Scratchy old video from Yes in the round.

Saw this concert tour when they came through Ft. Worth in the late '70s. Wish the video was better, but oh well. Enjoy.





The pajamas and the Key tar are such a giveaway. 70's stoner rock, but I love it. Spinal Tap bustin' out all over, but I love the hell out of it.

ELO, Part Two - The early rockin' years, on The Midnight Special.

In the mid-70s, ELO was a much more guitar oriented rock band, before they moved over to the softer stuff on great late records like Out Of The Blue. I love that stuff too, but this early stuff has a charm all it's own. They were so multidimensional, with all the different classical instruments, as well as the guitar. Here's one called Do Ya. This was one of the first ones I fell for. The sound on these videos isn't the best, but you get the picture.



Here's a great one called Rockaria.



How's about that guitar? Their mix of classical/Rock hybrid really hit me hard back then, setting me up to be blown away by groups like Yes and Pink Floyd. Somethin' about those Brits, and their classical training in school. Was that Mushy hittin' those high notes in that perm? Naaaaaa!

This next one is called Showdown. I love the way Jeff Lynne sings this one, and his lyrics generally. Amazing genius. All of their classic elements are here on display. The guitar part isn't great. Passable, but ya can't have everything.



And finally, about the rockinest tune I think they ever did, and the one that really turned me and most of the planet onto these folks. Covering Chuck Berry is so much a part of Rock and Roll, whole careers have been made from it, but this is special. That dude on the violin is kickin' ass. Loved the shit out of this back then, blarin' out of the Jensen 6x9s in the old Hornet.



Pfew, that was fun. I hope you liked it as much as I did. Later.

Another little musical interlude.

It's been said that the official end of the 1960s was documented for everyone to see in The Rolling Stones 1970 concert at Altamont Speedway. The tragic decision to hire the Hells Angels as security, and the death of a concert goer caught on film are just two highlights in the fascinating documentary of that concert, dubbed the west coasts Woodstock, "Gimme Shelter". Mick Jagger, never one to shrink from publicity, contracted to have a film made of their 1972 U.S. Tour, coinciding with the release of their album "Exile on Main Street".

Photographer Robert Frank, who'd taken some of the album photos, was chosen as director, and took a much artier approach to filming the Stones on stage and off. However, footage of drug consumption, (staged) orgies and a decidedly non-commercial title prevented "Cocksucker Blues" from getting an official theatrical release. Even so, it's long been widely available on video as a bootleg.

Immediately after a private screening of the film, Jagger is said to have turned to Frank and told him, "It's a fucking good film, Robert, but if it shows in America we'll never be allowed in the country again." Jagger may well have been afraid of the film's lurid and potentially incriminating images - the heroin use, Jagger masturbating, or even the extended sequence of questionably consensual group sex with a reluctant groupie at 30,000 feet (after all, this was rock and roll).

But what Mick may have found most disturbing was the bleak and accurate portrait of the obvious despair and loneliness of life on the road. Frank's obsession with pursuing truth destroyed the illusion of glamour for the world's most famous rock and roll band.The Stones took Frank to court to prevent the film's distribution. It became, legally, a question of who owned the film, the artist who created it or the patron who paid for it. A bizarre deal was struck allowing the film to be screened once a year, but only if the director was present for the screening.

Of course, now the film is available on DVD, and clips are appearing on YouTube and elsewhere. Here's a clip from that 72 tour. I think this may have been their peak, with the slide to geezerdom still way over the horizon. I saw them in Rome at a soccer stadium in the summer of 1990. Got up close, and enjoyed it, but they were only a shadow of the band they'd been in this early time. There's somethin' wrong with these guys still tryin' to shake their money maker at their age. Sordid.

Enjoy this snap shot.

And yea, I'm lookin' for that DVD. I'll tell ya if I find it.

Another little musical interlude.

This guy is always interesting if not profound. His peak was back in the early to mid 1970s, when he came up with this tune, and many like it. He put out a double album at one point called Decade, laying out his best stuff from the several bands he had been affiliated with. It's a great one it you're interested. This is a little shot from a TV show. Must be the BBC or Canadian TV, or maybe Dick Cavett. Enjoy.

Another little musical interlude.

Ok, here's a great double shot from 1978, my junior year in high school. I wore the hell out of both of these on the 8-track in the old AMC Hornet. It even looks like they filmed this first one in a high school somewhere. The guitar player and keyboard player both cut their teeth playin' for Carlos Santana, so the band had great DNA. I saw them when their tour came through town that year. They had two lead up bands that night. The first was called New England; a one hit wonder thing that played for 30 minutes that I've forgotten all about. Second lead up band was a little group that none of us had ever heard of called AC~DC!

Yep, it was their first tour of the states, playin' with their original singer, who was soon to expire. They did 30 minutes of mind blowin' shit, including an extended guitar solo while the singer carried the guitar player on his shoulders in a lap around the floor of the auditorium. We didn't know who the hell they were, but by the time they were done we were all spent. Then Journey came out and did an hour and we walked away feeling like we'd really seen somethin'.

It may not look like it here, but Journey rocked their asses off. Sadly, the singer took greater and greater artistic control over things as time when by and they eventually turned into a silly pop band. These two tracks were set up just this way on the album, the second and third cuts, and radio stations began playing the two songs back to back, just as they are played here. Loved the shit outa this at the time, and after listenin' to it again, I may have to download it and wear it out again. Enjoy.



And here's an even better band from '78. I also went to the concert in Ft. Worth from this tour. What a time, never to be had again. Boston was the ultimate late 70s guitar band, and their first two records still sound amazing to me. The best cut on this album is actually "A Man I'll Never Be", but I couldn't find a video of that one with decent sound, so here's the title cut from the second album. Enjoy.

Another little musical interlude.

I always wondered if there was a real story behind this tune. I guess there was. Live in New York in 1973. They just don't make kick ass music like this any more. Enjoy.

Hows about a little rock and roll PT on the weekend.

If yer head don't start bangin' on that one... Ya probably need a bit more medication. Pat Travers was HUGE when I was in high school in the late 70s. Ya never hear about him any more, but he lives on. Here's another called "Steivie", in case you dig it.



Gettin' myself psyched up to see ZZ Top tonight at the Bell County Expo center. I'm Purposely not listening to ZZ before I go. Should be fun. I'll tell ya how it went later.

Update: Well, that was a good time. They had a lead up band, another power trio, but they were nothing to write home about. One day maybe, if they mature, and get a better sound guy. These dudes played for about 25 minutes, and then there was a 10 minute interlude/smoke break, so that ZZs gear could be set up. The boys came out to the cheers of the crowd, and played their asses off for about an hour and twenty minutes. Too many hits and great lesser known tunes to list here. Some of the favorites were Waitin' For The Bus/Jesus Just Left Chicago, Beer drinkers and Hell Raisers, Just Got Paid, I'm bad - I'm Nationwide, Cheap sunglasses, Fool For Your Stockings, Pearl Necklace, Got me Under Pressure, Sharp Dressed Man, Legs, and even a new sounding remake of Viva Las Vegas. They walked off for a little break, and then came back and did a 20 minute medley of La Greange and Tush, with some free flowing jams tucked in there for good measure. It was a great night.

The crowd favorites were Jesus Just Left Chicago, Pearl Necklace, Sharp dressed Man (for which they donned their traditional white furry guitars), and finally the La Grange/Tush medley. After everything let go, it took us about 30 minutes to get out of the parking lot. What a cluster fuck! Then it was green lights all the way home. There were a few tunes I wished they'd have played, like Blue Jean Blues, but I can't complain. For a $40 ticket, I think I got the best show I could hope for. I thought I caught a whiff of something illicit once, but it was probably some woman's perfume. Lots of beer was sold inside the dome, which may go to explain why it took so long for everyone to get out of the parking lot. Anyway, it was a great time. If they come by your area, I'd advise you to pony up the change and see them. They play better than most of the crap that passes for rock and roll music these days, and that's a fact.

Here's alittle taste, from a 2003 concert.



He used that same guitar this evening, among others.

Here's some funny comics for your perusal.

Jacked these from the guy over at On the Patio. Check him out some time.



What if relationships could (legally) be dealt with like a small business? What would you define as "outsourcing"?



M-O-N-E-Y... is all I'm sayin'. It's all about the benjamins baby, or so they say.

And, perhaps the most disturbing of all...



Virtually a portrait of the FHB, before the beard. Man, now I'm gonna have that old tune in my head for days. So, what were you doing in 73 when Maria Muldaur was putting that little plea out into the air waves? I was about 12, innocent as hell, but could already tell a belly rubbin' song when I heard one. My God, was there ever a better time to be alive? If only I'd been a little older. Oh well. like that tune, those times ended way too soon.

Anybody ever hear of this guy?

The caption of this video should've been "What a dumbass!"



Nice work on the cunard fins. Wonder how much time they spent on those, thinkin' "yea, this'll be the ticket". Aaaah, the 70s.