Anthrax – Among the Living

I started writing this blog a couple of months ago. But, I started to stall out with what I wanted to say about the memories I had associated with this album. As I write this(Summer 2012), I am experiencing a renewed interest in my comic book collection that was a big part of my life from about 1977-1982.  This summer saw the release of director Christopher Nolan’s 3rd Batman movie The Dark Knight Rises.  Along with this movie, I have been listening to the podcasts of director Kevin Smith(Mallrats, Clerks, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back) Smith is a big fan of comic books and has a weekly podcast devoted to Batman titled “Fatman on Batman”.  On his July 9th podcast, he talks to his longtime friend Walt Flanagan.  One of the events in their Batman “obsession” is this album. As they talk about this album briefly, I found myself nodding my head and thinking about my own recollections of this album.  With that being said, I want to talk about this landmark album from this east coast band of thrashers. 

The summer of 1987 was the last summer I spent living with my parents in Hastings before I moved to Kearney (permanently) to finish my college years. In those days of that summer, I would spend my time off (from mowing lawns and working at Kmart)perusing the record bins in various places. I would go to the pawn shop, the Musicland store in the Imperial Mall and a Budget Records in a newly constructed strip mall with soft-serve yogurt and an Applause Video. I remember finding a used copy(it was actually a store promo) of this next album in that Budget Records store. I would go have a look at this album over and over that summer trying to decide if I really wanted to buy the album that would become one of the most pivotal thrash metal albums of 1987.  I’m talking about Anthrax’s Among The Living.

I have a distinct memory about being very cautious about this purchase. I had seen albums by Anthrax. I knew they were a heavy thrash band and they were probably a loud band. I had become a big fan of Metallica and they were THE thrash band that I measured all others by. Metallica had singled out Anthrax in their “special Thanks” section of the album Master of Puppets.  I had heard a bunch of different thrash stuff from my college friend-Shaun. But, I was still hesitant. Would these guys be of the same caliber (in my mind) as Metallica?  By this time, I would stay up on Saturday nights and watch MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball religiously. I always figured I would catch a cool rare video that wasn’t in regular heavy rotation or one by my favorite lesser known bands. One of those summer Saturday nights, I saw the video for the Anthrax song Indians. It was heavy and intense. The drums start off the song with some kind of tribal intensity. The dual harmony guitars come in then to lead the song into some kind of “old movie Indian” theme. It was fast and slamming. Then, the vocals come in and it’s kind of a cool high vocal that (to me) separated them from the other thrash bands of the time with could be more guttural.  Joey Belladonna sounded like an actual singer with great vocal chops. I liked what I heard. But, I was like many music fans and wondered “what would the other songs sound like?”

So, on a HOT July evening, I walked into that Budget Records store, reeling from the summer heat. I remember taking in the comfort of the store’s air conditioning and bought that copy of Among The Living that had been staring back at me for the past few months. In those days, the 12 inch LP was a great source of entertainment when buying a record. Sometimes a band would fill the inside record sleeve with pictures, lyrics and a whole slew of people and bands in the “special thanks” section.  In those days, I knew that this type of album was VERY HEAVY and not everyone’s favorite. So, I would find time alone to put the album and take it all in. I dropped the needle on the Anthrax album and read through the liner notes on the album sleeve and read as they thanked a bunch of the usual record insiders and fellow thrash bands like Metallica. They even dedicated the album to the memory of Metallica’s bassist Cliff Burton that had died in a bus accident in late 1986. In the long list of “Thank Yous”, they also thanked such comic book icons like Batman “Thanks to Frank Miller and Lynn Varley for recreating the Dark Knight (He Rules) and Judge Dredd “(Sorry Bats…HE RULES…OK?)”. In 1987, Batman and Judge Dredd didn’t have any movie franchises going. There was an underground buzz going about Batman with the 1986 graphic novel called The Dark Knight Returns and Judge Dredd was the comic about a futuristic judge who was and instant judge and jury in one.  This was 2-3 years before Jack Nicholson starred as the Joker and Sylvester Stallone as a laughable Judge Dredd. So, here we had a group of guys in a Heavy Metal band that read comics. I had given up collecting comics around 1982 for more music and rock themed magazines like "Modern Drummer”,“Musician” “Hit Parader” and “Circus”. When you’re a teenage boy that reads comics, the girls don’t exactly flock to you. So, I thought that was really cool and that made the band seem really down-to-earth too.

 

The first track comes on and builds with slow chugging chords and then drummer Charlie Benante slams into the song with a double bass drum barrage that absolutely BLEW ME AWAY!!  I thought “this is faster than anything that Metallica does”  About six months later, I ran into my friend Shaun. I hadn’t seen or talked to Shaun in a long time. I went to see him and when I got there (I believe) he had an Among the Living promotional poster in his apartment. One of the first things he says to me is “Have you heard Anthrax? Don’t they just KICK ASS?” or something along those lines. Of course, I agreed wholeheartedly and I think I said “Man, Charlie Benante kicks Lars Ulrich’s ass on drums!”

The album starts off with the title track about the character of Randall Flagg from the Stephen King novel The Stand.  I think I remember reading about that in the liner notes. But, I had forgotten about it until I started writing this blog. It was slamming and heavy and they were using literary characters. These guys were aggressive and yet well read and intelligent too. Of course, the band had also listed Stephen King in the “thank yous” of the liner notes.

The second track is called Caught in the Mosh.  In 1987, “moshing” was a common event when you went to see a hardcore punk or thrash metal band. But, for any mainstream audience of the day, the term was unknown. I had been educated through various friends (mostly Shaun again).  It basically was an aggressive way of slamming and pushing into each other during an extremely heavy and hardcore concert. So, I felt like I was part of an elite educated club when the lyric would say…

Which one of these words don’t you understand?
WHAT IS IT …..CAUGHT IN THE MOSH!!

Next up, is the track about the comic book character Judge Dredd called I am the Law!  I really had not heard anything about this character. He wasn’t a hero from DC or Marvel comics that I had grown up with. He was actually a character from a British Sci-fi magazine called 2000 A.D. But, the fact that a Metal band had written a song based on a comic book character was very very cool. The album never had any songs about Batman on the album. But, it was obvious they were fans. It would be a couple years later that Warner Brothers would release the Tim Burton Batman movie in 1989 and it wouldn’t be until 1995 when Hollywood Pictures would release a Judge Dredd movie starring “Rocky/Rambo” himself…Sylvester Stallone.   I remember talking with my Metal loving friends how cool it would have been to have had Anthrax do the music for either the Batman movie or the Judge Dredd movie. Alas, they didn’t.

 

Next up, is a song called Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.). After listening to the song, you understand the title completely. N.F.L stands for “Nice F**king Life” Also, take “Efilnikufesin” and spell it backwards..pretty obvious.  After looking back at this album, I can’t remember if I knew or not. But, this song was about John Belushi and his life, addiction and tragic death.

“Wake up dead in a plywood bed six feet from the rest of your life
When you couldn’t see your own dependency….N..F..L…”

Next is Skeletons in the Closet. Looking back, it didn’t seem like anything special. But, it definitely tied the album of songs together for a well flowing album. I believe this track was the last track of the vinyl LP’s side one. So, when I flipped the album over to side two, It started off with the track Indians which is the song that hooked me first. At this point, the listener is now on the 6th track of this album. So far, quite the intense ride for a first time listener. From there, the album slams home with 3 more songs One World, A.D.I/Horror of it All, and Imitation of Life.

A couple years would pass and I would gain a few more friends through my connections at the college radio station and at Dustys Records.  My friend Steve C. bought a video copy of the Anthrax live video Anthrax – Oidivnikufesin N.F.V.  Once again, if you figured out what N.F.L. stood for, you could figure out what the title of the video stood for.  This had to be around 1988-89 or so. At this time, most people had VCR’s. But, how many people had them hooked up to their stereo system?  My Dustys co-hort Bob had just bought a new stereo system and had his VCR hooked up to it. So, we took the Anthrax live concert video over to Bob’s and turned it up.  Most of the Among the Living album is played on this video. This only fueled my excitement for this album. 

In 1988, The band would release their next album State of Euphoria. I remember liking the album. But, it didn’t seem to have the “edge” that Among the Living had. Once again, this was the topic of deep conversation with my music and metal loving friends.  My friend (and future roommate) Matt came to loving Anthrax through the State of Euphoria album and I remember Steve and I telling Matt that he really needed to check out Among the Living.  He eventually did.

In 1990, the band came out with the album Persistence of Time album with a really heavy cover of Joe Jackson’s Got the Time. This would be the last Anthrax I would buy for awhile. My tastes in the early 90’s changed. I was less interested in the Heavy thrash stuff that I had been listening to in the 80’s and was more into “groove” oriented bands and jam bands.  Anthrax had also started to spearhead a new “metal/rap” crossover movement. That had an EP in between Among and Euphoria called I’m the Man which was seemed kind of a rap parody song. While it was fun. It wasn’t my thing. They eventually would record with rap artists Public Enemy with a cover of their song Bring Da Noise. It was definitely not my thing and I passed on that one.

In 1992, lead singer Joey Belladonna was fired from the band and replaced by Armored Saint singer John Bush.  I had been a moderate fan of Armored Saint in the 80’s. There was also many stories told of how Metallica had actually considered John Bush as their vocalist before James Hetfield took on the role of frontman. But, this was not enough for me to welcome Bush into the fold.  I liked Bush’s music with Anthrax. It just wasn’t on my radar of favorite things to listen to.  Bush stayed with the band for another 10 years or so. Then, in 2005-2006, the Among the Living band lineup reunited for a short tour. Belladonna left the band again and then rejoined finally for the band’s 2011 long awaited album Worship Music.  I was actually very excited about this return to the band and the new album of material.  It reminded me of how I felt listening the Among the Living all those years ago. I actually wrote about it in my Listening Habits of 2011 blog.  I was excited to hear the new music. But, it also got me thinking about how I felt in 1987 when I was 20 years old and exploring all kinds of new music.

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die contributor Joel McIver wrote:

New Yorkers Anthrax hit their artistic, critical, and commercial peak early, with their third full-length album, Among the Living.  A perfect blend of the speed that thrash fans hungered for, crafted tunes of breathtaking unpredictability, and a unique sound.
There is no forgetting the sheer joy of thrash’s peak era – and this album is among the best

On a side note…. I had read Batman: The Dark Knight Returns back in the summer of 1988. It didn’t really resonate with me back then. Perhaps I felt I was too busy in those days going to college classes, working in a record store, working a college radio shift or frequenting the bars on weekends. It just wasn’t something I was excited about.  This summer, I found a renewed interest in everything Batman. So, I checked out a copy of this game-changing graphic novel, quieted my mind and took the whole thing in.  I loved it and was completely engrossed in it too. For its time, it really was a reinvention of the Batman mythos and was very influential in all the Batman related media that would be re-imagined over the past 25+ years. Warner Pictures is getting ready to release a direct-to-DVD animated feature of this graphic novel in the Fall of 2012. I am looking forward to it. I don’t think there’s an Anthrax tie in with this one either.  I don’t mind. I have my memories that connect this album with the Dark Knight….and this is my blog too.

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.