Def Leppard – Pyromania

This past month, my family decided to all meet in our childhood hometown of North Platte Nebraska. For me, this trip was somewhat therapeutic. I had graduated from NP in the spring of 1985 and moved the day after graduation. My parents had moved to Hastings in the Fall of 1984. But, I had remained in town to finish my senior year. I stayed in the family house while my older sister and her husband moved in until it sold. As the years passed, my sister and her family moved out of NP and I had no ties back to my boyhood community. I never went to any of my class reunions.  In the past year or so, my 8 year old son had been asking me about where I grew up and went to school and other boyhood memories. For a long time, I had harbored negative feelings about this town where I had spent the first 18 years of my life. But, this time was different. We had decided that the locale would be great for an 80th birthday celebration for my Mom. It was and I learned to look back fondly at my past. I was able to drive around all the old neighborhoods and personal landmarks that had helped shape the memories of my first 18 years of life.  One of the places I wanted to visit was Cody Elementary School.  I had never attended this school. But, I did design a sign and planter for the school as part of my Eagle Scout project.  In recent years, my brother had looked up the school (and sign) on Google Earth (Street view)and he said it was still there. So, I drove by to have a look at my project only to find it had recently been replaced by a newer metal, electric sign with a message board marquis.

The reason I tell this back story is because the album (or cassette tape) I associate with the day that I (and Scout Troop 81) built this sign is none other than Def Leppard’s 1983 breakthrough album Pyromania.   I have always been one to have music playing while I’m driving, sleeping or (in this case) working on a project and this day was no different. On May 21st 1983 (a Saturday morning), we assembled at Cody Elementary school to work on this project. My scout friends and I were always notorious about coming up with new music to listen to and making mix tapes to listen to on trips and campouts and all kinds of events. So, I knew that someone would bring a portable tape player of some kind.  I had recently bought a copy of Def Leppard’s Pyromania on cassette. I had read about this new album through my obsessive monthly purchases of Hit Parader magazine. It had been released in January of 1983. So, it was a relatively new release at the time. I think that the first single for Photograph had been getting some airplay on the local FM radio station and the new cable music network MTV. I least I think it was. I wouldn’t know. North Platte cable subscribers didn’t get MTV added to the basic cable package until Fall 1984. My parents didn’t get cable until they had moved out of North Platte and into Hastings.  So, the only way to see music videos(at the time) was on HBO’s Video Jukebox, WTBS’s Night Tracks and (premiering in July 1983)NBC’s Friday Night Videos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That morning, I was definitely in the mood to hear my new Def Lep tape and to share it with my buddies in the Scout troop. But, there was some objections from some of the younger boys in the troop that wanted to hear the cassette that they had brought that day….Michael Jackson’s Thriller.  Of course, MJ’s Thriller was ubiquitous that year. But, I persisted in my listening choice that day. It was my project after all. I should be able to choose what we would listen to.  Once we finished assembling the sign, a few of us went back to my house just in time to catch Def Leppard on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. This sticks out in my mind because I remember watching and noticing(probably for the first time) that the band was lip-synching on the show. As a drummer, I immediately noticed that Rick Allen wasn’t playing his own drums either. At the time, he was a Ludwig drums endorser and the kit he was “playing” wasn’t his usual Ludwig kit. But, it was still kind of awesome to see a Hard Rock act on the very pop themed American Bandstand.


Soon, I went from being a casual Def Lep fan to an overboard fanatic. In 1983, my 3 favorite bands were Van Halen, The Police and Def Leppard. I remember I had bought some "Rock" calendars to decorate my room (along with many posters) and two of them were of the Police and Def Lep. I was living the drums 24/7 at the time. I had bought a five piece Ludwig drumkit in the Spring of 1982 and that was all I thought about. Drums, Drumming and all the different drummers for all my favorite bands. In 1983, Rick Allen was an endorser for Ludwig drums. I even sent in the $1 for a poster version of Rick Allen’s Ludwig endorsement ad.  He was definitely one of my favorites at the time.

For many teenagers in the early (and late 80’s) Def Leppard was a big deal. Since my new fascination with bands like Van Halen in 1982, I had become obsessed with every band that was categorized in that Hard Rock genre. I found out about a lot of these bands through the magazine Hit Parader. 

In a short year, I had lost all interest in the comic book titles I had been reading from 1977-1982 and now I was all about ROCK, HARD ROCK and Heavy Metal! The first single off the album was Photograph and soon gained some airplay on the various video outlets I stated before.  After Photograph had faded from the charts, it was time for yet another single. By this time, I remember the video for the song Foolin’  being on NBC’s Friday Night Videos on a weekly basis. Since I didn’t have cable, I didn’t get to see the videos unless I was at a friend’s house to see them. MTV didn’t come to North Platte until the Fall of 1984. So, I was always home for Friday Night Videos on Friday night at 11:30pm. That’s also when my curfew was too.  Of course, I was more than happy to be home to watch music videos. FNV(Friday Night Videos) soon began to have a segment called “Video Vote” which would pit a certain video by one group against another group’s video.  I seem to remember the Police’s Every Breath You Take against Duran Duran’s Hungry Like the Wolf or some other Duran Duran video against Def Leppard’s Foolin’.  In fact, the video I remember running week after week after week in the video vote was Def Leppard’s Foolin’

This was important stuff (to me) at the time. Now, it seems so trivial. In my mind, Def Leppard had to be voted for over Duran Duran. I was all for the Hard Rock acts at the time. I remember having all kinds of conversations about this stuff with my friends on our walks (or drives) to school or hanging out at the time.  I would carry my copies of Hit Parader and Modern Drummer magazine to school. I would pull them out at the end of whatever class period I was in or study hall or whatever. This also explains my continued interest in writing about this stuff too.

Soon, Pyromania was a favorite of many of my friends and kids then.  After Photograph and Foolin’, the next single for the band was Rock of Ages.  For me, this was just the coolest. I had grown up attending church with my parents and had heard the traditional hymn of the same name. So, I loved the coincidental name. It also had the odd voice intro “Gunter glieben glauchen globen”  followed by a straight heavy cowbell. The vocal gibberish intro was later revealed to be producer Robert “Mutt” Lange counting off the song after multiple takes of the usual count of four. I remember thinking that the cowbell was the first percussive accessory I had to have on my drumset. So, I bought a cowbell and a bass drum mounting clip for my kit.  I soon found out that the cowbell that I had purchased was higher pitched than Rick Allen’s in the song.  It was rather cool until your musical friends with a better sense of pitch point out that Def Lep’s cowbell has a much lower tone.

By the time summer vacation of 1983 was in full swing, Rock of Ages was the next single blaring out of car stereos. So, when I returned to school in the Fall, the song I remember loving to hear at those early school year dances was Rock of Ages and that unforgettable cowbell intro.

Of course, these songs were the hit singles and videos that are remembered from this album. But, the continuity on this album flows from beginning to end. From Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop) to Too Late for Love and Die Hard the Hunter to Stagefright, these songs just make a very cohesive well thought out ROCK album. All these years later, I can put this album on and sing along and play air drums all the way through.  So, you can’t talk about this album and the production without touching on the winning track record of producer “Mutt” Lange.  When they started recording the album in 1982, Lange already had multi-platinum selling albums with AC/DC (Back in Black, Highway to Hell, For Those About to Rock We Salute You), Foreigner 4 and (of course) Def Leppard’s High & Dry.  After his work with the band on this album and again on their 1987 album Hysteria, He would become known for being one of the most successful producers ever.  The band laments about how much Mutt was such a task master in getting the optimum performance from the band. He even went so far to use drum machines and electronic drums in the mix. Rick Allen’s drumkit was actually mic’d through a Simmons electronic drumkit “brain” or mixer. To a Hard Rock loving kid like myself, this was quite the revelation.  The fact that Simmons electronic technology was used is rather coincidental considering that Allen would lose his left arm in a car accident on New Year’s Eve 1984. He then would turn to a modified Simmons drums with electronic foot trigger pedals to play the parts he had previously played with his left hand.  So, in all actuality, the sound of his drums (on record) never really changed.

Since Def Leppard had become one of my high school favorites, I was crushed to hear that drummer Rick Allen had lost his arm. But, as a drummer, I honestly believed in him. I knew he had the fortitude to find a way to come back behind the kit and come out triumphant. Of course he did. In 1987, the band came back with another multi-platinum selling album Hysteria. I bought that one too. Although, by this time, it was 4 years later I was entering my 3rd year of college. Some of my tastes had changed. It wasn’t altogether cool to be a Def Leppard fan.  But, the anticipation to hear this new album was there. I honestly liked it and eventually saw the band perform live(in the round) in Omaha in November of 1987.  It really was an awesome concert event to behold and I was impressed by the band and Rick Allen’s one-armed drumming style.  In fact, Rick Allen’s triumph through adversity is a testament to what can be done even with a disability like his.

In 1988, a concert video of them performing the song Pour Some Sugar on Me began to play in heavy rotation on MTV. At first it was cool to relive the concert I had just seen through this video. But, this was HEAVY ROTATION!  So, I grew tired of it…and fast. I use to say “I loved the song the first THOUSAND times I heard it.”  In October 1988, the band played again in Nebraska. This time in the state’s capital of Lincoln. I remember now that many of the college students I knew went to this show. I had no interest in the band anymore. I was absolutely sick of them. 

As time has gone by, my obsession with Def Leppard has pretty much dwindled to nothing. I occasionally will look up some old albums and give them a listen. The band is one of the remaining hold-outs for releasing their catalog in a digital form. They released a live double CD called Mirror Ball and that’s really all there is for digital download and streaming. In the late 90’s VH1 started a show called “Ultimate Albums”.  One of the albums they have highlighted (and I recorded) was for the album Pyromania.  As I watched the show, I was reminded of a more innocent time in my life.  I would put the CD copy I had on and sing along and I knew every little nuance to the album.  The album was like an old comfy sweatshirt that you pull out of the closet for just a bit of comfort. It’s familiar and it’s nice to go back and visit. In 2004, the album ranked number 384 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In 2006, Q magazine placed the album at number 35 in its list of "40 Best Albums of the '80s". I’m sure the album is on a list of favorites who grew up listening to music in the 80’s.

So, when we went back to North Platte in early August 2012. I was looking forward to showing my son the house I grew up in, the church I attended, the grade school I went to, the places I had played, and the Eagle Scout project I made for an elementary school in 1983. But, as I drove by Cody Elementary school to see that my sign had been replaced, all I could think about was the memories and (of course) the music we were listening to that day so many years ago.

New Releases from John Mayer and Tedeschi Trucks Band.

For me, it’s hard to find new music by artists that continue to make music that stimulates me. I usually end up seeking out old music by established artists in hopes of finding something I may have missed out on. On Tuesday May 22 2012, there were quite a few releases that I not only admire but also recommend. John Mayer’s Born and Raised,  the Tedeschi Trucks Band’s live Everybody’s Talkin’,  Joe Bonamassa’s Driving Towards the Daylight and Slash’s Apocalyptic Love were all released on the same day. Thanks to the internet and services like Spotify, I am able to dial up these new albums (both at home and my smartphone) and listen to the entire albums.  I know there are music purists that may criticize me for this practice. But, I am paying for the service to “sample'” and stream these albums. I have also been scoping out these releases on various retail websites in hopes of downloading the albums(legally) or buying a physical copy on CD. As I listen to these, I’ll make an opinion of these. Right now, I know that I’ll have a hard time decided which ones to get first. They are sounding really good at this point. They are energizing me enough to write this down. That’s saying something. For this blog, I’ll highlight the ones from John Mayer and the Tedeschi Trucks Band.

First of all is John Mayer’s Born and Raised.  Mayer’s been on the music scene for the past decade and I really feel he’s made some great music. He’s a definite student of the Blues through artists like Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan. But, he also has influences from the music of the past 30-40 years too. His last album Battle Studies never really resonated for me. His album before that was Continuum and that definitely hit me on a musical and emotional level. I was in the middle of a divorce and was coming to grips with the end of my marriage when I heard that album. That album touched on issues on relationships that I related to at the time. Even now, when I go back to listen to that, I’m transported back to the time and the emotions I was feeling at the time. The new album is very earthy and natural sounding. I really dislike it when modern day producers take musicians that are proficient on their instruments and bog down the songs with “modern” sounds of drum machines and turntable scratching to make it seem more pop sounding to cater to a pop market. This album is very stripped down. I’m sure in today’s marketplace, it could be considered “country” or “folksy” sounding.  There’s a lot of acoustic guitar, harmonica, slide guitar/dobro on this album. It’s just feels like a natural musical statement. It’s a definite “Sunday Afternoon chill-out” album.
On this album, he reflects on his life after a 2 year absence from the spotlight after his much talked about embarrassing interviews with Rolling Stone and Playboy magazines. Mayer’s talent often gets overshadowed by his tendency to end up in the tabloids with whoever he seems to be dating at the time(Jennifer Love-Hewett, Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Aniston). But, I really feel his prowess on the guitar and for songwriting is something he should be commended for. The lyrics on this album are autobiographical for Mayer. He’s looking to isolate himself from the busy life of the limelight. On Queen of California, he talks about finding “that song” like what Neil Young or Joni Mitchell wrote on their classic icon albums. The Age of Worry is that thing that creative people do when they are trying too hard. They worry about what others think of their creative ventures. I myself have had that moment of worrying what others think of me. Do they like me? It can be almost crippling at times. I’ve been a people pleaser from a very young age. I’ve done theatre. I’ve done a bit of stand-up comedy. I’ve been in singing groups and bands. Most of it is all for the attention and the approval of others. But, being happy in your own skin is something I struggle with on a daily basis. It’s lyrics like this that I find encouraging.

Yours is with your timing
Dream your dreams but don’t pretend
Be friends with what you are

The next song is the current single off the album. The lyrics for this are another look at self introspection. I’ve had those days of questioning when my life will make a turn for the better. The song for Shadow Days is a lesson in self affirmation.

Hard times let me be
I’m a good man with a good heart
Had a tough time, got a rough start
And I finally learned to let it go
Now I’m right here, and I’m right now
And I’m hoping, knowing somehow
That my shadows days are over
My shadow days are over now

As I track through the songs and read through the lyrics, I can envision John in the middle of Montana(he lives there now) alone with a notebook jotting down these lyrics and thoughts as they touch on the emotions he’s been feeling the past couple of years. From the title track Born and Raised to If I Ever Get Around to Living, he seems to be lamenting and constantly yearning for something intangible in life. The lyrics are autobiographical as is the music. Many of us have felt it and yet he’s finding a way to express it.  Through the simplicity of the instrumentation and vocal harmonies (courtesy of Graham Nash and David Crosby), John Mayer makes an honest and heartfelt album that shows him to have more depth than what some may have perceived him to have.
Back in 2007,  John Mayer and Derek Trucks(along with Chili Pepper John Frusciante) were featured as the “New Guitar Gods” in Rolling Stone magazine.

I’ve been following the two and them ever since. Both are fantastic guitar players steeped in the Blues. Their kind of Blues is more of a laid-back country blues. Derek Trucks began teaming up with his wife (blues singer) Susan Tedeschi on the road a few years back. Last year, they released the critically acclaimed (and Grammy Award winning) debut album for the Tedeschi Trucks band called Revelator.  Their new album is a live album whose title is also a unique cover of the Harry Nilsson classic Everybody’s Talkin’. 

There only seems to be about 3 songs from the Revelator album on this live set. But, they are 3 great songs. This full band is funky and jam packed with southern soul. Derek’s slide guitar sings and cries. While Susan’s singing voice touches me deep and makes me cry(Check out Midnight in Harlem) Derek’s signature sound is instrumental in carrying on the legacy of his musical mentor- the late Duane Allman. When I listen to his playing, I’m almost always relaxed and DE-stressed into a moment of serenity and comfort. It’s just that magical to me.

The band is so loose and grooving. Upon first listen, I found myself grabbing a pair of my drumsticks and started playing along on a  single practice pad. From Bound for Glory into Rollin’ and Tumblin’, I had my left foot tapping along to the point where I found myself playing on an imaginary “air” drumkit in my mind. My left foot became my hi-hat pedal. My right foot was my bass drum foot and my arms were laying down a beat between the imaginary snare drum, cymbals, toms and hi-hat. I am moved to be moving and grooving.
This overall sound is the kind of sound that warms my heart, quickens my heartbeat, fills me with excitement and puts a smile on my face.  The crisp horn section, the slithering bass lines, the Hammond organ and of course the signature guitar sound make me sit in awe of this incredible band. I can only imagine how great a live show is put on by this band. I’m also thinking “How can I get a chance to play in a band like this?”  The live songs flow as a live show should. Then I’m hit with a cover of Stevie Wonder’s Uptight.   The band is right on this one. Susan’s vocal range is perfect for this one. This one stretches into an all-out jam by this group of fantastic musicians including a double drummer solo. The band winds up with a couple of great songs including Love has Something Else to Say followed by the gospel show stopper Wade in the Water  that highlights the vocal interplay between Susan and the backing singers which I assume are Mike Mattison and Kofi Burnbridge from Derek’s band.  This is yet another great release from this band. I would definitely put these albums on my early favorites list for 2012.
I wanted to write up a review for the new Joe Bonamassa and the new Slash album too. But, that will be a blog for another day. Right now, these are the albums that are occupying a space in my brain for now.

Soundgarden – Superunknown

In the spring of 1994, music fans were now 4-5 years into a new decade with new bands and new music.  The new bands of the 90’s seemed to be coming out of Seattle Washington.  There were definitely 4 bands that were riding a wave of success from the Pacific Northwest.  Nirvana and Pearl Jam slammed onto the scene in 1991 with Nevermind and Ten.  Two Seattle bands that had record deals ahead of the other two were Alice in Chains and Soundgarden.  Alice in Chains’ debut album Facelift was released in August 1990 and Soundgarden’s first album Ultramega UK in 1988 and Louder than Love in 1989.  I had remembered playing some tracks from Soundgarden’s Louder than Love on my radio shifts at the college radio station.  I was particularly fond of the song Loud Love.   I found Soundgarden pretty cool but I didn’t find myself drawn into the band.  In 1991, they released their album Badmotorfinger.   I had moved to Omaha at the time. My college friend (and fellow Dustys’ employee) Bob had also moved to Omaha with his (then) fiancée’.  I remember getting back in contact with Bob and went to see him at the rental he was living at.  Of course, the conversation led to talk of music and current music favorites.  Bob was thrilled by the sounds of Soundgarden and the side project Temple of the Dog which featured members of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam.  One of his co-workers came over and they both raved about Soundgarden.  One of them made the comment that Soundgarden was like Led Zeppelin meets Black Sabbath.  That sounded like a really cool analogy and the more I listened to these guys talk, I began to agree. Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell was a very intense singer and he had great stage presence and bravado too. I had read an interview Guitarist Kim Thayil had done with Guitar World with Pantera’s Dimebag Darrell and the two guitarists from Skid Row.  So, there was a bit of a Heavy Metal connection and that seemed cool to me too. I don’t think the band wanted to be thrown into that kind of category though. I also vaguely remember in the pages of Modern Drummer magazine that drummer Matt Cameron had been singled out by Rush’s Neil Peart as one of his new favorites. So, everything seemed to be in favor of this band.

I passed on purchasing a copy of Badmotorfinger.  There was just too much hype around the “grunge” scene at the time.  But, when the buzz came about for the release of their fourth album Superunknown,  I was ready. My ears were perked up for this one.  By 1994, I had gone from being an assistant store manager at Music Avenue to Store Manager at Tape World to unemployed and then as an assistant manager at the Blockbuster video store in Bellevue Nebraska. Looking back, I’m not sure how I kept up with what was going on in popular music after being let go from my music store jobs. Nowadays, we have the internet to keep track. I didn’t have basic cable at the time. I would drive to my friend Kelly’s apartment in Papillion to watch MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball on Saturday nights. A high school friend of mine had moved into the same apartment complex I was living in and he would invite me over to watch “Beavis and Butthead”.  I know that I used to go to a handful of record stores in the Omaha area on my days off.  So, I would keep track of new releases when I would visit the various stores. I’m sure I would go into the bookstores and peruse through a bunch of the music magazines too.  The ROCK radio station in Omaha that many people listened to was Z-92.  They were THE central Nebraska AOR station.  They started playing the first single from Superunknown called Spoonman.  I absolutely loved the tribal drums with the percussive sound of the street musician known as the “Spoonman”. How incredibly cool.

So, I waited in anticipation for the release day on this CD.  I think I went to the nearest Best Buy store to buy this CD. In those days, Best Buy had a great selection of CD’s and the new releases were usually priced at $9.99 for the first couple weeks after its initial release.  I bought the CD that clocked in at 73 minutes 34 seconds. The 90’s were definitely the era of the CD.  Bands and artists would make a ton of music to fit into the format of CD where you could fit about 75 minutes on a disc. Nowadays, music listeners have a tendency to pick and choose the songs they want. They download those songs and rarely buy a complete CD or the entire album. Some could argue that some of the songs are just filler songs. Some may claim that the album was the artist’s complete vision. They wrote these songs for this project known as “an album”.  I popped this CD in the player and just let it play.  I have never been the kind of person who tracks through a CD or album to find the songs I like. I usually try to listen to the whole thing as one big aural experience. This album was one of those.

As I prepared to write about this album, I was trying to figure out what songs I was drawn to on this album. I obviously knew Spoonman.  But, the songs were intense on the instrumentation. They flowed from one song into another. The band seemed a lot more mature now. As big as they had become with Badmotorfinger, They didn’t seem to be the pissed off angry young men that they were in 1991.  It sounded so good. This was a well-crafted and thought out album with great songs and great production.  My friend-Dave (that lived in the same apartment complex) would ask me (in his best Butthead voice) “Are they really pissed off on this album? They sound really pissed off!….I really like stuff that sounds PISSED OFF!”  I honestly don’t know (to this day) if he was serious or not.  We had a tendency to be really really goofy and sit and talk like Beavis and Butthead for hours. I know it’s kinda stupid and juvenile. But, WE were a little juvenile too. It was fun just to be silly about it. Anyway, I really liked this album. After the debut of Spoonman, the single for Black Hole Sun was released with an accompanying video.  I thought the song was a pretty cool mid-tempo song.  But, when the video was released to MTV, the everyday life happiness of middle america was turned into bizarre freakshow of creepy ultra-happy people and crazy images of ….well who knows.  I thought it was absolutely awesome. It was so weird and demented.  It was definitely a study in IF A BAND MAKES A REALLY ODD AND OVERTLY STRANGE VIDEO, WILL THE PUBLIC STILL BUY IT?

In June of 1994, I moved back to Kearney and went back to work for Dustys Records. This was a definite favorite album of that year.  That year, Dusty had started a newsletter for Dustys’ customers with different “favorites” lists and reviews from the employees and customers alike.  For some reason, I came up with a “Best of” list for very specific categories. I can’t remember the different categories. But, I do remember calling this album “The Best Album from a Seattle Band that didn’t have any gripes against Ticketmaster”.  Earlier that year, Pearl Jam had made waves in the press for appearing in court against the Ticketmaster company. Kurt Cobain had died in April and so that was to be the end of the band Nirvana and Alice in Chains had been rather inactive for 1994.

Time went by and Superunknown began to sit in my CD collection. I would pull it out occasionally and give it a listen. As I pointed out earlier, this album was over 73 minutes long.  Dustys Records closed in August of 1995. I was no longer working in an environment where I could listen to music and complete albums in one sitting. I would try to listen to the album on long drives. But, I let it sit and sit and sit on my CD rack. Soundgarden eventually broke up as a band. Chris Cornell continued on as a solo artist and started a band with the members of Rage Against the Machine in a project called AudioSlave. Drummer Matt Cameron became the official drummer for Pearl Jam. Life became busier. I lost my interest in Soundgarden.  I eventually decided to sacrifice that CD for some money…in other words, I sold my copy.  I went to see a couple of local cover bands in the late 90’s and one of the bands did a cover of Spoonman.  I told the guys in the band I thought it was a great choice for a song.  The topic of the album came up. One of the guys asked me if I had heard the Superunknown album.  I acknowledged that I had it and owned it but had sold it.  I was chastised and teased by my musical peers for doing so.  I shopped through the used CD bins and eventually found another copy of it. I thought to myself “Why did I sell this?”  Then, I entered into a marriage and my wife expressed how much she disliked Soundgarden or more specifically the song Black Hole Sun.  So, I felt like I really couldn’t put this album on for a listen while she was around. There had been times when I had put on some of my music from my diverse collection before and was usually greeted with a wrinkled nose and a condescending  “WHAT ARE WE LISTENING TO????”  So, in those times of financial need and we would need to sell stuff to pay some bills or groceries or whatever, I would sell back another copy of Superunknown.  I was okay with this decision again.

Then, I went through a divorce and started going back to many of the albums and music that I had always enjoyed. I would see a video or hear a track off this album here and there on some of the local radio stations or would hanging out with friends and someone would have the CD in their collections.  One night, I was watching the PBS series “Soundstage” and Peter Frampton was the featured musician.  All of a sudden, he and his band started into an instrumental.  The broadcast would show what songs they were playing as they would start the song.  The song came up as Black Hole Sun.  This was an instrumental version of the Soundgarden song. I was floored. What a great choice for an instrumental song.

Around the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010, my interest and revitalized love for Soundgarden came about when my brother gave me the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die as a gift for Christmas 2009.  This book was the inspiration for me to start this blog about my music and memories. Then, on January 1, 2010, Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell posted this message online…

"The 12-year break is over and school is back in session. Sign up now. Knights of the Soundtable ride again!"

Along with this message, was a link to a website with a picture of the band and a place to enter your email for details about the band’s reunion.  This was great news for people who had been fans of the band and were waiting for a big event reunion to happen in the rock arena.

I wrote many of my “blog memories” from the albums that were listed in the book. But, I always had Superunknown as one of the albums I wanted to write about. I toiled over what I wanted to say about the album. What kind of memories were there? Will what I write about this album resonate with those who are reading it? Will the people reading this criticize me still for selling my CD copy?…not once but twice?  I eventually downloaded the entire album. So, there’s no way I can sell it now.  I have listened to the album now with my (almost) 45 year old ears. I may be older than I was(and we all were) in 1994. But, this album just feels very familiar. This album was and is an incredible musical statement. It has an intensity that starts with Let Me Drown and flows into My Wave and Fell on Black Days.  When we get to track 4: Mailman,  the tempo slows down to what I would call a “plod”.  But, the intensity is still there and that makes the “plodding” that much more intense. I get that now. There are obvious moments of all-out rockers to punk slammers (Kickstand) and spaced out ethereal eastern flavored pieces of experimentation(Half).

In 1001 Albums, writer Claire Stuchberry writes

“Clocking in at 73 minutes, Superunknown could possibly have benefitted from some gentle editing. Yet it proved to be the pinnacle of Soundgarden’s career “

This could also be included as one of the last albums of the 90’s “Grunge” era. Tastes were beginning to change. What was once called the “Alternative” was now becoming the mainstream rock music. In April of 1994, Kurt Cobain of Nirvana died of a suicide and Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam became less visible on the music radar. But, it’s almost 20 years later and it’s great to go back and revisit the albums for both the music and the memories that I associate with them. 

As of this writing, Soundgarden has toured again with all the members intact. They’ve performed on some of the late night talk shows too. But, they’ve yet to release a new album of material. Just this week, there was a news release that they had a new song to be featured on the 2012 summer movie blockbuster Marvel’s the Avengers.  It will be really cool to hear what new material the band comes out with. Until then, I’ll stick to the greatness that was included on the Superunknown.

Davy Jones, The Monkees and Headquarters

Wednesday, February 29, 2012 is yet another day where fans of popular music have lost another figure that was a part of our musical past. Today, I’m talking about my memories of the Monkees and singer Davy Jones and the album Headquarters.

I found out late this morning about the passing of Davy Jones. I wrestled with the idea of writing out my thoughts on the Monkees and Davy. For some, the Monkees were a joke. They were known as the “pre-fab(fabricated) four”.  They were developed by the NBC- TV network for a TV show about a pop/rock band and the “crazy hijinks” that ensues.  After the success of the Beatles’ movies Hard Days Night and Help! the network wanted a Beatles type band to base the show around.  They only sang on the first few recordings for the show. They didn’t play the instruments and were then criticized for this fact.  So, do I write about a band that is still talked about with fond memories and a great catalog of hit songs? Well, I have some awesome memories about this band and I find myself listening to some of their stuff on occasion too.  So, here we go….

The band was made up of four actors or musicians which included Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork, Mickey Dolenz and David(Davy) Jones. Mickey, Mike and Peter were from the U.S. and Davey was British. He was short in stature and had been a jockey apprentice. He had also starred as the “Artful Dodger” in the musical Oliver. In fact, Davy appeared on the Ed Sullivan show with the Oliver cast on the same night as the Beatles on February 9, 1964. The news reports after his death say that the experience of being on the same night as the Beatles inspired him for what would be his next big career move.

Davy’s US TV Debut was the same night as the Beatles’ debut.

I have vague memories of watching the Monkees TV show on Saturday mornings in the early 70’s. The original series ran from 1966 to 1968. My sisters had been fans during the original run so we would inevitably watch the rerun episodes on those Saturday mornings. Since, I had the same name as this guy-Davy, I found a kind of kinship to other “Davids” We had copies of a few Monkees albums floating around the house growing up. I seem to remember the self-titled first album, More of the Monkees and Headquarters.  If you could gauge “fandom” by looking at how teenage girls “personalized” the album covers, my sisters were big fans of Davy Jones.  On the back cover, my sister had drawn circles around just Davy in all the group pictures.  At some point, these records drifted from my sisters record collections into a cupboard where they would put the stuff they wanted to put on Mom’s garage sales.  Eventually, those records found their way into my ever-growing record collection.

Fast forward through the 70’s and into the 80’s.  I was a freshman in college in the fall of 1985. In February 1986, MTV decided to run a 24 hour marathon of the Monkees TV show episodes.  In my own arrested development of my freshman year of college, I was elated about this trip into a more innocent time for me. My college friend Shaun(who could be very vocal and cynical about music) raved about some of the great Monkees songs. He loved Mickey’s vocals in Last Train to Clarksville. Thinking back, this may have been one of the first of my peers to acknowledge some kind of affinity for this band.  We talked about the controversary about whether the band played their instruments and all that stuff.  But, when it came time for the marathon to air, I was there on the Mantor Hall 3rd floor lounge watching as much as I could. I’m sure the other guys on my floor got tired of it. But, I ate it up. I found it funny and entertaining and just a good laugh. 

After the success of the MTV marathon, the show then began to air on a daily basis on MTV.  When things like this begin airing in wide rotation on the channel, people have a tendency to get tired of the saturation.  I remember my roommate’s girlfriend telling me that it had been announced that the Monkees would be embarking on a reunion tour (without Mike Nesmith) in the summer of 86 and one of the stops was in my childhood home of North Platte, Nebraska during the annual summer celebration known as Nebraskaland days. I didn’t live in North Platte anymore. But, I was determined to go see them. Then in August of that same year, they played at the Hall County fair in Grand Island.  I had such a great time at the North Platte show. I had to go again. This time I was taking my younger brother Mike(who was 10 at the time). Sometimes, I regret that one of my brother’s first concert experiences was the Monkees. But, I know that when the news came of Davy’s passing, it triggered a memory that we shared.

 

I even remember seeing local Kearney band –Sidekick play at a Fall Semester “Back to School” dance at the student union parking lot play some Monkees songs in their set. As I danced with a female friend, I was singing along to all the words of the Monkees’ songs. She asked me how I knew all the words to the songs. I told her about growing up with the songs and my common name with Davy Jones. She kind of shrugged it off. Looking back, mayber she really wasn’t that much of a friend…hehe!

As I stated earlier, I had felt a connection to Davy through our common name. I’m not sure when I found out. But, two of my three sisters at some point told me that I was named after Davy Jones.  Since I was born in the summer of 1967, I can see how that would have been possible. My oldest sister-Pam denies this. She claims (that since she was the oldest) Mom and Dad had asked her what she would name her baby brother.  She still claims she liked the name “David Scott” and so that is my name. But, my sister Connie says I was named after Davy.  My take on this is that since I was born at a time when the Monkees were the mania of the day and Pam suggested the name David, I’m sure Connie was more than happy to agree that I shared the name with her teen idol. I can’t speak factually. I was there but have no memory of it!

Those who’ve known me and my musical obsessions have witnessed when I start to get full blown into something.  With the newfound resurgence of fame for the Monkees came new recordings.  Arista records put together a “Best of” album out for the Monkees in that summer of 86 called Then & Now…the Best of the Monkees.  The band filmed a video of a new song called That was then…this is Now featuring footage of them on the new reunion tour. The odd thing that I don’t think I ever noticed is that the video is only Mickey and Peter. Davy is nowhere to be seen in the video. I bought this album and found it to be a good little souvenir for that summer.  I do remember that pulling out those old albums of my sisters and reading up on the back story on the Headquarters album.

One summer evening in 1986, I pulled the Headquarters album out and started to listen to it. There is a story behind this album.  When the Beatles came on the music scene, fans looked on this band as a group of four guys who wrote, sang AND PLAYED everything(instruments included) on their records.  So, when the Monkees were introduced through a TV show, the critics called them “the Pre-fab Four”.  The TV show and the songs were put together by music mogul Don Kirschner and the TV producers. They used established hit songwriters like Neil Diamond and Carole King. So, this album was the Monkees album done by the band. The band sang, produced and played on the album.

I dropped the needle on the album and tried to honestly listen to it and dissect it. Of course, it didn’t have the hit singles I was familiar with like I’m a Believer or Last Train to Clarksville or Daydream Believer. I was looking for those memorable hit songs. I was like a 13 year old teenybopper looking for only the songs from the radio or MTV or whatever. Looking back, I found You May Just Be the One, For Pete’s Sake(which became the song that ran during the end credits during the second TV season), Shades of Gray and Randy Scouse Git. Some may consider these songs to be filler songs on a greatest hits album. In fact, I ended up finding these songs as “filler” songs for the “best of” album. I am the kind of music fan that gets tired of the overplayed hits. I like to know there are other songs on the album and I honestly believe that this album had good songs put together by 4 guys who wanted to show the world, the fans and the critics just what they could do.

In the summer of 87, Davy Jones wrote a book called They Made a Monkee out of Me and with that book he made another trip back to Central Nebraska promoting it. He came to Kearney for a book signing appearance at the Hilltop Mall. I was back in Hastings for summer break between school years. I didn’t make it over for the book signing. I still wish I had made the drive over for that one. I still believed he was who I was named after. My sister Pam set me straight on the “name thing” a few years later.

I still have fond memories of this music. I still have conversations with my music geek friends about the recordings, the songs and the band’s place in Rock n’ Roll History. Were they just a teenybopper obsession for 13 year old girls that turned into a huge phenomenon?  Were they one-hit wonders to be forgotten as a footnote in pop culture? I would say NO they’re not. They had multiple hit songs. They were one of the forerunners of what became music videos. I’m sure there were some younger siblings of Beatles fans who were too young to see them on Ed Sullivan. But, the impact of the Monkees and their popularity may have inspired to play and write music.  I AM that younger sibling. They were definitely an early influence in my tastes in pop music.

So, when Davy Jones passed away on Wednesday, I felt a sadness of many who were teenagers in the 60’s or witnessed their comeback in the 80’s. Writer and commentator Bob Lefsetz wrote in his “Lefsetz Letter” this week about the importance of Davy Jones and the Monkees to the Baby Boomer generation and the generation after that. http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2012/03/01/davy-jones/

They were a “manufactured” band. But, the music lives on. They were huge and ubiquitous in an age where there were 3 major networks on TV.  The album Headquarters was released in May of 1967. I was born in July. This album was on top of the Billboard album charts until the Beatles knocked them to number two with Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in June of that year.  As many of my memories blogs are about albums from the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, writer Mark Morris writes about Headquarters

“Headquarters sold well, seeming to have proved the band right. But at this point, the ‘did they/didn’t they’ argument mattered a whole lot less than the fact that as automatons and autonomous beings alike, the Monkees were a great band with great tunes”

So, to the Monkees….and especially my British “brother” Davy Jones, Thank you for the fond memories and the fun tunes and music.

George Harrison – All Things Must Pass

When I started this blog, it was November 29th 2011… the 10th anniversary of the passing of Beatle George Harrison. As I attempt to finish this blog, it’s February 25th, 2012 which would have been George’s 69th birthday.  In music history, on November 27th 1970, George released his 3 record solo album All Things Must Pass.  Today, I’m going to talk about the memories, the music and emotions that I associate with this album.

 

I wish I could say I have many memories of growing up and listening to this album. But, I really don’t. I remember Eric Blume listening to this album during my college days at Dustys Records. I remember that it was a 3 (vinyl) record album and it was lengthy. I remember in my junior high and high school years when my hometown church told us that George’s song My Sweet Lord was bad. This is because if you listened to the chorus, you could hear them singing “Hare Krishna, Krishna krishna” and this should not agree with your Christian beliefs. As a musician, I’ve read of the many outstanding musicians that played on that album including Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and the band that would become Derek and the Dominoes, Alan White who would go on to play drums for YES, and of course Ringo Starr. It’s only been in the last 10 years that I’ve really come to know and love this album. In my blog about John Lennon’s death, I talked about my own journey into Beatlemania and my love for the Fab Four. Many of my friends who have known me over the years knew what a big Beatles fan I’ve been for those years. I share a birthday with Ringo. I play drums and I count Ringo as a big inspiration. I saw Paul McCartney live in 1993 in Kansas City and it’s still one of my all-time favorite concerts. But, as I look back on the week leading up to November 29th 2001, the news of George Harrison’s passing was something that left me both devastated and somewhat calming at the same time.

I had been newly married in March 2001.  In the movies, the story usually ends with the couple getting married and the audience is made to believe that everyone lives “Happily Ever After”.  In reality, the story really begins after the wedding ceremony.  In the months following our wedding, my wife and I started dealing with the many issues that married people do. Looking back, I’m not sure we were ready for it. As a hopeless romantic, I thought after we got married, things would be great for us…..just like in the movies. That fall, we spent Thanksgiving with my parents. I felt we had a great time with lots of laughs and games and a general enjoyable time. After we got back home, I asked my wife if she enjoyed the holiday and time spent with my family.  As we lay in bed, she said, “We’re not good for each other”.  I was in utter shock at the words that came out of her mouth.  I had the hardest time sleeping that night. In fact, I couldn’t sleep. I was hurt and my mind was swimming with things to say or do to make her change her mind. All I could think was that our marriage was already over and we hadn’t even been married a full year yet.  The next morning(after limited sleep), I went to check my email as I did every morning. I had received one from my brother Mike and my old roommate Matt to inform me that George Harrison had passed away. As a fan, I was deeply saddened. I’ve always considered the musicians that I admire to be some sort of kindred spirit. This news was just another blow to my emotional well-being. I told my wife of George’s passing and she shrugged it off as just another one of my dead music icons that I obsessed over.  I don’t know if she ever understood how I felt about many of the artists I followed….especially the Beatles.

Being the media junkie that I am, I had the VCR on “RECORD” all day to tape the news stories on George. This was an event I wanted to preserve as a sort of “video scrapbook”.  I watched story after story on him that day from CNN to MTV to VH1 to ABC Nightline. Of course, the obvious stories of his time in the Beatles were highlighted.  Also, much was said about George being the “quiet” and the “spiritual” Beatle. If you know the Beatles history, you know they studied transcendental meditation and other Indian Mysticism. At that point, I thought about my own “spiritualism” and my own Christian faith and what it meant to me. 

Then, the title song for his 1970 album All Things Must Pass would be played.  All good things come to an end.

“Sunrise doesn’t last all morning
A cloudburst doesn’t last all day
Seems my love is up has left you with no warning
It’s not always going to be this grey”

It’s been said that George wrote this song in response to the breakup of the Beatles. For many years, musicians have likened the band experience to being married to 3-4 other people. So I likened the breakup of a band to my marriage. So, All Things Must Pass was a song of healing for me. If my marriage would to continue or end, Let it be in God’s hands. This song gave me my own personal peace. We eventually had one son. But, the divorce was final in 2007 after we had separated in late 2005. But, whenever I question “why” this happened, I would always find solace in this song.

In 2002 (a year after George’s passing), Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Jeff Lynne and a bunch of other of George’s friends put together “A Concert for George”.  These artists and friends of George would perform many of his songs. I knew the Beatles’ songs and the ones he did with the Traveling Wilburys.  Then, I was exposed to some of the lesser known songs from All Things Must Pass.  I have been a longtime fan of Eric Clapton. Clapton and George had been longtime friends since the days of the Beatles. They even were married to the same woman(at different times). Clapton actually wrote his song Layla for George’s first wife Patti. Clapton eventually married her too. But, they still remained friends. In the concert for George, Eric sings the song Beware of Darkness.  I’ve always felt that Clapton conveys an extra sense of passion in any performance he does. I found myself drawn into this song.

Fast forward to 2007 and Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival.  I had seen clips of the concerts on PBS or something like that. The performances I saw were just fantastic. I received the DVD of the 2007 Guitar Festival as a Christmas gift in 2008. I was moved by so many performances. I knew most of the songs that had been played. But, I have such a curiosity about different songs. Clapton makes an announcement for his next song “This song is for someone I wish was here…and he kinda is anyway!”  The song was (and is) Isn’t it a Pity.  Here it was….another George Harrison song.

Once again, I felt myself drawn into the passion and the heartbreak of this song.

Isn’t it a Pity. Now isn’t it a shame.
How we break each other’s hearts and cause each other pain
How we take each other’s love without thinking any more
Forgetting to give back
Isn’t it a pity?

Even now, as I listen back to this song, I feel the tears well up in my eyes and the loss I felt.

The past ten years have been a time of music that can be ordered or downloaded through services on the internet. I had looked up the 2000 Remastered edition of All Things Must Pass on Amazon.com. I had saved it on my Amazon wishlist. It was always a purchase I wanted to make. But, since the album was originally 3 record albums long, this remastered CD wouldn’t be a cheap purchase. After working in record stores in the 80’s and 90’s, it’s still hard for me to buy albums at the “suggested retail price”.  So, I put it off over and over again.

So, this past fall, I decided to download the 2001 Remastered edition of All Things Must Pass from Amazon.com. The production is very crisp. The vocal harmonies are beautifully haunting and soothing. George’s signature slide guitar sound slices and cuts through the mix. It may only be a slide guitar. But, the sound is instantly identifiable as GEORGE HARRISON’S Slide guitar. George augments his song Wah Wah with a fantastic horn section. The background vocals singing “Hare Krishna” on My Sweet Lord are evidently clear in the mix too. Most of the songs were songs I had probably heard earlier in my life. I know I had probably heard them in my college years working at Dustys. But, with the Concert for George performances, I was definitely re-introduced to these songs. Another great song that has a great melody and inescapable horn line is What is Life.

2011 saw the HBO premiere of the Martin Scorsese’s documentary George Harrison: Living in the Material World.  The first part of the documentary concentrated on his early life and Beatles years and the second half was about his solo and post-Beatles years. I had seen so many clips and footage from the Beatles years. So, I was really looking forward to seeing the clips from the 70’s and 80’s and his solo years. There is some great footage of his Concert for Bangladesh and his 1974 tour. His throat (and voice) seems really raspy and raw on the 74 tour. After furthering my research on this tour, I found out he had been suffering from laryngitis.  But, his band (featuring Billy Preston on keyboards and backing vocals) sound immense with lots of rhythmic energy. We later see George gargling with a mixture of honey and vinegar and water to help with his laryngitis/throat problems. Yet again, I discovered lesser known songs that moved me musically.

This album is so intense with many different layers. I am overwhelmed by the array of musicians that play on this album. From the signature sound of Ringo on drums to Clapton and his “Dominoes” band jamming on the instrumental Plug Me In, I can pick out many different musical personalities. Then, I am reminded that many of these songs were compositions that George stockpiled from his days in the Beatles. Since he was in a band with the songwriting team of Lennon and McCartney, his songs had a tendency to get pushed to the wayside. Then, I am touched by the themes of spirituality in some songs like My Sweet Lord, Hear Me Lord and Awaiting on You All. 

The album is so dense and filled so much material. I need a couple of days of no interruptions to take it all in.  I keep thinking that a new generation of music fans have grown accustomed to downloading selected songs instead of complete albums. I still find that to be a very foreign concept. I bought/downloaded this album because of the music I had found through the tributes to George after his death.  I liked the few songs I had heard from this album and was anxious to hear more and I’m still discovering more with every listen.

When I started writing this blog, I associated the title track with my own personal trials and the dissolution of my marriage. It was hard for me to write so much of what was going on. The memories were painful and yet I knew I would eventually publish this and share them online. I started writing more this week so that I could publish this blog on what would have been George’s 69th birthday. Even now, I am reminded how the title track continues to give me some perspective and healing. This week, I was contacted by a friend and former co-worker that his job had been eliminated and outsourced. He had worked for the same company for almost 20 years. He and I had shared a lot of the same hardships.  I was there for him when he went through his divorce. He was there for me during my divorce.  I was there when he legally adopted his son. He was one of my groomsmen. So, I sat here at the computer thinking of his troubles and once again George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass came to mind.  This job loss won’t last forever. He’ll find another job. But, at the same time, I’m reminded of the lyrics from Beware of Darkness.

Watch out now, take care
Beware of the thoughts that linger
Winding up inside your head
The hopelessness around you
In the dead of night
Beware of sadness
It can hit you
It can hurt you
Make you sore and what is more
That is not what you are here for

I would like to think that as I write this and I express the memories, emotions and “the thoughts that linger”,  I am getting them out of my brain and expressing them in a way that I can share.  I am reminded of the joy this album has given me and continues to give me.  I feel a sense of accomplishment when I finish these blogs and I can continue on yet another journey as part of this crazy life.  I hope these memories and personal interpretations reach the people reading this too.