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pre-ono macca + pre-linda lennon collaborations
(think ‘day in the life’)
paul mccartney 1966 – 1986
(from ‘eleanor rigby’ to ‘pretty little head’)
brian wilson 1966 – 1976
(from ‘pet sounds’ to ‘ding dang!’)
neil young
(whenever he started smoking grass in earnest, i’d say round 1970’s ‘after the gold rush’)
joni mitchell at her least self-important
jim morrison at his most self-important
jimi hendrix
(i prefer his postmortem releases)
fat elvis
mick jagger’s hips, tina turner’s lips, and stevie nicks’ tits
keith richards’ picking hand, eddie van halen’s fretting hand, and slash’s guitar tone
the very first led zeppelin jam session
(sometime round august 1968 while the beatles were deep in their white album sessions)
(pretty cool huh?)
pink floyd ’round the time they filmed ‘live at pompeii’
(‘echoes’ should be the national anthem of the new world order)
the buckleys, however transitory might they be
david lee roth and axl rose in their darkest moments
i trace all my musical influences back to aerosmith’s ‘get a grip’ album. i thought paul mccartney was aping steven tyler when i first heard the coda of ‘hey jude’. how’s that for backwards thinking? then i heard the ‘back to the egg’ album and discovered that paul really did pander to the very artists he influenced. that’s my least favorite thing about him. but who am i to judge?
lynyrd skynyrd too. back in high school, ‘sweet home alabama’ was just about the purest thing i’d ever heard. and ‘freebird’ blew my mind wide open all the way back in middle school when i used to carry around a portable CD player like some sort of anachronism.
i’d stick stevie wonder and prince on the flip side of that very same coin. and not just because they’re black. but because they are complicators of the rock essence (which is really just the male libido), whereas skynyrd and steven tyler take things down to the lowest common denominator (which is often just as fun). but all the aforementioned are fundamentally limited. even at his funkiest, stevie wonder is too good-natured to capture the panorama of the human experience that the beatles could transmit. it was lennon’s assholian ways that sent a lot of their sappiest stuff soaring. and prince’s egomania renders him one-dimensional as well. it’s either wails of unrequited love or preparatory cries in anticipation of sexual ecstasy. prince couldn’t very well sing convincingly of a rocky raccoon.
and we wouldn’t want him to.
if these classic rock dinosaurs were really cunning, they’d start releasing these types of themed albums that correlate with their historical ups-n-downs.
tasteless or not, if you think it’ll sell then go for it.
like the beatles’ pre-pot releases (anything before ’64)
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COMPOSERS
SUPERGROUPS
i’m more concerned right now about my imaginary superstar rock band in the afterlife. should i draft all lead guitarists and then stick one on bass guitar duties? it’d probably end up being keith richards. and i’d feel real bad about that afterwards. like john lennon in the ‘rock n’ roll circus’ (because eric clapton was on hand to play lead guitar)
i’ll handle things differently. i’ll let john lennon + keith richards alternate on rhythm guitar and hire one of the beach boys buffoons (al jardine or bruce johnson, not brian) to play bass. they’ll be reliable enough but never intrusive. paul and brian will man the pianos and sing their hearts out.
NEWFOUND HEROES
brian wilson
david gilmour
tom morello
slash
paul mccartney
jimi hendrix
eddie vedder
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
GEORG PHILIPP TELEMANN
(14 March 1681 – 25 June 1767)
a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family’s wishes. After studying in Magdeburg, Zellerfeld, and Hildesheim, Telemann entered the University of Leipzig to study law, but eventually settled on a career in music. He held important positions in Leipzig,Żary, Eisenach, and Frankfurt before settling in Hamburg in 1721, where he became musical director of the city’s five main churches. While Telemann’s career prospered, his personal life was always troubled: his first wife died only a few months after their marriage, and his second wife had extramarital affairs and accumulated a large gambling debt before leaving Telemann.
Telemann’s signature (1714 and 1757).
Telemann was one of the most prolific composers in history[1] (at least in terms of surviving oeuvre)[2] and was considered by his contemporaries to be one of the leading German composers of the time—he was compared favorably both to his friend Johann Sebastian Bach, who made Telemann the Godfather and namesake of his son Carl Philipp Emanuel, and to George Frideric Handel, whom Telemann also knew personally. Telemann’s music incorporates several national styles: French, Italian, and Polish. He remained at the forefront of all new musical tendencies and his music is an important link between the late Baroque and early Classical styles.
BEETHOVEN
ROBERT SCHUMANN
(1810 – 1856)
FRANZ SCHUBERT
“if the schu fits…”
franz schubert
(1797 – 1828)
mark played me some schubert and i played some tracks from “we won the war”.
TCHAIKOVSKY
1892:
the first performance of the fairy tale-ballet “The Nutcracker”, composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and based on the story by E. T. A. Hoffmann, was held at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia
RICHARD WAGNER
MOONDOG
“unsung heroes”
“MOONDOG”
(1916 – 1999)
FRANK SINATRA
(a couple of my favorite wigger singers:)
franklin sinatra
(or is it “francis”?)
like elvis presley who came after him, sinatra being the pre-eminent pop singer of his day had all of the best songs come his way. therefore, he didn’t have to worry about “composition”…
i was initially resistant to his music (i associated it with the old man and an assortment of italian-american meatheads) after working with AI on the “repraise” project, i’ve gained quite an appreciation for “his” music (or rather, the best pop songs of the 1940s – 1970s) even the beatles were eager to write songs for sinatra (he covered many of their songs throughout his career)
(1915 – 1998)
born in hoboken
(only child of italian immigrants)
(like my grandfather…)
sinatra got his first break in 1935 (at age 20) when his mother persuaded a local singing group to let him join…
with sinatra, the group became known as the “hoboken four”, and they sufficiently impressed edward bowes. after appearing on his show, Major Bowes Amateur Hour, they attracted 40,000 votes and won the first prize — a six month contract to perform on stage and radio across the united states.
sinatra left the Hoboken 4 and returned home in late 1935. his mother secured him a job as a singing waiter and MC at the “rustic cabin” in englewood cliffs, new jersey, for which he was paid $15 a week…he was discovered by bandleader harry james in june 1939 and signed to a one-year contract…
in november 1939, 24-year-old frank sinatra signed on as singer of tommy dorsey’s band…(harry james graciously releases him from his contract)…
26 january 1940:
25-year-old frank sinatra makes his first public appearance with the dorsey band @ coronado theater in rockford illinois…
“songs for swingin’ lovers” (1956)
*you make me feel so young*
(music by josef myrow / lyrics by mack gordon)
(from 1946 film “three little girls in blue” written by stephen powys and valentine davies)
(based on 1938 play “three blind mice”)
“sinatra and company” (1971)
“wave”
(written by brazilian composer antonio carlos jobim in 1967)
“the reprise collection” (1990)
(released on sinatra’s 75th birthday)
(four CDs / 81 songs)
(reprise records founded in 1960 by frank sinatra)
(he was 45 years old)
sinatra suffered from senile dementia in his final years and made no further public appearances after a heart attack in January 1997. after suffering a further heart attack, he died at 10:50 pm on May 14, 1998 at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, with his wife barbara by his side….
he was 82 years old…
(i was 14 years old…)
(he was 68 years older than me…)
(a surrogate grandfather of sorts)
sinatra’s final words, spoken as attempts were made to stabilize him, were “i’m losing…”
i suppose sinatra’s “heir” is “dion (francis dimucci)” (born 1939), another italian-american singer of other people’s songs. i once wrote a song called “the wanderer” not realizing that the title had already been claimed (as have most chord progressions)…i soon changed the title to “family man”…
(*cue the geeky barenaked ladies “it’s all been done before”*)
sinatra collector’s edition (2009)
(20 tracks from reprise records)
MEL TORME
(1925 – 1999)
(another jew who wrote christmas carols)
(in the vein of irving berlin)
(but in this case he also sang them)
(jewish)
(born in chicago)
(died of a stroke at age 73)
ELVIS PRESLEY
FRED NEIL
JoGa Bot
- Frederick Neil is good and dead Fred’s dead…fraid so… Now he’s really sleeping with the fishes!
- 12/31, 1:20am Bill WarrenI see and hear him often.. Especially at intersection.. been looking at more history.. great influence.. Dylan quote that it was all about Fred in village. crosby nash ..many others guided .. got to look up big rec. from WFMU bout Jo. gonna look..
Frederick “Fred” Neil (March 16, 1936 – July 7, 2001)[1] was an American folk singer-songwriter in the 1960s and early 1970s. He did not achieve commercial success as a performer,[2] and is mainly known through other people’s recordings of his material – particularly “Everybody’s Talkin'”, which became a hit for Harry Nilsson after being used for the film Midnight Cowboy.
though highly regarded by contemporary folk singers, he was reluctant to tour (something he shared with Nilsson), and mainly spent the last 30 years of his life assisting with the preservation of dolphins
THE TEMPTATIONS
THE CRYSTALS
formed in 1961…
(through the help of barbara alston’s uncle)
“da doo ron ron”
(1963 single)
(written by phil spector, jeff barry, ellie greenwich)
i met him on a monday and my heart stood still
da doo ron ron ron da doo ron ron
somebody told me that his name was phil
da doo ron ron ron da doo ron ron
yea, my heart stood still
yea, his name was phil
and when he took me home
da doo ron ron ron da doo ron ron
i knew what he was doing when he caught my eye
da doo ron ron ron da doo ron ron
he looked so quiet but my oh my
da doo ron ron ron da doo ron ron
yea, he caught my eye
yea, my o my
and when he walked me home
da doo ron ron ron da doo ron ron
he picked me up at seven and he looked so fine
da doo ron ron ron da doo ron ron
someday soon i’m gonna make him mine
da doo ron ron ron da doo ron ron
yea, he looked so fine
yea, i’ll make him mine
and when he walked me home
da doo ron ron ron da doo ron ron
“male version”:
i met her on a monday and my heart stood still
da doo ron ron ron da doo ron ron
somebody told me that her name was lil
da doo ron ron ron da doo ron ron
yea, my heart stood still
yea, her name was lil
and when i took her home
da doo ron ron ron da doo ron ron
i knew what she was doing when she caught my eye
da doo ron ron ron da doo ron ron
she looked so quiet but my oh my
da doo ron ron ron da doo ron ron
yea, she caught my eye
yea, my o my
and when i walked her home
da doo ron ron ron da doo ron ron
she picked me up at seven and she looked so fine
da doo ron ron ron da doo ron ron
someday soon i’m gonna make her mine
da doo ron ron ron da doo ron ron
yea, she looked so fine
yea, i’ll make her mine
and when i walked her home
da doo ron ron ron da doo ron ron
THE FIFTH DIMENSION
THE BEACH BOYS
THE BEATLES
THE ROLLING STONES
THE RASCALS
new jersey rock band
(formed in 1965)
eddie brigati
(lead singer)
(born 1945)
2006:
burned a demo CD for my the old man to hand over to former merrill lynch colleague (and current beach neighbor) mike bressman, so he can hand it over to former rascals member (and current record producer) eddie brigati…
i never heard back from him…
ERIC CLAPTON
(born 30 march 1945)
grew up believing that his mother was his older sister…
(this can cause severe problems down the road)
(jack nicholson was the same way…)
after leaving school in 1961 (at age 16), clapton studied at the kingston college of art but was dismissed at the end of the academic year because his focus remained on music rather than art…
Around this time Clapton began busking around HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_upon_Thames” \o “Kingston upon Thames”Kingston, HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richmond,_London” \o “Richmond, London”Richmond and the HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_End_of_London” \o “West End of London”West End of London.HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Clapton” \l “cite_note-6”[7] In 1962, Clapton started performing as a duo with fellow blues enthusiast HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Brock” \o “Dave Brock”David Brock in the pubs around Surrey.HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Clapton” \l “cite_note-eric1962-7”[8] When he was 17 years old Clapton joined his first band, an early British R&B group, called “The Roosters”. He stayed with this band from January through August 1963.HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Clapton” \l “cite_note-eric1962-7”[8] In October of that year, Clapton did a brief seven HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gig_%28musical_performance%29” \o “Gig (musical performance)”gig stint with Casey Jones & The Engineers.
In October 1963, Clapton joined The Yardbirds, a blues-influenced rock and roll band, and stayed with them until March 1965
then he fell in love with George Harrison’s wife and recorded the album “Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs” in 1970
‘Bell Bottom Blues’ was one of my favorite songs during the summer of 2003
(I heard while driving with my father to one of my brother’s baseball games)
Then he went into heroin addiction…
Re-emergence:
‘461 Ocean Boulevard’ (1974 album)
Features the traditional song ‘Motherless Children’
(sung with passion by Eric Clapton)
My mother loved Eric Clapton’s singing voice
(he’s an underrated vocalist)
She bought his 2000 collaboration with BB King “Riding With The King”
My mother deemed Eric Clapton + BB King to be the two greatest guitarists on Earth.
(but what did she know?)
As a teenager, I asked her to assess my guitar abilities. She placed me somewhere in the range between Keith Richards and Eric Clapton.
JIMI HENDRIX
“JIM MORRISON”
(1943 – 1971)
died in paris
(heroin overdose?)
my voice and looks have often been compared to jim morrison
NEIL YOUNG
” my newfound hero of the day…”
(don’t ask…)
COUNTRY JOE AND THE FISH
“country joe” was a nickname for joseph stalin…
“the fish” is a reference to mao zedong’s statement that “the true revolutionary moves through the peasantry like fish through water”…
“fixin to die” rag:
well come on all you big strong men
uncle sam needs your help again
he’s got himself in a terrible jam
way down yonder in vietnam
so put down your books and pick up a gun
we’re gonna have a whole lotta fun
and it’s 1 2 3…
what are we fighting for?
don’t ask me, i don’t give a damn…
next stop is vietnam…
and it’s 5 6 7…
open up the pearly gates…
well there ain’t no time to wonder why…
whooppee! we’re all gonna die!
cone on wall street, don’t be slow
why man, this is war, let’s a go go go
there’s plenty good money to be made
by supplying the army with the tools of the trade
but just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb
they drop it on the vietcong
well come on generals, let’s move fast
your big chance has come at last
now you can go out and get those reds
‘cuz the only good commie is the one that’s dead
and you know that peace can only be won
when we’ve blown’em all to kingdom come
come on mothers throughout the land
pack your boys off to vietnam
come on fathers, don’t hesitate
to send your sons off before it’s too late
and you can be the first ones on your block
to have your boy come home in a box
LED ZEPPELIN
robert plant
(singer)
TIM BUCKLEY
tim buckley
(1947 – 1975)
born in washington DC to parents of irish descent
the deadbeat father of jeff buckley…
pretty fucking incredible singer himself…
DAVID BOWIE
(born 1947)
cue bowie as british general “jean genie” playing “faux americana” music
“jean genie”
(1972 david bowie single)
“young americans”
(title track of 1975 david bowie album)
FRANK ZAPPA
JERRY GARCIA
“jerome john garcia”
(singer/songwriter/guitarist for the “grateful dead”)
(1 august 1942 – 9 august 1995)
(born in san francisco)
(died at age 53)
(heart attack)
THE BAND
i’ve been digging “the band” recently, covering “up on cripple creek” and “the weight”
“the band” began in canada
PETER FRAMPTON
peter frampton is one of my heroes…
british singer/songwriter/guitarist
(born 1950)
became guitarist of “humble pie” in 1969
(steve marriott as lead vocalist)
(undoubtedly a vocal role model for frampton)
“frampton’s camel” (1973)
“do you feel like we do?”
“frampton” (1975)
“baby i love your way”
“show me the way”
“i’m in you” (1977)
“i’m in you”
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
(born 1949)
“the e street band”
(formed in 1972)
BILLY JOEL
“uptown girl…she’s been living in her uptown world…”
(off 1983 billy joel album “an innocent man”)
THE EAGLES
QUEEN
british band
freddy mercury
(singer)
AEROSMITH
LYNYRD SKYNYRD
ronnie van zant’s a damn fine singer. i’m appreciating his approach as i listen to skynyrd live. guy sings just as reliably onstage as he does in the studio. never a missed note. even freddie mercury was often a bit of a pitchy performer.
there a few reasons why van zant was so consistent. for one, skynyrd songs aren’t very difficult range-wise. so it never feels like he’s over-reaching. the songs are written around his vocal strengths (instead of the other way around, whatever that means). so when he occasionally does shoot for a high note and inevitably nails it, it’s all the more satisfying (more guitar players should take their cues from this vocal approach). also, a lifetime of live performance doesn’t hurt. and the booze probably only fueled his vocal cords.
good singing’s all about the channeling of a lifetime of pain. it should be redemptive. most blacks have historically suffered through lifetimes of requisite pain. that’s why they seem more ‘naturally’ inclined towards gut-wrenching vocal prowess. whites usually have to work at it.
MICHAEL JACKSON
MIDNIGHT OIL
australian rock band
(founded 1976)
“beds are burning”
(off 1987 album “diesel and dust”)
*how can we dance while our earth is turning?*
(i don’t know. we’re just gonna have to burn the midnight oil)
HUMAN LEAGUE
(british band)
(formed in 1977)
led by philip oakey
(born 1955)
he had the right idea…
(hire a pair of hot misfit teenage girls to sing for your band…)
PRINCE
VAN HALEN
(formed in pasadena california in 1972)
david lee roth as 18-year-old lead singer
KLAUS NOMI
(1944 – 1983)
JOE JACKSON
(british musician)
(“is she really going out with him?”)
DAVID BYRNE
a helluva guy!
born 1952 in scotland…
david byrne seems to be the go-to role model for male indie rockers these days…
BON JOVI
rock band
(formed in 1983)
named after lead singer “jonathan bon jovi” (born 1962)
ladies and gentlemen, bon joga!
GUNS ‘N ROSES
american band
axl rose
(singer)
“use your illusion (1 + 2)” were released on 17 september 1991. i was 8 years old and just beginning to watch MTV (under the influence of shane taylor). the “november rain” music video had quite an impact on me…
“round 1!”
“…fight?”
NIRVANA
RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
red hot chili peppers
(formed in 1983)
john frusciante
(born 1970)
i like the way he sings. fearlessly. like jimi hendrix…
so john frusciante left the red hot chili peppers today. for the second time. he probably should’ve died young while he still had the chance. but you really can’t fault him for trying. heroin was simply no match for him.
in another sign of the times, he explained that he had actually left the band a year ago. but no one noticed then. wasn’t exactly front page news.
john frusciante is one of my spiritual heroes. he had the balls to drop out of high school at age sixteen to follow his musical dream. and look where that got him. he seemed to be a hero to my blonde comrades over the years (grodeck + gaybrick) but i never really noticed him apart from the ‘behind the music’ episode where it shows him in a heroin haze (my mother mocked him mercilessly). his guitar parts seemed too simple for my tastes.
little did i realize that after spearheading a multiplatinum classic rock album (‘blood sugar sex magik’), he left the biggest rock band in the world at age 22 to begin a heroin habit that last for most of his 20s. that takes a certain level of courage.
JEFF BUCKLEY
(1966 – 1997)
jeff buckley’s the vocal role model for all the indie-rock gals…
ANTON NEWCOMBE
“NEWCOMBE”
(born 1967)
was up late (4AM) last night playing online poker (made $26.62 for Monday and another $34 for Tuesday) and watching an AMAZING documentary “Dig!”, which was filmed over a 7-year period documenting the rivalry and struggles of two rock bands, the “Brian Jonestown Massacre” and the “Dandy Warhols”, and the friendship/competition between the two bandleaders Anton Newcombe (BJM) and Courtney Taylor (DW). I see myself very soon transforming into another Newcombe (especially in the one section where a rock critic/writer talks about how Anton saw himself as a man creating his own world like Christ, Manson, Hitler as a “man from the desert who has claimed to see God”)
THE 27 CLUB
ALEXANDRE LEVY
KURT COBAIN
the ’27 club’ consists of an elite group of artists who knew how to quit while they were ahead. according to a stoner i once knew, their corpses were all found with white lighters in their possession.
members include:
robert johnson
brian jones
jimi hendrix
janis joplin
jim morrison
ron “pigpen” mckernan
peter ham
(c’mon ladies n’ fellas, i’ll require your help to get the ranks to 12!)
so far, we’ve got a black blues pioneer who can handle all intricate acoustic patterns and heartfelt high-pitched vocals, a lovable brit rascal with a keen fashion sense who brilliantly dabbles in all sorts of exotic instruments, an enigmatic electric guitar firestorm whose erection alone would eradicate all teenybopper wannabe stars from the premises (got that from bill hicks), a white female soul singer with a heart of gold (and a habit to match), a slightly skewed flamboyant white frontman who probably would’ve started serial killing had ray manzarek not pulled him aside on that fateful summer day @ USC film school.
so with the ‘quint’ guitar threat of robert johnson (acoustic), jimi hendrix (electric lead), the twin suicides cobain and ham on respective electric rhythm power pop parts (ham plays the major chords + cobain plays the minor chords), and brian jones on whichever stringed instrument happens to catch his stoned fancy at the moment, i’d say we’d have a pretty formidable stringed army on our hands.
jim morrison and janis joplin can do their nihilist duets onstage before a drunken jim finally forces himself on her and she whacks him over the head with her ever-present southern comfort bottle. pigpen can tickle the ivories and pretend like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
this band just needs a rhythm section. i nominate roger lee durham (of bloodstone) to man the drums (’cause he can also sing). would provide the band with a funky rhythmic edge. and dave alexander of the stooges could dumb things down on bass guitar. ’cause he’d fit in with the rest of the alcoholics in the bunch.
i also noted today that mother + father were both 28 years old when they got married. the date was the 28th of september 1982. with this particular year, a single rotational flip yields 1″28″9. the pattern seems to make sense in the decimal system (first two numbers followed by last two numbers in cycle). i reason that the ‘9’ represents the month of september and the ‘1’ indicates that it is the first marriage for both.
am i better than nostrodamus or what?
i’m already too old to be in the “27 club”…
(and i’m not even famous)
(bummer)
(what a bizarre benchmark for a modern musician!)
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👈👈👈☜*“ARTISTIC INFLUENCES”* ☞ 👉👉👉
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💕💝💖💓🖤💙🖤💙🖤💙🖤❤️💚💛🧡❣️💞💔💘❣️🧡💛💚❤️🖤💜🖤💙🖤💙🖤💗💖💝💘
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*🌈✨ *TABLE OF CONTENTS* ✨🌷*
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🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥*we won the war* 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥