Music Listening Habits(and favorites) of 2012

It’s the end of yet another year and the beginning of a new one too. Music lovers, writers and critics always put together a list of their yearly favorites.  As I was mentally preparing my list this past week, a friend of mine sent me a message to ask what my top 3 albums were of the year. They had to be new material. So, no live albums or re-issues.  I used to dislike lists like this. Most lists in magazines, newspapers and websites don’t usually match up with what I consider my favorite(or best). I really don’t like using absolutes like “best” or “greatest”  For me, there are no “bests” just “favorites”. When I wrapped up my favorite albums of 2011, I was looking forward to the new releases by Van Halen, Aerosmith and Rush.  Those three along with a host of others were on my radar and heavy rotation on my MP3 player in the past year.

The new Van Halen album A Different Kind of Truth was dissected and examined by myself and fans all over. As I said in my initial review and listen, I did NOT want to like it. But, the overall playing by the 3 guys with the last name Van Halen(Edward, Alex and Wolfgang) won me over.  The core band stepped up to the plate and knocked it out of the park with a freight train of power with that musical talent they collectively possess and express.

While watching a lot of the live videos and reading interviews, It’s become clear that Ed’s son Wolfgang pushes this band with a youthful exuberance that propels them from a “can they do it?” scenario to “Doesn’t the new stuff kick some serious tail?”  I found myself lit on fire by the instrumental interplay between Alex, Eddie and Wolfie on tracks like She’s the Woman, China Town, HoneyBabySweetieDoll, The Trouble with Never and Outta Space.  As for DLR, I felt his vocal performance on the CD was well done. I just wish he would step up his live game to match his studio performance (and his bandmates) onstage.  That’s another rant. I won’t go into it. In short, the band that inspired me to play drums and make music in my teens has continued to stimulate that urge that still lies within me.
The other band that continues to inspire me is that 3 man band from the Great White North.  Rush had another great year with their 20th studio album in their (almost) 40 year career – Clockwork Angels.


The album had some preemptive buzz around it because the band had recorded and released the first two tracks – Caravan and BU2B back in 2010 and was featured on their 2010-2011 Time Machine tour.  As a fan, I had downloaded those two songs and had listened to them. But, of course, (like most Rush fans) I just wanted more than a couple new songs. I wanted an entire new album. Like their 2007 release Snakes & Arrows, I wasn’t initially blown away by the album. I believe that Rush albums are so complex that they take multiple listens to fully appreciate them. There are so many nuances and intricacies in a Rush album that I can’t just say after one listen “Wow I love this album!”  That being said, there were moments of elation for me with some hard cracking drums, distorted guitars and loping serpentine basslines that won me over. Among those songs that just lit me up from this album is Headlong Flight. 

As I listen to this album more and more(and I have been) I am blown away by the creativity of this band. There is no way to categorize this band.  There is Neil’s creative drumming and timekeeping along with his intelligent and intellectual lyrics. There is also a novelization of this album written by Neil Peart’s friend Science Fiction novelist Kevin J Andersen. According to Andersen, the album’s concept is:

In a young man's quest to follow his dreams, he is caught between the grandiose forces of order and chaos. He travels across a lavish and colorful world of steampunk and alchemy, with lost cities, pirates, anarchists, exotic carnivals, and a rigid Watchmaker who imposes precision on every aspect of daily life

The band continues to be a creative force. There are songs that are pleasing to the pre-80’s heavy guitar loving fans. There are songs that stoke the fans of complex arrangements and time changes. Along with the Sci-Fi concept, this is a well rounded Rush album.
Finally, in late 2012, it was announced to the joy of Rush fans everywhere that the band would (finally) be inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.  After several years of disgust that they hadn’t been inducted yet, I was elated to hear the great news.
Also being inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013 is the Seattle band Heart featuring sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson.  I recently wrote a blog on their debut album Dreamboat Annie that was released in America in 1976.  Here it is now in 2012 and the band is still making new music. They’re always making new music and (for me) they still make compelling music. This year, they released the album Fanatic along with a Biography and a career spanning compilation box set.

The new album is really well done. It’s Heart for the 21st century with many current production sounds and techniques. They have a lot of current sounds. But, it has moments of passionate rockers and heartfelt acoustic ballads too. After listening to Dreamboat Annie lately, I’m secretly wishing that Ann would bring out her flute again and play some woodwinds on a current album like she did on Sing Child Sing.  This is more of a hard-rocking album in 2012. The band has its folk roots along with rock.  I went back and forth whether or not I wanted to include this of my 10 albums of 2012. I chose to keep it on my list because I have been consistently listening to this since it was released earlier this Fall. As I said at the beginning of this blog, these are albums I’ve been listening to this year and I keep coming back to it. 

On December 26th, 2012, CBS aired the Kennedy Center Honors and among those being honored was Led Zeppelin.  At the end of the broadcast, Ann and Nancy came out and performed Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven with an orchestra, a large choir and drummer Jason Bonham(son of Zeppelin’s late drummer-John Bonham)  This performance not only excited me more about Zeppelin. It also stimulated my ever existing love for Heart and the Wilson sisters.

I don’t usually watch live network TV. But, I was glued to my TV for this tribute. I was excited to hear Ann Wilson singing Stairway to Heaven and I have followed Jason Bonham and his career so I knew he’d been sitting on drums for this performance too.
I’ve been a longtime Zeppelin fan. But, even when I barely knew about Led Zeppelin, I started to follow the career of Jason Bonham way back when he was only 17 and in a band called Airrace. I had read about this band through an article in Hit Parader magazine. I was interested in this up and coming drummer who was close to my age(he’s almost a year older than me) and was the son of the fabled Zeppelin drummer John “Bonzo” Bonham.  I followed him from Airrace and Virginia Wolf to Jimmy Page’s Outrider album and the 1988 Zeppelin reunion to his band- Bonham and Paul Rodgers to UFO and Foreigner. In 2010, he formed a supergroup with Glenn Hughes, Joe Bonamassa and Derek Sherinian that called themselves Black Country Communion.  In 2012, that “Supergroup” released their 3rd album in 3 years titled Afterglow.

 I don’t like to compare an artist's work to their past work. But, since Black Country Communion only has 3 albums, it’s been refreshing to hear how this band has grown and matured as a band. Much like the Hard Rock bands of the 70’s (that many feel like they sound like),  They are a band that has grown over the arc of 3 full-length albums.  When I heard the first two albums, I would pay attention to mix of the various instruments and vocals. I was very critical of every little bit on each album. When I listened to the new Afterglow album, I was keyed into the songs and band’s full input into everything. They are a strong band now and this album is a strong example of well oiled unit working as one cohesive machine.  I felt that the first two albums were some kind of outlet for Glenn Hughes to attain some kind of greatness he once experienced in his days with Deep Purple. He was exercising his vocal chops so much that it was bordering on excessive. This album has all the instruments equal in the mix. But, at the same time, you can pick out the individual instruments and character of each musician. Glenn Hughes sings and performs and emotes through the songs of this album. Joe Bonamassa comes up with great riffs and melodies and contributes his own bluesy vocals (both lead and backing). Derek Sherinian takes the keyboards and conjures the same magic that the late Jon Lord mastered with Deep Purple in the 70’s.  Finally, Jason Bonham takes everything he had learned from his father and every drummer he’s heard after that and applied to some of the most solid timekeeping out there. The songs have light and shade.  The songs range from all-out riff rockers to bluesy British shuffles to introspective ballads.  I was impressed with this album from the first listen.

Unfortunately, there has been some question concerning the future of the band. When the band had finished the album and Glenn Hughes was doing some press for the album, He made some comments that this may be the last album for the band.  Jason Bonham, Hughes and Sherinian are ready to tour behind this album. But, guitarist Joe Bonamassa has his calendar booked with dates for his solo band. So, there were words and rumors circulating online about the future of the band. The last I heard was that Bonamassa and Hughes got together to talk and ironed out any problems.
Bands like Black Country Communion are called a “Supergroup” because the individual members come from a rich history of musical success and notoriety. Another Supergroup that made a debut in 2012 was a group (and album) known as Flying Colors. 

I found out about this band from following the activities of former Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy.  Portnoy is a musician’s musician. From the multitude of interviews I’ve read with him in Modern Drummer magazine, he loves music…both listening to it and making it. For several years, He has played in various side projects (OSI, Transatlantic, Neal Morse) and tribute bands (Beatles, Zeppelin, the Who and Rush).  In 2010, he filled in for the late Jimmy “the Rev” Sullivan of the band Avenged Sevenfold. Shortly after his gig with Avenged Sevenfold, he announced that he was leaving his longtime gig with Dream Theater.  In both 2011 and 2012, He definitely kept busy. He recorded with 2 different groups. One was a band called Adrenaline Mob which was more of a Heavy Rock/Metal band. The other band was a progressive pop group called Flying Colors featuring the talents of guitarist Steve Morse(Dixie Dregs, Deep Purple), bassist Dave LaRue(Dixie Dregs, Steve Morse Band), keyboards Neal Morse(Spock’s Beard) and vocalist Casey McPherson(Alpha Rev).
I had been familiar with Steve Morse and Dave LaRue and I had actually met them back in 1993 at the Ranch Bowl in Omaha when the Dixie Dregs played there.  I found out about Neal Morse through his association with the band Spock’s Beard and he sings a lot of the John Lennon parts in the Beatles Tribute band-Yellow Matter Custard.  The only one I hadn’t heard of was singer Casey McPherson.  Portnoy had described this album as a Prog band with pop style songs.

I gave it a listen and I was hooked.  I would listen to it after a day of working in a retail atmosphere where my fellow employees were content to listen to the current format of Top 40 radio where artists like Lady Gaga and Niki Minaj are considered “good”.  All I could think of was that this music and musicianship was so good and if they ever let loose with what they could do on their respective instruments, the average Top 40 fan’s head would literally explode by sheer talent they possess. I hate to sound like a music snob. But, this album makes me feel like I’m on to something really really good and I’m just a little superior than the people who aren’t listening to it. Of course, I feel like that when I’m tuned into a great jazz album or something that’s really good but not mainstream anyway.
One band that’s filled with great musicianship and yet connects with the Country music mainstream is Zac Brown Band. 2012 was a year for this band to explode once again with their album Uncaged.

The Zac Brown band continues their down home Southern feel of Jam band hootenanny and bluegrass rocking.  If Willie Nelson, Dave Matthews and Jimmy Buffett went to a party with the Charlie Daniels band and the Allman Brothers Band, I would think it sounds something like the Zac Brown Band.  If there were two country bands I’d love to play drums with, that would be Brad Paisley’s band and the Zac Brown Band.  Whenever I listen to the Zac Brown band, I’m inspired to set up my drums and just play along.  This album features the addition of percussionist Daniel de los Reyes and the addition of this added “flavor” to their musical “recipe” makes this album very….delicious.

There is such a great groove to a lot of the songs like Jump Right In and the title track Uncaged. There are ballads of love lost(Goodbye In Her Eyes) that I feel a deep resonation to. The Wind is a heated up hoot and holler bluegrass burner that leads into a reggae inspired Island Song.  There’s even a song for that intimate time together they talk about in those Cialis commercials called Overnight.  The song only lasts less than 5 minutes. So, no need to worry about things that may last longer than 4 hours.
The songs of Uncaged fulfill so much in my love of music. It has rhythms that get me moving. It has vocal harmonies that get me singing and it has songs that resonate with me emotionally.  Another album that calms my mind is the 2012 release of John Mayer and his album Born and Raised. 

I wrote a quick write-up on this blog for this album back in May.  I have continually come back to this album for some solace. A day after I wrote that blog in May, I was “terminated” from the job I had been working at. So, I struggled with what direction to go from there.  My son moved to Texas in late November with his mother(my ex-wife) and I’m planning to move there as soon as I find a job in the same area as them and be a continuing presence in the life of my son. I miss my son very much and I have continually applied for many jobs already.  I’ve had communication from some of those jobs that they’ve chosen someone else for those jobs. So, it’s been tough and discouraging and my own self-doubt tends to sink in. So, I go to the song Shadow Days for my own 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

This album has a very earthy acoustic feel that soothes my troubled mind and lets me sit back and breathe. It’s a laid back Sunday afternoon album that grows on me with every listen.
There’s time to sit back and relax, decompress after a day at work. There’s also music that’s aggressive and drives a person to move a little faster with an added confidence and swagger.  When I first heard the new album from the reunited Soundgarden, King Animal was the new driving album for me.

Almost 3 years ago, Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell alluded to a Soundgarden reunion via his writing: "The 12-year break is over and school is back in session. Sign up now. Knights of the Soundtable ride again!"  This was actually posted online on New Years Day 2010. For me, I found it really cool to wake up that New Years to find that one of my favorite bands of the 90’s was reforming and making new music.  They released a compilation that year and then toured for a couple years. I began to wonder if an album of new material would happen soon.  They released a new single called Live to Rise this past summer that was on the soundtrack for the Super Hero movie – The Avengers. This definitely whet my appetite for more Soundgarden. 

The new album was released in mid November.  The album was available for streaming on iTunes for a week prior to it’s release. So, I took advantage of that opportunity to give it a listen.  I eventually downloaded the album and have been hypnotized by all aspects of this album. It’s aggressive and complex. As a drummer, I’m automatically tuned in to what the drums sound like and what kind of rhythms are incorporated. This is what hooked me on this album.  I believe Amazon had the album at really good download price when it was released. I felt the need to share this information on my Facebook page. When I did, a couple of my friends made comments asking “how is it?” and another feared that it was more Chris Cornell(vocals) and not enough Kim Thayil(guitar).  As I listened to it, I was pleased with all band contributions to the album. The guitars are strong in the mix and bassist Ben Shepherd keeps the low end heavy and churning. Drummer Matt Cameron is solid and loose.  His playing slinks and slithers in this magical mayhem and (along with his gig as Pearl Jam drummer) continues as THE powerhouse drummer of the Pacific Northwest.  In short, I find this album very satisfying to my musical tastes.
If there was one album that I didn’t think I would pay any attention to this past year. That would be a “country duets” album with 80’s icon Lionel Richie called Tuskegee.
 
I had read and heard little bits of news regarding this effort from Lionel. My longtime friend Bob mentioned something on his Facebook page about this album and expressed some curiosity.  Bob had opened my eyes to his tastes years ago and I have always respected them. So, I dialed up this album one night on Spotify and gave it a listen.  I was surprised with a refreshed and intimate interpretation of music from one of the great songwriters of the 80’s.  I have tried over this past year to write for two different blog websites. So, I posted my review for Tuskegee on HubPages.  This album was just an absolute joy to listen to and sing along to….even if I'd never owned a Lionel Richie ever in my life.

In my review I said if you have an appreciation for this music and the songs that came from this time, give this album a listen. I had no intentions of giving this album a listen, a sample of even a chance. But, I'm glad I did. Lionel Richie really is a great songwriter. These songs still sound great 25-30 years later. That's the sign of really great songs. When I listen to these albums that resonate with me and touch something deep within me, I am happy to share that with my friends and with the fans of the music that we enjoy as part of our daily lives. This one's worth it!
The 10th album on my list is was one of the albums that I was looking forward to this year.  I’m talking about Aerosmith’s supposed comeback album– Music from Another Dimension.  I listened to it and then I made the mistake of reading some cynical reviews and listening to some podcasts where they dissected this album. I went back and forth about whether I wanted to add this to my list for the year.

Before it was released, it was reported that producer Jack Douglas had returned to produce this album.  Because Douglas had produced the band in the 70’s, there was now a buzz that this album would be a return to the classic Aerosmith sound of Toys in the Attic and Rocks.  One thing that can be said about Aerosmith is that the band is one of the tightest and most solid bands in Rock.  The rhythm section of Joey Kramer on drums and Tom Hamilton on bass is a locomotive force drives this band.  It’s no surprise that one of the band’s classic songs in concert is Train Kept a Rollin’.  The band continues to blast through these new songs. It’s so infectious. It gets my toe tapping and my heart pumping.  I love the opening track LUV XXX (that’s actually ‘love 3 times a day’) and then there are some just down n’ dirty rockers that harkens back to the days of those dangerous “Bad boys from Boston” like Oh Yeah and Beautiful.  There are funky rockers like Out Go the Lights that have that low cowbell make me wanna dance around as I my head starts bobbing up and down.  Legendary Child, Street Jesus and Lover Alot are all great songs that have an aural onslaught that pleases my ear.

The one complaint that I’ve read in a lot of reviews have been the power ballads on this album. There is also a duet with country star Carrie Underwood.  Automatically, people slam this pairing as “Aerosmith doing a country song”.  I think that if Carrie Underwood had not even been mentioned on this track, it would be a more of a mid-tempo rocker with a great female harmony vocal. Because(to me) that’s exactly what it is. Back to the ballads… Aerosmith’s big 80’s comeback happened with the album Permanent Vacation in 1987. That was 25 years ago. To some people that are younger than 30 years old, this may be their version of a “classic Aerosmith” sound.  Truth is that this album celebrates both the classic 70’s, comeback 80’s and mainstream 90’s sound of Aerosmith.  I was a big fan of what was to be their 1985 comeback album Done With Mirrors.  Sadly, that album didn’t light the mainstream audience on fire and it would be another 2 years before Aerosmith would start seeing the resurgence that has continued to carry them through the past 3 decades.  I read a review that said if Done With Mirrors had done better in sales, we probably wouldn’t have seen these guys recording the pop ballads they’ve been chastised for by longtime die-hard fans.
There you go. That’s 10 albums I was listening to in 2012. As the year came to a close, I started listening to a few more albums that really perked up my ears. I had heard about a couple of these and some of these I knew came out and I curse myself for never giving them more of a serious listen this past year.
Among those would be:
Gary Clark Jr. – Blak and Blu    Rival Sons – Head Down
 

ZZ Top – La Futura                      S.U.N. – Something Unto Nothing
 

The Sword – Apocryphon         Dave Matthews Band – Away from the World
 
These 6 are ones that I heard something that caught my ear within the first 3 or 4 songs as I listened.  I probably would have given them a more thorough listen. But, chances are I was listening intently to one of these other albums. 
When I started formulating this blog in my head, I had a couple of other CD’s in mind for this list too. But, since I had made it specific that these would be studio releases only, I left off a couple of live recordings. Those two would be the Tedeschi Trucks Band – Everybody’s  Talkin’ and the long awaited CD/DVD of the 2007 live reunion of Led Zeppelin at London’s 02 Arena titled Celebration Day. 

This was a big event for Zeppelin fans when it originally happened in 2007.  This was one of the most anticipated reunions ever.  At the time, Jimmy Page made the comment that the concert had been recorded for a POSSIBLE DVD release.  Fans waited and waited. There were bootleg videos compiled and posted on YouTube.  There was lots of talk of how great it was. Jason Bonham filled in for his late father – the late John Bonham.  As a fan of both Zeppelin and Jason Bonham, I was in deep anticipation for it too.  Jason Bonham has often been criticized online for not being as good as his father.  That’s very unfair for Jason because over the past 32 years his father has become one of the biggest drumming icons of all time.  So, I was happy to see that Jason stepped up and removed all doubt. He can do it and he did it.  As for the rest of the guys in Zeppelin, they were also at the top of their game. There’s been a lot of talk yet again that they should reunite and tour. As a longtime fan, I’d love to see them tour. Alas, I don’t see it happening.  The band has had the integrity to say “It’s not the same without our late drummer, bandmate and FRIEND. So, we’re not going to do it.”  So, here’s a live CD and DVD that shows that they can do it and we should be happy with that.

2012 was a good year for my self confidence in creativity.  I have continually been inspired to write for this blog. This not only fuels my love of music. It also fuels my own vocabulary and need to express myself.  Musically, I played with as much as 4 different groups of musicians with varying styles from Country, Classic Rock and Oldies Rock to Contemporary Christian, Funk and Jazz. This not only fulfilled my love of playing. It also built up my confidence to say that I am versatile enough to play drums with various styles and I can certainly hold my own in those different arenas.
I am looking to move to the El Paso Texas area in 2013 so that I may be closer to my son and be a continuing presence in his life.  I look forward to using my creative talents down there as I continue on this crazy journey through life. I like playing music. I like listening to music. I like writing. I like writing about music...and I will continue to do so into 2013. That being said……….
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Heart – Dreamboat Annie

2012 has been a big year for sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson and their band Heart. They released a new album titled Fanatic.  They released a career spanning box set Strange Euphoria and published their own biography called Kicking & Dreaming: A Story of Heart, Soul and Rock & Roll.  It was also announced earlier this month that they would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.  So, I thought I would write about the album that started it all for the band….Dreamboat Annie.

The band consisting of sisters Ann & Nancy Wilson, guitarist Roger Fisher, bassist Steve Fossen had started as a touring bar band in Canada in the early 70’s. They originated from the Seattle area. But, because Roger Fisher’s brother(and de facto manager) Michael was dodging the draft in Canada, they opted for pursuing music in the Great White North(around Vancouver BC). Later, members Howard Leese(guitars and keyboards) and drummer Michael DeRosier would join during the recording of this album.  The album was originally released by Canadian record label Mushroom Records. Eventually, the album would be released by Capital records after the small Mushroom record company folded.  The album was then released in America on Valentine’s day (February 14th, 1976).

I was almost 9 years old when this album was released. I’ve stated before that many of the hard rock tastes I would have later develop in my teenage and college years were from discovering bands through friends, record stores, and various rock magazines. But, I heard this album either that summer of 76 or in 77 by way of an 8-track in my brother-in-law and sister’s Jeep on a family excursion.

For a few years from 76-78, My family of 3 sisters, myself and (then) baby brother along with our parents would drive from North Platte, NE to the small town of Ord, NE and meet up with my uncle Galen(my mom’s brother) his wife and their four kids on Labor day weekend for nice little picnic and get together. My uncle’s family lived outside of my mom’s hometown of Creighton, NE.  We used travel to Creighton many times during the summers of my childhood along with various holidays too. But, the trip could be a lengthy one..especially for an antsy kid like me that just wanted to get there. According to Google Maps (in 2012), it takes about 4 1/2 hours to get there. Back then, it seemed much longer(like 5 or 6).  So to split up the trip, the two families had decided to meet in Ord as a mid-point. In 1976, my sister Pam and my brother-in-law Steve had been married almost 2 years. They had my niece in the Spring of 1975.  I always looked forward to spending time with both of them. I could play with my niece and I could hang with my big sis too. On this occasion, I was either asked if I wanted to drive back with them or I begged to drive back with them. As we drove from Ord, I remember seeing the 8-track for Heart’s Dreamboat Annie in their 8-Track deck and I’m sure we listened to it the entire trip back to North Platte.  

Of course, songs like Magic Man and Crazy on You became big hits for the band from this album.  I think even my sister Kathy had this on an 8-track too. So, this album was playing a big part as a soundtrack in my life at the time. In Ann & Nancy’s book, one of the issues that they address is that here were two women fronting a ROCK band. This wasn’t a Phil Spector girl group like the Ronettes or a Motown girl group like the Supremes. They weren’t folk singers like Joni Mitchell or a disco diva like Donna Summer that had become prevalent in the mid to late 70’s.  For that time in Rock history, two women fronting a Rock band was looked at as a strange combination. Since I grew up with this album, it didn’t seem all that odd. It just seemed to be the norm.

As the 70’s became the 80’s, Heart were still contributing to the world of popular music and would continue to come up with great music on albums like Little Queen and Dog and Butterfly.  But, when the 80’s became a decade dominated by image and MTV music videos, the band seemed to be categorized as a band from another decade. They ended up signing with a management company that groomed them for the image conscious 80’s. In 1985, I found myself getting into this band I had once heard on an 8-track player.  I bought the 1985 self-titled album that would become their big comeback album and would propel their careers for another 5-6 years.

I remember one beautiful day in the Fall of 1985 where myself and some of my college friends decided to go down to the local park a few blocks from campus. We ended up playing a game of touch football with some other guys. But, as we were playing, someone had a portable stereo/boom box playing a cassette of Heart’s Greatest Hits album. I started hearing all these old memorable songs that I had known. But, at the end of the tape was a cover of Led Zeppelin’s Rock and Roll.  My ears perked up as this Zeppelin sound came out of the speakers.  At first listen, I couldn’t tell much difference to the Zeppelin version.  I soon discovered that Heart had a love for Zeppelin.  Since my freshman year was the beginning of my Zeppelin obsession, I suddenly had developed a new love for Heart and their diverse styles.

I don’t want to go through the entire catalog of Heart’s extensive career.  I just want to concentrate on the monumental debut album. When I went back and listened to the original album you can hear the freshness and the mysteriousness of Magic Man.  It has a 70’s Moog synthesizer sound layered with a great electric guitar. Although, the song is a staple of the band’s live act all these years later, there’s an absolute mystical feeling of the original recording.  The common theme of the Dreamboat Annie keeps the album going through a bit of dreamy ethereal transition into the rest of the songs.

As I entered my college years, the sounds of this album lay dormant in the back of my mind. When a chance would come to hear the album again, I would take it. I had actually been enjoying the band’s catalog of music in the 80’s. I was a fan of 1987’s Bad Animals.  After the release of the single There’s The Girl, I actually had a dream where suddenly guitarist Nancy Wilson was my girlfriend. It wasn’t one of “those” kind of dreams. It was very sweet and I think it surprised me so much that I practically woke up from the dream instantly.  I had bought the single for the song Alone which the B-side was a current live version of the song Barracuda.  I loved this version of the song. So, I bought the Little Queen album and anything else by the band. I think I eventually bought a used LP copy of Dreamboat Annie.  From there, I obviously played the album at Dustys Records. 

I’ve stated before that music has a way of transporting us (through memories) to a place and people we associate with those albums. When I thought of this album, one person I thought of was my college buddy and fellow Dustys employee Bob. I asked Bob what his memories of this album were. Bob’s response was,

“I heard the entire album of Dreamboat Annie at Dusty's and I remember the minute it came on it calmed everyone down. There is something about that voice. The burliest manliest man loves Ann Wilson's voice. Ever met a biker that did not love Steppenwolf and Heart? My other memory is this. When I heard that album I felt like I understood where an entire generation of women in rock came from. It was like finding the source.”

One of the things that’s continually talked about with Heart is the vocal prowess of Ann Wilson. She can have a gentle calmness to her delivery. But, She can also conjure up some deep emotions and unleash a wrath of inner demons that will leave the listener rendered helpless.  Whenever I see a story on Ann and something is said about her voice, I find myself nodding my head, agreeing and inevitably putting on some Heart music to confirm what I already know.  She is an absolute incredible singer and vocalist.

The Wilson sisters are obvious fans of Led Zeppelin and Ann certainly delivers when challenged with a Zep song. According to their stories in the biography, they would include Zeppelin songs within their sets of the early bar days. They even tell a story when they were playing a club in Canada and Robert Plant and Jimmy Page entered the club while they were performing some of their Zeppelin songs. Their 1995 live acoustic album The Road Home was produced by former Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones. This Zeppelin connection continues even in 2012 as Led Zeppelin was honored at the Kennedy Center Honors in early December and Ann and Nancy performed Stairway to Heaven to honor the band.

In 2007, Heart would follow the trend that many acts of the Classic Rock genre had been doing and performed one of their classic albums in its entirety. Of course, the logical choice for Ann and Nancy is Dreamboat Annie.  My college friend and former roommate Matt recorded the live show off of VH1 and made a DVD copy for me. When I played it back, all the great nuances of the original album came back to me. For me, the great surprises were performances of lesser known songs like Soul of the Sea, Sing Child, White Lightning and Wine and (Love me like Music) I’ll Be Your Song.  They have added the Stockholm Strings for the performance and Ann breaks out her flute and plays again like she did on the original album.  It gives it so much added bravado and emotion to the performance.

I asked Matt what his memories of the album were and he responded:

“I remember my brother Tom had Dreamboat Annie on 8-track...and honestly, all I really remember specifically about it at that time was the album cover...the name always struck me as sort of quirky...and I wondered which one of them was Annie. Of course, Heart was hitting it big in the 80's with their self-titled record, and as many teenage boys were at the time, I was taking notice of the Wilson sisters in their glitzy videos. It wasn't until my college years, when I thought that I needed to expand my horizons beyond Pink Floyd and Bruce Springsteen, that I actually bought it to add to my ever-expanding CD collection...I figured "hey, my brother had this on 8-track, so it HAS to be a good album!" As an aspiring guitar player, I wished so much that I could play that acoustic opening riff to "Crazy On You," but my skills were not even close to being able to pull that off. I knew the hit songs on the record..."Magic Man" - with it's rumored ties to being about Charles Manson, the aforementioned "Crazy On You"...and very vague memories of hearing the title track in my brother's car.
Then, it just kind of sat amongst my CD's for years. It wasn't until I watched the concert on VH1 of them performing the whole album that I re-discovered this gem. I listened to it on my iPod at work, and was completely immersed again into what an amazing collection of songs it truly is.”

There had been a rumor going around that Ann Wilson had written Magic Man about mass murderer Charles Manson. I can’t remember where this rumor started or how rumors like that gain the traction they do. According to the stories told by Ann in their biography (and many others), Magic Man is/was about Michael Fisher who is the brother of original guitarist Roger Fisher and also the band’s early manager.  Ann and Michael became romantically involved and the lyrics were actually autobiographical in where Ann had those conversations with her “Mama” back in Seattle.

“Come on home, girl" Mama cried on the phone
"Too soon to lose my baby yet, my girl should be at home"
But try to understand....try to understand
Try, try, try to understand..he's a magic man, Mama...ah...he's a magic man”

Some may say since this album was released back in the 70’s that it sounds dated or it’s a classic rock album. But, for me, the music of Heart is something that I actually listen to on a weekly or monthly basis. They are truly one of my all-time favorite bands. I can listen to them at any time and usually do. So, that being said, their music is timeless for me.  When I read their biography I noticed that both Ann and Nancy and love for music is different than the females they grew up with.  When they first saw The Beatles on Ed Sullivan show in 1964, they wanted to BE the Beatles. Where other girls of the 60’s wanted to be wives or girlfriends of Paul, John, George or Ringo.  Ann and Nancy wanted to be those four guys and not be the female companions of the band.  For many years, I’ve felt that a lot of females like different bands because the singer or guitar player is cute or dreamy or whatever.  Not all but many have expressed those feelings.  But, Ann and Nancy’s dreams of BEING the Beatles speaks volumes to me. Now, if a woman ever told me to “Love me like music and I’ll be your song”, we could be talking about someone who understands me and that could be the start of a beautiful relationship.  Oh well, a guy can always dream!

In the meantime, SING CHILD SING!!

Vince Guaraldi Trio – A Charlie Brown Christmas

It’s that time of the year. For myself and lots of other people, they have a Christmas song or album that kicks off or sparks the childhood Christmas spirit we all hope for this time of year.  Okay, maybe not everyone looks for a selection of Christmas music to put them in the spirit of the season. But, for me, it’s Vince Guaraldi’s  A Charlie Brown Christmas.

To be honest, for television Christmas specials, it’s a toss-up between Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and A Charlie Brown Christmas that gets me going. But, when it comes to music, the first album I cue up on the CD player, MP3 Player or whatever on Thanksgiving weekend is the music from the 1965 TV Animated Christmas Classic.

I don’t remember the first time I watched the much-heralded Christmas special. The show was first broadcast on CBS in 1965. I was born in 1967.  That being said, it’s been on every year of my life. For much of my childhood, I would watch ALL of the kids’ Christmas specials…Rudolph, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Frosty and of course Charlie Brown.  My sister Kathy would always make some comment every year about these specials being on AGAIN.  But, I would watch it every year. I’m sure in my teenage years I would miss the airings because of the High School activities along with a part-time job to take up my time. 

When I got to college, I was living on 3rd floor Mantor Hall at KSC(now UNK). One night(maybe after a holiday break), one of the guys on the same floor was blaring a cassette tape of him playing piano at a high school talent show.  What was the song he was playing?… Linus and Lucy – the iconic theme song for everything Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang. As the familiar music came from his stereo speakers, I was filled with a wonderful feeling of the innocence of youth and I felt that playfulness of the music fall over me.  In those college years, I was struggling with my studies as a music education major. I wanted to succeed. But, as I learned…it was hard. The sound of the Vince Guaraldi music took me back to a place in my life where things were easier and less stressful.

In 1989, the jazz label GRP released a various artists album called Happy Anniversary Charlie Brown.  This album featured many of the contemporary jazz artists that were on the label performing music Vince Guaraldi and Peanuts TV specials.  In the late 80’s, MTV sister station VH-1 had programming that was geared for a more Adult Contemporary audience. I even remember watching their Sunday morning Jazz programming. One of those Sundays, there was a video for pianist David Benoit’s version of Guaraldi’s Linus and Lucy. 

I think I may have even opened up the CD for in-store play at Dustys just so I could hear Linus and Lucy again and again. Later, I had some friends of mine that went to the Ranch Bowl in Omaha to see Joe Satriani and his band play. They came back to tell that Joe’s bassist Stu Hamm did this bass solo where he played Linus and Lucy as part of the solo.  I thought “that is sooooo cool.”  A couple years later on Stu’s album The Urge, he had a track on the album titled Quahogs Anyone? Which was basically a live recording of his bass solo featuring the famed Charlie Brown song. I bought the Stu Hamm CD because that kind of instrumental stuff was some of my favorite stuff in those days.

As the 90’s progressed, this piece of music became fairly popular with musicians and music lovers alike. In 95 and 96, I spent a lot of time hanging out with my college buddy Mark P and his (now ex) wife Betsy. There were many conversations about music and movies that were banded about at the time. It was a common thread that we shared. At one point, a CD of Vince Guaraldi was put on. I don’t know if it was a “Best of” or the Christmas album. All I knew was that after hearing the different versions of the iconic songs, there was something intangible and unique about the original.

In 1996, Windham Hills artist and pianist George Winston released an album of Vince Guaraldi songs called Linus and Lucy: The Music of Vince Guaraldi.  I think I received the CD as a Christmas gift that year. I absolutely loved it. It was nothing but solo piano. I’m sure some of my friends who knew me as a hard rocking drum loving guy were surprised by my fondness for this CD.  It was the relaxing piano music that I cherished. As time went by, it still seemed just a little stale in comparison.

Fast forward to Christmas 2006. It had been a year since my wife and I had separated. But, I was still having quality time with our son who would have been 2 years old by this time.  I was having a hard time trying to get myself into “The Christmas Spirit”.  So, what other way is there to spur it on? Buy some Christmas music. I had a couple of special Christmas CD’s I had compiled while my wife and I were together. Then, I saw a copy of A Charlie Brown Christmas original soundtrack by Vince Guaraldi.  It was priced reasonably. So, I bought it and I’m glad I did. Then, I realized that it wasn’t just the piano jazz that I loved. It was the jazz trio of Guaraldi on piano, Fred Marshall on bass and Jerry Granelli on drums that drew me in. Of course, I knew Linus and Lucy.  But, it was arrangements of  traditional Christmas tunes like O Tannenbaum and What Child is This along with Guaraldi’s original songs Skating, Christmas is Coming and Christmas Time is Here all together that resonated in me as and adult yearning for the childlike wonderment of Christmas.  The other thing that I loved(as a drummer) was the sound quality of a small drumkit in the recordings as you can hear the ride cymbal swinging away and the rack toms along with the use of brushes on the snare. It makes me want to sit down on a small kit and play along. It’s such a great feeling. It’s like the way the kids are drawn to feel in this video.

This weekend I picked up a book from the library called A Charlie Brown Christmas – The Making of a Tradition. 

It’s interesting to read about this traditional holiday special. It was made in only 6 months and was delivered to the CBS network only a week before it aired.  The two network executives that watched that first copy of it were not impressed and didn’t like it. But, the show was scheduled to air in less than a week. So, they couldn’t pull it off the schedule.  The TV Critic who was to watch it after the execs eventually liked it but didn’t say anything after his initial viewing.  But, it’s been a beloved Christmas special ever since. Another thing that’s always highlighted about this special is that Charles Schulz wanted to have the characters actually quote a passage from the Bible to highlight the true meaning of Christmas.  That message still resonates as our society continues to grow in the commercialism of the holidays that even Charles Schulz could see way back in 1965.

I’m glad I eventually bought this on CD. I’ve ripped the CD onto my MP3 every year since I bought it. I dial up these songs on a daily basis during the month of December. I even keep some of the non-Christmas tunes on my player for a little while longer and then put them on my player at the end of November to rev me up for the holiday season.

In the book A Charlie Brown Christmas:The Making of a Tradition,  Guaraldi’s son David said about his father’s music

The Music he wrote for the shows relates to each scene and the Peanuts kids’ feelings. He captured that perfectly because he loved kids; he did a lot of things for kids in his life.

As Linus quotes from the TV Special says:

Of all the Charlie Browns in the World
You’re the Charlie Browniest!

If that’s a way to describe this holiday classic TV special and music, then it’s not such a bad way to be described.

MERRY CHRISTMAS CHARLIE BROWN!!

Peter Gabriel – So

In the Spring and Summer of 1986(and a long time after that), if you turned on MTV, you saw the ubiquitous video of Peter Gabriel’s hit Sledgehammer.  There was no way to escape this video. Of course, MTV was a whole other different media outlet than it is today. Now, in late 2012, Peter Gabriel is releasing a 25th (and a half) Anniversary Edition of his 1986 album So.

Looking back, there was something about that video. Of course, it went on to win a handful of Video Music Awards. This video was a visual onslaught. We see Peter Gabriel voicing the lyrics of the song and the things he mentions in the lyrics are recreated visually around his head and face. Lyrics talking about a “Steam Train” and “blue skies” and “bumper cars bumping” are all there in the video. His face then contorts into a claymation version and his hands morph into sledgehammers as he hits himself in the head. I personally remember watching the video once (for about the upteenth time) and thinking “I’ll walk away and get to my housework after the dancing chicken scene(about 3:25 into the video)”

With all the videos that were overplayed at the time, I never felt like I hated or disliked Peter Gabriel or the music. I obviously grew tired of the video. But, when that video was new and hot, you could not walk away from watching. There was so much in it to see.

By then, I had started to make a conscious effort to be a little more open-minded past my standard hard rock/generic heavy metal tastes.  I hadn’t known a lot about Peter Gabriel before this. Looking back, I probably knew a little bit more than most. I had a guitarist friend in High School who had a cassette of Gabriel’s album Security with the single Shock the Monkey.  Being a drummer, I had been a fan of Phil Collins. So, I was educated about the whole Phil Collins – Genesis – Peter Gabriel connection.  But, for a young man that loved heavy drums and distorted guitars, Peter Gabriel was just a little “weird” and “odd” to me.  During the summer after So came out, I vaguely remember sitting and talking with my friend John G about this album.  As I stated in my blog on Queen’s A Night at the Opera,  John and I had many conversations about music. John definitely opened my ears and eyes to different artists at the time. We were at his house with tons of LPs and he dropped the needle on this album. I remember a little bit of Red Rain then into the giant hit Sledgehammer.  Then there’s this intimate duet with Kate Bush called Don’t Give Up.  I knew very little about who Kate Bush was at that point. That may have been how we got into the meat of this album. I think we listened to some of Kate Bush’s solo stuff after that too. But, I remember thinking that Kate Bush’s vocals sounded very unique and pure. Even now, I can’t think of anyone who sounds like her. Soon, after that, MTV debuted the video for Don’t Give Up and it was very simple in contrast to the visually busy Sledgehammer  video.

Gabriel and MTV soon followed with the video for Big Time.  This was another video that was visually stimulating. There was so much to see. This was a commentary on the big lives that encapsulated the decade of the 80’s. I even remember my younger brother pointing out at one point in the video that there was a character from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe that was dancing.  I still love the ultra-happy Gabriel at the beginning of the video with “HI THERE!”

By now, MTV was following and reporting everything Peter Gabriel was doing. This album was a big musical event. The entire music community seemed to paying attention to Gabriel’s avant-garde style that had somehow produced hit singles and was selling well.  In the December 1987 issue of Modern Drummer magazine, there was a cover story on Peter Gabriel’s new drummer Manu Katche.  Manu was a Frenchman and had played on the majority of the So album. This piqued my interest.  I remember reading the article and there is discussion in the article of the “Theatrical live show”. For some reason, I was put off by this. My mindset had been that musicians play their instruments and that theatricality was for Broadway musicals.  As the years have gone by, I’ve realized that both are performers performing for an audience.  So, both have their own “show” to put on.

A few years would pass. I wasn’t a huge Peter Gabriel fan. I just never felt compelled to buy the So album. Then, this album began to appear on some celebrity favorite lists.  The one that threw me for a loop was Eddie Van Halen. What?…
Edward –the King of all Hard Rock/Heavy Metal guitar histrionics and playing prowess-Van Halen was a fan of Peter Gabriel’s So? Then I saw it listed in a year end/decade end issue of Guitar World as an 80’s favorite by guitarists like Joe Satriani and Steve Vai.

Then, my record store buddies Bob and Forrest and I got together one night over Christmas break. We had rented some movies to watch. One of the movies we watched was Cameron Crowe’s 1989 movie Say Anything.  If you’ve seen the movie, you know of the iconic scene where John Cusack’s character Lloyd Dobler stands outside his girlfriend’s house with his boombox stereo held high over his head while it plays Peter Gabriel’s In Your Eyes.  So many people have felt a connection to this scene(myself included).  Perhaps that is why it still remains an iconic scene.

Another friend of mine had mentioned that the “Boombox” scene was a cool and modern way to “serenade” a fair maiden. Looking back, I still think of that too. Recently, actor John Cusack joined Peter Gabriel live onstage with a boombox as Gabriel performed the song.

By this time, I was having serious thoughts of buying this album. When I moved to Omaha in 1991, I bought a used cassette copy so that way I had a way to listen to it. I then moved back to Kearney in 1994 and worked at Dustys Records again until the store closed in the summer of 95. We had a copy of Peter Gabriel’s new double live CD – Secret World Live for in-store play.  Dusty’s daughter Wendy was now an employee. She and I would often listen to the live album. We may have been bigger fans of that CD than any of the other employees at the time. After repeated listens to the live album, I decided it was time to buy a copy of So on CD. I had read interviews with Gabriel’s bass player Tony Levin about how he would play some songs on his bass with two drumsticks(cut down) on his fingers.

 

The sounds the bass made drew me in.  Eddie Van Halen had introduced his signature Music Man guitar in the early 90’s and Gabriel’s guitarist David Rhodes had been playing that model of guitar. Manu Katche played some of the most flowing expressive drumming on the live album. So, all the endorsements for this band and the music were there and I finally bought a copy on CD. I would often listen to it as a “wind-down” album. It felt like a soothing salve to a long day or week of stressful work.  I loved the sentimental romantic message of In Your Eyes and I had hoped that someday I could play that song for my future wife. Then, the woman who ended becoming my wife told me she HATED Peter Gabriel. She had a tough life in the 80’s and hated much of the music of the 80’s. Maybe now I can look back and see why she’s now my EX wife. I’m kidding. We all have our different tastes.

When I heard that there was to be the anniversary edition of the So album, I thought I would write up a memory blog for the album. I saw Peter Gabriel on the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon show promoting the package. Jimmy Fallon was exuberant about this anniversary package as he talked about it. It only excited me too. I also see that the Eagle Rock entertainment group is releasing a Classic Albums DVD featuring the So album.

Now, I’m facing a change in my life. I have a job that I’m not at all happy to go to. So, I’ve been listening to Don’t Give Up and the song continues to play through my head as I head through the monotony of an 8 hour workshift.  It becomes like a mantra to make it through to the next step in my life.

don't give up
'cause you have friends
don't give up
you're not the only one
don't give up
no reason to be ashamed
don't give up
you still have us
don't give up now
we're proud of who you are
don't give up
you know it's never been easy
don't give up
'cause I believe there's a place
there's a place where we belong

As I wrap this blog up, I’m thinking how odd it is that an album that I mildly enjoyed when it was first released is now in my consciousness everyday of my current life and one song(in particular) continues to resonate in my mind and my heart and soul.