Category Archives: rock music trivia

TICKETS TORN IN HALF July 17,1970: NY POP FESTIVAL @RANDALLS ISLAND

17 Tuesday Jul 2018

Posted by in Uncategorized, Rock music, rock music trivia, heart broken, #WhiteBoyBlues, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Delaney,Bonnie and Friends, jazz-rock, The Grease Band, Ticket Stubs, Ten Years After, John Sebastian

≈ Leave a comment

TICKETS TORN IN HALF July 17,1970: NY POP FESTIVAL @RANDALLS ISLAND

JULY 17: NY POP FESTIVAL @ RANDALL’S ISLAND The promoters of this event, as crooked as they were, thought they could recreate the Woodstock festival on Randall’s Island, an island in the middle of the East River. Many of the “scheduled” acts did NOT show up and the local radical groups made the atmosphere worse by encouraging gate crashing. One saving grace about this weekend was that at least there wasn’t any mud like Woodstock but this was a disaster nonetheless. Delaney Bonnie and Friends did not show, No Richie Havens, no Ravi Shankar (Thank goodness) and the band I was anticipating, one of the head liners for Saturday night, TONY WILLIAMS LIFETIME WITH MILES DAVIS AND ERIC CLAPTON was nowhere to be found, actually the band did not exist, shows you how crooked these promoters were. Joe Cocker cancelled but Sly and The Family Stone was to be his replacement. Sly, as usual was late, so late that the crowd would still be waiting.They didn’t show either. That was a sham and a scam. The bands that did show played quick, mostly uninspiring sets, knowing they were NOT getting the promised big paydays or paid at all. Many bands felt a kinship to the audience which got angrier at every announcement canceling the next act. It was getting real nasty fast.  Grand Funk played a few recognizable tunes then a drum solo which seemed to last for days. John Sebastian was well….John Sebastian. Cactus showed some promise, Ten Years After (yes again) did their usual set, and the NY Rock ENSEMBLE closed out the evening.  Bottles were thrown at the stage, a garbage can set afire, etc, etc. We were supposed to camp out with our group of friends but heeded the warning in the crowd to GET OUT, so home we all went.

NOTE: My remaining ticket, the Jimi Hendrix night, was sold on eBay years later for $250.00 cash.

TICKETS TORN IN HALF: July 13,1972 The ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND @ Gaelic Park w/ a Jam featuring Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir

13 Friday Jul 2018

Posted by in #WhiteBoyBlues, ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND, Grateful Dead, Rock music, rock music trivia, Ticket Stubs, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

TICKETS TORN IN HALF: July 13,1972 The ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND @ Gaelic Park w/ a Jam featuring Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir/ Captain Beyond opened.My obsession with the ABB continued, and this was a strange show as DUANE was gone and with him went some of the spirit of the band. But the music continued and tonight’s bonus was an extended jam with Garcia and Weir. I had to wade through the crowd having gotten there late due to the horrendous traffic in the Bronx and then I couldn’t find my group of friends anywhere, so I stood in the back of the open-air field alone. Note: Show ended early due to local curfew?

Pictures are not from that night.

TICKETS TORN IN HALF July 12,1973: VAN MORRISON and The CALEDONIA SOUL ORCHESTRA @ AVERY FISHER HALL

12 Thursday Jul 2018

Posted by in heart broken, Kevin Patrick, Rock music, rock music trivia, Ticket Stubs, Uncategorized, Van Morrison

≈ Leave a comment

 

TICKETS TORN IN HALF July 12,1973: VAN MORRISON and The CALEDONIA SOUL ORCHESTRA @ AVERY FISHER HALL (aka Philharmonic Hall) We had great seats, left side of stage about seven rows back. A pre-show dinner at a snazzy restaurant across the road where my brother thought it a good idea to take packs of DOMINO sugar to throw during Van’s rendition of DOMINO. I didn’t think it was a particularly good idea. And I was right as  Kevin Patrick’s antics almost got us tossed out of the show. Van’s band was fantastic, as in really fantastic and he closed with a 12 minute plus version of CYPRUS AVENUE, whew. I was really impressed by the entire show. A TOP TEN kinda show. John Platania on guitar was amazing, the horns, fantastic and VAN THE MAN at the top of his game, bringing all to NYC to “bring the house down” which he did.

On The Shelf: IN SEARCH OF THE LOST CHORD- 1967 AND THE HIPPIE IDEA- DANNY GOLDBERG

12 Thursday Jul 2018

Posted by in books, Central Park, Cream, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, John and Yoko, Monterey Pop 67, Otis Redding, Rock music, rock music trivia, Scott McKensie, The Doors, The Great Society, THE MOTHERS of INVENTION, The Who, The Yippies, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

On The Shelf: IN SEARCH OF THE LOST CHORD 1967 AND THE HIPPIE IDEA- DANNY GOLDBERG

Wow, name after name after…you get the idea. This document takes the reader behind the scenes for a comprehensive look at 1967 and as the title suggests, “the hippie idea”. The time line alone, for me, is the gem. Reagan is governor of California, the first Human Be-IN takes place, The first SUPER BOWL, Surrealistic Pillow is released,  the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour hits the air. The Fugs’  ED SANDERS is featured on the cover of LIFE in an issue about HAPPENINGS. “Penny Lane/ Strawberry Fields Forever” is released.Adam Clayton Powell, Jr is denied a seat in Congress, as LBJ announces the draft lottery, and on and on. Names, dates, places, all fully researched, many sources quoted. Needless to say the history buff in me loved every word. All 280 pages.

(A review)   1967 was the year of the release of the Beatles’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and of debut albums from the Doors, the Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin, among many others. 1967 was also the year of the Summer of Love; the year that millions of now-illegal LSD tabs flooded America; Muhammad Ali was convicted of avoiding the draft; Martin Luther King Jr. publicly opposed the war in Vietnam; Stokely Carmichael championed Black Power; Israel won the Six-Day War; and Che Guevara was murdered. It was the year that hundreds of thousands of protesters vainly attempted to levitate the Pentagon. It was the year the word “hippie” peaked and died, and the Yippies were born.

ROCK’S IN MY HEAD:  CHAPTER 19- THE SUMMER OF LOVE:

11 Wednesday Jul 2018

Posted by in BigBrotherHoldingCo., Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, Monterey Pop 67, Otis Redding, Rock music, rock music trivia, Scott McKensie, Steve Cropper, Summer Of Love, Uncategorized, Vinyl Records

≈ Leave a comment

ROCK’S IN MY HEAD:  CHAPTER 19- THE SUMMER OF LOVE:

“If you’re going to San Francisco,be sure to wear some flowers in your hair…If you’re going to San Francisco, Summertime will be a love-in there”

So sang SCOTT McKENZIE, a true one hit wonder himself but what a hit it was. This so called “anthem” arrived on the airwaves May 13, 1967, and was used as an invitation “across the nation” as a way to publicize the upcoming “charity” concerts called THE MONTEREY INTERNATIONAL POP FESTIVAL June 16 to June 18, 1967. This 3 day event was organized by PAPA JOHN PHILLIPS who incidentally wrote the aforementioned tune, LOU ADLER who produced the tune, along with a host of others who planned this weekend showcase as a way to sanctify “rock” music, similar to the way the Monterey Jazz Festivals gave legitimacy to that genre. All proceeds would be given to charity. Artists were expected to play a 40 minute set without a fee, however their flights, accommodations, etc, would all be first class.

The song becomes an instant radio hit ,#4 on the BILLBOARD charts, and while estimates vary, thousands celebrated rock music that weekend in a fair grounds 120 miles south of San Francisco. Yet, the tune transcended its purpose. The imagery of the song provoked and encouraged thousands of listeners to attend “the party”  which would become THE SUMMER OF LOVE in San Francisco.

HOW DO WE GET THERE? Well, not directional or travel arrangements wise but rather how did this LOVE thing happen?

Well, The BEAT poets of NORTH BEACH, SAN FRANCISCO could be considered the fore fathers of the movement with their non-conformist attitudes while rejecting materialistic values.

Then there was the celebration entitled the HUMAN BE-IN at Golden Gate Park in January of 67, an idea of MICHAEL BOWEN the avant-garde artist and co-founder of THE ORACLE, a premier “underground” newspaper which announced the event. This Be-In inspired  the play HAIR: The American Tribal Love -Rock Musical by Rado and Ragni. Also, TIMOTHY LEARY asked the attendees to “turn on,tune in,drop out”.About 30,000 attended.

The mainstream media picked up the story, highlighting Tim Leary, the drugs (LSD and mushrooms), the clothing and the music. These photos and images were shown on the nightly news. TIME magazine ran a cover story on THE HIPPIES and even CBS NEWS had a special report in August.This influx of “flower children” arrived to the 25 square block area of San Francisco with the cross streets , the intersection of it all, HAIGHT-ASHBURY.

With psychedelic music and drugs prevalent, one could only predict that the future of THE HAIGHT would not be so rosy or happy. Homelessness, drug abuse, poverty became rampant. The BEE GEES even wrote a song, MASSACHUSETTS, in response to what was happening in SAN FRANCISCO, a ditty about someone who lost the vision, the hope, and was homesick.

Yet, the SUMMER OF LOVE despite its misgivings gave us a great soundtrack for that time and for years to come: THE WHO, JIMI HENDRIX, BIG BROTHER and THE HOLDING COMPANY, COUNTRY JOE and THE FISH,THE ELECTRIC FLAG,QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE,STEVE MILLER,MOBY GRAPE,HUGH MASEKELA,THE BYRDS,LAURA NYRO,JEFFERSON AIRPLANE,BOOKER T and THE MG’s,OTIS REDDING, THE BLUES PROJECT,BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD and the organizers of Monterey Pop THE MAMAS & THE PAPAS.

See you next time…CHAPTER 20:1968-BE INS and TEACH INS and ASSASSINATIONS

Comments? jazzbus@gmail.com

ROCK’S IN MY HEAD:  CHAPTER 18: AND THE JUKEBOX KEPT ON PLAYING…

10 Tuesday Jul 2018

Posted by in Cream, DYLAN, EdSullivan, ElvisPresley, Golden Age of Radio, James Brown, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, LOVE, Monterey Pop 67, Otis Redding, R&B, Rock music, rock music trivia, Scott McKensie, Summer Of Love, The Beatles, The Beatles on Sullivan, The British Invasion (1964-1966), The Doors, The radio, Uncategorized, Vinyl Records

≈ Leave a comment

ROCK’S IN MY HEAD:  CHAPTER 18: AND THE JUKEBOX KEPT ON PLAYING…

“There’s something happening here, what it is ain’t exactly clear”, Stephen stills wrote in the 1967 song FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH.

The music of the 60s famously captured the countercultures activism and ethos of those times. Music can inspire, it can galvanize and fuel movements, it can spread the key messages for social causes. However, do we define the music that the artists create or do the songs they sing about the social issues defined us? Sometimes it’s both as its almost impossible to separate the art from the artist.

In my generation’s time the biggest example of music affecting culture had to be the music of the Beatles. Their music created an iconic shift in our culture. Take a look at photos in any high school yearbook before 1964, and you will see the American middle-class males all have really short haircuts. However in just one years time, everyone’s hair was a little longer. The Beatles were influencing culture, as a matter of fact they changed the entire culture. Fortunately during that time the music scene was not as fragmented as it is today. With about only five popular radio stations and/or TV stations( in NY) everyone heard the same songs. It was truly broadcasting in a “broad” sense of the word as opposed to today’s “narrow” casting. Music mobilized people and songs became anthems as music was one of the strongest ways to influence our generation.

By ’67 I was an avid reader of magazines, books, news weeklies, most somewhat politically skewed to the left, well as left as I could get away with in my household. Even my newspaper of choice was the VILLAGE VOICE, a weekly out of Manhattan. My high school’s reading assignments, the general novels assigned, the poems, did little to excite me, but I read what I was asked to read, mostly.  But then, I read Ralph Nader’s UNSAFE AT ANY SPEED which intrigued me. His invitation to the auto makers to produce a safer machine was researched so well, and his requests and suggestions to the industry and to the government made so much sense. Yet no one did anything about it. The CORVAIR car, transmission gear positions on cars, safety to pedestrians, wind shield standards and seat belts.WOW, simple safety. That year Nader was “the man” to me.

THE SUMMER OF LOVE: 1967

A news item came across the screen the other day (2017) declaring that JEFFERSON AIRPLANE’S album SURREALISTIC PILLOW was certified Platinum, I’m talking a few month shy of it’s 50th anniversary of its release. That’s a long haul. The LP went GOLD back in July of 1967, THE SUMMER OF LOVE, finally platinum in 2017.

50 Years ago “it” was all over the press: San Francisco and the “SUMMER OF LOVE”. The SF Chronicle was the first to depict that designation to which I am sure they regretted almost immediately. But, WHAT WAS THAT SUMMER OF LOVE LIKE?

I was 15 and it was no summer of Love for me, summer of Confusion might best describe my circumstances. SURREALISTIC PILLOW was on my turn table yet I actually had to look up and research what the heck “surrealistic” meant and how the hell did it apply to a pillow. This was too far out.

Summer of ’67 nearly 100,000 kids head to San Francisco’s HAIGHT ASBURY  with “flowers in their hair, flowers everywhere”. It is time to “turn on, tune in, drop out”. This coincides with young adults declaring rock and roll was here to stay, it was not some phase we would grow out of. Rock was to be our music, an essential part of our being, the way we expressed ourselves. I’m in, I ready to volunteer. Frank Sinatra, not for me. Even the sounds recorded at that moment in time changed. Listen to JORMA KAUKONEN’s feedback on PILLOW. It was new, unique, and different.We took this music, our music seriously, and so did the musicians who made it . Singles were fading fast as bands/musicians sought to make a statement or two. Albums became the rage. Musicians experimented and so did we.

Our radio changed. AM stuck to the hit parade format. Recent legislation stated that AM stations could no longer simulcast on FM, so the clearer sounding FM was free to experiment and experiment they did. The AM dj’s catch phrases, their gift of gab would not survive the coolness of the FM disk jockey playing THE DOORS Light My Fire (extended version).And in June of 67 The BEATLES released Sgt. Pepper’s which had no singles on it. Truly the listening teens were FM bound.

Reporting on the “happenings” changed also. The cigar smoking, shirt and tie wearing newsman suddenly had long bushy sideburns, bell bottom jeans, smoked a joint and wrote from the heart. Journalism,the reporting of the news was way different from what it was only a few months before. Slanted as it might have been, these new writers helped me develop a better understanding of culture and politics. An example would be RAMPARTS magazine, which started as a Catholic Quarterly, but now in ‘67 it was a full blown anti-establishment rag. It’s articles raised the hair on the back of my neck; Vietnam, the CIA, The Black Panthers. And then the NewYork Times Best Sellers List had names like Norman Mailer, Tom Wolfe and other non-traditional authors topping the charts. Hail, hail to THE CLASS OF ’67.These “New Journalists” led me to read authors who influenced the new generation: Lincoln Steffens, Ida Tarbell, and many other so called “muckrackers” as Teddy Roosevelt named their genre.

So what was 1967 through the eyes and ears of a fifteen year old boy? Well, January 15 the very first SUPER BOWL was held with a television audience of 60 million folks.The Green Bay Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10. Interesting to note that according to all research this singular event catapulted the NFL in viewership which in turn drew advertising money to football. The cost of a 30 second SUPER BOWL ad in 67 was a mere $37,500.

By February my neighbor, a guy I tried to get to take me to see the Lovin Spoonful told me about a new group he saw at Stony Brook, a local university. The band was Jefferson Airplane, yes, same group I read about in NEWSWEEK. Now, I was more than interested in that band.

The 25th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in February 1967 thereby establishing the “succession” to the Presidency which was vitally important as our Vice-Presidency had been vacant at least 16 times through our short history. This Amendment gave us a clear path to what steps were needed to take place, especially after the death of JFK when we had a void. This would prove to be politically significant in subsequent years.

In April Muhammed Ali, aka CASSIUS CLAY the Heavy Weight Champ who became a CO, was stripped of his heavyweight boxing title for refusing induction in to the US Army.

THE SIX DAY WAR (June 5-10) occurred just as we were finishing our school year. The  Arab Forces were defeated and Israel took possession of additional territories.  This news item intrigued me as I knew little if anything about the Middle East which we had studied this past year history class, but not like this.This was for real. My knowledge or lack thereof about the Middle East would soon change.

Thurgood Marshall became the first black Supreme Court Justice in October. These events made ’67 an interesting year. Monterey Pop was held (June), Otis Redding died, and SGT.PEPPERS was released. We listed to Sgt. Peppers almost every afternoon that June at my girlfriend’s house,with the music blasting through the speakers from her brother’s stereo which she placed in the front window while a group of us were playing whiffle ball in the street. Life and relationships were simple then.

My 45’s record collection seemed to grow by the end of each week: The Letter by the Box Tops with Alex Chilton on vocals is still a gem today, Light My Fire by The Doors (the edited radio version of course), The Rascals lovely Groovin’, Little Bit Of Soul, Kind Of A Drag, Expressway to Your Heart, Soul Man, Incense And Peppermints, Somebody To Love,and Whiter Shade of Pale just to name a few. However, I used more of my limited cash on albums: The Doors(first), the aforementioned Jefferson Airplane’s Surrealistic Pillow,  Moby Grape’s first, The Beatles Sgt. Peppers, Jimi Hendrix Experience, The KinKs Something Else,The Doors Strange Days (which my dad bought for me),Cream’s Disraeli Gears, The Who Sell Out, The Rascal’s Collections and The Soul Survivors, which I was led to believe by the guy behind the counter at the local RECORD RACK sounds “exactly” like the Rascals.This proclamation was not necessarily true and another story all together. By years end I included the newly established ROLLING STONE magazine to my mandatory reading list .

By end of 1967 heading into ’68, listening to FM radio and watching television rock was not enough for me. Like every other red blooded discophile I was drawn to the fire of live music. Having no true curfew I started to attend The Hullabaloo, a local teen club in the neighboring town of Lindenhurst. A true TEEN SCENE club serving 15-20 year olds  with an affordable  $2.00 cover. Their stage hosted a few bands each weekend (Friday and Saturday nights), many were local garage style combos, with a few noted National acts tossed in…The Vagrants, The Hassels, and Vanilla Fudge just to name a few.

During this period I saw The Critters (Younger Girl; My Dyingly Sad) at the local Roll N Ice, followed by Every Mothers Son (Come On Down To My Boat, Baby) at my 10th grade dance, The Good Rats (pre-TASTY) at a high school art show(1968), and a WMCA (NY Radio station-THE GOOD GUYS)sponsored “Sock Hop Show” featuring The Left Banke (1967).  And of course Long Island’s own The Vagrants (Leslie West), and The Hassels (Billy Joel) regularly played at the aforementioned Hullabloo.

At home I played Rubber Soul and Revolver over and over again. Two of my favorite albums at that time and probably my two favorite Beatles albums of all times.

See you next time….Chapter19:THE SUMMER OF LOVE. Comments? jazzbus@gmail.com

TICKETS TORN IN HALF July 9, 2000: THE WHO @ Jones Beach

09 Monday Jul 2018

Posted by in #WhiteBoyBlues, Albert King, Fillmore East, FillmoreEast,BillGraham, Indie records, Madison Square Garden, Rock music, rock music trivia, The Who, Uncategorized, Vinyl Records, Woodstock

≈ Leave a comment

TICKETS TORN IN HALF July 9, 2000: THE WHO @ Jones BeachThe Who 2000

 

Let it be known that I loved THE WHO, especially live WHO. Noticed the past tense as in LOVED, now I just tolerate THE WHO or better yet,I tolerate what is left of THE WHO. My collection of first day issued WHO records ebbed early on, as in QUADROPHENIA,which I still don’t own. Let’s take the time machine back to some singles I bought in 1967. One on TRACK RECORDS even.“Happy Jack” b-side “Whiskey Man”, “Pictures of Lily”, “ I Can See For Miles”, then it was time for some albums (67) “A Quick One”, Christmas of 67 I got “Sell Out”, then (68)”Magic Bus On Tour”, and finally I picked up the first lp “My Generation”.In 69 I purchased “Tommy”, and picked up my favorite (70) “Live at Leeds”. “Who’s Next” came after seeing the band at Forest Hills the summer of 71. That is the last official WHO album I paid for. However, I did accumulate many Rareties, bootlegs from Fillmore East, Woodstock, Monterey Pop, Live at other venues, 30 Years of Max R&B, the 1st Singles Box Set, The Kids Are Alright, etc, etc.

My times with THE WHO -LIVE

JUNE 6, 1969: THE WHO/CHUCK BERRY/ ALBERT KING @ FILLMORE EAST After finding out how easy it was to obtain tickets for shows at FILLMORE EAST, I ordered two seats for CHUCK BERRY and ALBERT KING for the Friday night early show, June 6. I was especially looking forward to hearing Albert King live as I wore out his LIVE WIRE BLUES POWER album. The tickets arrived in record time. When I attended the Zeppelin show I looked for where I would be seated for the Albert King show(fourth row aisle seat on the left). Too cool, really nice sight lines. Then it happened. At the  Led Zeppelin show, the stage announcement was made that an additional act would be added to the Albert King Chuck Berry bill, headlining now would be…. THE WHO. OMG… I was ecstatic…But How?

Actually, The Who had played the Fillmore East only two weeks prior to the Led Zeppelin show. During their performance that weekend a fire occurred in the adjoining building. A Fire Marshall, not in uniform, attempted to evacuate the premises of the Fillmore by taking the stage. Pete Townshend  The Who’s guitarist got into an altercation with the  “undercover” official. Townshend thinking that this guy was a nut job hit him and an arrest of Pete Townshend abruptly ended the show. So this new show, the one I had two tickets for was labeled as THE TRIUMPHANT RETURN OF THE WHO.

Their album which has been labeled a “rock opera” TOMMY was released only a few short days(May23) before this rescheduled performance and the songs from TOMMY were already in heavy rotation on the radio. So there I sat four rows back from  Albert King, he dressed to the nines in a dark suit, white shirt and tie, while playing a short but sweet set on his Flying V guitar,  BORN UNDER A BAD SIGN, PERSONAL MANAGER,AS THE YEARS GO PASSING BY and STORMY MONDAY.  I was amazed at his performance, his grace, and his size, the man was HUGE. Chuck Berry, a rock and roll legend was up next doing what I found out years later was his traditional set list. It was nothing too outstanding for my eyes and ears except seeing him doing his duck walk. Chuck was a visual performer and closed with MY DING A LING a really stupid sing along song which I found embarrassing. He reappeared for an encore and was gone and forgotten by me almost that quickly.

THE WHO on the other hand was fantastic. I sat in awe the entire time, mouth opened kind of awe, brought on by the sheer power of the band. Daltry,bared chested, draped with a fringed vest while swinging his microphone, Townshend windmilling on the guitar, Entwistle’s magical fingers running up and down the frets on his bass, and then Keith Moon on the kit, all amazing, and so very loud. CAN’T EXPLAIN, New TOMMY stuff, SUMMERTIME BLUES, MAGIC BUS, needless to say my very limited concert experiences I just had a new threshold to beat and that would be… THE WHO. Live music to me became a real education and soon an obsession.

OCT 25, 1969: It has only been about 5 months since their last performance at FILLMORE EAST but 5 months in 1969 was an eternity for a rock band. Scheduled as THE WHO “TOMMY” @ FILLMORE EAST for Six nights, just THE WHO, no opening act and – WOW was this loud as THE WHO brought their own sound system, all 45 speaker cabinets worth cluttered the stage to premier their rock opera TOMMY, mixed in with a few hits and misses. First time a band played FILLMORE EAST midweek and for 6 consecutive days AND allowed to use their own PA.Two sets with an intermission between.  Keith on UNION JACK Premier drums. WOW/LOUD/UNBELIEVABLE is all I wrote in my notebook after the show.

August 1,1971: THE WHO/ LaBELLE @ Forest Hills in the fourth row center. My tape IS the bootleg out there, thanks to my buddy selling a copy I made for him, I didn’t agree to it at all. Who’s NEXT will be released shortly. This arena being a much larger than FILLMORE EAST and outdoors as well, the music was not as powerful as last time. Even though I was so close to the stage I could not feel the intensity in my chest and I needed that from THE WHO.

Sept 13,1979: THE WHO@ MSG. My fourth visit with the band.THE WHO did not tour the US since 1976 and now they were a five piece unit with KENNEY JONES (Faces) on the kit for the deceased KEITH MOON and RABBIT on keyboards. The band also  added a three piece horn section on select numbers. In my opinion, even though I throughly missed MOON, I felt that THE WHO made a triumphant return to the NY stage playing a 22 song set plus encores.

1982 THE WHO were on the road in their first attempt at a “FAREWELL” playing SHEA STADIUM with THE CLASH as the openers. I don’t do stadiums so I opted out even though all my friends were going with great seats. I sat at home listening to SHOOT OUT THE LIGHTS by Richard and Linda THOMPSON.

Jan 30, 1996: JOHN ENTWHISTLE @ Tramps w/ Godfrey Townshend ( no relation to Pete) on guitar. This was a fantastic night celebrating my 44th birthday with friends listening to THE OX rock this small but great venue.

July 20, 1996: QUADROPHENIA @ MSG Not billed as THE WHO but rather as Pete, John and Roger with a host of others performing QUADROPHENIA in its entirety for Six nights at the World’s Most Famous Arena. Gary Glitter, Billy Idol, a horn section, Zak Starkey on drums (that was a huge plus), and all my buddies to see  (for the fifth time) THE WHO (screw how they billed it) playing for the first time since 1989. An acoustic “Won’t Get Fooled Again” as one of the four encores and we got “Magic Bus” that night.

July 9, 2000: THE WHO @ Jones Beach Amazing, they are back.As a five piece. This being the last show of a very short US tour. Tonight, they did every song, that I wanted to hear. (“Can’t Explain”, “Substitute”, “Anyway, Anyhow Anywhere” and they including MAGIC BUS”) And being the last night Pete famously smashed his guitar at the end of “Won’t Get Fooled Again”.Followed by 3 encores.

May 22, 2004: THE WHO @ MSG This was a very short tour of the States consisting of stops in Boston and New York. My 7th time seeing what is labeled as THE WHO. I guess Pete has all rights to claim the name when he stands along side of Roger. Tonight they did all songs penned by Pete Townshend, except Mose Allisons’ “Young Man Blues” which was an encore. We arrived early to see an un-announced opening act The (New and Reformed?) NEW YORK DOLLS.

The Who: Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, with “Rabbit”, Zak Starkey, Simon Townshend, Pino Palladino

We sat in the very last row middle of MSG, so far back from the band but a delight.

Taken from Wiki:

Typical May/June set list[edit]

1″I Can’t Explain”

2″Substitute”

3″Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere”

4″Who Are You”

5″Behind Blue Eyes”

6″Baba O’Riley”

7″The Punk and the Godfather”

8″5.15”

9″Love, Reign O’er Me”

10″Eminence Front”

11″Drowned” (Townshend solo acoustic)

12″Naked Eye”

13″Real Good Looking Boy”

14″You Better You Bet”

15″My Generation“/”Old Red Wine”

16″Won’t Get Fooled Again”

17″Pinball Wizard”

18″Amazing Journey”

19″Sparks”

20″See Me, Feel Me”

21″Magic Bus”

“Young Man Blues” (Mose Allison) (New York only)

ROCK’S IN MY HEAD: Chapter 17-BIGGER THAN JESUS

06 Friday Jul 2018

Posted by in ColumbiaRecordClub, Jefferson Airplane, MOTOWN, Rock music, rock music trivia, The Beatles, The British Invasion (1964-1966), The KinKs, The Stones, Vinyl Records

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , ,

John Lennon’s statement that The Beatles were “bigger than Jesus” caused quite an uproar with some radio stations refusing to play Beatles records. Living in liberal New York the noise of Anti-Beatledom was minimal, basically non-existent. As liberal as the politics of my home state might be, the radio stations were quite conservative, only playing the “hits” that had been tested in the minor markets. NY Radio would wait until others lesser known band’s song became a hit across the country before giving it a shot on the air. But not with The Fab 4 who seemed bigger than ever. The Beatles still had the instant hits.

REVOLVER was my most played album of 1966, and TAXMAN was a favorite song of mine from that collection, what a great opening tune. Years later I found that that song written as such still needed a hook during the recording process. Someone suggested, after watching an episode of the TV program BATMAN, that THE BEATLES replicate the BATMAN theme chant into TAX MAN. Hence, BATMAN became TAXMAN.

While the political innuendo of TAXMAN was not missed by me, ELENOR RIGBY did nothing for me. I later learned that not one Beatle played an instrument on that tune so that reason alone might subconsciously be why I didn’t care for it one bit. REVOLVER was the last album issued by Capitol with an altered playing order, that is one different from it’s UK counter part. In January of 1967 THE BEATLES had a new contract, one which specified Capitol records could no longer alter the tracks or the running order or remove tracks from Beatle approved albums. Just in time too, as Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band could have been quite different if Capitol Records USA had still had control over songs, sequence, etc.

The fashion of 1966 was basically CARNABY STREET and with that style came the introduction of the “mini skirt”. Imagine being a 14 year old boy in high school at a time where girls were required to wear skirts in school. Then the mini skirt arrives. “Thank you, Lord” our prayers were answered. Keeping ’66 in mind, that same year Pampers were introduced and the Dow Jones year end average was 785. And of course October of 66, THE MONKEES debuted on TV, an ersatz Beatle-esk band, which caught on with the teeny boppers, as we were then referred as.

 

To recap the year, January 1, 1966 started off with the New York City Transit Strike, a 12 day event pairing a fiery Mike Quill the NYTA union leader against the newly installed Mayor John Lindsey. Lindsey was no match for the tough Irish union leader. The Transit workers received a 15% raise and The TAYLOR LAW was enacted the next year.

In July, MUHAMMED ALI once known as CASSIUS CLAY declares himself a CO, a “Conscientious Objector”. This brought more attention to the VIETNAM War and to the opposition to this “undeclared” war. I started to pay more attention to radio news reports. According to FCC regulations at the time, each radio station MUST present the news “on the hour” with updates “on the half hour”. The 6 PM and 11PM television evening news were quite visual in its coverage of the carnage in Vietnam, actually upsettingly so. In September the long running whitbread television program THE ADVENTURES OF OZZIE AND HARRIET ended.

NEWSWEEK had a featured article in its December edition about BE-INS, as in Human “Be-ings”,  that were  called “happenings” in major cities, San Francisco being one such city. The author referenced the JEFFERSON AIRPLANE as “the most popular of groups”. This was duly noted in my brain.

The USA had 500,000 troops in Vietnam, NASA’s Gemini 10 left “Earth for 3 days in space”, cigarettes were required to carry a health warning on the side package, and Richard Speck killed 8 nurses in Chicago which the news of this scared the bejesus out of me. Speck was outdone a few months later by Charles Wittman who killed 14 and injured 31 by shooting from a tower at the University of Texas to the crowd below. Mass murders, Vietnam, all too much bloodshed on the news and in print.

We had sit-ins, be-ins, teach-ins and the popular films were THUNDERBOLT, DR. ZHIVAGO, and A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS. I was 14 closing in on 15 and my world was changing around me, rapidly.

For me in 1966 The LOVIN’ SPOONFUL was a band I most desired to see, I even bought a vest and a yellow shirt because I saw John Sebastian wearing one on an album cover. At one point I almost wished my eye sight would fade a bit so if I needed glasses I could get a pair like Sebastian’s.

Those big band albums from Columbia record club that my dad had, and the little kid 45’ records that my brother and I had soon met their shelf mates including: 96 Tears, Summer In The City, Good Lovin’, Paperback Writer, 19th Nervous Breakdown and Gloria (Shadows of Night). The album collection expanded as well adding Revolver, Pet Sounds, Blonde on Blonde, High Tides and Green Grass: Big Hits, Fresh Cream, Love, Animalism, Paul Revere and The Raiders, Buffalo Springfield and of course the debut by The Monkees. That Monkees  phenomena was a story unto itself.

And then there was the beginning of rock music on FM radio in NY, WOR-FM, August of 66. I needed, I wanted an AM/FM radio.

See you next time….Chapter18: AND THE JUKEBOX KEPT ON PLAYING… . Comments? jazzbus@gmail.com

ROCK’S IN MY HEAD: Chapter 16-LEGENDARY PSYCHEDELIC GARAGE BANDS

02 Monday Jul 2018

Posted by in Rock music, rock music trivia, The KinKs, Vinyl Records

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , ,

The title alone should grab the attention of those likeminded musicologists who lived through the late 1960s. Your collection of independent labeled vinyl probably includes music by the 13th Floor Elevator, Love, The Chocolate Watchband, The Seeds, and other legendary psychedelic garage bands. Usually armed with a Farfisa organ, a guitar utilizing plenty of feedback, throw in a tambourine and harmonica and most garage bands were ready to roll. Better yet, if you dump the old verse/chorus/verse format, chuck in a few minutes of feedback and  now your garage band becomes a psychedelic rock band. Bring on the strobe lights. Later the genre is renamed “acid rock”, still amateuristically (a new word) raw, fluid, primitive, exotic as well as hypnotic, with maybe an eastern Raga flavor,all churned together.

My first experience with garage band music was a 1963 when at a house party with my fellow sixth graders we heard the KINGSMEN’s “Louie Louie”. Today, most of my brethren of the same age bracket will probably agree that that particular tune says it all. Primitive, raw, indecipherable words,so much so the radio network censors not knowing exactly what is being sung ban the record. In doing so the ban moved the record to the MUST HAVE category, thereby jettison the regional tune to a national number 1 chart topper.

Through my early record buying career I didn’t think much about genres, let alone putting a garage band label on a band until the early 1970s when I copped a copy of NUGGETS, a double LP put together by archivist Lenny Kaye. I sensed, before listening to NUGGETS, that the (garage) music included in the research was quite different from popular music, but I never categories it. After NUGGETS I went back through my collection of obscure 45s mostly on independent labels and found my own nuggets. Recently, I started to look for things I might have missed.

Researching as such one finds there are many different theories regarding the origin of garage bands; who or what was the first, etc, etc. But one does know that with the invention of the fuzz box utilized by any guitar players, as well as the introduction of hallucinogenics, psychedelic music moves to the forefront. Here are some of the heroes and villains of the era.

THE 13th FLOOR ELEVATORS-what a great name, the 13th Floor Elevators. Funny how even today as I step into an elevator in a high-rise I immediately search to see if there is a 13 floor button. So without further ado one needs to give the nod to this band for coming up with a great name. The ELEVATORS originated in 1965 at Austin ,Texas and featured the legendary ROKY ERICKSON on vocals and guitar. Also included in the ensemble was one band member playing what is labeled an “electric jug”, yeah a jug. I don’t think I’d get much argument that Mr. Erickson could be considered a true acid casualty in the same mention as say Syd Barrett and/or Skip Spence, However, their hit “YOU’RE GONNA MISS ME” remains a true rock classic. To date Mr.Erickson is still alive and still performing.Legend has it that ROXY asked a young JANIS JOPLIN to join the band but she had decided to head to San Francisco instead.Oh well, we missed out there, didn’t we.

LOVE-  This band was one of the first interracial rock’n roll bands to break out on the national scene. Out of San Francisco and originally called GRASS ROOTS (not THEE GRASS ROOTS of later day hit parade success) they rechristened themselves as LOVE  and became the first rock band signed to ELEKTRA RECORDS. The first LP “LOVE” was not a smashing success but the cut “SIGNED D.C.” must have been an inspiration for THE MOODY BLUES “Nights In White Satin”, listen for the similarities. ARTHUR LEE the lead singer refused to tour to promote the album which in hindsight was not a great idea. The second LP “DA CAPO” was an FM radio staple and the third “FOREVER CHANGES” was their so called masterpiece. One of the best stories I had heard regarding a band receiving a signing bonus has to be when Arthur Lee took the entire bonus and purchased with cash a brand new sports car because as he said the “lead singer needs a flashy Sports car”. The rest of the band was giving pennies.

CHOCOLATE WATCH BAND-I know very little about the Chocolate Watchband, just that they had another strange name. What caught my attention was the fact that the band’s name appears many, many times on the psychedelic posters advertising musical performances in and around San Francisco during the mid sixties. I also give them a nod for their remake of The KinKs tune “I’m Not Like Everybody Else”.

STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK-The Strawberry Alarm Clock  is another great name and one of my age bracket cannot forget their hit record “Incense and Peppermints”. To have fun one needs to research the history of this band, with its members and their various lawsuits regarding rights to songs and its royalties. By doing said research you’ll find the band or members in Russ Myers movie “Beyond the Valley of The Dolls”, or as members of Oingo Boingo ,or assisting the legendary Danny Elfman with his movie scores, or becoming a member of Lynyrd Skynyrd.

ELECTRIC PRUNES- I must admit I had a few singles by The Electric Prunes and purchased their classic album Mass in F Minor, what a mess. However the single,” I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night “ remains a classic. (Note: Kenny Loggins played guitar in the 1969 version of The Prunes.)

THE SEEDS- The first time I saw The Seeds was on ABC’s Dick Clark produced WHERE THE ACTION IS. Here were these four guys with extremely long hair lip-synching to their songs, “ Mr. Farmer” and “Pushing Too Hard”. I bought both Crescendo issued singles, and later on bought two are their albums,FUTURE and my  favorite being the “LIVE” one.

MUSIC MACHINE- Their single TALK TALK on ORIGINAL RECORDS had a black label with white writing and was in line with their ominous look of band members clad all in black, dyed black hair, and one singular black glove worn by each.

BLUES MAGOOS-Signed by a major label MERCURY RECORDS, The BLUES MAGOOS first album actually used the word psychedelic in their title: PSYCHEDELIC LOLLIPOP, but what I remember most is their single I got the single “(We Ain’t Got) Nothin’ Yet”. Issued a few years with PEPPY CASTRO as the only original member the “Never Goin’ Back to Georgia” LP found its way in to my collection.

Some of the other hits and heavies include:THE REMAINS, THE PRETTY THINGS, THE BARBARIANS (check the TAMI SHOW video),? AND THE MYSTERIANS, THE LEAVES, BLUE CHEER (once claimed to be the loudest band on the planet), THE CASTAWAYS and the wonderful SIR DOUGLAS QUINTET.

See you next time…. Chapter 17- BIGGER THAN JESUS…Comments? jazzbus@gmail.com

TICKETS TORN IN HALF: June 30, 1977- FLEETWOOD MAC @ Madison Square Garden

30 Saturday Jun 2018

Posted by in Fleetwood Mac, Kevin Patrick, Madison Square Garden, Rock music, rock music trivia, Ticket Stubs, Uncategorized, Vinyl Records

≈ Leave a comment

 

 

TICKETS TORN IN HALF: June 30, 1977- FLEETWOOD MAC @ Madison Square Garden

In my collection of memorabilia I saved John Rockwell’s NYTimes review of FLEETWOOD MAC’S Rumours Tour stop at Madison Square Garden ;for what reason I don’t know. The show was great for its time but I longed for Peter Green’s FLEETWOOD MAC. This band was so much different. Overall I thought the show was pretty good. So was the pre show activities.

I noticed a crowd developing on 33rd Street. With my interest rising I saw a figure that looked like my brother, hands dramatically trying to explain something but I knew it could not be my brother as he was 200 miles away, or so I thought. Yup, you guessed it, it was my brother who almost got arrested for severly chiding a scalper, who, when the cops came, offer my brother a ticket at face value. Way to go Kevin Patrick

(partial from Rockwell) FLEETWOOD MAC’s debut Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden—the first of two performances there—was a confirmation of its newly won status as this country’s most popular and best poprock band—except for, maybe the Eagles. And by and large it was a superior show to the group’s outing earlier this year at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, L.I. With one crucial exception.

That exception was Stevie Nicks. Miss Nicks, along with Lindsey Buckingham, gave the three British veterans in the band the spark that lifted Fleetwood Mac into its current status. Miss Nicks composes wonderfully sinuous, mystically compelling songs, she is about as alluring a performer as rock can offer and, at her best, she sings with a huskily seductive individuality.

•

But she had two problems Wednesday. The first and less important had to do with her onstage manner. Always a languorous wanderer as a performer, she pushed her lackadaisical loopiness too far. She managed to come in on cue and to remember her words, but at her worst she looked like a glamorous female equivalent of Joe Cocker, and in general her slack meanderings were more a cause for concern than for fascination.

Far more serious was the state of her voice. Miss Nicks has nodes on her vocal chords, and her condition has worsened appreciably since the Nassau date only three months ago. The band canceled its sold‐out Syracuse concert Tuesday because of her throat, but it didn’t seem to help much