AC/DC Biography

Formed in Sydney, Australia in 1973

The reference to electrical current was intended — like name of the band’s first album, High Voltage — to symbolize the band’s high energy music.

Dave Evans – vocalsAngus Young – guitarMalcolm Young – guitarLarry Van Kriedt – bass guitarColin Burgess – drumsRob Bailey – bass guitarPeter Clack – drumsTony Currenti – drumsMark Evans – bass guitarBrian Johnson – vocalsPhil Rudd – drumsBon Scott – vocalsChris Slade – drumsCliff Williams – bass guitarSimon Wright – drumsGeorge Young – bass guitar

Brian Johnson, Angus Young, Malcolm Young, Cliff Williams, Phil Rudd

High Voltage (1975)

Black Ice (2008)

Rolling Stones, Marc Bolan (T Rex)

Over the years, AC/DC has been variously classified as hard rock, heavy metal, punk, even glam rock. The band considers itself simply rock 'n' roll.

Angus Young’s trademark “school boy” outfit and the rest of the band’s satin jumpsuits have led some people to erroneously conclude that the band’s name suggests a bisexual theme.

The band has released more than two dozen studio and live albums. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 by Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, who said, “AC/DC became the litmus test of what rock does.”

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Christmas Albums

The songs are traditional and, for the most part, so are the arrangements (which isn't surprising, given REO Speedwagon's history of power ballads and orchestral accompaniment.) After 42 years and two dozen albums (with non-traditional titles like You Can Tune A Piano But You Can't Tuna Fish and The Earth, A Small Man, His Dog and A Chicken) the band released its first Christmas album in 2009. The songs are familiar, but the band imprints them with their own style.

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Stuff You May Have Missed: Classic Rocktoids

Gather 'round, children, for the latest classic rock water cooler fodder.

• Crosby Stills & Nash are working on a new album, but it won't include new music. According to Billboard, CSN will cover standards made classic by folks other than themselves. Release date hasn't been set because, according to Graham Nash, "It's a lot slower than it's ever taken us to do an album."

• A huge box set covering the entire career of the late Sandy Denny is set for November release. In all, 19 CDs will cover her work with bands like Strawbs and Fairport Convention, and as a solo artist. More than a hundred previously unreleased tracks are included, along with a hardback book.

• Ray Davies (ex-The Kinks) has invited a few friends over to record tracks for his new album. Among the guests: Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi and Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins.) Davies reports on his Facebook page that the album will be released in early November.

• You may have never heard of Dukes of September Rhythm Revue, but I'm sure you know its members: Donald Fagen (Steely Dan,) Boz Scaggs and Michael McDonald. Back in the early '90s the three performed together as New York Rock and Soul Revue. As Dukes, they're currently touring with an eclectic set list of covers of The Band, Grateful Dead, and Motown classics.

• Besides the latest batch of reissues from the Jimi Hendrix catalog, there are some other ways you can observe the 40th anniversary (9/18) of the artist's death. The London apartment where he lived, wrote, and jammed with friends will be open to the public (9/15-26) while at a museum next door, a Hendrix exhibit runs through 11/8. The second Experience Hendrix tour of the year begins in late October, with a revolving roster of guitarists paying tribute to the tour's namesake.

• Wanted: experienced drummer, must be well-known but not currently working. Chickenfoot are looking for a drummer to replace Chad Smith, whose recording and touring commitments with Red Hot Chili Peppers will make him unavailable for a new Chickenfoot album. The supergroup's lead vocalist, Sammy Hagar tells The Pulse of Radio that "we really don't know what to do right now, but I think we're gonna probably play with a few different guys and see what happens."

• I doubt anyone expected otherwise, but Mark David Chapman's latest request for parole has been denied, as were the five before it. He is 29 years into a 20-to-life sentence for the 1980 murder of John Lennon, and will be eligible for parole again in 2012.

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Joe Cocker

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Country Rock 101

Gram Parsons had a lot to do with the creation of the Country Rock genre.

Courtesy Rhino Entertainment

Some rock fans will recoil at the idea of country music, thinking immediately of Waylon Jennings, Dolly Parton or Glen Campbell. Country music, however, has had a massive influence in the history of rock music, with artists like the Eagles, the Doobie Brothers and Neil Young falling squarely in the genre of country rock.

Arguably, the originator of country rock was songwriter and guitarist Gram Parsons of The Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers. He did this through his music and through his rock and roll lifestyle, dying at the age of 26 of an overdose, Lucinda Williams to write a song about him called "Drunken Angel."

If Gram Parsons is the most critically acclaimed originator of country rock, Neil Young is probably the best known. His work with Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and his solo albums have all had a heavy country influence, something he has continued with the release of Prairie Wind in 2005, an album reminiscent of his most famous album, Harvest.

The Band also had a heavy country influence, blending it with rhythm & blues and rock & roll to create iconic American music. Bob Dylan recorded a number of country-style albums, most notably Nashville Skyline (1969). Other important country-influenced artists of this era were Creedence Clearwater Revival, Poco, Little Feat, New Riders of the Purple Sage, and the Ozark Mountain Daredevils.

Here are my top ten country rock tracks, if you want to get a start on coming to grips with this genre. "Lay Me Down" - David Crosby and Graham Nash "White Line Fever" - The Flying Burrito Brothers "Long Distance Love" - Little Feat "Dead Flowers" - Gram Parsons "Fortunate Son" - Creedence Clearwater Revival "Riverside" - America "Black Water" - Doobie Brothers "The Weight" - The Band "Hole in the World" - The Eagles "Sky, Blue and Black" - Jackson Browne

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Genesis

(l-r) Mike Rutherford, Phil Collins, Tony Banks, Steve Hackett in an Atlantic Records publicity photo

1967 in Godalming, Surrey, EnglandOfficially went on hiatus in 1998, reunited for tour in 2007Tony Banks - keyboards
Peter Gabriel - vocals, flute
Mike Rutherford - guitar, bass
Chris Stewart - drums
Anthony Phillips - guitarWorldwide album sales more than 159-million 15 studio albums 1969-1997, 15 live albums and compilations, 26 hit singles Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford were the only original members who were with the band through its entire existenceTwo high school bands merged to form Genesis in 1967. Their first album, From Genesis to Revelation was released in 1969. Along with bands like Pink Floyd, Rush, and Jethro Tull, they helped define the progressive rock genre in the '70s.

The band went through three drummers in as many years before settling on Phil Collins in 1970. In 1975, when founding member Peter Gabriel left to pursue a solo career, Collins took over as lead vocalist, then left to pursue his own solo career in 1996.

Gabriel rejoined the group for one concert in 1982. The group went into the studio in 1999 to record a new version of their hit single, "The Carpet Crawlers" for a greatest hits compilation album. Ray Wilson, who replaced Collins, has released three solo albums since his brief career with Genesis ended. Gabriel and Collins continue to actively tour and record. A 2007 reunion tour lineup included Collins, Banks, and Rutherford. Platinum Collection
This three-CD set contains 39 remastered tracks spanning both the Phil Collins and Peter Gabriel eras.

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Paul McCartney - 2005

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The Beatles

This is the story of a high school skiffle band that woke up one day in the rarified air of international superstardom. The story of The Beatles is a story of friendships made and lost, musical barriers broken, and lives permanently altered.

It's a long way from Liverpool to legend. The journey has been the subject of thousands of books, articles, interviews, college courses, discussion groups, and late night bull sessions. And well it should be. When you add up all of the Beatles albums, singles, CDs and videos that have ever been sold, the total surpasses 1-billion. That’s billion, with a 'B.’

Our own trip down the path of Beatles discovery begins with a look at the distinct periods along their career timeline.

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Syd Barrett Biography

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Classic Rock Instrumentals

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Beatles '65

Released:
December 1964 - US

Charted:
#1 US

Album Notes:
The last of eight albums released in 1964, it contained most of the same songs as the simultaneous UK release Beatles For Sale.

Album Cover Notes:
Umbrellas are prominent in a series of four posed studio shots.

Track List & Song Info:

Side One
1. "No Reply" (Lennon-McCartney)
2. "I'm a Loser" (Lennon-McCartney)
3. "Baby's in Black" (Lennon-McCartney)
4. "Rock and Roll Music" (Chuck Berry)
5. "I'll Follow the Sun" (Lennon-McCartney)
6. "Mr. Moonlight" (Roy Lee Johnson)

Side Two
1. "Honey Don't" (Carl Perkins)
2. "I'll Be Back" (Lennon-McCartney)
See A Hard Day's Night
3. "She's a Woman" (Lennon-McCartney)
McCartney imitates Little Richard on vocals
4. "I Feel Fine" (Lennon-McCartney)
Previously released as a single in the UK, it was an uncharacteristically optimistic lyric for Lennon
5. "Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby" (Carl Perkins)

(For additional song notes, see Beatles For Sale)

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woodstock performances

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Artimus Pyle Interview

Artimus Pyle was mad. Really mad. Homicidally mad. And suicidally depressed. But he's feeling much better now.

His recovery has been due, in large part, to three years of work on an album entitled Artimus Venomus in which he lives up to the title with some scathing lyrics that express the outrage he felt about what he feels was his betrayal by current members of the Lynyrd Skynyrd roster.

Pyle's nickname was "Wild Man" because of his playing style and his onstage antics as Skynyrd's drummer from 1974 until the October night in 1977 when the plane carrying the band crashed in a Mississippi forest, killing six people, including de facto leader, vocalist and chief songwriter, Ronnie Van Zant. Seriously injured himself, Pyle, a former Marine, managed to find the rescue crew and lead them to the wreckage.

Surviving members -- Pyle among them -- re-formed the band in 1987, with Johnny Van Zant taking over his late brother's role. In 1991, Pyle left the band, disillusioned, he says, because of some members' heavy drug and alcohol use. He claims that in later years, the band used their lawyers to limit the amount of money ex-band members were entitled to.

These days, Pyle tours and records with his band, APB (variously known as All Points Bulletin or Artemus Pyle Band) but is still purging himself of his past.

About Classic Rock:
In the liner notes you say, “If my songs bother you, maybe there’s more to the story.” Clearly, this is what I would call a concept album. There’s a very clear theme running through it, and it’s a pretty dark one. I mean, you’re taking no prisoners here.

Artimus Pyle:
Yeah, taking no prisoners. Well, the first clue is the title of the album. It doesn't say Artimus Harmonious. Obviously I am making statements about how I feel. That's why I wrote the songs and why I had to sing them. You can also tell something about it from some of song titles, like "Blood Sucking Weasel Attorneys," "Dead Rock Stars’ Widows, Gigolos, Pocket Money" [with pointed references to Ronnie Van Zant’s widow, Judy] and "Spit" [with pointed references to Ronnie Van Zant’s brother, Johnny].

"Million Dollar Farm" is about the phony music industry executives who are responsible for all the trite, cookie-cutter crap that all sounds the same, all with the same players. It’s about people who sell out the other members of their band for their own gain. Ronnie Van Zant was not like that. My album is a way to tell the world that Ronnie Van Zant was a man of integrity.

The album is about how I was treated by people who said they loved me and supported me but who turned on me to benefit themselves. It has been cathartic. I feel so much better. I never thought the album would be anything more than me purging myself. It’s on me. I was the fool. The things that happened to me happened because I let them happen. Yeah, I’m sour grapes.

If you listen to the whole album, there is a theme. It's telling a story. And the last song is about forgiveness. Yeah, I was mad for a long time. I was homicidal and suicidal for a couple of years. But I'm over it. If I was driving down the road and saw one of these people on the side of the road with a flat tire, I'd stop to help. And then I'd keep right on driving.

I had to write this album. It had to be me. I quit the band. They tried to make it look like I was fired, but I quit. I was trying to get those guys who were part of the original Lynyrd Skynyrd to see how far they had gotten away from what Ronnie Van Zant was all about. I was hoping that by quitting, I’d get their attention, thought maybe they'd say, 'Hey, something must really be wrong for Artimus to quit over it.'

About Classic Rock:
One of the things that makes the album distinctive is the use of sound effects, special effects, and spoken word all woven into the music. Are these things part of what’s in your head as you write, or do they evolve when you get into the studio?

Artimus Pyle:
I'd say for the most part I was thinking about it while I wrote, although there were few things that happened in the studio that were actually mistakes, but when I heard them I said, 'Keep them in.'

As for the spoken words, Frank Zappa was a good friend of mine. Had he lived, I probably would have wound up playing in his band. So it's a combination of [being like] Ronnie [Van Zant] – telling it like it is – with a little tongue-in-cheek humor like Zappa's.

About Classic Rock:
The darkness of the theme aside, there's some really good music on this album.

Artimus Pyle:
If you like the music it's because there are just some fantastic players on it. There are 60 people on this album, all of them great singers and musicians.

And some of it is lighthearted. There’s a point where you hear my producer’s voice say, 'Hey, Artimus, can you lighten up a little bit?' and I say 'Oh. Yeah, man, I see what you mean' and we launch into "Can’t Get Off With Your Shoes On." So, it's not all about greed and betrayal. I had so much fun doing the album, I plan on doing many more, a whole series. My son says I should call the next one Artimus Harmonius.

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woodstockexperience

For the artists, it was the best of times (Santana launched a career) and the worst of times (Grateful Dead could barely perform because of being shocked whenever they touched their microphones) at Woodstock 1969. For the audience (then and now) the festival encapsulated the mood, the culture, and the music of a generation.

Pegged to the festival's 40th anniversary are several packages of Woodstock performances, some being released for the first time.

Back in 1969 Santana, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, Johnny Winter and Sly & the Family Stone weren't all label mates. Some recorded for RCA, some for Columbia, some for Epic. In recent years, those labels have each been absorbed by Sony, putting that company in the position of being able to bundle music from each of those artists into a single package on its Legacy label.

The Woodstock Experience is an interesting concept. For each of the mentioned artists, Sony Legacy has put together a two-CD package that includes the artist's performance at Woodstock and a studio album released by the artist in 1969. Quite a few of the Woodstock performances are being released for the first time.

All five packages are available in the box set, or individually.

• Janis Joplin
Album reissue: I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!
Woodstock set: 10 songs, including previously unreleased tracks "Raise Your Hand," "As Good As You've Been To This World" and "Can't Turn You Loose."

Joplin is engaging as she polls the crowd: "Are you staying stoned, have enough water, got a place to sleep and everything?" This was one of her first live performances after parting company with Big Brother and The Holding Company, and at time she seems nervous and unsure of herself. Regardless, it's a powerful set.

Jefferson Airplane
Woodstock set: Volunteers
Woodstock set: eight songs, including previously unreleased tracks "Wooden Ships," "The Ballad Of You And Me And Pooneil," "Come Back Baby" and "The House At Pooneil Corners."

Performing early on Sunday morning, the band rolls with the punches and doesn't show any outward signs that they're playing a set that started about 12 hours later than originally scheduled. This was one of the last gigs for the original lineup. The vocal harmonies are tight and polished, with individual instruments enhancing, never distracting.

Johnny Winter
Album reissue: Johnny Winter
Woodstock set: eight songs, seven of which are being released for the first time: "Mama, Talk To Your Daughter," "Leland Mississippi Blues," "You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now," "Johnny B. Goode," "I Can't Stand It," "Tobacco Road" and "Tell The Truth" (the last three with his brother, Edgar.)

Johnny Winter wasn't well known prior to Woodstock, but that changed after his performance there, aided by the release of albums just before and just after. His set is raw, hard rocking blues.

Santana
Album reissue: Santana
Woodstock set: eight songs, including the previously unreleased "Evil Ways."

Even though the temperature was in the 90s, and the two acts they followed (Quill and Keef Hartley) were unknown and not particularly inspiring, Santana's Woodstock performance was high energy, innovative risk-taking. This set is one for the ages.

Sly and the Family Stone
Album reissue: Stand!
Woodstock set: nine songs, including the previously unreleased "M'Lady," "Sing A Simple Song," "You Can Make It If You Try," "Everyday People," "Love City" and "Stand."

Sly & family were already well known and quite popular when they were booked at Woodstock, so expectations were high. They did not disappoint. Their bare fisted approach to social issues ("Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey" for example) was a perfect match for the Woodstock audience.

Release date (physical and digital) for The Woodstock Experience: June 30, 2009
Compare Prices

(Each of the five two-disc sets is available individually, but unless you're really only interested in one artist, the box set is a better value.)

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John Ono Lennon and Yoko Ono

Some blamed Yoko for causing the Beatles breakup, but conflicts and hostility among band members were brewing well before the two got together.

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Why People Collect Records

How you grade your record albums is the single most important factor in any record collection and one that is the most subjective. What may be a mint record to you may not be to the more experienced record collector.

In an ideal world, everyone would be able to play and test every record before they would buy it and everyone would agree on a grading system. But, alas, since that is both impractical and impossible, records are usually graded according to industry standards.

Now, just what are the industry standards? While shopping online for vinyl you may encounter Web sites with their own way of grading a vinyl record. Some will use the standard grading terms like mint, very good or excellent, good, fair or poor and then put a series of plus or minus signs behind them. Others may incorporate a numerical value ranging from 10-1, with 10 being the best or mint. It is imperative that you understand how the merchant or individual grades the records before you decide to make a purchase from them.

I was browsing eBay one night and decided to purchase a 45 single by The Yardbirds that the seller rated VG+. I paid the $3.00 for the record, it was shipped, and when I opened the package, was I disappointed! I would have never graded that record a VG+. I would have graded it at G, if that.

After we exchanged some angry words by email, the seller told me to play the record. I did and it was then I decided, yes, the seller was right in his grading assessment. The record played very well and did warrant the VG+ grade that he had given it.

The only true way to grade a record is to play it. You can look at it all you want and see the physical flaws, but until you play the record, you can’t know what problems will arise form these imperfections until you hear the music.

As buyers or sellers of vinyl, we put our trust in the record price guides that are released yearly. These give us an idea of what to pay for a specific record or, conversely, what to charge, if we are selling an album.

The guides supply us with updates on trends in the industry, what genres are "hot" and overall record prices. I will not get into the debate on which one you should use, which is like me telling you which kind of car to drive. It is a personal choice.

But there is a master flaw with all record price guides irregardless of the publisher. They are often outdated by the time they go to press.

Jerry Osborne has written more than over 130 record price guides and continues to add to that total. He has also published three collector news and marketplace magazines Record Digest, Music World, and DISCoveries.

Using the technology available today, Osborne has created a service called Cyberguides. Each day, Osborne's database is revised, corrected and updated, then once a week, the up-to-date record price guide is distributed by email.

- by Robert G. Benson

Next: our series concludes with tips on how to clean and store your records.

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Blondie

Deborah Harry – lead vocals
Chris Stein – guitar
Clem Burke – drums
Jimmy Destri – keyboards
Gary Valentine – bass After their self-titled first album failed to chart, their second release, Plastic Letters in 1977 reached as high as #10 on the UK album chart. The group’s breakthrough came in 1978 with the release of Parallel Lines, which hit #1 in the UK and #6 in the US and produced five hit singles.

Blondie distinguished itself by progressing into new musical styles with each album, eventually covering punk, disco, new wave and hip hop.

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In the Works: Classic Rock Projects to Watch

• ZZ Top are in studio working on their 15th album, expected to be released next year, the 40th anniversary of the release of their debut album in 1971.

• The reissue of the entire Paul McCartney catalog begins November 2 with the remastered Band On The Run from 1973, available on CD or a three-CD, one-DVD deluxe version that adds bonus tracks, music videos and a documentary.

• A solo single from Aerosmith's Steven Tyler is the theme song from a forthcoming Japanese sci-fi flick. "Love Lives" will be released in November.

• KISS employ new media for a live broadcast of the final show of their Greatest Show on Earth tour on Saturday (9/25) night. See it at KROQ.com, CBS Radio rock station websites, and via the Facebook game, Booyah's Nightclub City.

• Pink Floyd reuniting? Possibly, for a one-off performance like their last one (minus the late Richard Wright) at Live 8 in 2005. Roger Waters, who made a surprise appearance with David Gilmour at a recent benefit concert, tells Rolling Stone, "David and Nick [Mason] and I might do a one-off somewhere, but there's no way we're going to do a tour." Waters will be touring The Wall in 2011 to celebrate its 30th anniversary, with Gilmour promising to join at least one performance.

• Complete Albums Box Set (Limited Collector's Edition) compiles all of Black Sabbath's albums from the Ozzy Osbourne era, adding a cross-shaped, 100-page discography to the nine-disc set, coming November 15.

• The Ballad of Mott the Hoople is a new documentary to be screened next month (October 16-19) at British Film Institute, coinciding with release (10/4) of a four-CD box set, Mott The Hoople In Performance 1970-74.

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Rod Stewart CD Review

Well, he’s done it again. Another album of covers. Perhaps he feels he has nothing else to prove. Or maybe the creative pen has just dried up?

I know he hasn'tr exactly been a big writer of late -- Out Of Order way back in ’88 was the last album he really contributed to in a big way. Since then, subsequent albums showed a "bit part" effort. Through the 90s he only co-wrote a couple of tracks each album, with 1998’s "When We Were the New Boys" being the last.

You’re thinking, if I don’t like the guy, why am I writing the review?

Not the case, folks. I admire the guy in a big way, especially after what he’s been through with that gravelly voice of his and almost having to quit a few years back. And I also already own quite a few of his albums!

After all his tributes to crooners -- his Great American Songbook series -- he gave the impression he was going to release a new “rock” album, even though it would consist of covers.

Ahh, if only ...! This is a good easy listening CD, in sync with his previous four releases. I guess he’s kind of off the hook, as the album isn’t titled great rock songs, but, rock classics. By that I think he really means songs originally done by great rock artists.

He opens with a respectable version of the old CCR number, "Have You Ever Seen the Rain." He doesn’t do a bad John Fogerty impression, really.

Now tell me, though, how big a rock star was Elvin Bishop, who Rod covers next on "Fooled Around and Fell In Love?" It is a passable song, but it makes me start to feel that this is the Great American Songbook Part 5!

Next up it’s the Pretenders’ "I’ll Stand By You." Rod Stewart as Chrissie Hynde? Hmmm. I guess this was safe choice. In all fairness, on his website he does say, “We’ve chosen songs very carefully to go with my voice.” No kidding, Rod! Maybe a little too safe, I’d say!

On the title track, "Still the Same," I have to say that Stewart does Bob Seger total justice. Well done on this, Rod, But it’s still not rockin’!

I was a bit surprised by the next track, "It’s A Heartache," Welsh lass Bonnie Tyler’s first big hit. When this first came out, I recall everyone saying, “Wow, a female Rod Stewart!” Ironic then that he should cover this. The song is still good and strong, and, yes, it works for Rod too!

The old Badfinger track, "Day After Day" is next. Rod presents this pretty well, I have to say, including the rather dated guitar sound associated with the original release. But the song still sound like a fresh pop song

He covers John Waite’s "Missing You" fairly safely, again in keeping with the theme of this album: safe, soft pop/rock sounds.

"Father Son" was very popular, of course, for the artist now known as Yusuf Islam. Although the former Cat Stevens had one of those unique voice styles, Rod manages to make this song his own.

When I saw "Best Of My Love," The Eagles classic, on the track list, I was quite curious to see how Rod would handle it. He’s actually made it more country than the Eagles did! On so many of these songs, he has kept the music so true to the originals, it might’ve been good to see him mess around with the arrangements a little to really make the songs a little more his!

Rod can’t sing with a Bob Dylan twang, so again he plays it safe musically and vocally with "If Not For You." He sings it as if he wrote the song himself. I can’t take that away from the man. They simply could’ve been all his own originals. I mean, who else sounds like Rod Stewart, right?

He hasn’t tried to pick out anything that he’d really have to reach for here. Now, if he’d tried to sing something like Deep Purple’s "Highway Star," well, I’d have been impressed with him for just trying. Now that IS a classic rock song!

"Love Hurts" was a huge hit for Nazareth, who really made their own with their soft-hard rock structure of this song. Rod keeps it pretty safe still.

The Bread/David Gates song, "Everything I Own" is okay, but, hey, it’s another ballad. The closing track, Van Morrison’s "Crazy Love" is also nothing to get excited about.

To summarize, it’s just that it’s a safe, “nice” – Urgh! – album. Heck, I would’ve even loved to have heard an updated version of "Stay With Me." Now, that’s the kind of rocker Rod used to be! Since this is a solo album, that Faces song could’ve been considered a cover, right?!

Rock classics? It should be renamed Classic Pop/Soft Rock songs!

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Pink Floyd

1965 in Cambridge, England Megadeaths, Sigma 6, Screaming Abdabs, Abdabs, Architectural Abdabs, Tea Set, The Pink Floyd Sound Combination of the names of American blues musicians Pink Anderson and Floyd Council Jimi Hendrix, Amm (improvisational jazz group), Can (German experimental rock group), Byrds, Grateful Dead, Arthur Lee (Love) David Bowie, Genesis, The Nazz, Queen, Phish, Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins, Yes

After two albums, Barrett self-destructed due to mental instability aggravated by drug use. He was replaced by David Gilmour in 1968. The band continued to expreriment, increasingly incorporating classical and jazz influences into their music.

Their innovative musical styles and flashy stage production in live performances established them as a commercially successful band with a unique sound, at the forefront of the rock opera genre with heir 1979 epic The Wall.

Between the mid-70s and mid-80s Roger Waters increasingly asserted control over the band's sound and overall direction. In 1985, Waters left to pursue a solo career, and declared that Pink Floyd was done. A subsequent court battle proved otherwise, as David Gilmour retained the right to use the band's name and much of its catalog.

Pink Floyd's last studio album was 1994's The Division Bell. In July 2005, the group, Waters included, performed at the London Live 8 concert.

Both Waters and Gilmour have continued to pursue solo careers, occasionally joined by Nick Mason or Rick Wright or both to perform music from the band's glory days. All indications are that another reunion that includes both Waters and Gilmour is, at best, highly unlikely, especially in light of Wright's death in September 2008.

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dylan_gig_review

Bob Dylan's performance (after The Dough Rollers and John Mellencamp opened) had the feel of a worship and adoration service.  The moment he took the stage, the evening became one of unforgettable music.  Some were overcome by it all, screaming “Dylan!” or “Bobby!”  or even “[extremely bad word]-ing Bob Dylan!” repeatedly. 

And they each seemed to really mean it.

The short show (due to the local curfew) of one hour and 40 minutes went without break from song to song, but was anything but mechanical.  Every Dylan concert is unique and each seems to be less of a performance and more of a jam session that just happens to have thousands of people in attendance.  

The band – Tony Garnier on bass, George Recile on drums, Stu Kimball on rhythm guitar, Charlie Sexton on lead guitar and Donnie Herron on electric mandolin, pedal steel guitar and lap steel guitar – never took their eyes off the master, lest they miss a clue as to what was coming next.

Dylan himself played lead several times, as well as rhythm guitar, keyboards and, of course, to the great delight of the swooning crowd, harp. He even smiled.

More than once.

Really.

Despite the legend of the gruff and rugged Poet Laureate of Rock and Roll, the strict security against taking photos of the concert, and extreme reluctance to give any kind of interview, Dylan seemed to really be enjoying himself.  He encouraged his congregation to sing along during “Just Like a Woman” and “Highway 61 Revisited” and the faithful did respond.

Somehow, through a trick of the light and the influence of a most awesome moon rise (with the help of local wildfires) the stage lights seemed to only cast Dylan's shadow of Dylan on the back wall of the stage.  It was startling how different the shade appeared compared to the other people in the band.

How was it done?

  Does it matter?

Just one question that matters need be asked after a Bob Dylan concert, though.

How did it feel?

It felt very good.

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Eagles

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Elton John

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Taking a Break From Beatlemania

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plant_band_of_joy

I get it that Robert Plant has exited the hard rock phase of his career, but it's a little hard to figure out where he's trying to go next. His latest solo album, Band of Joy really doesn't offer much in the way of clues.

Band of Joy is available on CD, vinyl (on 10/26/10) and MP3.

Prior to 2010, the Birmingham, England-based band, Band of Joy had four incarnations, three of which included Robert Plant as lead vocalist, and one of which included drummer John Bonham. The first three versions of the band (the Plant years) existed from 1965-68. The second (without Plant, who had, like Bonham, moved on to bigger and better things with Led Zeppelin) lasted from 1977-83.

The original Band of Joy played soul and blues, the music that folks in the Birmingham area were into in the mid-60s. The musical style of the 2010 version of the band is much harder to pin down, even after repeatedly listening to their self-titled debut album.

I've gotten quite used to classic rock artists branching off into other areas as they get closer to the end of their careers than they were 30 or 40 years ago -- artists like Roger Waters, Paul McCartney and Sting with their ventures in classical music, Rod Stewart with his transition to soft pop standards, Ritchie Blackmore leaping from "Smoke on the Water" to medieval minstrel music.

In the deft hands of producer T Bone Burnett, Plant successfully made the break from hard rock via his 2007 pairing with Alison Krauss for their Raising Sand album. Each artist jumped genre and landed in a very happy place somewhere between the two. Sadly, Band of Joy doesn't come anywhere close to Plant's last collaboration.

In all fairness, this 2010 collaboration is of a different kind. Whereas Plant and Krauss shared lead and harmony vocals, Band of Joy's other vocalists (Patty Griffin and Buddy Miller) are strictly backup singers, used sparingly and very much in the background. That alone disqualifies any direct comparisons between the two albums.

The songs Plant chose to cover and the way he chose to cover them (he and Miller co-produced the album) are all over the board, with the song and the performance style often at odds. Traditional folk and bluegrass fare gets '50s pop and rockabilly treatment. On a couple of tracks, there's an inexplicable attempt to sound country, on songs that are not.

I don't have any quarrel with the songs selected. They come from some A-list songwriters like Richard and Linda Thompson, Louie Perez and David Hidalgo of Los Lobos, and Townes Van Zandt. It is the arrangements that leave me scratching my head.

I have long been a Led Zeppelin fan, but I heartily support Plant's stated desire to not do that anymore (nor the hard rock of his subsequent solo career.) Raising Sand proved that he can successfully avoid genre typecasting. Band of Joy is likewise not your father's Robert Plant, but it isn't at all clear to me what it is.

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Led Zeppelin Reunion

Drummer John "Bonzo" Bonham's sudden death also represented the abrupt end of Led Zeppelin. The remaining members of the band -- Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones -- issued a statement that said, in part, "the loss of our dear friend and the deep sense of undivided harmony felt by ourselves and our manager, have led us to decide that we could not continue as we were."

And so it was that on a December day in 1980, one of the most successful and influential rock bands in history ended a 12 year run, its surviving original members going their separate ways.

A quarter of a century later, with almost clockwork regularity, rumors fly higher than a stairway to Heaven that this time there's really going to be a reunion of the band's surviving members.

Some Rumors Live Again

In early 2007, with bands like Genesis, The Police and The Who embarking on reunion tours, a blogger concocted a minor variation of a rumor that had been circulated by a British tabloid several years earlier. That's the one in which John Paul Jones supposedly told Toronto radio station CILQ that band members were discussing a possible reunion.

It didn't seem to matter that the radio station and Jones quickly denied it. The lifespan of a rumor on the Web is considerable.

That rumor had barely laid its head down to sleep (they never die, you see) when the next one suggested that the band would perform at a tribute to Ahmet Ertegun, the late Atlantic Records founder. Although initially denied by Robert Plant, it later turned out to be true.

As for the possibility of a reunion tour Plant said, "If there was [a reunion] then there wouldn't be enough doctors to support it." It isn't clear whether he was referring to the band members' ages (Plant is 58, Jones is 61, Page is 63) or the effect that a reunion would have on Zep fans, or something else entirely. What is clear is that he denied that there would be anything more than another one-off performance.

Reasons to Believe

Once in a great while, the three surviving members have gotten together for short, one time only performances. At Live Aid in 1985, Phil Collins (ex-Genesis) and Tony Thompson (ex-CHIC) sat in on drums. In 1988, at an Atlantic Records anniversary party and in 1995, when the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Page, Plant and Jones were joined by Bonham's son, Jason, drummer for Foreigner and UFO.

That Jason Bonham has come into his own as a drummer has, in part, been responsible for raising the hopes of Led Zeppelin fans anxious for a reunion tour. After Bonzo Bonham's death, the band reportedly considered several well known replacements -- Carmen Appice (Vanilla Fudge, Rod Stewart), Cozy Powell (Rainbow, Jeff Beck Group), Simon Kirke (Free, Bad Company), Bev Bevan (ELO, Black Sabbath) -- but finally determined that, in effect, Led Zeppelin just wouldn't be Led Zeppelin without Bonzo.

Jason Bonham having earned his props, and having played the one-time-only Led Zeppelin performances, seems to be the closest thing to what the surviving members might consider an acceptable replacement. But Bonham is currently touring with Foreigner, and the fact that he reportedly talked band founder Mick Jones into doing the tour makes it seem that Bonham's long term allegiance, at least for the immediate future, would not be to his late father's band mates.

Could it happen? Sure. Anything's possible. Will it happen? To date, nobody in the band is suggesting that it will. But it isn't likely that will stop the rumors from resurfacing, or stop diehard Zep fans from wanting desperately to believe them.

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Hear Soon: Elton John & Leon Russell, Steve Miller Band, Uriah Heep

• Steve Miller Band's 1976 classic, Fly Like An Eagle is being spruced up and reissued (10/12/10) with some "bonus" extras. Three demo recordings will be added to the 12 original tracks. Also in the package, a concert DVD, recorded in 2005 at Shoreline Amphitheater near San Francisco, with guest appearances by George Thorogood and Joe Satriani.

• What makes a bootleg an "official" bootleg? In announcing their latest live CD, Uriah Heep explain, "These recordings are true official bootlegs in every sense and they reflect that night's performance as it happened, totally untouched." The performance on Official Bootleg Volume II - Live In Budapest, Hungary 2010 is the second in what the band promises will be an ongoing series of "raw" concert recordings. Release date TBA.

Album cover image courtesy Decca Records

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new0910

Release date 9/14/10, Rounder Records

Before there was Led Zeppelin, there was Band of Joy, a Birmingham, England based blues band co-founded by Robert Plant, and featuring among its alumni, Plant's future Zep band mate, John Bonham. In 2010, Band of Joy is back, with an all new lineup that includes Patty Griffin sharing vocals with Plant on songs like Lightnin' Hopkins' "Central Two-O-Nine", "Harms Swift Way" (written by Townes Van Zandt) and the first single from the album, "Angel Dance", written by Louie Perez and David Hidalgo of Los Lobos.

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Review: Robert Plant - 'Band of Joy'

Before there was Led Zeppelin, there was Band of Joy, a Birmingham, England based soul and blues band co-founded by Robert Plant in 1965. Now, Band of Joy is back, but it is much harder to describe what it is in 2010. Plant's latest solo album, Band of Joy really doesn't offer much in the way of clues.

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In Concert: John Mellencamp

Just a word of friendly advice. If you want to stay glued to your seat, stay home, or go to a Yanni concert. If you want to stand up, get down and boogie, go to a John Mellencamp concert.

Lynette Sheffield reports that a few people actually managed to stay in their seats during Mellencamp's recent Bend, Oregon concert, simultaneously defying the laws of physics and boogiedom. Here's Mellencamp's set in review.

Photo by Scott Gries / Getty Images

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Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven" has been played on radio more than any other song in history, even though it was never released as a single.U.S. album sales total more than 100-million.The band's fourth album had no title, just a group of four ancient runes, each standing for a member of the band.The band received their only Grammy, a Lifetime Achievment Award in 1995.

The band began as The New Yardbirds. Their first album was released in 1969, debuting their unique blues-heavy metal-psychedelic sound. Before disbanding in 1980 after the death of drummer John Bonham, the group released eight studio albums and one live album. Since then, an original album and nine compilations have been released. Vocalist Robert Plant has had a successful solo career since 1982, occasionally collaborating with band founder Jimmy Page.

Led Zeppelin IV

They could go hard, as with "Rock and Roll", or soft, as with "Stairway To Heaven", or psychedelic, as with "The Battle of Evermore". Because it represents the band's broad range of musical styles, this album (also sometimes known as "Zoso" or "The Rune Album" because of the absence of an actual title) is quintessential Led Zeppelin.

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Watch and Listen: Neil Young's Le Noise

Coinciding with this week's (9/28) release of Neil Young's new album, Le Noise, the artist's YouTube channel is streaming Le Noise - The Film, featuring performances of songs from the new album. Watch Le Noise - The Film.

Young plays Farm Aid this weekend (10/2) and his own Bridge School Benefit (10/23-24) during which he will reunite with some of his former Buffalo Springfield band mates.

Image courtesy Reprise Records

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Bob Dylan Lyrics Quiz

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Review: Santana - "Guitar Heaven ..." CD

You can't really say that classic rock ax master Carlos Santana is without equal, but the list of artists who could accurately be called his peers is a short one. On his latest album, Santana pays tribute to some peers who have helped make rock rock. Here's my review of Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classic Of All Time.

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Dio, Queen Remembered

Tributes to the late Ronnie James Dio continue, with the release of a live album, a vinyl reissue, and a three book set of the singer's memoirs. Dio died in May of this year, six months after being diagnosed with stomach cancer.

Dio At Donington UK: Live in 1983 & 1987, a two-CD set featuring the band's performances at the Monsters of Rock festival, is set for release November 9. Dio's debut album, Holy Diver (1983) will be reissued on 180 gram vinyl on November 23.

Dio's widow, Wendy tells Rolling Stone about plans for a set consisting of the late singer's memoirs, a photo book and a book of "illustrated lyrics." The project is currently being shopped to potential publishers.

The most recent iteration of Queen (2004-2009) featured vocalist Paul Rodgers (ex- Free, Bad Company) and Queen co-founders Brian May and Roger Taylor. During its relatively short existence, the group did two world tours, a studio album (The Cosmos Rocks), a live album, and two concert DVDs.

Now, more than a year after the collaboration ended, it is being documented in print. Rockmos! is a thick (342 pages) photographic diary of the band's tours of Europe and North America. A portion of the profits will go to the Mercury Phoenix Trust, which funds AIDS research and education. The trust was created by surviving band members after original lead singer, Freddie Mercury died of AIDS-related causes in 1991.

Ronnie James Dio photo by Paul Kane / Getty Images; Paul Rodgers, Roger Taylor, Brian May photo by Dan Kitwood / Getty Images

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In Concert: Bob Dylan

You would think that after 50 years and who-knows-how-many-thousand concert performances, Bob Dylan would be, if nothing else, predictable. But this is Dylan we're talking about here, the music legend usually portrayed as a gruff recluse. The Dylan who rarely allows himself to be interviewed or photographed.

But Dylan wouldn't be Dylan if he didn't do at least a little something we wouldn't expect. Like smiling more than once during a performance. We have a witness. Lynette Sheffield reviews a recent Dylan tour stop.

Photo by Kevin Winter / Getty Images

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The Beatles - Love

Any review of The Beatles Love is a review of the production of the music rather than the music itself. And whether you like the album will depend on whether you like the concept of the album.

Cirque du Soleil commissioned longtime Beatles producer Sir George Martin and his son, Giles -- with the blessing of the two living Beatles and the estates of the other two -- to remix and remaster Fab Four classics for a lavish Las Vegas show. Working with the original studio masters -- and Sir George's intimate involvement in producing them -- the Martins crafted an intriguing mash-up of alternate takes, outtakes, and remixes.

All totaled, the album's 26 tracks are made up of 130 separate recordings. Sometimes there is just a chord or two. Some of the tracks are superimposed on other tracks. The overall effect, as befits a Cirque production, is surreal, and larger than life.

For those of us who listened to mono vinyl when that was all there was to listen to, the Digital Surround Sound treatment is breathtaking. It is less like listening to the radio or stereo, more like sitting in the studio during the sessions wearing a pair of high end headphones.

"New" versions -- like an a capella "Because," a gentler "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," combined live and studio recordings of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" -- are intriguing and fun.

The overall effect of all this sonic trickery is perfectly in keeping with the experimental nature of much of the band's post-Beatlemania work.

As I said at the outset, whether you like this album will depend entirely on whether you like the idea of someone mucking about with the original recordings, even if it is the guy who originally made those recordings.

The contingent of Beatles purists who still listen to the original vinyl LPs will have no truck with the modernization of the mixes, and will scorn what they perceive as the mulligan stew of disparate tracks insinuated on one another.

Others will whine at the commercialization, as if the music wasn't commercialized when it was made.

Bottom Line
Me? I like having the best of both worlds: the music that was so much a part of the fabric of my misspent youth, updated, modernized, and expertly played around with by the only people who could have possibly pulled it off.

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Radio Station Directory

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Buffalo Springfield Book Reunion Gig

Between 1966 and 1968, Buffalo Springfield launched a number of stellar careers. Stephen Stills and Neil Young were reunited as part of Crosby Still Nash & Young. Jim Messina became half of Loggins & Messina after co-founding Poco with another Buffalo Springfield alum, Richie Furay.

For the first time since 1968, surviving members Stills, Young, Messina and Furay will perform together, at Young's annual Bridge School Benefit in October. (Bassist Bruce Palmer died in 2004, drummer Dewey Martin in 2009.)

During their short and stormy existence, the band released three albums and earned a reputation for the high quality of the musicians, and for the personality clashes and tension between them. "Our lives have gone in different directions and I wouldn't say that we're close friends," Furay tells Rolling Stone, "but we're friends and it's an opportunity for us to get together again for a good cause. I'm very excited."

CSN drummer, Joe Vitale and Young's bassist, Rick Rosas will sit in for Martin and Palmer.

Photo of Buffalo Springfield in 1966 by Henry Diltz, courtesy Image Entertainment

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Streaming, Splitting, Going Solo: Just Another Day at the Classic Rock Office

• If you have any lingering doubts that the way music gets from artist to audience has forever changed, consider this. The new Styx album, Regeneration, Volume 1 (which is mostly new versions of old Styx standards) is currently available two ways: streaming on Facebook, and on a disc that can only be purchased at a Styx concert (they'll be touring the U.S. for a month, beginning October 14.) Kinda adds some extra significance to the title of the one new song on the new album -- "Difference in the World".

• One of rock's first supergroups, Bad Company may be breaking up. Again. (They've formed, split, and re-formed four times since 1973.) For the past couple of years, the band's surviving original members -- Paul Rodgers (vocals) Simon Kirke (drums) and Mick Ralphs (guitar) -- have been performing together in various corners of the world. Rodgers tells Ft. Smith, Arkansas's Times Record that after the current tour of North America and Japan, he's going to devote his time to a new solo album and tour. Does this mean that Mr. Rodgers is leaving the Bad Company neighborhood yet again? "I'm just seeing how it goes."

• Carl, the Palmer of Emerson Lake & Palmer (he's on the far left in the 1971 ELP photo) is preparing to embark on a solo tour of North and South America (10/12 - 11/14) called, "Carl Palmer & His Band Celebrates The Music Of Emerson, Lake & Palmer." It'll be just exactly like an ELP concert, if you don't count the fact that there won't be any vocals or keyboards. "I didn't want to have a singer trying to sound like Greg Lake, explains the drummer on his website. "ELP did so much instrumental music, this format made sense to me. Hearing the keyboard parts done on guitar is certainly different, but just as satisfying."

Styx photo courtesy i.e. marketing; Paul Rodgers photo by Jo Hale / Getty Images; ELP photo by Norman Quicke / Express / Getty Images

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Van Halen

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In the Works: Classic Rock Projects to Watch

• ZZ Top are in studio working on their 15th album, expected to be released next year, the 40th anniversary of the release of their debut album in 1971.

• The reissue of the entire Paul McCartney catalog begins November 2 with the remastered Band On The Run from 1973, available on CD or a three-CD, one-DVD deluxe version that adds bonus tracks, music videos and a documentary.

• A solo single from Aerosmith's Steven Tyler is the theme song from a forthcoming Japanese sci-fi flick. "Love Lives" will be released in November.

• KISS employ new media for a live broadcast of the final show of their Greatest Show on Earth tour on Saturday (9/25) night. See it at KROQ.com, CBS Radio rock station websites, and via the Facebook game, Booyah's Nightclub City.

• Pink Floyd reuniting? Possibly, for a one-off performance like their last one (minus the late Richard Wright) at Live 8 in 2005. Roger Waters, who made a surprise appearance with David Gilmour at a recent benefit concert, tells Rolling Stone, "David and Nick [Mason] and I might do a one-off somewhere, but there's no way we're going to do a tour." Waters will be touring The Wall in 2011 to celebrate its 30th anniversary, with Gilmour promising to join at least one performance.

• Complete Albums Box Set (Limited Collector's Edition) compiles all of Black Sabbath's albums from the Ozzy Osbourne era, adding a cross-shaped, 100-page discography to the nine-disc set, coming November 15.

• The Ballad of Mott the Hoople is a new documentary to be screened next month (October 16-19) at British Film Institute, coinciding with release (10/4) of a four-CD box set, Mott The Hoople In Performance 1970-74.

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19 Albums in Five Decades

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Performance of the Week

Buffalo Springfield - "For What It's Worth" - Monterey Pop Festival 1967

Its members sometimes didn't stay in the band long, and often fought among themselves. At the time Buffalo Springfield played the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, they were peaking in both commercial success and internal dysfunction. Neil Young had left the band (he would later return) and bassist Bruce Palmer had just re-joined after having been deported to his native Canada after being arrested on a marijuana possession charge.

Turmoil and turnover notwithstanding, the band was always solid and professional on stage and in the studio. Watch Buffalo Springfield's Monterey '67 performance of their best known song, Stephen Stills' composition, "For What It's Worth".

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new2002

• Eric Clapton - One More Car, One More Rider

• Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series Vol. 5: Bob Dylan Live 1975, The Rolling Thunder Revue

• Kansas - Device, Voice, Drum

• Jethro Tull - Living With The Past

• Ringo Starr - King Biscuit Flour Hour Presents Ringo and his All Starr Band

• Ozzie Osbourne - Live At Budokan

• Styx - At The River's Edge: Live In St. Louis

• Bad Company - Merchants of Cool

• Simon & Garfukel - Live From New York City, 1967

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2011 Rock Hall Nominees: Let the Debate Begin

The annual head scratching that follows the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's announcement of nominees has begun. As usual, their net has been cast far beyond rock, with the number of artists from other genres far outweighing the rockers.

First, the shortest list (actual rockers nominated): J Geils Band, Alice Cooper (both long overdue) and Bon Jovi (a decent choice, but there are many artists who have been eligible longer who would have been better choices.)

Artists with a toe just far enough across the line into rock to not be totally inappropriate: Donovan, Dr. John, Darlene Love, Laura Nyro, Joe Tex, Tom Waits.

And those whose nominations spark the usual wonder about why the organization contains the word rock: Beastie Boys, Chic, Neil Diamond, LL Cool J, Donna Summer, Chuck Willis.

Standard disclaimer: all of the artists are exceptionally talented, but only three are rock artists. [Scratch. Scratch. Shrug?]

From these 15, Rock Hall voters will select those who will be inducted into the HOF. Inductees will be announced in December, inducted in March.

Let the debate begin!

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Classic Rock Band Photo Quiz

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Meet the 'Legends of the Canyon'

The photography of Henry Diltz was prominently featured in the 2006 book, Laurel Canyon - The Inside Story of Rock and Roll's Legendary Neighborhood.

For the documentary, Legends of the Canyon (recently released on DVD) Diltz contributes both photos and narration to go along with archival footage and new interviews used to tell the story of the Hollywood Hills neighborhood that served as home (and spiritual enclave) for Southern California's unofficial association of early classic rockers.

Among the artists featured (and, in some cases, interviewed) in the rock doc: Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, Crosby Stills & Nash, Mamas and the Papas, The Byrds, and Buffalo Springfield.

The DVD is the latest entry in Image Entertainment's Classic Artists series.

• Watch clips from Legends of the Canyon

• Take the Laurel Canyon photo quiz

• Shop for Legends of the Canyon

Image courtesy Image Entertainment

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Why People Collect Records

How you grade your record albums is the single most important factor in any record collection and one that is the most subjective. What may be a mint record to you may not be to the more experienced record collector.

In an ideal world, everyone would be able to play and test every record before they would buy it and everyone would agree on a grading system. But, alas, since that is both impractical and impossible, records are usually graded according to industry standards.

Now, just what are the industry standards? While shopping online for vinyl you may encounter Web sites with their own way of grading a vinyl record. Some will use the standard grading terms like mint, very good or excellent, good, fair or poor and then put a series of plus or minus signs behind them. Others may incorporate a numerical value ranging from 10-1, with 10 being the best or mint. It is imperative that you understand how the merchant or individual grades the records before you decide to make a purchase from them.

I was browsing eBay one night and decided to purchase a 45 single by The Yardbirds that the seller rated VG+. I paid the $3.00 for the record, it was shipped, and when I opened the package, was I disappointed! I would have never graded that record a VG+. I would have graded it at G, if that.

After we exchanged some angry words by email, the seller told me to play the record. I did and it was then I decided, yes, the seller was right in his grading assessment. The record played very well and did warrant the VG+ grade that he had given it.

The only true way to grade a record is to play it. You can look at it all you want and see the physical flaws, but until you play the record, you can’t know what problems will arise form these imperfections until you hear the music.

As buyers or sellers of vinyl, we put our trust in the record price guides that are released yearly. These give us an idea of what to pay for a specific record or, conversely, what to charge, if we are selling an album.

The guides supply us with updates on trends in the industry, what genres are "hot" and overall record prices. I will not get into the debate on which one you should use, which is like me telling you which kind of car to drive. It is a personal choice.

But there is a master flaw with all record price guides irregardless of the publisher. They are often outdated by the time they go to press.

Jerry Osborne has written more than over 130 record price guides and continues to add to that total. He has also published three collector news and marketplace magazines Record Digest, Music World, and DISCoveries.

Using the technology available today, Osborne has created a service called Cyberguides. Each day, Osborne's database is revised, corrected and updated, then once a week, the up-to-date record price guide is distributed by email.

- by Robert G. Benson

Next: our series concludes with tips on how to clean and store your records.

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Radio Station Directory

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Book Review: Laurel Canyon

During the ‘60s and ‘70s, rock music had several geographic epicenters. There was Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco, the Brill Building in New York City, and Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles. The latter is the title and subject of a new book by Michael Walker, who happens to live in Laurel Canyon, and who writes about pop culture.Laurel Canyon: The Inside Story of Rock and Roll’s Legendary Neighborhood takes us on a guided tour of the onetime musical enclave that Walker describes as “the slightly seedy, camp-like neighborhood of serpentine one-lane roads, precipitous hills, fragrant eucalyptus trees, and softly crumbling bungalows set down improbably in the middle of Los Angeles.”

Joni Mitchell and Graham Nash lived there, in the cottage that inspired Nash to write “Our House” and in which Nash, David Crosby and Stephen Stills sang together for the first time.

Frank Zappa lived there, in a log cabin with a bowling alley in the basement. Cass Elliott lived up to her nickname as “Mama” to Canyon denizens who regularly gathered at her house.

Jackson Browne. Chris Hillman and Roger McGuinn of the Byrds. Don Henley and Glen Frey of the Eagles. Robby Kreiger and John Densmore of the Doors. Mark Volman of the Turtles. These are a few of the people who stayed for a while in Laurel Canyon on their way to rock stardom.

“A hypothetical map of Los Angeles drawn by a canyonite in the fashion of ancient mariners might have noted ‘here be dragons’ almost anywhere but the canyon,” Walker writes. He says his goal was to write a book that would “bear some semblance to the shambling nature of the canyon itself.”

There are graphic depictions of the effects of the drug abuse that was a way of life for most canyonites. There was the chilling effect that the murder spree of the followers of Charles Manson – once a Canyon resident and aspiring rock star himself – had on the serenity of Laurel Canyon. There was the rough and tumble world of record labels, managers, and concert promoters that spilled over from just outside the canyon’s figurative gates.

As befits the author’s credentials, the book is less about day-to-day-life in Laurel Canyon (although there is a good measure of that) and more about its effect on American culture, and of American culture on it. The book’s chapters are arranged not so much in chronological order of events, but more as groupings of people and events that intertwined and influenced one another over the decades of the ‘60s and ‘70s.

Graham Nash, Chris Hillman and Miss Pamela (founder of the famed Laurel Canyon groupie contingent known as The GTOs) were among those interviewed for Laurel Canyon: The Inside Story of Rock and Roll's Legendary Neighborhood.

Graham Nash on “Our House”
Graham Nash recalls the Laurel Canyon house he shared with Joni Mitchell, the inspiration for Crosby Stills & Nash’s classic “Our House,” and shares the story behind the song. “Once you walked through the front door, everything disappeared.”
Audio Clip

Chris Hillman on The Byrds
The Byrds’ Chris Hillman recalls the early days of the Byrds. “We weren’t a rock band. We didn’t know anything from that stuff. We didn’t even know how you were supposed to be on the stage. We had come out of folk music. I was scared to death in the Byrds. I was a little guy in a back row playing the bass. But what we did, we did well.”
Audio Clip

Miss Pamela on Laurel Canyon
Miss Pamela recalls her infatuation with Laurel Canyon…and the many musicians who lived there. “The Byrds were my favorite band and they lived there, so that was it for me. They made a point to live there: ‘this is where everyone cool lives.’”
Audio Clip

Take the Laurel Canyon Photo Quiz

Read another review of Laurel Canyon

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September Birthdays

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plant_band_of_joy

I get it that Robert Plant has exited the hard rock phase of his career, but it's a little hard to figure out where he's trying to go next. His latest solo album, Band of Joy really doesn't offer much in the way of clues.

Band of Joy is available on CD, vinyl (on 10/26/10) and MP3.

Prior to 2010, the Birmingham, England-based band, Band of Joy had four incarnations, three of which included Robert Plant as lead vocalist, and one of which included drummer John Bonham. The first three versions of the band (the Plant years) existed from 1965-68. The second (without Plant, who had, like Bonham, moved on to bigger and better things with Led Zeppelin) lasted from 1977-83.

The original Band of Joy played soul and blues, the music that folks in the Birmingham area were into in the mid-60s. The musical style of the 2010 version of the band is much harder to pin down, even after repeatedly listening to their self-titled debut album.

I've gotten quite used to classic rock artists branching off into other areas as they get closer to the end of their careers than they were 30 or 40 years ago -- artists like Roger Waters, Paul McCartney and Sting with their ventures in classical music, Rod Stewart with his transition to soft pop standards, Ritchie Blackmore leaping from "Smoke on the Water" to medieval minstrel music.

In the deft hands of producer T Bone Burnett, Plant successfully made the break from hard rock via his 2007 pairing with Alison Krauss for their Raising Sand album. Each artist jumped genre and landed in a very happy place somewhere between the two. Sadly, Band of Joy doesn't come anywhere close to Plant's last collaboration.

In all fairness, this 2010 collaboration is of a different kind. Whereas Plant and Krauss shared lead and harmony vocals, Band of Joy's other vocalists (Patty Griffin and Buddy Miller) are strictly backup singers, used sparingly and very much in the background. That alone disqualifies any direct comparisons between the two albums.

The songs Plant chose to cover and the way he chose to cover them (he and Miller co-produced the album) are all over the board, with the song and the performance style often at odds. Traditional folk and bluegrass fare gets '50s pop and rockabilly treatment. On a couple of tracks, there's an inexplicable attempt to sound country, on songs that are not.

I don't have any quarrel with the songs selected. They come from some A-list songwriters like Richard and Linda Thompson, Louie Perez and David Hidalgo of Los Lobos, and Townes Van Zandt. It is the arrangements that leave me scratching my head.

I have long been a Led Zeppelin fan, but I heartily support Plant's stated desire to not do that anymore (nor the hard rock of his subsequent solo career.) Raising Sand proved that he can successfully avoid genre typecasting. Band of Joy is likewise not your father's Robert Plant, but it isn't at all clear to me what it is.

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taxsongs

Money, it's a gas.
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash.

Pink Floyd's "Money" may not rate high on your financial planner's Top 10, but it's great for getting psyched to file your tax return. The song is part of the concept album, The Dark Side Of The Moon, released in 1973.

Compare CD prices

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Journey

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1974-75 Lineup

l-r: Bernie Leadon, Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Randy Meisner, Don Felder

Courtesy Elektra/Asylum Records

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About Classic Rock | Trivia Quiz

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wherearetheynow

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Woodstock People

Country Joe McDonald says he was "scared to death" and had to be pushed onstage for his solo performance at Woodstock.

Photo by Jim Marshall, courtesy Country Joe McDonaldSunday, August 17 "Delta Lady"
"Some Things Goin' On"
"Let's Go Get Stoned"
"I Shall Be Released"
"With A Little Help From My Friends" "Barry's Caviar Dream"
"Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine"
"Rock And Soul Music"
"Thing Called Love"
"Love Machine"
"Fish Cheer" / "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixing-To-Die-Rag" "Blood Of The Sun"
"Stormy Monday"
"Theme From An Imaginary Western"
"Long Red"
"For Yasgur's Farm"
"You And Me"
"Waiting To Take You Away"
"Dreams Of Milk And Honey"
"Blind Man"
"Blue Suede Shoes"
"Southbound Train" "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl"
"I Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes"
"I May Be Wrong, But I Won't Be Wrong Always"
"I'm Going Home" "Chest Fever"
"Don't Do It"
"Tears Of Rage"
"We Can Talk About It Now"
"Long Black Veil"
"Don't Ya Tell Henry"
"Ain't No More Cane on the Brazos"
"Wheels On Fire"
"Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever"
"The Weight" "Mean Town Blues" "More And More"
"I Love You Baby More Than You Ever Know"
"Spinning Wheel"
"I Stand Accused"
"Something Coming On" "Suite Judy Blue Eyes"
"Blackbird"
"Helplessly Hoping"
"Guinnevere"
"Marrakesh Express"
"4 + 20"
"Mr Soul"
"Wonderin'"
"You Don't Have To Cry"
"Pre-Road Downs"
"Long Time Gone"
"Bluebird Revisited"
"Sea Of Madness"
"Wooden Ships"
"Find The Cost Of Freedom"
"49 Bye-Byes"

Monday, August 18

"Everything's Gonna Be Alright"
"Driftin'"
"Born Under A Bad Sign"
"All My Love Comin' Through To You"
"Love March" "Na Na Theme"
"Jakety Jak"
"Teen Angel"
"Jailhouse Rock"
"Wipe Out"
"Who Wrote The Book Of Love"
"Duke Of Earl"
"At The Hop"
"Na Na Theme" "Message To Love"
"Getting My Heart Back Together Again"
"Spanish Castle Magic"
"Red House"
"Master Mind"
"Here Comes Your Lover Man"
"Foxy Lady"
"Beginning"
"Izabella"
"Gypsy Woman"
"Fire"
"Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" / "Stepping Stone"
"Star Spangled Banner"
"Purple Haze"
"Woodstock Improvisation" / "Villanova Junction"
"Hey Joe"

Woodstock Photo Gallery

Woodstock Trivia Quiz

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Paul McCartney DVD Review

Paul McCartney and his bandmates are on stage performing "Magical Mystery Tour." In the crowd, pre-teen and teenaged girls are screaming, crying, trembling, jumping up and down.

But this is not The Beatles in concert and it is 2005, not 1967. And the mothers and grandmothers of the screaming girls – the ones who were themselves the ones who were screaming when The Beatles went on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 – are here, too, still screaming and crying and all the rest, throughout McCartney's sold-out 2005 tour.

When it happened the first time, I was a pre-pubescent lad who couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about. The music was pretty cool, but, come on. Now, in my middle-aged wisdom, I think I get it.

Paul McCartney: The Space Within US is a concert film, directed by Cameron Crowe (Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous) that gives us a very close-up, very personal look at what McCartney’s 2005 tour was really like. It also offers some fascinating insight into the pop culture phenomenon that McCartney represents.

Of course, it is the music – a mixture of Beatles, Wings, and McCartney solo material – that is dominant, but there are revealing and entertaining looks at McCartney’s early life; behind the scenes on tour – at sound check, in the private jet that is the true rock star’s tour bus, during a surprise visit with a small group of fans.

One of the most memorable of these moments occurred backstage in Miami, where the camera captures an impromptu duet featuring McCartney and James Taylor, which evolves into a trio that includes Tony Bennett. It was the briefest of clips -- you'd miss it if you blinked twice -- but there was enough voltage in that little snippet of space and time to power a good sized city for a long time.

Interview segments are short and to the point. They range from musicians like Jay-Z, Herbie Hancock and Paul Stanley (KISS) to college professors commenting on various aspects of McCartney and The Beatles, to former President Bill Clinton, and the Discovery astronauts who McCartney serenaded live as they orbited Earth during his Anaheim concert.

Songs like "Eleanor Rigby," "Penny Lane" and "Drive My Car" seemed to have the same effect on the Baby Boomers in the audience as they did on me. We seemed somehow simultaneously in the present while vividly reliving exactly where we were and who we were with when we first listened to the songs.

"I Will" and "Jenny Wren" are pure Paul. Nobody on stage but the man, singing and playing acoustic guitar. His guitar work is so smooth and natural, you forget that he is left-handed and plays it backwards.

Without a doubt, John Lennon was the leader of The Beatles. It was his group from the git go, and it went, for most of its existence, his way. Strangely, though, while Lennon never overcame his perpetual sweaty, shaky stage fright, it was McCartney who truly lived for being on stage. Watching him today, you sense that this is something that hasn’t changed over the past four decades.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the outstanding group of musicians who accompany McCartney. Abe Laboriel, Jr. is an extremely physical drummer from the John Bonham-Keith Moon-Ginger Baker school. Rusty Anderson’s guitar is often in the forefront, and deservedly so. Brian Ray handles bass and guitar with equal skill. "Wix" Wickens is every bit as relaxed and easygoing as his keyboard playing is energetic and assertive. This is no tribute band, but a well matched set of major league musicians who are a delight to listen to and watch.

The actual concert footage was shot with 25 HD cameras, in 5.1 Digital Surround Sound. For you Luddites, that means it looks and sounds pretty damn good.

As a rule, while I’m screening a DVD or listening to a CD that I’m reviewing, I’m simultaneously making notes, checking facts, and pulling together the various elements of the review. Not this time. There was something of a hypnotic attraction that went beyond just the music, the production values and the onstage chemistry that kept me hooked from beginning to end.

Should you buy this DVD? Beep beep mmm beep beep, YEAH!

"Magical Mystery Tour"
"Flaming Pie"
"Let Me Roll It"
"Drive My Car"
"Till There Was You"
"I’ll Get You"
"Eleanor Rigby"
"Maybe I’m Amazed"
"Got To Get You Into My Life"
"Fine Line"
"I Will"
"I’ll Follow The Sun"
"Good Day Sunshine"
"For No One"
"Hey Jude"
"Fixing a Hole"
"Penny Lane"
"Too Many People / She Came In Through The Bathroom Window"
"Let It Be"
"English Tea"
"I’ve Got a Feeling"
"Follow Me"
"Jenny Wren"
"Helter Skelter"
"Yesterday"
"Get Back"
"Please Please Me"

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Best 100 MPH Songs

Come on, admit it. Your driving speed varies in direct proportion to the speed of the song that's playing, right?

"I was wondering if it's only me that increases driving speed exponentially, depending on the song," wrote rugbyguy in the Classic Rock Discussion Forum. He proceeded to list his "top 10 potential classic rock speed violations" and invited others to add theirs.

The result, listed alphabetically by song title, is The Classic Rock Forum's Best 100-Mile-An-Hour Songs!

A - G | H - O | P - Z

Song: All Right Now
Artist: Free
Voter: DontForgetToBoogie
Listen to a sample

Song: Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again
Artist: The Angels
Voter: acj63

Song: Bad Boy For Love
Artist: Rose Tattoo
Voter: acj63
Listen to a sample

Song: Black Betty
Artist: Ram Jam
Voter: acj63
Listen to a sample

Song: Bohemian Rhapsody
Artist: Queen
Voter: MistyGreenEyes
Comment: ... especially at the end!
Listen to a sample

Song: Bow River
Artist: Cold Chisel
Voter: acj63

Song: Crosstown Traffic
Artist: Jimi Hendrix
Voter: David(Sunnyhill)
Listen to a sample

Song: Down Down
Artist: Status Quo
Voter: acj63
Listen to a sample

Song: Easy Livin'
Artist: Uriah Heep
Voter: jdmcl40
Listen to a sample

Song: Evil Ways
Artist: Santana
Voter: rugbyguy
Comment: (I got to brake - baby ...)
Listen to a sample

Song: Fire
Artist: Jimi Hendrix
Voter: rugbyguy
Comment: (let me stand next to your radar-detector)
Listen to a sample

Song: Frankenstein
Artist: Edgar Winter Group
Voter: DontForgetToBoogie
Listen to a sample

Song: Free Bird
Artist: Lynyrd Skynyrd
Voter: jdmcl40
Comment: (want you fly high)
Listen to a sample

Song: Gallows Pole
Artist: Led Zeppelin
Voter: jdmcl40
Comment: (just got the stride to it)
Listen to a sample

Song: Gimme Shelter
Artist: Grand Funk Railroad
Voter: jdmcl40
Comment: (Mad bull has lost his way)
Listen to a sample

Song: Gimme Three Steps
Artist: Lynyrd Skynyrd
Voter: DontForgetToBoogie
Listen to a sample

Song: Goin' Down
Artist: The Monkees
Voter: David(Sunnyhill)
Listen to a sample

Song: Green Eyed Lady
Artist: Sugarloaf
Voter: rugbyguy
Comment: (second greatest rock organ solo ever!)
Listen to a sample

A - G | H - O | P - Z

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Grateful Dead

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In Memory of Hendrix, Lennon, Skinner

• Despite the name, Jimi Hendrix: The Guitar Hero is not a video game, but a rockumentary retrospective on the career of one of rock's premier guitarists, now available on DVD. Among those who reflect on Hendrix's contributions: Eric Clapton, Eric Burdon, Dave Mason, Mick Taylor and Bev Bevan. Slash narrates. Watch clips from the film. (September 18 was the 40th anniversary of Hendrix's death.)

• The 70th anniversary of John Lennon's birth is October 9, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum is planning a series of events marking the occasion: filmed highlights of Lennon's (and The Beatles') HOF inductions, dedication of a time capsule of post-Beatles Lennon memorabilia (to be opened on Lennon's 100th birthday in 2040) and tours of The Beatles exhibit. During the weekend of October 8-10, Rock Hall visitors will have the opportunity to add their best wishes to a larger-than-life birthday card.

• Rarely does the death of a retired high school basketball coach/gym teacher command so much attention, but Leonard Skinner holds a special place in classic rock history. One day in the late '60s at Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville, Florida, Skinner sent a group of boys to the principal's office because he thought their hair shouldn't be so long. When those boys later formed a rock band, they forever memorialized Skinner's name by calling themselves Lynyrd Skynyrd. Skinner, a victim of Alzheimer's, died this week at the age of 77. On the band's website, co-founder Gary Rossington (on the far right in the photo) says, "Coach Skinner had such a profound impact on our youth that ultimately led us to naming the band ... after him. Looking back, I cannot imagine it any other way. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family..."

Photos by Hulton Archive / Getty Images

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Review: Robert Plant - 'Band of Joy'

Before there was Led Zeppelin, there was Band of Joy, a Birmingham, England based soul and blues band co-founded by Robert Plant in 1965. Now, Band of Joy is back, but it is much harder to describe what it is in 2010. Plant's latest solo album, Band of Joy really doesn't offer much in the way of clues.

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Boston

1969 - Boston, MA

Original Name:
Mother’s Milk

Origin of the Name:
The name of the city in which the band was formed

Original Members of Boston:
Tom Scholz – guitar
Brad Delp – vocals
Barry Goudreau – guiter
Jim Masdea – drums

Other Members of Boston:
David Currier – drums
Sib Hashian – drums
Fran Sheehan – bass
Gary Pihl – guitar
Fran Cosmo – vocals
Anthony Cosmo – guitar
Kimberley Dahme – guitar, bass, vocals
Jeff Neal – drums

Tom Scholz, Gary Pihl, Michael Sweet, Tommy DeCarlo, Kimberley Dahme, Jeff Neal

First Album:
Boston (1976)

Most Recent Album:
Corporate America (2002)

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Top 50 Bands

 

Selections are determined by a combination of album sales, radio airplay, touring history, and degree of continuous popularity. Solo artists are included in a separate list.

 

1. The Beatles
Essential Album: Revolver
With record sales estimated at more than a billion worldwide, no other band had a greater influence on the course of rock music.

2. Pink Floyd
Essential Album: Wish You Were Here
At the vanguard of the Progressive Rock movement, they have sold more than 200-million albums since 1967. One of the first bands to use light shows and fireworks in their live performances.

3. The Who
Essential Album: Who's Next
One of the first, most successful, and longest lasting power trios, The Who were innovative both musically and technically.

4. Rolling Stones
Essential Album: Sticky Fingers
The original "bad boys" of rock, the Stones are among the most durable bands, recording and touring with few breaks since they began in 1961.

5. Led Zeppelin
Essential Album: Led Zeppelin IV
Their "Stairway To Heaven" is believed to have received more radio airplay than any other song in history, even though it was never released as a single.

6. Eagles
Essential Album: Their Greatest Hits
Another of rock's longest-lasting acts, their 1976 greatest hits album is the biggest selling album of all time.

7. Grateful Dead
Essential Album: Anthem Of The Sun
One of San Francisco's first "flower power" bands, their fan following is nearly as strong today as it was when the group disbanded in 1995.

8. Jefferson Airplane
Essential Album: After Bathing At Baxter's
Pioneers of the Psychedelic Rock genre, they were in the vanguard of the counter-culture of the '60s and '70s.

9. The Doors
Essential Album: The Doors
In spite of a short life and limited discography, they became one of rock's most popular and influential groups.

10. Moody Blues
Essential Album: Days Of Future Passed
With the exception of a few years in the mid-70s, this Progressive/Psychedelic group has toured and recorded since 1964.

11. Fleetwood Mac
Essential Album: Rumours
After numerous personnel and musical style changes, their 1977 Rumours album is still among the top ten best selling albums ever.

12. AC/DC
Essential Album: Back In Black
This pioneering Hard Rock/Heavy Metal group has sold an estimated 100-million albums worldwide.

13. Boston
Essential Album: Boston
When their first album was released in 1976, it was the highest grossing debut album ever seen up until that time.

14. Cream
Essential Album: Wheels Of Fire
The group existed for less than three years but staked its place as one of the first and most enduringly popular of rock's power trios.

15. Def Leppard
Essential Album: Hysteria
Futuristic instrumentation and vocal harmonies have kept them near the top of the all-time best selling album lists for a quarter of a century.

16. The Byrds
Essential Album: The Byrds' Greatest Hits
Among the pioneers of Folk Rock, their popularity in the mid-60s rivaled that of the Beatles.

17. Aerosmith
Essential Album: Toys In The Attic
Originally written off as Rolling Stones imitators, the group has consistently produced multi-million-selling albums for 30+ years.

18. Santana
Essential Album: Abraxas
This groundbreaking Latin Rock group timed the release of its first album to coincide with a highly successful performance at Woodstock in 1969.

19. Blood Sweat & Tears
Essential Album: Blood Sweat & Tears
Virtually a small orchestra, this group established a milestone in rock history with its large horn section and jazz-blues orientation.

20. Van Halen
Essential Album: 1984
One of the most innovative and influential Heavy Metal groups of the late '70s, the group continues to perform some 30+ years after its inception.

21. ZZ Top
Essential Album: The Best Of ZZ Top
The self-proclaimed "little ol' band from Texas" was one of the earliest influences in Southern Rock, and continues so, three decades later.

22. Genesis
Essential Album: Platinum Collection
With worldwide albums sales of about 150-million since 1969, Genesis was instrumental in keeping Progressive Rock in the mainstream.

23. Allman Brothers
Essential Album: Eat A Peach
The success of their unique fusion of Hard Rock, Blues, Jazz, and Classical music has secured this group's immortality.

24. Journey
Essential Album: Greatest Hits
Journey's jazz-flavored sound has been a fixture in the rock scene since 1973.

25. Traffic
Essential Album: John Barleycorn Must Die
Traffic had far greater success with albums than with singles, and thrived in spite of numerous personnel changes and long breaks.

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