest is history.
I saw Kiss twice on the tour that is captured in the Alive! album and my mind was totally blown at each show.
Gene Simmons spitting fire and drooling blood
Paul Stanley providing some of the most inane between song patter that somehow sounded cool in the context of the performance
Peter Criss with a Drum set that extended high above the stage
Ace Frehley (my favorite) staggering around the stage on incredible platform shoes while playing the most amazing lead guitar parts that you could imagine
It was Awesome with a capital A. Although a video of one of their performance is a poor substitute for seeing their show live, it’s all I can offer you at this point. Here is why I remain a member of the Kiss Army to this day
Deuce – Live at Winterland 1975
Strutter – Live at Winterland 1975
Cold Gin – Live at Winterland 1975
Now that you’ve seen the best you can just forget the rest. Here they are….the hottest band in the land……….Kiss……Alive!
Alive! (Sides 1 and 2)
Alive (Sides 3 and 4)
If you aren’t suffering from Kiss overload at this point, I have one more thing for you before we end this post. Here is a great VH1 special on the Alive album! I hope you enjoy it. As always, let me know what you think.
Since finishing the long running Southern California Sound series a month ago I have been think about where to take this blog. Today I want to share what you can expect over from this blog for the remainder of this year. My next series of posts will focus on American Protest Music. Where it started, its heyday in the 1960s, its decline following the 60s, and the few remaining protest singers that we have today. I have high hopes for this series! So….that is where we are headed. Let me know what you think! Of course these upcoming series will be interspersed with posts like “Long Song Tuesday”, “Friday Word Of The Week”, etc. to make sure that you don’t get bored.
An absolutely amazing performance from 1973. Maybe more Marvin is the only thing that can snap me out of my mood….stay tuned for this week’s album of the week post.
With the passing of Scott today it seems like we moved even further away from the spirit of the 1960s. I know that the summer of love was 45 years ago but on days like today it seems like it was centuries ago.
Current mood – Sad (see above) and Depressed (reference my earlier post about the Republicans)
If you aren’t too depressed, see how many 60s musicians you can pick out in today’s video.
If there was ever any doubt, it is now official…….Republican’s Hate Women!
Here is the latest example from this weekend (the one that inspired this post)….followed by numerous supporting stories from the recent past. (updated 08/21….I think Republicans are trying to clean up their mess by getting videos removed from YouTube. I found another similar video and have updated the post.)
I could go on and on but I think my point is made.
I have said it before and I will say it again and again…these people are out to control every aspect of our lives all while claiming that they are for freedom (wink, wink). They think we are all stupid…..are you??
If you enjoyed the “or The Children’s Crusade” post earlier this week, I have some good news your you. They have posted some new tracks on their bandcamp.com site. Check them out using the following link:
This week our word of the week is Ghost. I don’t know if I believe in Ghosts but I am certainly not willing to rule out the possibility. Whether real or not, Ghosts have certainly inspired a lot of great music over the years. Today I present you with my favorite ghost songs.
After listening to the music, please take the time to read my note after the last song in the post. Have a great weekend!
Ghost – Indigo Girls
Ghosts – Dan Fogelberg
Ghost Riders In The Sky – The Outlaws
Ghost of Cape Horn – Gordon Lightfoot
Ghost On The Canvas – Glen Campbell
Personal Note
In case you have not heard, Glen has Alzheimer’s and this song is from what will be his last album. He meant a lot to me when I was first getting into music and including his last song in this post is my personal tribute to him.
In the late 1960s, as a teenager, I absolutely loved Glen and bought all of his singles: Gentle on My Mind, By The Time I Get To Phoenix, Wichita Lineman, and Galveston. During this time, he had a variety show on TV that I looked forward to watching each week. He featured great musical guest on the show each week and by exposing me to this variety of performers he helped to expand my evolving musical tastes. In addition to his musical guests, Glen sang a couple of songs each week and I never tired of listening to his great voice. I am happy to say that that voice has survived the intervening years as evidenced by this video!
As I have learned more about music history, I have grown to appreciate Glen’s skills as a musician. He was a popular LA session musician in the early 60s, one of a group of players that came to be known as The Wrecking Crew. They played on some of the biggest hits of that time supporting performers and producers as diverse as Rick Nelson, Elvis Presley, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and Phil Spector. In 1964-1965 Glen actually toured as a member of the Beach Boys replacing Brian Wilson when he quit touring to stay in the studio.
Glen…..we will miss you. Thanks for your wonderful music over the last 50 years!
A while back I watched a DVD titled It Might Get Loud which featured Jimmy Page, The Edge, and Jack White talking about music and jamming. There was a lot of great music but my favorite part was some very early footage of U2 performing before they were famous. I was thinking about that U2 performance today while preparing this post which features a video that I made of a local group named “or The Children’s Crusade’.
Talented new bands like U2 from back in the day, and “or The Children’s Crusade” today, have an energy level and palpable sense of ambition that most established bands seem to lose over time. I don’t know where fate will take the career of “or The Children’s Crusade” but I do know that their sound is refreshing and that they have a lot of potential. Without further ado, I give you “or The Children’s Crusade” performing How Nice.
If you like what you hear, you can follow the band’s career on their Facebook page:
I think their new CD is schedule to drop in the next couple of weeks so be sure to grab one when its available. Think how cool it will be to have that CD twenty years from now if they hit it big.
As promised last Friday, I have another “Monday” song for you as this week’s Long Song Tuesday offering. It’s an amazing performance of Stormy Monday (the T-Bone Walker song) by the Allman Brothers Band at Filmore East in 1971.
The Wikipedia article on the song Stormy Monday provides the following comments on the Allman Brothers version of Stormy Monday. I highly recommend that you read the comments before listening to the song since it let’s you know who is playing the three main solos in the performance..
The Allman Brothers Band instrumentation of the song is typical of the group, consisting of vocals, two guitars, bass guitar, organ, and drums. It demonstrates a different style of music, however, from most Allman Brothers pieces, with a very slow tempo and softer feel, running at only 60 beats per minute. Duane Allman’s virtuosic guitar playing can be heard at this slower tempo, in the first of three solos, with Gregg Allman’s organ solo shifting to a jazz-waltz feel and Dickey Betts’ guitar solo ending it.
This recording is from The Allman Brothers at Fillmore East, the best live album that was ever recorded (in my opinion). Because I love this album so much we will feature it as the album of the week in the next day or so.
thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard 