Red Hot Chili Peppers-Blood Sugar Sex Magik

It was the fall of 1991, I had been working at Dustys Records in Grand Island. Because of various conditions, Dusty closed the doors on the Grand Island store which left only the Kearney store. I had contacted a friend of mine from college who coincidentally worked for "the competition" Record Town run by Trans World Music Corporation.  Wow! that was so long ago I'm not even sure if that was the name of the company that owned the store or not....Anyway, after I secured a job with TransWorld in Omaha, I started to pack and start my life in the "Big O". 
But, before I left, I had to stop in Kearney and say goodbye to some friends and of course...Dustys Records. I didn't know at the time that Dusty would invite me back to work 3 years later in the spring of 1994. So, I stopped in to see Dusty and make one last purchase.  I bought Tesla's Psychotic Supper and The Red Hot Chili Peppers' Blood Sugar Sex Magik.

For myself, my initial exposure to the Chili Peppers came in the early 80's. I remember seeing the "wild and wacky" pictures in various rock magazines. The pictures were either in some kind of wild pose or the shot of the band wearing only white tube socks....and not on their feet. The buzz on this band grew fast as a punk/funk/alternative musical force. I never paid full attention to them until 1989 when they covered Stevie Wonder's Higher Ground on the album Mother's Milk. As I got into the album more and more, I realized what a big part drummer Chad Smith was to the drive, groove and pulse of the band. As a drummer myself, I am fully aware of a drummer's personality and what it brings to a band. Tom Hanks illustrated this very well in his directorial debut That THING YOU DO. As a fan of Ringo and the Beatles, I would say that what Ringo brought to the table was a big part of the Beatles success. Led Zeppelin ceased to exist as a band after John Bonham died. AC/DC is not as good without original drummer Phil Rudd. So I am very outspoken when one refers to someone as "just another drummer". I honestly feel that Chad Smith was instrumental in the burgeoning popularity of the Chili Peppers in the late 80's/early 90's. So, I bought the Blood Sugar Sex Magik album in hopes that it would be similiar to Mother's Milk in style and energy. It actually seemed a little more subdued and a little heavy on the elements of rap. As a hard rock and classic rock lover, I was very apprehensive about any that was too "urban" and had too many hints of hip-hop. Since I was getting ready to move to Omaha, I figured I would listen to it more when I got settled in my own place. I lived with my sister Connie and her family for about a month until I found a place of my own. The heavily sexually charged album and subject was not appropriate to listen to around my 5 and 6 year old niece and nephew. So, I waited a little longer. When I looked at apartments, the apartment manager pointed out two apartments. One was right above a woman who didn't like loud noises and may have been rumored to complain a lot. The second apartment was above a tenant who had lived there 8 or 9 years and never complained. So, when I did move into my own apartment, I became very aware of my fellow tenants. So, I didn't listen to a lot things at loud volumes. I was always afraid I would offend someone by anything too heavy. That was when I began listening to more blues and groove oriented stuff. The funny thing was the tenant below me only owned one song and that was Robert Palmer's Addicted to Love.  I have some odd visions what he may have been doing while that song was on.  But, back to my memories.
Meanwhile, my brother Mike was a junior at Hastings High School and had adopted my love for music (both playing and listening to it). He was playing bass guitar at this time. I know that this album meant a lot to him. So, I continued to listen to it occasionally. I had subjected him to every music store I could ever find on family trips and every band I was into, I could at least give a unbiased listen to the stuff he was into. The truth is I was living by myself in Omaha with Cable TV for the first time. I was constantly flipping channels and listening to cable in stereo and then I would flip the audio source on my stereo to CD player and back to AUX constantly. I also had a 5 CD carousel changer. I had a hard time staying focused on one piece of media at one time.
The other thing that's significant about this CD (and a lot of CD's of this time period) is that (in 1991) artists were able to put  more songs onto the CD format than they used to on LP's and Cassettes. Blood Sugar Sex Magik has a running time of 73:49. For most of us growing up in the era of the classic rock albums eras, this was a little longer than usual. I used to buy LP's and dub them onto a cassette for portability purposes. We could fit an entire LP on one side of a 90 minute cassette because most albums clocked in around 40-45 minutes. Today's music fan usually only downloads songs(not albums) to their computer, I-phone, smartphone etc. So, a 73 minute CD probably wouldn't even hold the attention of a listener in 2010. This leads to another discussion about the current state of music and recorded music which I won't go into now.
The first single off the album was Give it Away which (the video) featured the band in silver makeup and dancing around in the desert.  The song had a big massive appeal and wide rotation on MTV(that I never really enjoyed). It was actually the first single off the album and very rap infused  But, the breakthrough song on this album was Under the Bridge.  Which was a semi-autobiographical song of lead singer-Anthony Kiedis trying to score some heroin in his younger days. This album took the band from cult underground punk/funk band to mainstream alternative. Then again, everything that was once categorized as alternative was now mainstream by the mid 90's.  Now that I think about it, a lot of categories just disappeared in the mid 90's...or maybe it was just me that didn't pay attention to categories any more.  But, the mainstream appeal of the Chili Peppers really turned me off. I have always been a bit of a non-conformist.  A big memory of instant dislike of Give it Away was on a Friday night when one of the girls that worked for me at Tape World invited me out on the town with some of her friends. She actually had a cute redhead friend that she had introduced to me but I was intimidated by her good looks. Anyway, I was the designated driver that night and these drunken girls are playing with the volume and the FM presets on my car stereo while I am trying to order drive thru food from Taco Bell. They finally come to a station they agree on begin singing out (like trendy cheerleaders or sorority girls) to the rhythmic strains of Give It Away....(shudder in disgust) To me, the Chili Peppers were societal misfits and this was a sign of things changing.  For a non-conformist like me, when the mainstream starts liking something you had known about for years,  it feels like a giant bandwagon...and I walk away from it.  The Peppers had all the mainstream airplay of the day on MTV, the Simpsons, The Grammys with Parliament All Stars, Saturday Night Live and every media outlet at this point. It became overkill. One of the most disappointing TV performances I have ever seen was when the band was on SNL and played Stone Cold Bush from Mother's Milk and then Under the Bridge for the second music segment. Guitarist John Frusciante was clearly unhappy with the newfound fame the band had. If you look back at interviews with the band. They were on top of the music world but everyone in the band was miserable. Hmmmmm too much media overkill?
History shows that guitarist Frusciante would quit the band before they would head out for the 1992 Lollapalooza festivals that summer.  He fell victim to heroin addiction. The band played Woodstock 94 with new guitarist Dave Navarro. They would record one album that would eventually be released in 1995 with guitarist Dave Navarro called One Hot Minute. Navarro wouldn't last and Frusciante would rejoin for the 1999 album Californication.  Stay tuned for a memory about that one.
As I listen to this album almost 20 years later, there are definitely some strong points to this album that still get me. I am still fond of the percussive buildup of Breaking the Girl, Funky Monks, Suck my Kiss, Sir Psycho Sexy, Apache Rose Peacock and If You Have to Ask are a series of great songs that are extremely tight and ever so funky. The band also shows its versatility by tackling a quick tribute to bluesman Robert Johnson with a quick take on his song They're Red Hot.
For me, as a drummer, what keeps me coming back to the Red Hot Chili Peppers is drummer Chad Smith. I have read articles on him, I listen to his playing and he is not from a punk background. He is out and out a fan of classic rock drumming. In my opinion, he is a combination of both Zeppelin's John Bonham and Hendrix's Mitch Mitchell.  He plays the way I want to play. He reportedly played for John Fogerty's Blue Moon Swamp recording sessions. Fogerty eventually used Kenny Aronoff's timekeeping skills for that album. He recorded the drums for Alanis Morrisette's hit album Jagged Little Pill. He has also made several albums with former Deep Purple bassist Glenn Hughes. He's even done a drum clinic video with Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice. In a list published by Modern Drummer magazine, Chad listed some of his favorite drumming albums that included Hendrix's Axis:Bold as Love, The Who's Quadrophenia, Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti, the Beatles' White album and the first KISS Alive! Smith comes from a very classic rock background and adapts that to the Chilis punk funk style to give them a classic album of their own. He continues to play with the Peppers along with a 2009 supergroup featuring Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony from Van Halen and guitarist Joe Satriani called Chickenfoot. He also released an instrumental album that he considers his tribute to seventies fusion called Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats.

As time goes by, I enjoy this album in its entirety. I may skip by Under the Bridge and Give it Away. But, I still think it's a great album that definitely brings me memories from a very transitional time in my life.  Then again, that's why I write these blogs. It's because there is usually a memory that I can associate with the music.



building up the percussion parts!





the whole song!!

Black Crowes-Shake Your Money Maker

Many of the albums I've written about have been albums that I "discovered" after they'd been in stores for years. So, today I figured I'd write about an album that I remember being drawn to from the beginning or close to the beginning. 
In the spring of 1990, I was looking toward my future after college. What was my future? I didn't know. I was about to graduate from college and the most common question anyone hears is "What are you going to do after college?" Well, you work! I had been working for Dustys Records since November of 1987. I had made some great friends and made some great musical discoveries. Along with my job at Dustys, I was a DJ at the college radio station at Kearney State College(soon to be known as the University of Nebraska at Kearney). One of my classmates who was either program director or music director walked into the music library with a copy of this album. So, when I first saw the album cover for the Black Crowes - Shake Your Money Maker, I thought "oh no...not another GnR wannabe band!" You know what?...they weren't!


1001 Albums recalls about the same:

In 1990, as this debut album from the Atlanta quintet was released, American rock was in the midst of change. Heavy Metal was now well into its decline, while Seattle's alternative grunge sound was about to storm the charts. It was a difficult time for a young band to emerge who wanted to reinvigorate blues-based rock from an earlier time, via late-Sixties R&B-placing them in a tradition going back to the Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

By the spring of 1990, long-haired rock n' rollers/metalheads had adopted some kind of "bad boy" image and the record companies were signing a bunch with that image and their watered down image akin to the street image of Guns N' Roses.  Even Poison had dropped their full glam/drag queen look for bandanas and leather pants like Gn'R. So, I assumed (at first glance) that this was yet another LA Glam Metal band like Faster Pussycat or L.A. Guns.  But, the sound of the Black Crowes' Shake Your MoneyMaker was a breath of fresh air in the form of straight up ballsy bluesy Rock n' Roll.

This wasn't the glam/hair metal of the LA Sunset Strip. From what I had read (at the time) this was more of a return to roots/bluesy rock like that of the Rolling Stones and the Faces. The band hailed from Georgia, so they were also compared to the southern rock acts of the 70's like Skynyrd or more specifically..the Allman Brothers band. As time went on, even Greg Allman actually performed with them on MTV's Unplugged.

  Part of my routine (in those days)had got the point of watching MTV's Headbangers' Ball on Saturday nights from 10pm to 2am. Sometimes, I'd go to the bar and catch the local bands. But, at the time, I had a handful of younger friends who weren't of legal age to go to the bar. The fact that I had been pulled over and almost got a DUI in January of 1989 made me very conscious of the alcohol I drank and gained a new respect for moderation. I remember one Saturday of watching "the Ball" at my friend Matt's dorm room. I don't think the Black Crowes were on the show. But, the video for Jealous Again was on shortly after the hour of 2am.  Matt made a comment that he thought they were trying to be a Georgia Satellites or Aerosmith clone(or something along those lines). But, to me, Lead Singer Chris Robinson was definitely trying to channel a young Faces era-Rod Stewart.
Soon after that, we either received a promotional copy of the CD at Dustys or one was opened for in-store playing.  I just knew that it really felt and sounded reinvigorated to me. Up to that point, most of the rock of that day was very heavy heavily distorted guitar. This wasn't the case on Shake Your MoneyMaker.  The guitars were a clean sound....yet a bit down and dirty. If you look at those early videos, you'll notice that guitarist Rich Robinson is playing Fender Telecaster as opposed the heavy sounding Les Paul guitars that GnR's Slash was sporting and the bands of the day felt they needed to imitate that look and sound.

All I knew is that they seemed different and unprocessed from the world of rock inhabited by Hairsprayed bands of the 80's. This was back to basic/stripped down sound. It could also be said that they were instrumental for many of my generation and peers to go back and discover the music of a prior generation. With all the comparisons to the Stones and the Faces, I found myself more interested in anything by Rod Stewart(pre 1977).  I still say that Chris Robinson was really trying to mimic classic Rod the Mod. I'm not saying I was completely oblivious to the music of the 70's and the music that came before. But, I was elated that this band was comprised of band members close to my own age and were making real music that seem breathe with heart and soul instead of throb with bright neon.
 As I was writing this and searching online through more music tonight, I came across another band from Georgia...The Georgia Satellites. The Satellites even had a cover of Rod Stewart's Every Picture Tells a Story.  Of course, the Satellites got trapped with their song Keep Your Hands to Yourself.  Both bands were stripped down Rock & Roll that you would hope to see raising Hell at the local bar on a Saturday night.

As I listened to the album the first few times through, I noticed a song called Hard to Handle and the way the lyric was rhythmic and catchy. I loved the way the song sounded and how it felt. It would be months later that (I think) my brother Mike brought it to my attention that this song was written by Otis Redding. For a white kid from Central Nebraska, Otis Redding wasn't a "household" name for me. I had obviously seen the name in my ventures into my tours of record stores.   It was around this time that Michael Bolton had recorded a cover of Reddings' Sittin on the Dock of the Bay. But, I honestly don't think I was that familiar with his music. Thanks to the Black Crowes, here was another music offering that I felt compelled to explore

more deeply. It's not like I didn't know Rhythm and Blues or Otis Redding. The kind of exposure I had to Otis Redding was the covers that John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd did as the Blues Brothers.
This was definitely a strong debut. In the age of MTV and music videos, there were at least four videos from this album: Twice as Hard, Jealous Again, She Talks to Angels and Hard to Handle. In that day and age, that was huge. A band was lucky to get one or two singles/videos on MTV let alone 4. Of course, the landscape of popular music has changed. The Black Crowes never really regained the mainstream popularity they had in 1990-91.  I recall when I bought my first VCR after college that I recorded the bands' SNL performance of She Talks to Angels and Thick and Thin .
My friend Mick was in a band in college known as the Untold and they covered Hard to Handle.  Crowds loved it then. Then Mick went on to play in other bands and continued to play the song.  Some of us who had seen him play in bands for all those years used to comment about that Mick was still playing that song after almost 17 years. Truth is...it really is a great song and people are drawn towards great songs.
By the release of their second album - Southern Harmony and Musical Companion, I had moved to Omaha and was managing a Tape World store in the Crossroads Mall. I remember the band still receiving press and attention. After all, this was a sophom

ore follow-up to their debut. So, people were still talking about the band. I remember some of my coworkers in the Crossroads Mall talking about the second album and how it wasn't as good as the first. I always get a little annoyed when a band or an artist is judged by how good their current work is in relation to their past work. I honestly think I like Southern Harmony better than Moneymaker. My college buddy (and Dustys cohort) Bob and I were both living in Omaha at the same time and went to see the Black Crowes at the Omaha Music Hall. I don't seem to remember much about the concert. I think I was fighting off some allergies at the time and took a decongestant or an antihistimine and ended up getting very drowsy during the concert. So now I wish I could see them again. After awhile, the band became more known for their controversies as opposed to the music they put out. There were the many stories of in-fighting between brothers Chris and Rich Robinson, the much reported fondness for the herb and of course Chris' marriage to Kate Hudson and controversial album covers.

I also remember an interview with Chris Robinson where he didn't want the band's music referred to as a product. At the time, I remember feeling cros

sed as a music lover and as a retail store manager...especially since my district manager referred to everything as....."product". By the time they released their highly controversial 3rd album - Amorica, I had returned to Kearney and was back working for Dustys yet again. But, Amorica was a strong album too. The 90's rolled on and the Black Crowes even toured and recorded with Jimmy Page. The Live at the Greek album was really great for a band that I originally considered more of a Faces type of band. They pulled off some great Zeppelin covers along with a great rendition of the early Fleetwood Mac tune Oh Well. 
Of course, they continued to record more. I believe they broke up for a short time too. But, they continue to record and perform. I would like to go back and listen to their whole catalog to see what I've missed since Amorica.  I tried to keep up with them. But, I just couldn't. There was some mediocre work. But, for a short time, they were a big deal and still should be. But, for me, they helped me discover a kind of stripped down rock that wasn't new by any stretch but sure felt like fresh enough that it felt new and creative. It also helped me to discover music and bands that had come before by discovering more of the Rolling Stones and of course Rod Stewart and the Faces.

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Aerosmith-Toys in the Attic

 

Recently, the Ludwig drum company announced the return of Aerosmith's Joey Kramer as an endorser. During the band's heyday in the 70's, Joey was one of many celebrity endorsers for the Ludwig drum company. To some, this doesn't seem to be a big deal. I have been playing the same set of sparkle silver Ludwig drums since I bought them used in the spring of 1982. I always felt there was something special about Ludwig considering Bonzo, Ringo, Ginger Baker, Carmine Appice, Ian Paice, Alex Van Halen and of course Joey Kramer all played drums made by Ludwig.

 

As I write this, it's been announced that Singer Steven Tyler has been asked to be a judge on American Idol. So once again, the future of Aerosmith is uncertain. In the summer of 2009, a series of events derailed Aerosmith for a bit. Now with the impending announcement of Tyler's involvement with American Idol, the future of the band once again feels uncertain. So with the unknown status of the band and the celebration of Joey's return to Ludwig, I want to talk about a classic album that features a classic lick from Mr. Kramer......Aerosmith's Toys in the Attic.

Much has been reported and told of Aerosmith's rise and fall from popularity in the 70's and the ultimate comeback in the late 80's to the point of saturation in the 90's..
Many die-hard fans of the classic 70’s Aerosmith are usually divided on two albums. Which is better?….. Toys in the Attic from 1975 or Rocks from 1976. I have owned both but initially I was a fan of Toys in the Attic over Rocks.  But, as usual, I’d like to talk about the gradual progression of discovering this band of boys from Boston.
I’ve often talked about the majority of music influences in my life came from my older sisters.  Considering Aerosmith hit the mainstream around 1973, my earliest memory was usually various ads and pictures in the teen magazines my sister bought.  There was also a record store in the Mall in North Platte known as “the Brass Ear”.  Looking back it was a very 70’s type of record store. Just thinking about it now, makes me nostalgic and I wish I could go back in time to see it with my adult eyes and experiences.  But, my first exposure to Aerosmith was seeing them in the 1978 Bee Gees/Peter Frampton movie Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.  Some may criticize that movie. But, it was filled with top notch music. I had grown up with my sisters copy of the 1962-1966 (red) greatest hits of the Beatles. So, when Sgt Pepper movie came out, I was a little in the dark that it was Beatles songs. But, in the movie, Aerosmith was featured as "the Future Villain Band” or FVB performing Come Together.  I remember seeing the movie in the theater. I actually enjoyed the movie because I didn’t have a preconceived notion of how these songs should have sounded. But, Aerosmith as “The Future Villain Band” seemed awfully evil (and just plain ugly) in contrast to the wholesome image of the Bee Gees and Frampton had in this movie. In my youth, I wasn’t used to someone with Tyler with such a big mouth. But, it’s still a great cover….
1978 was the year that Aerosmith made their film debut in the Sgt Peppers movie. The critics tore the movie apart and tore apart many of the musical performances in the movie too. Two of the that seem unscathed by the critics’ pen were Earth Wind and Fire’s cover of Got to Get You into my Life and Aerosmith’s version of Come Together.
As I entered my adolescent years, I fell prey to the musical influences of my peers with older brothers. My friend Tommy T had an older brother who had a bunch of 8-tracks(I think) that were of a lot of great bands of the late 70’s like KISS, Cheap Trick and (of course) Aerosmith. I remember hanging out at his house one day and he came across a stash of 8-tracks in a cupboard or a cabinet. We went through them and I vividly remember him coming across a certain one as Tommy exclaimed “Holy Crap….AERO-SHIT!”   I don’t think it was meant to be derogatory towards the band. We were just 12-13 year old boys who just like to interject our favorite curse words into everything we said and did.
Years later, as I grew in my love of Rock, I would continue to read about Aerosmith in my monthly purchases of Hit Parader and Circus magazines. I had read about lineup changes within the band and how the fans longed for the original band from Boston.  By the time I started college in the fall of 1985, the band had regrouped with original guitarists Brad Whitford and Joe Perry. I was excited to hear about this regrouping. During my freshman year of college, I had begun to make a daily trip to Dustys Records as part of my routine after I finished my classes in the afternoon. One purchase I remember was a cassette from the “3.99 and up” bin. It was the red and white decorated cover of Aerosmith’s Greatest Hits. I was hooked from Back in the Saddle to Walk this Way to Sweet Emotion.  That cassette became my “Aero-sampler” and I was soon on a quest to own the entire catalog.
I was constantly going through used LP bins. I remember buying the album that is the subject of this blog…Toys in the Attic , bringing it home to my basement apartment, putting it on my turntable and the awesome buzz I got from that album. The title song – Toys in the Attic was an uptempo rocker that was the exact speed I loved all my rock songs to have in those days.  What a fantastic boogie filled rocker. 

Next was Uncle Salty and it seemed so down and dirty. I don’t know if I ever knew what the song was about. I have never been a person who paid close attention to lyrics. It’s just an aural attack of the senses that got me.  Adam’s Apple followed with a little story of the forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden.

Back when Cain was able
Way before the stable
Lighting struck right down from the sky
A mother ship with fate said let's give it a try
Conscience was related
Man he was created
Lady luck took him by surprise
A sweet and bitter fruit it surely opened his eyes
Well she ate it
Lordy it was love at first bite
Well she ate it
Never knowin wrong from right right right

Back in the late 80’s and early 90’s when Aerosmith (and their huge comeback) were everywhere I remember seeing clips of Adam's Apple.  I remember thinking it just sounded cool. Of course, the clip was from the days(or daze) of heavy drug use and it always seemed that Steven Tyler was slurring his words badly.  The opening slide guitar of Joe Perry is just so raunchy sounding.
The next song not only has a signature drum intro. It also has a signature guitar intro. Before there was the RUN DMC/Rick Rubin collaboration, this song title was born from a line the band saw in Mel Brooks’ 1974 comedy Young Frankenstein. Of course I’m talking about Walk this Way!  Joey Kramer and Joe Perry play perfectly together in this timeless classic. The only problem with “timeless classics” is they get overplayed. The band was animated singing it on the Simpsons. They’ve performed it with RUN DMC, Kid Rock and of course the Super Bowl with N’Sync and (((shudder))) Britney Spears…oh and Mary J Blige.  I used to really love this song. But, I fear I have definitely grown tired of it.
Next is probably my favorite Aerosmith track ever. It’s fun! It has a "Jump/Boogie” blues feeling and has so much sexual innuendo it made me laugh the first time I dropped the needle on this one. I remember sitting in my basement apartment and listening to this with my roommate at the time and we just laughed at how much fun this simple song at 2:18 long.

Side two of the album starts with yet another classic for the Boys from BeanTown,  the one and only Sweet Emotion. It has a bass line that all bass players found cool to learn from the first time. I just love how it has such a slinky sexy groove for the verse and then it slams for a bit and then jumps back into the verse.  One of my favorite memories of this song is listening to my friend Mick sing it with one of three bands he had played for.  He would often change the lyrics from

Another Month on the road and I’ll be eating from your hand

to

Another Month on the road and I’ll be POOPING in my hand

It’s the same humor about bodily function that Mick and I and handful of our friends find entertaining.

As I have listened to this album to get some listening ideas, I’ve found that I really like No More No More. It almost seems rather autobiographical as Tyler sings

I ain’t seen the daylight since I started this band

All the “perks” of a young up & coming band. I also like how it rocks for awhile and then breaks and Tyler sings

Baby I’m a dreamer…found my horse and carriage-gah (obviously emphasizing the final syllable)

The album rounds out(no pun intended) with Round and Round and You See Me Crying

Round and Round has a heaviness to it. Yet it’s trippy too. It shows a heavier rocking side to the bluesy cock-sure strut they show on the rest of the album.

The last song is You See Me Crying which shows a versatility that few bands possess in today’s world. It’s a lighter song and if the band released it in today’s market, they’d be accused of putting out yet another power ballad.

For me, this album was beyond words. Maybe that’s why it’s taken me so long to write this blog and memory. Music is my drug. When I hear something that blows me away at first listen, I want that album/experience to continue to blow me away a hundred listens later. But, Sadly it never really happens.What's also really remarkable is that this was the band's 3rd release. This comes from an era in music where the record labels nurtured the act and let them grow with each album release. Today's world is mostly interested in a hit record right out of the gate and nothing to keep them going for the long haul. 

Last summer (2009), Aerosmith went on tour with ZZ Top and were performing the album of Toys in the Attic in its entirety. This has become a common practice lately for bands of the 70's and 80's. Mid-way through last year's tour, Singer Steven Tyler fell off the stage and broke his collarbone(I think). This(of course) forced them to cancel the remainder of the tour. When the tour was cancelled, Steven started talking about taking a 2 year break from the band. The band become frustrated with his inactivity and threatened to record with a new singer. Well, Tyler returned and they hit the road again this summer(2010) for another tour. In fact, they should be in Omaha this next Thursday 8/19.

This is when I found out about Joey Kramer's return to Ludwig Drums. The nostalgic side of me hoped for a down & dirty return of the Aerosmith of younger days. I felt a rush of excitement. Then, the breaking news/rumor of Tyler becoming a judge on American Karaoke(er..I mean Idol) came out and I fear for the worse. My big balloon of Rock n' Roll hope was quickly deflated.  Maybe it's time for the band to try something else.

Who Knows?

Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced(1967)/Axis:Bold as Love(1967)/Electric Ladyland(1968)

This week (in celebration of my birthday) I am going to try and point out a couple of albums that came out the year I was born.

Jimi Hendrix's first two albums were released the same year as the Beatles' Sgt Pepper, Cream's Disraeli Gears, Pink Floyd - Piper at the Gates of Dawn, The Doors (self titled) and of course my own personal debut (birthdate 7/7/67).

 

Through my early teen years, I remember seeing the usual history of Rock n' Roll footage of Hendrix playing the Monterey Pop Festival making feedback with his guitar and then setting it on fire. For a small town boy in North Platte, NE, I didn't get it. As teen years grew on, the sound of the electric guitar does something to a young man's hormones and his testosterone. Which I believe why hard rock guitars and teenage boys go together so well.

In my senior year of High School, I bought a cassette that Warner Brothers had released called Kiss the Sky.  This was my first time I sat down and listened to Jimi Hendrix. I was NOT on any chemicals of any kind at the time. I remember finishing the tape(yes it was a cassette) and picked up the phone to call a friend and couldn't remember why I was calling him. I blamed it on the "far out" "psychedelic" music of Hendrix.  Years later, in college, It seemed the only people who gushed over Hendrix were stoner guys and guys who idealized everything that was classic rock radio and tried to replicate it on college radio.

I am continually thankful for all the wonderful misfits I've come to know in my life. I feel like if it weren't for those misfits, I wouldn't be the unique individual I am today. In 1988, I met a unique individual named Carl Hanson. Carl was known around Kearney for being the guy who dressed (and played) like Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix. Carl was looking to put a blues trio together and asked me to play drums. I went to Carl's apartment and he made a cassette tape of Jimi Hendrix and SRV songs. He had a VHS copy of the 1973 Jimi Hendrix documentary. So, we went to my apartment and watched it from start to finish. It was like a crash course in the greatness that was Hendrix. Carl was ecstatic about Hendrix and the excitement was palpable. So, then we would go to his apartment listen to more Hendrix and just jam on Hendrix and SRV music. For my growth as a drummer, this was the point where I found the magical "groove" and was able to reach that point where everything I had learned about in rudiments and syncopation and technique just flowed from my brain to my hands and I just played. I stopped thinking about what to play and just did it. It was absolutely liberating. He taught me about the intro to Little Wing when the drums come in to propel the song into the next dimension and the rolling toms of Manic Depression gave me a rhythmic challenge I didn't know I could conquer. The frenetic playing of Mitch Mitchell on Fire was just out and out playing. At first, I thought Mitch's drumming was just a variation on the Keith Moon school of wild abandon playing. I soon learned it was much more. Even in his recent 2008 passing, it's been reported that Mitchell was a huge fan of jazz drummers and has even been called by many drummers as "the Elvin Jones of Rock Drumming".  Soon thereafter, I went back home and put on the tape that Carl had given me. I played it in my car, my walkman and anywhere else I could soak it in. I was hooked. Something about Jimi and his new interpretation of the blues just smacked me into another world. Even as I write this and read back what I've written, it's hard to convey how revelatory this music was to me.  We practiced hard for a month and half (or so) and played a Halloween party and Carl performed the live stuff just like Jimi did..dialogue and all. For example, we played Jimi's cover of Like a Rolling Stone and he quoted the part about the song being written by Bob Dylan and then pointing to Noel Redding and saying "That's his grandmother over there!" Well, the party-goers for this venue didn't get that. It was funny to see the looks of bewilderment.

 

Of course, through the years, many of the songs from Jimi's debut have been covered by many who felt his influence. In the summer of 1989, a handful of my friends and I went to Omaha to see Metallica on their ...And Justice for All tour.  When guitarist-Kirk Hammett took his mandatory guitar solo spot, he played an instrumental version of  Hendrix's Little Wing. Kirk's Little Wing I was absolutely stimulated to know that this band would inject some Hendrix into the set. I still wonder how many of the fans that night caught that nod to Jimi. There's the Dana Carvey (as Garth Algar) scene in Wayne's World where Garth can't control his thrusting pelvis while Foxey Lady plays on the jukebox. Garth's Foxy Lady I remember loving Joe Satriani's unplugged performance of Jimi's May this Be Love. Joe Satriani -May this be Love

Over the years I have listened to Are You Experienced? so much that I have actually become tired of it. I recently downloaded the Live at Monterey concert that the Hendrix family had remastered. It's still an exhilirating concert with Jimi covering the Troggs-Wild Thing and his classic performance of Bob Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone.  Another sure sign of Jimi's influence is the many times that we have heard guitar players (while soloing) quote the signature phrase from Third Stone from the Sun.  Santana Third StoneI think every time I've seen recent footage of Carlos Santana, he's managed to include that riff into whatever solo he's playing.

 

I feel like I'm rambling on about Hendrix and not the albums. But, then again, I could listen to Are You Experienced, Axis:Bold As Love and Electric Ladyland all in one sitting because they're all so good!

One of the songs I loved to play was Manic Depression. Both my brother and I could play it on bass and drums(respectively). So, it was fun for us to jam with other guitar players to see if they could play it. I'm not sure we ever found anybody.  I think his childhood friend Hobbs could play it. Another song I used to love to play(still do) is Come On(Let the Good Times Roll) off the album Electric Ladyland. With our blues trio- Boogie Chillun', Mike, Jayson and I played a lot of obscure blues tunes. But, then again, we wanted to be a bluesy power trio with some funk and soul mixed in. One of the most memorable times I have playing Hendrix songs is a night when up and coming blues act-Indigenous was in town as was Lincoln based -Baby Jason and the Spankers. We had worked up a version of a Baby Jason song called Funky Thang. So, they wanted to hear us play it. But, in the same night, Mato Nanji (guitar) and his brother Pte (bass) of Indigenous were there and got up on stage and played Hendrix's Voodoo Child (Slight Return) with myself on drums and I'm happy to say I held my own, rocked the house and have my own personal story to pass on for years to come.

 

It's hard for me to talk about each one of the albums by the "Experience" separately.  Are You Experienced is a great introduction to the talent that was Jimi Hendrix..not to mention the talent and sound presented by the trio of musicians. When you get to Axis:Bold as Love, the aural barrage of experimental music and interpretation of the blues and music in general goes that next step further into Jimi's imagination. I absolutely love the power behind the songs Spanish Castle Magic, You Got Me Floatin', and Little Miss Lover.  But, I am mystified by the beauty of Bold as Love, Castles Made of Sand and (of course) Little Wing.  For years, I've heard people like my peers and others criticize Jimi for his loud use of feedback and psychedelic style and dismiss it as just that. But, when I hear the beauty of those songs, I beg to differ.

By the time Jimi got around to making Electric Ladyland, Jimi was at the peak of his popularity and could do whatever he wanted. I have watched the Classic Albums edition of Electric Ladyland many times. This is the album where Jimi had sounds in his head for what he wanted and not only used his famed "Experience" band of Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding, He also enlisted the talents of such musicians as Steve Winwood, Mike Finnigan, Jack Casady (Jefferson Airplane), Al Kooper, Dave Mason and Buddy Miles too.  My Favorites off of Electric Ladyland include: Crosstown Traffic, Voodoo Chile(both of them), Come On(let the Good Times Roll), Rainy Day Dream Away, and All along the Watchtower.  Of course, these are the songs that everyone knows. But, the whole album is really another great listening experience from start to finish.

Most of my love for these albums come from the drumming of Mitch Mitchell.  As a drummer myself, I connected with the drumming of Mitch and how he interpreted Jimi's playing into a style that was unique in itself.  When Hendrix died, I was too young to know who he was and it wasn't until his legend grew after his death that I truly appreciated it.  For me, both Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix and their fired up treatment of the blues are a big part of what gets me excited about music.  When SRV passed away in August of 1990, I was absolutely thrown for a loop. I had only seen him a month before his passing.  When Mitch Mitchell passed away in November of 2008, I was saddened of course because I always had hoped that Mitch would have made some new recordings in the (almost 40) years since Jimi had died that were just as great as the stuff he did with Hendrix. But, the legacy and influence of the Jimi Hendrix Experience is captured on 3 great albums from the years of 1967 and 1968....absolutely incredible considering a lot of artists can't even finish one album in a two year period.

As I write this, I have concluded that I have bought these 3 albums at least 4 times. While in college and working at Dustys, I bought them on vinyl.  After seeing a Guitar magazine feature on Joe Satriani in the early 90's,  I remember seeing Satch sitting at his CD player with a CD copies of these albums. So, I thought how cool it would be to have these on disc. In 1993, Alan Douglas re-released these albums with new album artwork and remastered recordings through MCA records(the original were through Warner Bros records).  So, I bought those versions of them.  In 1997, Jimi's dad-Al Hendrix won the rights to Jimi's recordings and then released them again with the original album artwork. So, I bought them again. Those are the copies I currently own. Now in 2010, Sony Music Entertainment is rereleasing them once again with an accompanying DVDs.  I'm not sure I really want to buy yet another version of these albums yet again. I'm just not that interested in riding the consumer treadmill again on this one.

But, if you don't own any of these, I highly recommend them...after all I bought them 4 times.

Rolling Stones-Exile on Main Street

There's an old saying..."You're either a Stones fan or a Beatles Fan."  I don't know who said it or who started this rivalry. But, I was roped into that thinking too. So, I grew up with 3 older sisters that were Beatles fans, I play drums and I share a birthday with Ringo Starr. That being said...I am definitely a Beatles fan. I don't know what it was about the Rolling Stones in the 80's (my formative years in discovering music). But, they never lit me on fire that much. I thought Tattoo You with songs like Start Me Up and Waiting on a Friend were cool.  They became bigger and bigger and somewhere along the line became known as "the Greatest Rock and Roll Band".  I had respect for them. But, I wasn't crazy about them. When you're not a big fan and someone says something's "the greatest", I either investigate the claim or disagree with the statement. I chose the latter. But, with a lot of online hubbub about the deluxe reissue of 1972's Exile on Main Street, I figured I would talk about the one album by the Rolling Stones that I own and truly enjoy. I actually started this blog a few weeks back and am now rewriting it. Unlike many rock fans, I don't believe the Stones to be the end-all be-all band. I have never subscribed to that thinking. I'm sure many people feel that way about Zeppelin and the Beatles.

 

The opening drum and guitar intro to Start Me Up is very iconic. It's still iconic enough that you can't escape the song at sporting events as the song is blared from the loudspeakers. But, in my youth and younger years of drumming, I was more interested in drummers that were faster, louder and had more technique. I have realized this hampered my true appreciation of music(see my blog on AC/DC),  In my "immaturity", I found the drumming of Charlie Watts rather boring. In 1984, the ARMS benefit concerts for Ronnie Lane and MS were staged with an all-star band featuring Charlie Watts and The Who/Faces drummer Kenney Jones. This was actually historic in that the revered trio of guitar players that launched their careers from the Yardbirds all performed on the same stage together. In case you're not a guitar fanatic, those 3 players would be Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. Well, Jeff Beck enlisted the help of his drummer(at the time) Simon Philips. Well, Simon can make any competent drummer look like a hack. The truth is that Charlie Watts is a very solid timekeeper and backbone of the Rolling Stones.

I have never seen the Stones live. But, everyone I've ever known that has seen them has said good things about their live show.
In 1989, as part of the KSCV college radio station staff, my friend Bob and I had the privilege of interviewing Joan Jett guitarist Ricky Byrd.  While interviewing him, we discovered that Ricky is a HUGE Rolling Stones fan ...especially former guitarist Mick Taylor. Mick Taylor had replaced original guitarist and founder Brian Jones in 1969. When Ricky talked about Mick Taylor and the Stones, the excitement was immensely contagious for any music fan. So, with Mick Taylor on Exile, I am immediately interested.

About 10-12 years back, I had been asked by a small "coffeehouse" band (two guys with guitars and bass) to play some percussion with them. It was a great learning experience.  Most of the music was original songs. But, one song that they had been performing was Little Too Loose from the album Exile on Main Street.  I had heard bits of the album before. I'm sure in my Dustys days that the album had been played by either Eric or Forrest.  I remember thinking it was rather raw and kinda cool. But, beyond that, not much. Well, my friend-Joel had a cassette copy of Exile and wanted me to learn the drums for Little Too Loose and just listen to the album.  I listened to it. But, in my own arrogance, I figured Charlie Watts drum parts were so easy that I could play them no problem. But, the fact is that subtleties of a building a song from quiet to epic is hard to teach or convey. It really must be felt. Little Too Loose is one of those songs. The drums are simple. But, when Charlie kicks in with the drum fill to finish the song, it's powerful and well...it just works.
So, I continued to listen to the borrowed cassette copy and reluctantly gave the cassette back when I was asked. So, when I found a used copy of the late 90's remaster of the double disc album, I jumped at it.
I like this album because of its simplicity and the rawness.
According to 1001 Albums, the recording of Exile on Main Street was anything but a harmonious effort. It was recorded in an unsuitable mansion that was once a Nazi Headquarters in France. Charlie Watts couldn't speak French. Mick Jagger had a new bride named Bianca and they would disappear from the recordings. That added to the grumblings for an album that took 12 months to record and mix. Thus, Exile became Keith Richards' proverbial baby. That may be why I really love this album. I really like Keith's solo work better than the big Stones projects. Maybe it's the larger than life myths about Keith's substance abuse and longevity. Maybe it's the grit and raspiness he exudes. I'm reminded of a 1981 sketch on Saturday Night Live.  This particular episode's host was Tim Curry. Curry was in a sketch as Mick Jagger in his "First Primetime Special....ever(or evah)".  Tim Curry prances around as Jagger and does quite a good job. Of course, one of the recurring characters was Joe Piscopo's impression of Frank Sinatra. So, Piscopo's Sinatra comes on as a guest of Curry's Jagger and compliments him by saying "I like what you do with that Richards' kid..y'know the one who looks like walking death!"
Tim Curry as Mick Jagger (unfortunately, the clip I found does not include the Sinatra bit)


Yes, Keith (or Keef) does look like "walking death". But, he survives and he thrives. It's been widely reported that he was Johnny Depp's inspiration for his Oscar nominated turn as Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. One of my favorite tracks on Exile is minus the lead vocals of the quintessential frontman-Mick Jagger. That song is Happy featuring guitarist Keith Richards....

I even bought the Sheryl Crow and friends-live from Central Park because Keef is on the album performing Happy
Honestly, I've ben trying to write about this album since the end of May. The truth is that when I originally bought this on CD, It wasn't an album I was putting on constantly and playing it in the car and carried it everywhere I went. I would occasionally put it on my computer at work (with the volume low).  I loved the grittiness of the sound, the horns, the varied influences of blues, country, along with gospel backing vocals. I think the reason I loved this album was more about the lack of mainstream hits. I felt like this album was a secret that music lovers and rock n' roll junkies shared.  The general public know the big hits like Start Me Up, Satisfaction, Jumpin' Jack Flash and maybe Honky Tonk Women. But, people who follow (and love) music (or maybe it's just me) love Exile because it's like a lesser known entity and unknown masterpiece in the history of Rock n' Roll. 

As I've been searching for something to write about this album, I've been listening to Exile on my MP3 player with my headphones and I just love it. The production just knocks me out. I also recently bought a used DVD copy of the Martin Scorsese's Concert film : Shine a Light. Five of the songs on the DVD are from Exile on Main Street and in this film, they really do shine through(no pun intended) . I also checked out a copy of the 40th anniversary of the Stones' live album -Get Yer YaYa's Out.  I have really enjoyed the charm of who Charlie Watts is as a drummer. He's funky. He swings and he's rock steady.  When he smacks his snare drum, you feel the backbeat from head to toe. He really is underrated as a drummer. Another part of writing this blog is to further break down those walls I had put up for acts and bands that I thought I couldn't (or didn't want to) like. As I watch the DVD and listen to the live album, I may even be swayed to thinking the Stones are THE World's Greatest Rock n' Roll band.....maybe