Cream - Disraeli Gears

As I start writing my memories, I realize that I haven't touched on anything from the 80's....yet. I guess I did feature the Police and the album Synchronicity. But, most of my music discoveries were in college and working at Dustys Records(all during the 80's). For me, the music of the 60's and 70's have a strange magic to me. This was an era before MTV, Music Videos and music "heroes" seemed a little more mysterious and out of our reach. One of those bands that had "legend" status to them was the first "Supergroup"...a power trio featuring the talents of Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker and Eric Clapton - CREAM!

Of course, I had read about Clapton and Cream through my obsession with everything Van Halen and this included their influences. Eddie was a big Clapton fan and Alex Van Halen had also trumpeted the drumming of Ginger Baker too. I had read about other musicians talk about Cream too. So, my curiosity was piqued.

In the early years of MTV, part of their programming was a segment called: MTV Closet Classics. One of the videos I distinctly remember is a "Top of the Pops" style lip-synch performance of Cream doing Strange Brew. It's such a bad example of lip-synching that you can even catch Ginger Baker screw up during the playback. The song clocks in at 2:49. I wasn't very impressed by that song. But, I was anxious to hear more.

Shaun Theye became a friend of mine through the college drumline. Shaun had a pretty cool and diverse record collection. At the time, it was rather small considering how many records I would end up owning. But, he had some cool stuff and he introduced a lot of different tastes into my musical fabric of my life. Among his albums was Cream - Disraeli Gears. I dubbed off a cassette copy of the album and soon it was in my cassette deck more often than not.

Disraeli Gears is one of a few albums that (for me) defines 60's psychedelia. The album was coincidentally released in 1967 which is the year I was born. This band took the Blues and "electrified" it far beyond just plugging into an amplifier. Along with the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream took the Blues, Rock, Pop and Jazz improvisation and made it into a melting pot of artistic musical expression. This musical expression is still being exercised by bands like Gov't Mule, Derek Trucks Band and Joe Bonamassa(among others).

Disraeli Gears starts off with Strange Brew which Clapton got from the song Lawdy Mama. In fact, for a brief time, I thought the song and the Bob and Doug McKenzie movie of the same name were somehow connected. ....only by title I guess. Next, is their best known song(along with White Room)...Sunshine of Your Love. As a drummer, I have played this song many times and for the longest time I had it in my mind that the drum fill in the chorus....

I've been waiting so long.....

drum fill (blick em..blick em..blick em)

..to be where I'm going

(blick em..blick em..blick em)

....was (and should have been) incorporated with Ginger on double bass drums. But, it's not on the original recording. Maybe I heard a live cut of it and that's where that came from. ...not sure.

The music continues with World of Pain and Dance the Night Away and the playing is so top notch that it's hard to believe that's this is recorded by a 3 piece band. Blue Condition mixes things up with not Jack or Eric on vocals but the irreverant vocals of Ginger. To fully appreciate Ginger Baker and his lead vocals and its humor, check out Pressed Rat and Warthog on Wheels of Fire and T.U.S.A. by the band Masters of Reality on their album Sunrise on the Sufferbus. Clapton lays down a bluesy guitar wail with Baker driving the beat while Jack Bruce takes on the role of storyteller as he tells Tales of Brave Ulysses.

 

 

 I never particularly paid close attention to the title or lyrics of the next song SWLABR because the song just sounds great with the guitar with an upper register fuzz tone. It just rocks. But, the title is an acronym for She Walks Like A Bearded Rainbow or She Was Like A Bearded Rainbow. On We're Going Wrong, Jack Bruce and his vocals are highlighted as a true talent both vocally and instrumentally. Outside Woman Blues is next and I always felt it was rather pedestrian sounding until I came across a version that Doyle Bramhall II did on Clapton's Crossroads festival back in 2007. It's nice when artists go back and cover a song and give attention to those (somewhat) average songs and make them great. According the VH1's Classic Albums, Jack Bruce was inspired to write Take it Back after seeing images of American college students burning their draft cards during the Vietnam war. Finally, the album finishes off with Mother's Lament where the boys sing a cockney barbershop tune about losing "their baby down the drain".

This is Cream's most cohesive album as a band. I love this album and this band because I have drummer friends who like it. I have guitar friends who love it and I loved this band so much, I turned my brother onto it and he became a bass player who loved it. I always enjoyed talking to musicians who liked Cream, played Cream and jammed to Cream. We used to cover Sunshine of Your Love in the blues band BOOGIE CHILLUN. I go back and listen to us jam on that song and think "Wow...I really need to watch my tempo on this...Damn I'm playing too fast!' Then I'll go back and watch it and think "Well maybe it wasn't that bad!"

 

I recently bought a copy of Cream's 2005 reunion concert at the Royal Albert Hall. I had seen clips online and on TV of both the Royal Albert Hall and then the show they did at Madison Square Garden later the same year. At first, I thought the three of them seemed (really old-first of all) a little rusty. But, the more I watch, the better it gets. One thing about Clapton is that when he's onstage with other great musicians (like Jack and Ginger) it forces him to be at the top of his musical talents and it shows. I had thought that Ginger had slowed the tempos way down. Then I saw a live recording of their farewell concert in 1968 and Ginger was a monster when it came to rushing his tempos. It looks like age, maturity and sobriety have done wonders for his playing too.

Led Zeppelin I & Led Zeppelin II

When I first started these reviews and memories, I really wanted to steer clear of the obvious ones like the Beatles and Led Zeppelin. But, the past couple of weeks, I have been listening to a lot of Joe Bonamassa who is currently working on a project with Glenn Hughes(Deep Purple) and Jason Bonham. On Bonamassa's album Live from Nowhere in Particular, He covers the ZZ Top song Just Got Paid. I actually posted a video of him performing this last week. In the middle of the song, he breaks out into an extended Jimmy Page like solo and quotes phrases from bands like Traffic with Dear Mr Fantasy and eventually the song leads into Zeppelin's ending of Dazed and Confused. So, that being said, I will try to relate to a time when I had no clue who Led Zeppelin really was or even who John "Bonzo" Bonham was.

Recent surveys, have said that the three most popular bands that teenagers download are AC/DC, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. So, in today's world, Led Zeppelin is a classic rock icon and favorite. But, when I was 16-18 years old, they were more known in my circle of friends as that band who does "Stairway to Heaven".

I grew up with 3 older sisters and so I heard a lot of Beatles, Carpenters, ABBA, Bee Gees, Chicago and whatever teen idols were the flavor of the week/month/year such as the Cassidys(David and Shaun), Andy Gibb and Bay City Rollers and a variety of others. So, hard rock bands like Zeppelin, the Who, Deep Purple and Sabbath were not to be heard in our house. I remember in 4th grade overhearing a conversation between two of my classmates talking about KISS. Of course, 10-11 year old boy in 1976-1978 knew that KISS was the "Hottest Band in the Land". The conversation was about what were the biggest Hard Rock bands around. Well, of course....KISS and Led Zeppelin. That was the first I had heard of a band with a name like that.

Years passed, John Bonham passed away in late September 1980 and then John Lennon was killed in December 1980. Obviously, Lennon got the most mainstream press and rightly so.

As I became more interested in playing drums, I kept reading interviews and articles about Led Zeppelin and John Bonham. I remember thumbing through my sister's records and ones that she would put in a cupboard for future garage sales and finding a copy of Zeppelin's In Through the Out Door. But, none of the song titles were ones that had been praised and written about in drum magazines. I found out later that it was one that my sister received as part of a record club subscription. I remember my friend Tom coming to Boy Scouts after being to the North Platte Alco to tell me about a great deal he and his older brother got on some Led Zeppelin 8TRACKS!!! WhooHOO!?

Finally, sometime in my High School Years, I bought Led Zeppelin I on LP. Back then, I had a habit of buying an LP and then I would buy a cassette. I can't remember my rationale but I think if I rotated buying them I would have an even number of cassettes and LPs.

I remember getting it home and dropping the needle on the vinyl and began to take it all in. In the early 80's, the Hard Rock bands had louder guitars with more distortion than something that was produced in 1969. I had read so much about how great this band was that I felt a little let down. I do remember thinking that John Bonham's bass drum triplets were very cool in the song Good Times Bad Times. Anyway, I kept thinking that (for a hard rock band) they didn't seem that heavy. But, I kept coming back to the album and putting it back on over and over again.

Babe I'm Gonna Leave You was kinda bluesy and mellow....so was You Shook Me. Dazed and Confused came around and I found myself sitting down at the foot of my bed and then sitting up to take notice. Black Mountain Side came next and wasn't heavy at all. It was filled with weird guitar sounds and a tabla......HUH?
Side 2 opens with a Rocking Riff that starts Communication Breakdown..now that's a Hard Rocking Song. I thought to myself that this album must have seemed pretty heavy when it first came out. Of course, it may have been my hand-me-down/GE Stereo with Turntable/8track player and AM/FM radio. It wasn't the greatest in High Fidelity.

As time went on, I steadily bought all of Zeppelin's Catalog. It was actually Led Zeppelin II that blew me away with Whole Lotta Love and (of course)...Moby Dick!

Whole Lotta Love seemed much heavier with John Paul Jones bottom end bass filling in the space with Jimmy Page's classic riffing. I bought LZ II as a cassette in my final days of High School before leaving North Platte. I was working as a stock boy/sacker at Gibson's and was given a "going away" present of a $25 gift certificate. One of the things I bought was a cassette of LZ2 and proceeded to cruise around NP in my 1976 VW Rabbit listening to this. As I listened to this, I became enraptured with every aspect of this album.
The Second track What is and What Should Never Be was the coolest to me because (at 3:32) the guitar does a call and response that moves from the left side speaker to the right....whoa cool!
The Lemon Song which features that classic Robert Plant lyric

"Squeeze my lemon til the Juice runs down my leg."

Hmmmmmm? Thankfully, Robert is no longer writing such profound lyrics of this nature anymore.
Bring it on Home, Heartbreaker, Ramble On.....are next....All Bluesy...light but HEAVY!
Ramble On starts on Acoustic guitar and tells of JRR Tolkien's Middle Earth with "the darkest depths of Mordor" and "Gollum at the evil wall!" Then, it kicks in full with Bonham's drums and JPJ on Bass and great guitar sounds from Page.
The first time I head John Bonham's drum solo piece Moby Dick, I was in my VW Rabbitt and I had to stop the car to get a better listen. This was the drum solo that pulled me in HOOK, LINE and Sinker. It starts with a great opening riff and then all of sudden Bonzo goes into the solo and he's playing with his bare hands. ....wait a minute....now he switched back to sticks.....INCREDIBLE! This would be the drum solo that drummers are still copying in some sort of variation almost 40 years after it was recorded.



After these two albums, I was forever a fanatic for Zeppelin. I have loved everything else they did...Which I'm sure I'll write more about later.

Allman Brothers Band-live at the Fillmore East

For Christmas this year, my Brother Mike got me a book called "1001 Albums you Must Hear Before You Die". After talking to my friend-Scott Murrish about my book, I decided to finger through the book, find a title and write about the album and the memories I associate with the album. There will be more to come.



Let me first say that I'm sure many memories will coincide with my years at Dustys Records. While I was working at Dustys, many times Dusty would ask us to run an errand for him or with him in his green Chevy pickup. This is in the days of cassette decks in our vehicles...No CD players or MP3 players. One cassette I remember in Dusty's truck was a Maxell tape labeled "Allman Brothers". I had heard bits and pieces of the ABB(Allman Bros Band) on TV and a few recordings. I remember hearing the dual guitar harmonies of "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" and wanting more of that sound. There were times when Dusty would have me drive to the truck to Hastings or the GI store to deliver merchandise, paperwork etc. I would always grab Dusty's tape of "At the Fillmore East" and pop it in the deck(if it wasn't already in there) and listen to that for the drive. I've always loved the percussion attack of dual drummers Butch Trucks and JJ Johanson. But, the dual guitars of Duane Allman and Dickey Betts reels me in every time. Initially, it was the bluesiness of the music. But, it was an intangible sound that became both signature for the sound of southern rock and the template for every jam band after that. That is what keeps bringing me back to the Allmans.
As I listen to the album and look at the album sleeve, I'm reminded of the movie-Almost Famous. The lead character has a poster of the fictional band-Stillwater with the band posed in an almost exact manner as the Allman Brothers band on the cover of the Fillmore East album.

My brother-Mike, Myself and Jayson Obrecht and our blues band-BOOGIE CHILLUN used to do a cover of the song "You Don't Love Me'. Jayson got the song from a version that Gary Moore performed. The Allmans do it on this album. but, it was originally a tune by Willie Cobb.
I actually bought this album as a used CD about 10 years ago. I ran into a friend and fellow musician who said, "hey Dave, Check this out! Do you have this album?" I didn't...I do now and it remains in my collection to this day.

Muddy Waters - Hard Again

The Blues...How do white kids from Nebraska find out about "the Blues"? It's ODD. But, for me, there's been many ways. For a lot of people, we hear blues shuffles in many different aspects of Rock, Country and Jazz. So, we've heard it and it's in our consciousness. But, I wanted to find out more about it. Hold on as I explain my journey of musical discovery. In my early teens, my friend-Mick got me turned on to Van Halen. I soon became interested in everything VH. I would buy monthly copies of Hit Parader magazine to read more about VH and other bands of the Hard Rock/Heavy Metal genre. In my reading about Eddie, I found out that his primary guitar influence was Eric Clapton(especially the Cream years). So, I began a discovery of the music of Eric Clapton and the myriad of bands he's played with. Well, anyone who knows Clapton know of his outspoken love of the blues and artists like Robert Johnson, Howlin' Wolf, BB King and Muddy Waters. So, I followed the lineage backwards and found my absolute favorite blues album by a genuine bluesman-McKinley Morganfield-AKA Muddy Waters and the album HARD AGAIN!!

Honestly, the first time I heard the first track Mannish Boy was my freshman year of college in 1985 when my college roommate Rick had the soundtrack to the Movie Risky Business . I have never seen the entire movie....never been a big Tom Cruise fan. Anyway, Rick played me Mannish Boy and I remember being taken in by the deep, raspy, rich, bluesy bass vocals of Muddy Waters.
Fast forward a couple years later in 1987 when I started working at Dustys Records. There was a CD copy of the album we would listen to for in-store play. I've written before about the intangibles when describing music that hits me just right and resonates deep within me. This is one of those albums.
At this time, my musical exposure to the blues was limited to white artists covering Black artists like the Blues Brothers, George Thorogood, Clapton, the Stones and Led Zeppelin. But, this album was different. It was simple, yet fun, yet relaxing to something unsettled deep within me.
Muddy Waters-Hard Again was released in 1977 and produced by the whitest bluesman(he's an albino) Johnny Winter. In fact, Winter's contribution is one of the things I love about this album.
We start of the album with Muddy's deep voice......

"Ooooooh Yeah!......"(blues guitar lick)
"oh yeah!......"(guitar lick) "WHOOOOOOOOO!"
"Everything..everything...everything goin' be alright this morning....(Johnny Winter yelps.....) "YEEEAAAAAHHHH!"
"Oh Yeah....WHOOO.....Yeah!"

The band kicks in with Muddy, Johnny, James Cotton(on Harmonica), Pinetop Perkins(on piano), Willie Smith(drums) and Bob Margolin(guitar) and Charles Calmese(bass). It's the interplay between the band that is the greatness of this album. But, it's Muddy, Johnny and Cotton that make this absolute blues magic!
This was produced and recorded very intimately with all the musicians in the same room where you can hear everybody's instruments bleeding into each other's mics in the studio.
Johnny Winter is whooping and hollering between songs as Muddy tells Johnny "We goin' hear some!" as he plays that slide guitar with solid authority. As Johnny plays, we hear James Cotton blow the harp in unison with the guitar. This is a wonderful cooperative sound. As I write this, I am amazed how these musicians work together and communicate both verbally and instrumentally. This is one big chugging Blues machine and the conductor is Muddy as he calls out to "Johnny" and "Cotton" and "Pinetop".
I remember thinking how simple the drumming of Willie "Big Eyes" Smith is (and was). But, it fits the music and it's not aggressive as say John Bonham's playing the blues with Zeppelin. When he hits track #5, I Can't Be Satisfied, it's a new twist with an acoustic dobro with slide and "Big Eyes" playing some primitive drums on cans(?)...not sure..but I like it.
When an album is really good, the time flies by. I remember putting this album many a time at Dustys at the end of the day to make time go by. I had it in my memory that this was only 30-35 minutes in duration. But, the original album clocks in at 45 minutes. There is an unreleased track on the 2004 remastered version that makes it 49 minutes. But, this album chugs along with one great song into another.

Track 6 is Muddy's music history lesson to inform us that The Blues had a Baby and they Named it Rock n' Roll. It sounds a little hokey. But, I always felt it was vital to know where the music came from and (to me) that says it all.

A couple of memories of this album are from my days at Dustys Records. One late Sunday afternoon, Forrest and I were working and our co-worker-Bob had gone home to his hometown for the weekend. It was the end of the work day. It was slow and we were wondering if Bob was back yet. So, we called him. He wasn't home. So, we talked to his answering machine for about 5-10 minutes while Hard Again played in the background. As Forrest would talk, I was doing the Johnny Winter "Oh Yeah's" and "Yeaaahhhs" in the background. Well, we ended up filling a big chunk of answering machine tape. We thought it would be funny to watch Bob come home and sit and listen to 10 minutes of answering machine ramblings and "OH YEAH's"...Sorry Bob....Sorry Dusty for wasting time at work.

My other memory is from Kearney's resident Tie-dye artist and stinky hippy-Jim. I had stated one night while Jim was in the store while Muddy played that I liked this album in that it somehow relaxed me. He said that he felt the opposite way and that made him want to go to the bar and start a fight. Honestly, Jim was such a small guy. I don't think he would have survived any fight.

As I said, this album relaxed me because of what a well-oiled blues machine the band is on here. As I drove home from work tonight listening to this, I began to feel that it also filled me with a certain sense of confidence too. That is what great music is all about!

Johnny Cash - Live at San Quentin

 

When Johnny Cash passed away in September of 2003, I was moved emotionally and physically cried. I've mourned when some of my musical heroes had passed away before. But, when Johnny passed, it reminded me that my own Dad was getting older and some day he will not be with in this world much longer.
I thought about my earliest memory of hearing Johnny Cash and it was his 1969-1971 TV show on ABC. He was very iconic in my memory. He would wear his guitar slung on his back(in the shadows), he would turn around and say "Hi There, I'm Johnny Cash!".....Wow! simple yet etched in my memory.

I remember standing at the fireplace with a small plastic guitar and pretending I was some kind of junior Johnny Cash! This is why I have stated before that I consider Johnny Cash to be my musical father.

The original San Quentin Album only contained 10 tracks. About 3 years ago, I bought the remastered copy with 18 tracks. This was part of Columbia Records American Milestone series. By the time I had bought this, the current digital age was in full swing. I ripped the CD to my computer and synched it to my MP3 player. Put the headphones in and started off on a Sunday afternoon walk with my dog-Piper.
The performance on this seems very intimate by the band and by Johnny himself.
You feel Johnny's genuine compassion and camaraderie for the prisoners at San Quentin. There is no barrier between performer and audience. He makes the audience feel like he's one of them. He jokes with the men and he jokes with his band. He's professional but yet amiable.

He plays his hits for the men including Folsom Prison Blues, Ring of Fire and pays tribute to Bob Dylan with the song Wanted Man. This is also the performance that he debuted the Shel Silverstein tune Boy Named Sue. He also shares his spiritual and Christian beliefs and travels with the inmates with Gospel tunes -He turned the Water into wine and Daddy Sang bass. This performance also feature great performances from his backing musicians which include June Carter, the Carter Family, Carl Perkins, the Statler Brothers along with Johnny's band-the Tennessee Three. The remastered version brings out the talents of his entire ensemble from the harmony vocals of the Statlers to the drumming of WS Holland.
The remastered version has a great bunch of liner notes about recollections of this concert including behind the scenes pictures. This is truly a great live recording from an American original and music ICON.