Let us give thanks (and make the devil sign....)

Good evening Rawkers. Holidays have put posts on hold. And the break started me thinking about all the things for which I'm thankful. Always good to get perspective on what's REALLY important.... Let's review my top five.

1. For Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce, the best ryhthm section in rock. Eric Clapton is the extra stocking stuffer that makes Cream the perfect gift for the person who has everything.

2. That Miles Davis recorded "Kind of Blue" with Coltrane, Cannonball, etc. Arguably the best album ever recorded.

3. That John met Paul, that Elton met Bernie, that Bruce met Clarence, that Geezer, Bill and Tony met Ozzy, and for all the other auspicious connections that created amazing bodies of musical work.

4. For all the now-dead but forever greats who had the opportunity to lay their legacies on vinyl, tape and digital and push the boundaries of their (and our) passion ever forward. My list includes, but is not limited to, John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, SRV, Marvin Gaye, Ronnie Van Zant, Allen Collins, Jim Morrison, Freddie Mercury, Joe Strummer, John Bonham, John Entwistle, Keith Moon, Dimebag, Duane Allman, George Harrison, Ray Charles, David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, Melvin Franklin, Paul Williams, Kurt Cobain, Buddy Holly, Terry Kath, Brian Jones, Phil Lynott, Bob Marley, Bon Scott, Sam Cooke.

5. That I've never seen REO Lame-wagon in concert or owned an album or cd. Thank you Father Rock-mas for that special holiday blessing.

Go in holiday peace....

G.O.T.

Eric Clapton

Good morning Rawkers. I've been reading the Eric Clapton biography this weekend and was inspired to talk for a minute about one of my very favorites of all time, slowhand himself.

In my opinion, few guitar players turn a musical phrase like Clapton. He is so smooth, such a master of his instrument that it seems effortless. He has been through so many iterations and recreations, but he always comes back to the same roots -- hard-core, deep blues, to which he early on swore a life-long allegiance. His life has met with its own share of misery to the point where one wonders if he himself went to the "crossroads", trading insight to the blues for the hard times that teach it.

Clapton has been an integral part of at least three amazing blues outfits (Cream, Yardbirds, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers). Blind Faith, and Derek & the Dominos were great, and Bonnie and Delaney was good, but nothing like the other three. Solo stuff has been hit and miss, but in my opinion, mostly HIT.

Best concert I ever saw was Eric Clapton. Fourth row, and he was perfect.

Go in peace....

G.O.T.

Sometimes the "old time rock and roll" is the good stuff....

Good evening Rawkers. I'm betting there are strong opinions about this one, but i'm gonna go out on a limb. I love Bob Seger. I don't apologize for it. His music was part of high school for me and i flat out love his songs -- the slow ones, the rockers, all of it.

Tell me if you disagree, but be sure to check to be sure he doesn't represent a vital piece of your past that you'd rather NOT forget.... Afterall, "we've got tonight....."

It's boyfriend stuff, it's girlfriend stuff. It's real. It's memories. It's classic.

Go in peace....

G.O.T.

Eagles, baby.... Eagles.

Good evening Rawkers. I'll need your indulgence to wax worshipful about what may be the very best band -- pound for pound, song for song, voice for voice, man for man -- to ever lay sounds on vinyl. One word: Eagles.

The musicianship and songwriting is just spectacular. Absolutely gorgeous songs. And the voices.... Ah, the voices..... Best harmonies in rock.

My favorite iteration of the band was the 1975 "One Of These Nights" unit: Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Randy Meisner, Bernie Leadon, and Don Felder. I would list Joe Walsh in the "top" line up, but he didn't come into the picture until Leadon quit after the album. I like Walsh MUCH better than Leadon as a guitarist, but One Of These Nights is my favorite album of their's and I have to give props where they are due).

The original incarnation was certainly GOOD (with Frey, Henley, Randy Meisner and Bernie Leadon), but had it's share of problems and just was never...GREAT. The vocals hadn't yet fully matured and it was a tad too, well, country. It wasn't until they began to rock it up a bit for the "On The Border" and "One Of These Nights" albums (1974 and 1975 respectively) that they came into their own. Adding Felder made a huge difference. And clearly, Henley and Frey were imposing their vision with more dramatic force.

Regarding the current iteration, I LOVE what Timothy B. Schmit's bass/vocal contribution brought to the band when Randy Meisner quit in '77. The Eagles continued to be a GREAT band without missing a step. But my preference is for the aforementioned line up.

Fave tracks:

Bitter Creek

Lyin' Eyes

Too Many Hands

One of These Nights

Wasted Time

Victim of Love

Hotel California

Life in the Fast Lane (LOVE the guitar intro!!)

Just a bunch of brilliant stuff, people. Agree or disagree?

Go in peace....

G.O.T.

Time to smooth it out.... R&B legends

Good morning Rawkers. Let's spend a few minutes talking about a handful of the few "special" singers that especially tickle my groove bone. The list is short, featuring four of the monsters of R/B and soul -- Donny Hathaway, Al Green, Bobby "Blue" Bland, and Sam Cooke. If there is one or more of these cats you don't know, PLEASE do yourself a favor and pick up a cd or two. They are simply the smoothest masters of the groove scene and really know how to set the right mood, if you know what i mean (apologies and no disrespect intended to the late great Marvin Gaye).

Needless to say, there is no shortage of other names that could be added to this hall of fame list, and no doubt several of you will offer some up. But these guys are my fave picks of this great genre's very best offerings.

If i can only pick one song from each, they would be as follows:

Donny Hathaway -- "Giving Up"

Al Green -- "Love and Happiness"

Bobby Bland -- "Goin Down Slow"

Sam Cooke -- "A Change is Gonna Come"

Beautiful, all. So slow down and enjoy their blues.

Go in peace....

G.O.T.

Greasy-fried, country-fied, and all SOUTHERN....

Good evening Rawkers. I'm feeling the need to talk about one of my favorite musical subgenres, Southern Rock. So let's fry it up with some grease, smother it in gravy, sop it up with cornbread, wash it down with homebrew and pick our teeth while the good ole' boys lay it down southern style.

This is a great, great genre with a proud tradition of long hair, Gibson guitars, honky-tonk piano and whiskey-soaked vocals. I'm hard-pressed to tap a "number one" so i'm giving my fave nod to a tie, both blistering bands whose names are synonymous with the music -- the Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Before going further, with no disrespect intended, you need to know that other greats on my ipod playlist include Molly Hatchett, ZZ Top, Mountain, Gov't Mule, Marshall Tucker, Blackfoot, and the Outlaws.

And let's never forget the hot n' nasty Black Oak Arkansas. Jim Dandy indeed!

Of course, country/rock cross-overs like Charlie Daniels, Hank Williams, Jr., Dwight Yoakam and even Kid Rock could also be included here, but blogs aren't magazine articles....

For my money, the cd's I take to the proverbial "desert island" are the Allmans and Skynyrd.

Both have experienced their share of tragedy -- the 1971 motorcycle death of brilliant Allman Bros. slide guitarist Duane Allman, and Skynyrd's well-known 1977 plane crash that took, among others, guitarist Steve Gaines and singer/band leader Ronnie Van Zant. But both have also perservered, growing beyond the tragedies to continue bringing great music to the world.

Favorite cuts of the GOT's from each include:

In Memory of Elizabeth Reed (Allmans)

Melissa (Allmans)

One Way Out (Allmans)

Come and Go Blues (Allmans)

Saturday Night Special (Skynyrd)

Needle and the Spoon (Skynyrd)

On the Hunt (Skynyrd)

Poison Whiskey (Skynyrd)

Hope you enjoy these boys as much as i do.

Go in peace....

G.O.T.

Feeling horn-y?

Good evening Rawkers. D'ya like them "horn bands"? I'm talking about the classics, like Blood, Sweat & Tears, Chicago (the early stuff, when they were the Chicago Transit Authority), Tower of Power, Rare Earth, Ides of March, Al Kooper, Blues Project, etc.

Others that stretch into the genre include Maynard Ferguson, Earth Wind & Fire, Sly & the Family Stone, etc.

At its core, it reflects the vision of melding overdriven guitars and funky rhythm sections with tight horn arrangements to create a jazzy-edged sound that fit the 70s like a groovacious glove. For those who appreciate the intricacies of the arrangements and the interesting chordal possibilities, it was a glorious marriage. For others...? Who cares. Statement, not question.

On the subject of Chicago, if the only stuff you know from these masters is the lame-ass, AM-radio-friendly Peter Cetera love song crap, you're missing the best of the rest. Check out the first bunch of albums (ten?) from the boys. Yeah, Cetera still has the tenor vocals and plays bass, but the band has the edge and energy that propelled them to the top of the charts (wonder who the guitar player is at the left? None other than the superlative Terry Kath, who defined the early sound of Chicago. After his accidental gunshot death at 31 they crept ever-so-slowly to the edge of the wuss cliff and then fully leaped into the abyss. Thanks Peter C.... uradik).

The bands that bridged the rock/funk gap using horns during this period included Sly and Earth Wind & Fire. The cats flat out rawked AND grooved AND funked it up in a stanky way!!

Check out "Thank You (Faletinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" and "In the Stone". The first is an amazing funk offering from Sly. The second, a transcendent horn anthem from EWF (one of my favorite songs of all time, and featured coolly in the movie Drum Line).

Ahhhhh...... The magic of the horns. Rawk on bruthahs.

And go in peace....

G.O.T.

Doing Violence to the Femmes....

Good evening Rawkers. Because i try to honor the requests of family, friends and fans, tonight's very brief post is on another band that helps define suckage in our troubled times..... The Violent Femmes.

Because i know others have strong opinions on the subject, i will defer to their erudite observations and conclusions. But the whiny stuff coming out of these guys -- with singer Gordon Gano trying so desperately to write and sound like Lou Reed -- helps add to the criticism of the 80s and is enough to cause the God of Thunder to hurl a lightening bolt or two their way. Suffice to say, the God of Thunder frowns upon the suckage of the VF's.... Not cool.

Go in peace....

G.O.T.

Neil Young.....

Good evening Rawkers. Now, not everyone is going to get where i'm at with tonight's blog. Afterall, not everyone understands, or even LIKES, our subject, NEIL YOUNG. But for those who do, he incites a deep love that transcends vocal quality and other superficial standards. For those who do, Neil Young offers a palette of musicianship that reflects all of the colors of life's broad experience.

Few musicians have achieved the level of expression reached by Neil Young. From his time with the Buffalo Springfield, to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, to his work with Crazy Horse and his purely solo efforts, Mr. Young has blazed a trail that was both fiercely independent and amazingly creative.

Key cuts include:

Powderfinger

Cortez the Killer
Rocking in the Free World

Southern Man

Mr. Soul

Helpless

Cinnamon Girl

Hey Hey (My My)

Sugar Mountain

Broken Arrow

Needle and the Damage Done

And these barely scratch the surface. You may not like the vocal quality, but please recognize the power behind the strained tenor and the perfect chord changes that helped define a generation and gave voice to a perspective on the world that is both brutal in its honesty and childlike in its beauty. The God of Thunder salutes Neil Young in all his iterations. I hope you appreciate him as well.

Go in peace....

G.O.T.

Davis & 'Trane....

Good evening Rawkers.... Let's step outside the genre for a moment and give solemn nods to two giants who helped define ALL genres of music. If you don't get their thing, odds are that you don't get music in the deepest sense. For those who speak the language, listening to John Coltrane and Miles Davis is a surreal, mystical, transformative, nearly religious experience.

Miles and 'Trane represent two vital steps in the musical ladder that must be touched in order to ascend properly and achieve the ultimately sublime experience music has to offer.

Yes, there are others legends, including Yardbird, Monk (my fave on piano), Dizzy, Mingus, Chet, Cannonball, etc. But for my money, 'Trane and Miles are the best; the ones who take me to another place and leave me there, never wanting to return.

PLEASE check out what may arguably be the best record EVER laid down -- "Kind of Blue", a Davis album featuring (among others) John Coltrane. Their work together in the late '50s forging the Bebop sound set the standard for improvisation that carried over to the rock genre, especially the jazz-influenced extended jams of Cream and the Allman Brothers. Their influence cannot be exagerrated. Nor can their talent, their reach or their vision. The Rawk Show salutes them....

Go in peace....

G.O.T.

The real Gods of Thunder.....

Good evening Rawkers..... Let's talk about the SOUL of the band, the often clever, the usually good-looking, the ever hard-rocking and always panty-dropping Gods of Thunder, the enigmatic and laid-back BASS PLAYER!!!!!

From days of old (or at least begining in the 60's), this wielder of four string fury has held down the bottom end of some of the most visceral, sexual, aggressive and tasty rock runes of all time. Names on the Book of Life include Paul McCartney, Jack Bruce, John Entwistle, Geddy Lee, Cliff Burton, Geezer Butler, John Paul Jones and Roger Glover. (Btw, do you know who is who in the pix, and can you name the band? -- not that tough of a quiz....)

These guys bring the groove and keep it all on time for those prima donnas we call guitar players. And of course, we all know about drummers -- they are the guys who like to hang out with musicians.

Personal HUGE faves and influences include Geezer B. and Steve H. (up the irons!!).

Do you have other nominations? Let's hear it. And i'd also love to just hear the love for the bass player, or to hear if i'm overstating the case -- which i seriously doubt. What say you?

Go in peace....

G.O.T.