Joe Cocker - May 20, 1944 - December 22, 2014

Today I found out of the passing of a true Rock n’ Roll original – Mr. Joe Cocker! As I found out the news on my lunch break, I began to reflect on those Joe Cocker moments of my life and how I became familiar with this unmistakable and individual talent. 

How did I “discover” Joe Cocker? I can’t remember how I first figured out who he was. It was a series of events. After seeing footage of Joe Cocker in the 60’s and 70’s, I think I would be safe to say that my older sisters were probably not fans of Joe in those years. I remember hearing bits of You Are So Beautiful as a kid. But, I think I heard of Joe Cocker when John Belushi did his stunning impression of Joe Cocker and his rendition of the Beatles’ A Little Help From My Friends on the early years of Saturday Night Live.  I don’t think it was until Joe Cocker appeared with Jennifer Warnes on the Grammy Awards in 1983 to perform their duet Up Where We Belong that I finally figured out who he was.

I remember initially thinking that this guy with the weird movements acts a lot like the caricature that John Belushi had done. As I soon learned, this WAS the guy that Belushi was imitating/paying tribute to. 

It wasn’t until I entered college and my good friend Shaun insisted we watch the movie version of the Woodstock Music Festival during the PBS Labor Day pledge weekend. In those days, the TV’s with Cable were only in the main lounge and the separate floors. So, we sat in the main lounge of Mantor Hall and watched as these classic artists ran through the sets. When Joe Cocker came on, I listened to these lyrics of a song I had known for years known as the Beatles’ With a Little Help From My Friends.   The pattern and melody of the song was different and yet fresh.  I finally made the connection to John Belushi and Joe Cocker.  At first, I didn’t understand why he acted like he did when he sang.  As the 80’s progressed and my love of music grew, I didn’t care how he acted onstage. He sounded fantastic. His definitive raspy belting voice was hard to deny. I began to love and respect the rocky raspiness of Joe Cocker.  Even my love of Led Zeppelin crossed paths with Joe Cocker as Jimmy Page played guitar on the studio version of With a Little Help From My Friends.

In 1986, the Mickey Rourke/Kim Basinger movie 9 1/2 Weeks used Joe’s version of the Randy Newman song You Can Leave Your Hat On.  This song was predominantly featured in the movie and actually was in some heavy rotation on MTV.  Years later, my friends in the Kearney cover band Fear of Flying added You Can Leave Your Hat On  to their set. One night as the band played, I sat in front of the stage and began miming my own version of the John Belushi /Joe Cocker impression. It got big laughs. At one gig, I asked the keyboard player Jon Coleman if they could play it. He said they would play it if I got up and sang it in my Joe Cocker impression.  I agreed even if I couldn’t remember all the words.  But, until the band played the song, I sat in the back of the bar with his (then) wife and his in-laws and they kept buying me drinks. So, I eventually performed it drunkenly with all the spastic Joe Cocker mannerism as well. Also, this gig happened to be in my childhood hometown of North Platte Nebraska. My childhood friend Mick played drums and his parents came to see him play. But, when I got up and did my Joe Cocker impression and rendition of You Can Leave Your Hat On, Mick’s parents didn’t know whether I they should applaud me or feel bad because I was moving in a spastic Joe Cocker moves. Mick’s brother Dan had to explain that I was doing an impression of Joe Cocker and that I really didn’t sing like that.

In the summer of 1990, my fellow Dustys Records employee Jayson Obrecht called me to ask if I was interested in tickets to see Stevie Ray Vaughan at Fiddler’s Green in Denver with Joe Cocker in mid July. As a huge SRV fan, I obviously said yes.  Joe Cocker was incredible to hear. Many of the songs were so well played. His band was fantastic including the outrageous bassist TM Stevens. At one point, Joe made the comment to the audience that he broken a couple ribs recently before the concert and to excuse him if he winced a bit.  I remember thinking “I don’t think anyone is going to notice” just because of his onstage movements.

When I finally bought my own stereo system along with a CD player, one of my earliest CD purchases was Joe Cocker Live and With a Little Help From My Friends.  It wouldn’t be long until these songs would become some all-time favorites.

One of those songs that became a favorite would be the song Feelin’ Alright written by Dave Mason. The live album starts out with that song I love the percussion on it with congas laying down a funky groove and soulfulness of the song.

Win

Of course, this song is classic for a historic pairing of both Joe Cocker and his imitator John Belushi on Saturday Night Live. Apparently, the story was that John Belushi had the wardrobe and costume department make an identical outfit for John to the one that Joe Cocker would wear on the show. I still love this clip.

As I heard the news of Joe Cocker’s passing and his battle with lung cancer, I thought about the history of Rock and Soul singers and belters.  In today’s world of American Idol and The Voice, Joe Cocker probably would never make it in today’s world of popular music where an individual vocal style isn’t celebrated as opposed to how a singer appears and how they are made up for the audience.

Joe Cocker, you were one of a kind and you’ll be missed!

Bruce Springsteen–Born to Run (and in the U.S.A.)

As I write this, Today (September 23rd) is Bruce Springsteen’s birthday. As long as I’ve written entries for my blog, I’ve toyed with idea of writing one for Springsteen.  But, I never felt like I was a huge fan or expert or authority of any kind to write about Bruce Springsteen AKA “The Boss”.  In this blog, I will recall how I became familiar with the music of Springsteen, my favorite album of his and the friends that I associate when I hear his music.

I guess I first came to know of Bruce Springsteen around 1978-79 when ABC-TV ran a show called “The History of Rock and Roll” on a Friday night. I remember spending the night at a friend’s house as we watched this. Everyone was included from Elvis, Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry in the 50’s to the Beatles, the Stones and Jimi Hendrix in the 60’s. When it came to highlight groups of the 70’s, I don’t remember a lot on that broadcast except for this guy that had been heralded as the NEW voice of Rock and Roll. They played a very long clip of this guy known as Bruce Springsteen. This became a name that I continued to hear on and off for years to come. In 1982, Springsteen released his album named after my home state Nebraska. It sparked my interest a little. But, at the time, my interests in rock were of a heavier nature and with drummers that were a little more bombastic. 
Then, in 1984, Bruce Springsteen was just plain hard to ignore.  I remember walking into the record store that I spent most of my high school years at one afternoon. It was about a week or so before Born in the USA had been released. The owner of the record store quickly asked me, “Are you gonna get the new Springsteen album next week?”  As I said, I was a big fan of heavier guitar and loud bombastic drums like Van Halen. Springsteen was just something that didn’t interest me.  The extent of my Springsteen knowledge included a brief bit that Robin Williams did in his act as “Elmer Fudd sings Bruce Springsteen”. In the days of MTV, soon Bruce was ubiquitous and EVERYWHERE!  The video for Dancing in the Dark was in heavy rotation with a young Courtney Cox dancing around with New Jersey’s new favorite son. 

…kinda silly…but I love how Max’s snare drum sounds.

This video just seemed very silly with Bruce dancing around. I thought he was some kind of big rock guy and this just seemed really pop oriented. I wouldn’t say I had any dislike for him. I just didn’t understand all the hoopla. It seemed like every MTV news update had something about Bruce on tour, Bruce’s new video etc etc. But, I do remember when MTV debuted the video for Bruce’s homage to the Glory Days,  I remember loving so much about the song.

My fellow Dustys’ employees and I used to talk about what artists would we talk about when we talk about the music of the 80’s. We joked about people like Michael Jackson, Madonna and Prince. Then, someone would say, “What about Springsteen?”
One of my early college roommates was a vocal music major and just didn’t get the whole attraction of Springsteen because he obviously didn’t have any formal vocal training. When Bruce’s live box set was released in 1986, The record stores were absolutely filled with this collection. My roommate used to joke that he couldn’t believe so many people would want this. But, as I would make my weekly and daily trips to Dustys, I found something intangible that I liked about this music. I couldn’t put my finger on it. But, something about the sound of Bruce and the E Street band was getting to me.  In 1986-87, Joan Jett recorded the song Light of Day for the movie of the same name featuring herself and Michael J. Fox. I loved that song and I soon found out that the song was written by Bruce Springsteen. My fellow employees at Dustys were obvious fans of the Boss. So, I began to hear more and more and my respect for Bruce as a songwriter grew as well.

Joan Jett singing Springsteen with Michael J Fox

Joan Jett and Bruce Springsteen doing a duet

Forrest and I used to stand at the counter of Dustys and page through the Rolling Stone Record Guide. One of the Springsteen albums that was highlighted is the 1975 album Born to Run.  At this point, I started raiding Dustys’ used LP rack for some gems that sparked my interest. I found that Born to Run and The River were the two albums that sparked my listening palette.  I would drop the needle on those albums and soon I would take away so much from the E Street band’s collective sound. Bruce received a lot of praise as a live performer and “The Big Man” Clarence Clemons became a celebrity and personality in his own right.
In the Fall of 1989, I met my lifelong friend Matt Krogmeier who is a music lover and is a HUGE Springsteen fan. Matt and I would hang out at the college radio station. We would sit in the production studios and the on-air studios talking music and he would pull out Springsteen tracks and play them for me and he would play air guitar and air drums and his love and energy for everything Springsteen was palpable. Years later, I would ask Matt to make his own “Greatest Hits” CD of Springsteen for me. He eventually sent me 3 discs.

For me, Born to Run is Springsteen’s masterpiece.  It opens with Thunder Road and then into Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out, Night, Backstreets, Jungleland and (of course) the title track Born to Run.  The band is strong from Clarence’s saxophone, the Mighty Max Weinberg on drums, Garry Talent on bass, Roy Bittan on piano and Danny Federici on organ.  The complete band makes a fantastic sound together that is a unique signature sound.  The great thing about this band is they really sound like no other.   I know it should also be mentioned about Little Steven Van Zandt and his backing vocals.
After I’m finished being amazed by the aural magnitude of these musicians, I dig into the lyrical content. Bruce weaves stories about growing up as a teen in the Rock and Roll America of the 50’s and 60’s.  Springsteen has said that he wanted this album to sound like “Roy Orbison singing Bob Dylan and produced by Phil Spector”
Lyrics that transport you as the story tells:

“The screen door slams, Mary's dress waves
Like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays
Roy Orbison singing for the lonely
Hey that's me and I want you only
Don't turn me home again
I just can't face myself alone againDon't run back inside, darling you know just what I'm here for
So you're scared and you're thinking that maybe we ain't that young anymore
Show a little faith, there's magic in the night
You ain't a beauty, but hey you're alright
Oh and that's alright with me”

and of course the title track:

“In the day we sweat it out on the streets of a runaway American dream
At night we ride through mansions of glory in suicide machines
Sprung from cages on Highway 9, chrome-wheeled, fuel-injected, and stepping out over the line
Whoah baby, this town rips the bones from your back, it's a death trap
It's a suicide rap, we gotta get out while we're young
'Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run”

Lastly, is the iconic images of this album cover of Bruce and Clarence. Clarence has his sax and Bruce has that iconic Fender Telecaster. He
Years later, another college friend – Mark Pracht and I were on a road trip together and we had put in a copy of Springsteen’s Greatest Hits album. We had lengthy conversations about the album, the song selections and various other things.  Mark and I had become great friends and our musical tastes had grown. When I met Mark, he was big into the Rolling Stones, Beatles and the Who. I moved away and suddenly Mark was into Guns N’ Roses and Metallica. Then, of course it grew into many different artists. Mark eventually moved to Omaha in the late 90’s and then eventually moved to Chicago.  Mark and I would have a few phone conversations through the years. Mark would tell me about some music he’d been writing and how inspired he had been from the work of Bruce Springsteen.  Now, Mark was a huge fan of Springsteen and had seen him numerous times in a live setting.  He even did a series of album reviews on Springsteen’s albums on his own blog.
Now, When I listen to a Springsteen album, I usually think of both Mark and Matt. I think of my brethren from my days at Dustys Records.  Somehow, we connect this music of our youth and our life with the music that touched the people in our lives and hence we are connected to these people through our memories. Even now, as I listen to Born to Run, I’m reminded of so many people that have experienced similar stories and can relate to the lyrics “getting out while we’re young” and “tramps like us”
In the end, it’s about the vision, the drive and the songwriting of a man born on September 23, 1949 named Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOSS!

Deep Purple–Perfect Strangers

Released on October 29th 1984, the Deep Purple album Perfect Strangers was a reunion of the classic Deep Purple lineup featuring Ian Gillan on vocals, Roger Glover on bass, and the foundation of Jon Lord on keyboards, Ritchie Blackmore on guitar and Ian Paice on drums.  This was a big music event for me and what would become one of my favorite bands of all time.  It’s hard to believe that it all happened 30 years ago.

It was the Fall of 1984, I had started my senior of high school and my parents and my brother had moved from our longtime hometown of North Platte Nebraska to Hastings Nebraska which was about 150 miles away(or about a 3 hour drive). I elected to stay in North Platte and finish my high school years. My older sister, her husband and my barely year old niece moved into the upstairs and I stayed in my teenage man-cave downstairs.  I wasn’t a rebellious teenage kid. I had a part-time job bagging and stocking groceries in a local grocery store. I was active in various music groups in school and church activities as well.  If I had any vices, it was spending time and money at local record stores.  I was spending my part-time income on records, tapes and rock magazines like Hit Parader and Circus magazine. Another big event in the Fall of 1984 was that the town of North Platte received MTV on their basic cable service. As I write this now, it doesn’t seem like such a big deal. But, it really was. I had read about this channel that played 24 hours of music videos. Up to that point, if you wanted to see music videos, you had to wait for NBC’s Friday Night Videos or TBS’s Night Tracks. The problem was that this channel that I wanted to see wasn’t available in my house because my parents hadn’t subscribed to cable TV.  They had subscribed in their new home in Hastings. But, I was in North Platte.  So, I spent a lot of time at my friend Kent’s house. I remember hanging out at his house and seeing such videos like Hall & Oates’ You’re Out of Touch, Sammy Hagar’s I Can’t Drive 55 and one that seemed to have a lot of buzz about it was Deep Purple’s Perfect Strangers. The reason for the buzz behind this video was because of the reunion of the classic Mark II lineup.

The video had me mesmerized. From the opening shot of the clouds and various aerial shots and then these cars pulling up a country drive followed by quick glimpses of the 5 smiling members starting with Ritchie, John, Ian Gillan, Ian Paice and then Roger Glover. Jon Lord’s Hammond organ swirls as the song progresses as Ian Paice’s drums pulsate. The band is seen playing, recording, socializing, drinking and even playing football(That’s British for soccer). Looking back, this was my introduction to who the band was and the various members. I was hooked.
I didn’t know what to expect from this album. The extent of my Deep Purple knowledge was limited to Smoke on the Water and the album Machine Head. If you read my blog on that album, you know that it had a big impact on me. But, I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t have any preconceived notions about how this album should sound.  I don’t remember if I bought the album the day it was released or soon thereafter. I did buy my first copy on cassette(I’ve owned a few different copies of it)  I do remember buying it on a Tuesday and the next day, my friend Aaron Koch and I made a trip to Kearney for the High School Senior visitation day for (then known as) Kearney State College. I had decided in that Spring before that I wanted to attend college there because of the music department at Kearney and I had discovered the great Dustys Records that Spring as well. Aaron and I jumped in his Trans Am or Camaro that Wednesday morning and I asked him to put in the Perfect Strangers cassette. So, we headed down the interstate 80 to Kearney listening to this album. I don’t think this album had the kind of impact on Aaron as it did on me. This album(for me) became THE album of my senior year.
The album was a soundtrack of sorts for that year. I loved the video for Perfect Strangers. I didn’t really know what a “groove” was or what it meant to play a “groove” at the time. But, Ian Paice’s drumming reeled me in and somehow I felt it with his playing. The second single or video that was released was for track 1 on the album known as Knocking at Your Back Door. At the time, I didn’t get the meaning of the song lyrics until some time later. I do remember the video being some kind of artsy Sci-Fi setting where “Civilization is discovered years after the Holocaust”. In the video, we see a bunch helmeted individuals coming across a bunch of musical instruments buried as well as recording equipment and video monitors that eventually get turned on and we finally see concert footage of the band playing the song. It’s really kind of a silly little video. But, this was the early years of 80’s music video. So, the “storyline” of the video is a little hokey. Perhaps it’s a good thing they didn’t follow the suggestive lyrics instead. Deep Purple were a band that had succeeded in the 70’s without the benefit of this marketing tool known as music video.

There was so much great music on the album for me. Of course, there are detractors that say “Oh this wasn’t the Deep Purple of 70’s.” No, it was the Deep Purple of the 80’s. They had all gone on to different projects. Ian Gillan formed his own solo band simply known as Gillan and eventually replaced Ronnie James Dio in Black Sabbath after a drunken agreement with Sabbath’s Tony Iommi.  Ritchie Blackmore had formed his band Rainbow that introduced Ronnie James Dio, Graham Bonnet and Joe Lynn Turner as lead singers for that band. Bassist Roger Glover had returned to playing with Blackmore in  Rainbow during the early 80’s. Paice and Lord went on to play with David Coverdale in Whitesnake in the late 70’s. Paice even played with guitar great Gary Moore in his time between Whitesnake and the reformed Purple. So, they had taken all the experiences that had and brought them to the table in that 1984 reunion.
My love for record stores was in full swing at this time. I think I made a point to stop at the local record on my way to work (almost) every day. I would pick up my rock magazines and I remember seeing a layout in Circus magazine where a bunch of current rock drummers talked about their drumming influences and a couple of those drummers (like Alex Van Halen and Bobby Blotzer of Ratt) listed Ian Paice as a drumming influence. This only validated that this was a drummer I wanted to know more of and (of course) I did.
This cassette always seemed to be with me. I loved it from point A to point B. In fact, in my Senior English class we were assigned to write a bit of poetry and I went to the lyrics for the song Wasted Sunsets. The opening line says:

The day is gone when the angels come to stay

By the Winter of 85, I knew that this school year was almost over and the “Day would be gone” and I wouldn’t see many of these people ever again. So, I took that first line and used it as an inspiration. I may have used “The Day is gone” as the opening line of the poem. In fact, this may be confession that I used the song lyric as an inspiration. I didn’t see a lot of those people ever again because I loaded up my car and moved the day after graduation that day in late May of 1985.  I still remember some of those last days between Senior classes and the Graduation ceremony hanging out with friends and I had turned on a couple of friends to the sounds of Deep Purple. Years later, when I would fill out one of those silly profiles on a classmates website or another social website, the question would be asked “What group/album reminds you of your Senior year of High School?” This is the first one that always comes to mind and yet it never appears on the list of multiple choices.

Somewhere down the line, I ended up obtaining a promo poster for Perfect Strangers.  I proudly hung it in my new room at the new house in Hastings and I have a few pictures of myself sitting behind my drums and my DP poster displayed proudly behind me.  I would follow Deep Purple and even years later I bought a Video cassette of the videos from this era including songs from their 1987 album House of Blue Light.  One of the videos that was included on this tape was a live version of the song Nobody’s Home.  I’m not sure if I had ever seen the video broadcast on MTV back in the day.

But, it would prompt me to pull out this album once again and relive so many of the memories I’ve written about in this blog. I eventually bought an LP and 2 CD copies of this album.  The album was remastered in the late 90’s and the sound quality was much better than the CD quality I had purchased in the early 90’s. I dial up this album very often on my MP3 player and throw some earphones on and take it all in again and again as the memories come flooding back.
In the Fall of 2013, Eagle Rock video released Deep Purple – Perfect Strangers Live on DVD with a live show from that tour in Sydney Australia. I quickly found the DVD and the video quality is excellent and the playing is top notch as well.  This was the era of Deep Purple that snagged me up and reeled me in. As the lyrics of the title track say:

Can you remember …Remember my name
As I flow through your life
A thousand oceans I have flown
And cold spirits of ice
All my life
I AM THE ECHO OF YOUR PAST

So, it’s been 30 years since I first experienced this album. It has flown through my life and and it is definitely the echo of my past. But, the echoes and memories are ones that will stay with me forever in the music.

The Knack–Get the Knack …and then some!

Have you ever had an album that you listened to in your younger days and then fast forward another 10-12 years and you haven’t listened to it at all in those in-between years. At the time of it’s release, it was a platinum seller. Then, it was soon panned by critics.  Years later, this album comes across your path and you hesitantly put it on and you remember every note, every guitar lick and every lyric of the entire album. The album then haunts you for years. You’re not sure whether or not you want to add it to your current catalog of music because of the criticism. This happened to me with the album from 1979 known as Get the Knack~

In the late 70’s, I was a huge Star Wars fan and not a big music fan. My sisters obviously were fans of the disco craze of the 70’s. So, I knew a few artists from their collections and that era. But, I still had my finger on pop culture through the teen magazines my sister bought along with scholastic books pre-teen magazines like Dynamite and Bananas magazines.

My friends and I would frequent the Mall and various stores in our pre-teen life.  I remember one of my friends buying a 45 single of the Chipmunks singing Crazy Little Thing Called Love from Queen. Sometime after that I bought an 8-track version of an album called Chipmunk Punk. 

Now this contained the high sped up vocals of Alvin, Simon and Theodore singing hits like Refugee from Tom Petty, Call Me from Blondie, and My Sharona from the Knack. Strange enough, I came to know a lot of these songs rather well. In fact, 3 of the songs on this novelty record were to be on the album that would be engrained in my subconscious for years. Along with The Knack’s My Sharona, this also featured versions of the Knack’s songs Frustrated and Good Girls Don’t

At the time, my sister Kathy began signing up for the various “record clubs” you would find in various magazines.  So, I think somehow she ended up with two copies(on 8-track) of Get the Knack.  From there, I was given a copy or a took that extra copy. I don’t remember exactly. All I remember is that I was soon listening to every song on this 8-track.  I would clean my room every Saturday morning listening to this and the songs and lyrics would become solidified in my mind and memories.

 

Of course, the song that most people knew and still consider as their “One Hit Wonder” is My Sharona.  The song was ubiquitous and it was a big hit. With most big hits, it’s only a matter of time before the general public who bought and played and requested that song decide they don’t like it and begin to turn on it.  I didn’t follow the trends then(and I don’t really now either). But, The Knack had signed to Capitol records. The Beatles US distribution was through Capitol as well. If you look at the back cover of the Get the Knack album, the band is positioned and dressed in a simple black & white attire much like those lovable moptops from Liverpool.  The album sold millions and soon they became compared to the Beatles as well. It doesn’t take long before someone is bound to become offended by the comparison and the backlash begins.  Suddenly, from what I was reading was that it didn’t take long and the Knack wasn’t as popular as they once were and it wasn’t considered cool to like the Knack.

Fast forward to the late 80’s (1988-89). I’m working at Dustys Records and a customer comes in to sell a used CD copy of Get the Knack.  I begin thinking, “I haven’t heard this in ages.”  I slip the CD into the store stereo system and all the words and songs and rhythms come flooding back. I may have even started singing along to this as well.  I think both Bob and Forrest (fellow misfit employees) look at me and they make a sarcastic comment along the lines of “So, I take it you may have heard this before.”  At that point, I couldn’t deny this music from my past. I didn’t buy the CD at that point. But, it was surely on my mind to own it again someday. 

In the early 90’s, The Knack attempted to make a comeback with the album Serious Fun on Charisma records which was a subsidiary of a EMI/Capitol. While I worked at the Dustys store in Grand Island Nebraska, We either received a promo copy of the CD or we opened for in-store play. I thought it was filled with some great power-pop songs.  I actually talked to drummer Billy Ward that played on the album this past Fall(2013) at a drum clinic in San Antonio. Apparently, the album was set to be a big comeback. But, Charisma records ended up having some financial issues and all promotional support for the band suddenly dried up and the comeback never happened.

During my time living in Omaha from 1991-1994, I would make a habit of visiting the Dirt Cheap Recycled Sounds store in the Old Market section of town.  Around this time, the Ben Stiller movie Reality Bites featured a scene where Winona Ryder’s character and friends are dancing around a convenience store to the song My Sharona.  I had picked up a copy of the Dixie Dregs live reunion album Bring ‘Em Back Alive and on their song Take it Off The Top, the band incorporates a medley of different classic rock songs like Mississippi Queen, Freebird, and My Sharona.   One of my trips to Dirt Cheap, I found a used copy of Get the Knack on an LP. I snatched it up and threw it on the turntable and dropped the needle on it. Soon thereafter, I was singing along and playing air drums to this album once again. 

From that point on, I wouldn’t deny my love for this album. By the mid to late 90’s, it was cool to like the Knack. My friends in the cover band Fear of Flying from Central Nebraska used to play My Sharona as part of their set. It was always a big hit with the crowds that came out to see them. In the age of the internet, I like to look up some of the acts that I had grown up listening to. I don’t remember how I found it. But, I found a link for the original Knack drummer Bruce Gary.  It suddenly occurred that a lot of what he played was very influential in just great rock and power pop drumming….and it was fun to play too. In the age of social media, I love to share videos of the music and artists I seem to be tuned into on any given day. A few years back, I found some videos of the Knack playing some of the lesser known songs on the album.  In the comments for the video I had posted, I had a couple of comments from some of my fellow drummer friends that had fond memories of some great playing on that debut album.  I always had loved the album and the band in my own way. So, it was refreshing to have that confirmation from my friends and fellow musicians. 

Drummer Bruce Gary was the original with the band. He had played with Jack Bruce and Albert Collins. So, he had a lot of high profile gigs under his belt before he became the drummer of the Knack.  Drummer Pat Torpey of Mr. Big had actually been a member of the Knack just before he got the gig playing with Mr Big.  Former Zappa drummer Terry Bozzio even cut an album with the Knack called ZOOM.  Of course, I mentioned Billy Ward earlier.  His career has spanned work with Joan Osborne, BB King and Ace Frehley.  So, the drumming pedigree featured in this band has had some impressive credits as well.  But, to go back to that original drumming that Bruce Gary laid down is signature. After all, he came up with that drum intro that even non-drummers can identify and play as well. 

I love the rapid fire drum fills and the guitar riffs of Berton Averre as well. From songs like She’s So Selfish, Siamese Twins(the Monkey and Me) to Good Girls Don’t and Heartbeat, this whole album just rocks me and transports to a time when I started to discover popular music and the drums as well. 

Unfortunately, drummer Bruce Gary passed away in 2006 after suffering from non-Hodkin lymphoma and leader and songwriter Doug Fieger battled cancer and passed away in 2010.  Thus ends any chance of a classic Knack reunion.A couple months ago, I came across a documentary on the band narrated by Runaways singer Cherie Curie. This documentary talked about the album, the shot to stardom and the celebrity endorsements.  Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones praised Get the Knack  and claims it’s a favorite album of his. Before the band was signed to Capitol records, they were joined onstage at a club in Los Angeles by “The Boss” himself Bruce Springsteen.  They even joke about how there weren’t any record labels interested in them until news got out that Springsteen had jammed with them onstage. Then suddenly, they all wanted to sign them.

So, they may have shot to the top of the charts. They may be known as a “one-hit wonder”. But, that is for the people look for the hits and don’t see the whole album as a musical statement. They may have fell from the top of music charts and popular tastes as fast as they arrived. All I know is that I loved this album when I was 12 years old and now I still love and will proudly admit it now that I’m …..uhhhhhhh not 12 years old any more and I still love it.

Bad Company–the band and the memories…..to the day I die

I love music! I love that in this age of the internet I can search for a concert, an album, or a video for many of my longtime favorite bands and artists.  But, I also enjoy seeking out live concert and (the ever-expanding) rock documentaries on DVD. This past month or so, I found 2 DVD’s and (from watching them) I’ve found inspiration to a couple more blogs on artists that ignite a fire within my musical bloodstream.

The first DVD is a live concert of vocalist Paul Rodgers called Live in Glasgow. As I watched this concert, I’m reminded once again of how truly great Rodgers is as a Rock vocalist. To fans of the Classic Rock genre, this is not any kind of earth shattering revelation. To get my past my lengthy intro, I want to talk about Bad Company, the band, the album and (in my opinion) the greatness of that “other legendary band” on the Swan Song record label 40 years after their debut.

Bad Company was one of the biggest “supergroups” of the 70’s. The group was formed from the ashes of the British blues band Free with vocalist Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke along with guitarist Mick Ralphs of Mott the Hoople and bassist Boz Burell of King Crimson.  The band was formed in 1973 and would release their debut album in 1974.  Years later, I would find out from the liner notes of the Deep Purple album Burn that Purple guitarist Richie Blackmore had originally wanted to Paul Rodgers to replace Ian Gillan after he left Purple.  I still wonder and have that exciting “what if” equation in my head if one of my favorite vocalists would have teamed up with one of my favorite bands.

Bad Company appeared on my own personal radar in my pre-adolescent years as I started to discover a lot of the great rock bands of the 70’s. For years, the only Bad Co song I knew was the ode to the famed lifestyle of Rock and Roll Fantasy.  From an early age, I had desired to be a musician or rock star standing on stage and performing.  This song struck a nerve with me at a young age. For years, the only Bad Co album I owned was the Rough Diamonds album. This was to be the final album featuring the original lineup as the band fell apart after the death of John Bonham, the disbanding of Led Zeppelin and the dissolving of the Swan Song record label.

I hadn’t paid much attention to Bad Company as the 80’s progressed. I picked up an album by a group featuring drummer Simon Kirke called Wildlife in 1983. I have a blog in progress on that one. It was a one-off project that I really enjoyed.  In 1984, Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page formed an alliance with Bad Co vocalist Paul Rodgers in a band known as The Firm.  At the time, I was expecting something “heavy” considering Zep and Page’s reputation for being a Hard Rock icon. I realized later that “heavy” was all in the eyes and ears of the listener and the more I listened to The Firm, the more I grew to love it…..still do.

Fast forward to my college years(yet again) and my years of employment in the hallowed aisles (and record bins) of Dustys Records. Many of my memories are always filled with the music and friendships associated with those formative years. This memory features my misfit brother (from another mother) Bob G. When Bob started working at Dustys, one of the first CD’s he purchased was the Bad Company compilation 10 from 6 (10 songs from 6 albums) At the time, I think I had expanded the number of songs I knew from Rn’R Fantasy to include Can’t Get Enough and Feel Like Makin’ Love.  But, Bob had a personal affinity to the track simply titled Bad Company.  Bob loved to stand in the aisle, play air guitar and sing along to this song. He absolutely loved this song. His enthusiasm for this song was absolutely palpable and contagious. It wouldn’t take long before I would take notice and become a huge fan myself. I would even venture to say that my love for Bad Co grew as my friendship with Bob progressed as well.  I still smile as I listen to Bad Company and think of the memories of Bob’s infectious enthusiasm.

While the late 80’s were rolling along, Bad Company had regrouped (in a sense) and recorded with vocalist Brian Howe.  I had heard Brian Howe on Ted Nugent’s 1984 Penetrator album. He’s not a bad vocalist. But, I was never a big fan of his style. His clean vocal style just didn’t seem to fit the gritty style of Ted Nugent and later with Bad Company. After watching the VH1 Behind the Music episode, Atlantic Records basically wanted to call this union of Simon Kirke, Mick Ralphs and Brian Howe “Bad Company”. By the way, bassist Boz Burrell lasted only one album with this lineup. The band had chart success with albums like Dangerous Age and Holy Water.  But, for me and (I’m guessing) many other fans, this wasn’t Bad Company. It was kind of a watered down, diluted and radio friendly version. I know some people that enjoyed this version. They even released a live album with Brian Howe. I’ve even been told by my niece that it’s one of her favorites. But, I’m talking about the legendary group featuring the one and only Paul Rodgers. So, let’s move on.

Fast forward to the 90’s and by now Paul Rodgers was definitely on my list of artists that I wanted more from. In 1993, he released an all-star Blues album called Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters.  This featured a host of guest guitarists like Gary Moore, Jeff Beck, Brian Setzer, Brian May, David Gilmour and Buddy Guy! I was living and working in Omaha at the Crossroads Mall as the manager of Tape World. Two of the guys on my staff were big guitar and classic rock fans. So, we would listen to this album daily. The backing band on this album was drummer Jason Bonham and the bassist and guitarist from his band Bonham. So, I had been a big fan of Jason and his drumming. So, I loved the heavy handed Zeppelin-esque treatment of these Blues standards. It was quite the contrast for the Mall atmosphere we worked in. We loved it anyway.

In 1999, I remember picking up a copy of Guitar World magazine for yet another article on Stevie Ray Vaughan. It’s amazing how these guitar magazines always seem to come up with yet another “lost” interview with a deceased guitarist like Hendrix, Randy Rhoads or SRV. Well, the issue had an article about how the original lineup of Bad Company was reuniting to record some new tracks for a new greatest hits package and a possible tour. I was so elated about this reunion. I wanted to tell all of my music loving friends about it. I may have even called Bob to tell him if he hadn’t heard already.  VH1 even had the subject of the band as part of their Behind the Music series. After the debut of that initial episode, they aired a new concert of the reunited band. They even had Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Gary Rossington come out on second guitar for Rock and Roll Fantasy.  I was so excited about this. I set the VCR and recorded both the episode and the concert. I made a VHS copy for Bob and sent it to him. I knew that Bob was such a big fan of the band that he’d appreciate it.

Rock and Roll Fantasy

At the time, I looked and looked for tour dates near my central Nebraska location only to be disappointed.  They would not be playing anywhere near. But, I would always seek to find if they would be playing again in the years after. Soon, the 90’s moved into the new 21st Century. The band played again briefly with only Rodgers and Simon Kirke as the original members. I later found out that guitarist Mick Ralphs was dealing with some kind of sickness and opted out of that reunion tour. Then, for most of the first decade of the 2000’s, Rodgers joined Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor as “Queen + Paul Rodgers”.  Now, here was Paul stepping into the role of lead singer in an established band.  I’m sure there are die-hard Queen fans that didn’t like this new union.  I love the sound of Paul’s voice and he is more than capable of handling such a range like that of the late Freddie Mercury.

For years, I didn’t find anything overly fantastic about drummer Simon Kirke’s playing. He’s not flashy! He isn’t loud and bombastic like my favorites John Bonham or Carmine Appice. But, the more I got into playing the song or the groove, the more I began to appreciate his style. Around 1998, he toured with and did a session of VH1’s Storytellers with Ringo Starr.  I watched the episode and there was something tight and grooving about Simon’s playing. It wasn’t flashy and then seeing him play double drums with Ringo made it seem so mesmerizing to me. He plays his parts that are simplistic yet so signature to the song he’s playing…and he sings pretty damn good too.

Simon Kirke drumming and singing!

As a drummer and a singer, I was drawn towards Simon and Paul. But, after I watched the VH1 Behind the Music episode, I began to respect both Mick and Boz as musicians as well.  It would be after years  of listening to bassists that I began to appreciate Boz and his playing. He is one of many bassists that are so good that they make the rest of the band sound unbelievably good that you forget how good they are. I would place Boz in the same class of a player as Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones, Fleetwood Mac’s John McVie and Deep Purple’s Roger Glover.  These are all players that do their job so well and have stepped out of the spotlight of guitarists and vocalists and create fantastic pieces of musical genius that contributes to a wider scope of the composition.  They make the music breathe by what they play (or don’t play). Boz Burrell started off as a vocalist and then began playing bass with Robert Fripp’s band King Crimson. When he had the chance to audition for Paul Rodgers, Mick Ralphs and Simon Kirke, he was more than ready to get away from King Crimson and what he would call “public school rock”.  He would play the usual standard basses. But, he was also a fan of the fretless bass and (like many) a fan of jazz bassist Charles Mingus.  Unfortunately, Boz Burrell was a casualty of the excesses of Rock n’ Roll and passed away in 2006.
Mick Ralphs is another member that goes unnoticed. Ralphs was the principal songwriter for the British band Mott the Hoople. In America (or at least myself) they’re known for the song All the Young Dudes written by David Bowie. Ironically, Ralphs had already grown tired of life in Mott. He had written some songs for singer Ian Hunter that didn’t fit his singing style and eventually would be something that fit Paul Rodgers style perfectly. Mick Ralphs often gets overshadowed as a guitarist and songwriter. Paul Rodgers is usually the member of Bad Company that most people remember. But, it was Ralphs who co-wrote many of the great Bad Co songs with Rodgers. He wrote the riffs for Can’t Get Enough and Feel
Like Makin’ Love among many others.

The debut album was released in June of 1974. So, 2014 marks the 40th anniversary of the debut. When I was researching this band and the Bad Company catalog, I was reminded of the classic album releases of the 70’s. This was a time when bands would release albums once or twice a year and the albums would range from 35 to 45 minutes in length. From 1970-1973, Black Sabbath released their first five albums. Deep Purple released 6 albums from 1970-1974 and that was between both the Mark II lineup(Ian Gillan and Roger Glover) and the Mark III lineup(David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes). Queen released Queen II, Sheer Heart Attack and Night at the Opera all between March 1974 and the end of the following year. Bad Company managed to release their debut self-titled album, Straight Shooter and Run With the Pack all within a 2 year period as well. This was a rich time for some of my favorite bands and albums.
When I originally started looking at the songs on the self-titled debut, I found that all but 2 of the songs are on the Original Bad Company Anthology set. That’s pretty impressive that these songs hold up over time. I also found out that this album was recorded at Headley Grange which is the same old mansion where Led Zeppelin recorded their iconic fourth album. If you’ve seen the documentary This Might Get Loud, Jimmy Page takes a walk through this historic spot and highlights how magical the sound was in this place.

Jimmy Page revisits Headley Grange.

So, Bad Company recorded their debut album in this place known for its strange atmosphere and energies.  But, the story that knocks me out is that Paul Rodgers actually recorded his vocals for the title track in the middle of a field in the darkness of night. So, when you listen to the original song, remember it’s cold and dark and when he sings, “….and the cold wind blows!” He improvised that because he was feeling it…cold that is.
Obviously, When I started writing this entry, I thought of my friend Bob and his love of Bad Company. So, I sent him a note that I was writing this. His response to the music of Bad Company and the vocals of Paul Rodgers were succinctly put into his own words as only Bob could put it.

“Paul Rodgers for me is the voice I always wanted. His voice seemed soo smooth and almost effortless like he could get out of bed and start singing and sound like that. For me, the instrument that makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck and gives me goosebumps is an amazing voice. In ‘Bad Company’ (the song) he only has to say "company always on the run" and I get goosebumps. Do you have any idea how many times I have listened to that damn song and I still get goosebumps? His voice fits right in that pocket where it belongs. Soft quiet piano...soft quiet vocal. Make your voice an instrument. Make it fit in the pocket. Later in the song he says "that's why they call me" and brings his voice up and brings it loud as if to say to the band...time to kick it in the ass. His voice goes up with the guitar and down with the guitar. His voice is quiet with the piano. His voice says match it and make it work. Don't overpower it.”

When I first started writing this, I had realized that it was the 40th Anniversary of this band and their debut album. I wanted to take in all that I could about this band. Interestingly enough, the UK magazine known as “Classic Rock” magazine published a commemorative issue celebrating the 40th anniversary.

Along with the magazine, there is a DVD documentary of the band.  I found a copy at the bookstore and bought it. To say I’ve been on a steady diet of Bad Company music would be a major understatement.  I’ve watched the DVD countless times and watched as the surviving members talk about the “good ole days” and reminisce about their experiences and road stories.

great commemorative magazine and DVD set.

Even Jason Bonham is interviewed as he recalls the time his father John Bonham woke him up when the Bad Co members came to the house. He wanted his young son to play Rock and Roll Fantasy on the drums for the visiting guests.  At that point, Paul Rodgers turned to drummer Simon Kirke and said, “You’re fired”. Coincidentally, Jason would go on to play for Paul Rodgers solo band in the early 90’s and a UK tour in the 2000’s.
The band has reunited in the last few years with former Heart guitarist Howard Leese on second guitar as well as Paul Rodgers’ bassist Lynn Sorensen. They’ve released two live DVD’s and CD sets in 2010(Bad Company Hard Rock Live) and 2011(Bad Company Live at Wembley). The band sounds great and of course the vocals of Paul Rodgers sound absolutely top-notch.  In the summer of 2014, they are touring with Lynyrd Skynyrd on a 40th Anniversary tour(for both bands). 

I’ve said it before. Bands and music like this always bring back memories of friends and places that stick with me at all times.  The guys in this band were comrades and friends in the creation of this timeless music.  That being said, this timeless music has also become the soundtrack for the memories of the friends and comrades of my past.
“Bad Company…..Til the day I die!”

Slade–Keep Your Hands Off My Power Supply

According to the website Ultimate Classic Rock, April 13th 2014 marks the 30th Anniversary of the album Keep Your Hands Off My Power Supply by the British band Slade.  As I read the brief little history of this album on the website, I was transported back 30 years to a time right before my Senior year of High School and College and reminded me how much I loved this album. 

In the Spring of 1984, I was approaching my 17th birthday(in July) and I was a full blown record store fanatic. I didn’t have my own car yet. So, I would drive the family station wagon or my Dad’s 1970 VW Beetle to my destinations. As one would imagine, most of my destinations were 2 or 3 record stores.  I was buying copies of Hit Parader  and Circus magazine every month and catching whatever music video programming I could find.  So, I remember catching the first video for the song Run Runaway and something struck the proverbial chord in me. I loved the Celtic feel and yet rocking jig. Looking back, I think it may have something to do with my Irish heritage and ancestry.

silly mugging from the band

The song stuck with me and soon thereafter they started playing videos for the second track My Oh My.  This was a slower ballad. But, it was very memorable and stuck with me as well. The song had a bit of tenderness to it and I really enjoyed the vocals of singer Noddy Holder. If I remember right, the video seemed like a sequel of sorts to the first video. At least that’s how I remember it.

From my monthly reading of Circus and Hit Parader magazines, I learned that this band Slade was the band that had originally recorded the song Cum On Feel The Noize.  In 1983, that song was everywhere made popular by LA Heavy Metal band Quiet Riot.  Suddenly, there was a buzz on this band that had been on the British scene for many years. 

Then, they made their debut on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand and performed/lip synched both of these songs. At that point, I was sold on this and I bought a cassette copy of the album.

Soon, I had this cassette copy all the time. Since the band was now in the US public eye, I became obsessed with finding more from this British import. Many of the bands I followed were trumpeting these guys from across the pond. I remember reading a liner note from one band’s album for thanking the American recording company for (finally) signing Slade.  I even remember that Spring when I was looking to buy my first car, I test drove a car and I knew it had a tape deck in it. So, I made sure I had the “Power Supply” cassette with me for that test drive. My parents made jokes that I only wanted the car because of the tape deck. I’m a music fanatic. What other reason is there?

I’d been to Kearney and Dustys Records in the Spring of 1984 for KSC District Music Contest and eventually KSC High School Music Camp in August of 1984. This cemented my desire to be in Kearney for my college education.  I was excited to be in school and be around musicians and a cool record store like Dustys.  So, right before my Senior year of High School, my friend Mick and I loaded in my car and drove to Kearney for the day. We wanted to drop by the college and Dustys’ and Yanda’s music to look at drums and sticks and drum hardware.  We stopped in at Dustys on 23rd street and I went through a bunch of the records and found an album called Slayed – The Best of Slade(I think) and a t-shirt of the album cover of Keep Your Hands Off My Power Supply.  I loved that shirt and the band. I wore that shirt so much. It was comfortable and even later I cut off the sleeves and made it into a muscle shirt.

My senior year of high school was a big year of transition for me. My parents had moved from North Platte Nebraska to the town of Hastings which is about 150 miles away. I’ve written before that I found a way to stay at the school for the year and live with my older sister, her husband and my infant niece.  They moved into the family house and I stayed in my downstairs bedroom.  Since my niece was an infant at the time, there were many nights of the baby waking up crying and I could hear it coming from the room above my own. So, I found a way to soothe myself back to sleep by putting on headphones to my walkman cassette deck and listen to music and drifting back to sleep. I tried to pick albums that weren’t that heavy and may have been more vocal oriented.  For some reason, this Slade album was one of them. I have distinct memories of hearing the songs Ready to Explode and C’est La Vie ringing through my ears as I would drift off to sleep. Ready to Explode has the set up of a great car race as the drivers are introduced and the band members are the ones set up as the drivers. The vocal harmonies rang through my head. I just couldn’t get enough of them. 

At the tail end of my senior year(1985), the band released their album Rogue’s Gallery.  I was slightly excited about it. But, after graduation I would be heading to Hastings and start a new life in a new town the summer before I entered college.  On that day after graduation, I loaded up my car and made a couple of stops on the way out of town and purchased Rogue’s Gallery at the store I had frequented the past two years.  Although, I enjoyed that album. It didn’t stick with me like “Power Supply” did.

When I entered college, my tastes continued to grow. But, I held onto that cassette copy. Then, when I started working at Dustys, I decided I would sell my cassettes and replace them with a vinyl LP copy.  A lot of times, I would sell old cassette copies for weekend beer money. I think I had played that Slade cassette so many times that eventually the pads fell off or the tape itself ripped, tore or got stuck in a couple of cassette decks along the way. But, it wouldn’t be until I worked at the Grand Island Dustys store that I found that there was a vinyl copy behind the counter. We didn’t listen to it very often because there may have been some issues with the turntable. Eventually, we divided up the store LP’s among Doug, Jayson and myself. I was low man on the totem pole and I think Jayson took the vinyl copy for himself.  It wouldn’t be until the summer of 95 when the Kearney store closed altogether and I took some of the LP shelves that Dusty had in the back room back to my apartment. Jayson had bunch of LPs himself and the Power Supply was in that bunch. So, I took it with me and added it to my now growing collection.

Through the years, I would occasionally pull out my LP copy and drop the needle on it.  I always liken the experience of listening to old favorites like that to putting on an old comfortable sweatshirt.  I eventually sold my LP collection and figured I would find a CD copy or a digital download of this old favorite. I eventually found a way to download it.  It was through the search of a download that I found out that the band had originally released this album in the UK as The Amazing Kamikaze Syndrome.  I guess I had probably seen the album cover throughout my travels in different record stores. But, I don’t think I knew there was a difference.

Through my renewed excitement about this band, I’ve discovered a lot of stuff. They were big as part of the British “Glam” movement of the 70’s with bands like Sweet, T-Rex, Mott the Hoople and David Bowie.  They had high heel boots around the same time (maybe even before) that KISS was doing their thing.  Cheap Trick bassist Tom Petersson has even said that (after seeing Slade live) they said, “Wow, they’re using every CHEAP TRICK in the book!” and that’s where the name of that band came from. Ozzy Osbourne has even said that Noddy Holder’s voice was one of his favorite Rock voices.  My brother that now lives in Dublin Ireland has said that Slade’s Merry Xmas Everybody is played non-stop during the holiday season in the shops. I even found this 1999 BBC documentary on the band. I find myself watching it quite often.

But, today when I read that this was the 30th Anniversary of the American release of this album. I felt compelled to write something about this album that loomed large in my own personal playlists and rotations. It takes me back to a time and place in the summer of 1984 and right before I would step into a whole new world and new experiences.