What better way to put a hectic day at the office to bed?
Dec 032014
Mr. Moderator
Dec 022014
Bobby Keys, best known for his sax work on The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street and Stones concert tours of that era, has died at 70 of cirrhosis. My favorite Keys memories involve countless rants from my close personal friend and founding Townsman E. Pluribus Gergely. Somewhere in the archives there’s probably an entire thread built around one of EPG’s Keys rants, but a taste of his thoughts on the man are available in this old thread. Track 5, specifically, cites Keys’ work. What’s your favorite Bobby Keys moment?
Nov 242014
Next to the twin guitar heroics of Television‘s “Marquee Moon,” the Lou Reed Rock ‘n Roll Animal version of “Sweet Jane” is the twin-guitar part I would be most interested in experiencing if I attended a Rock ‘n Roll Fantasy Camp. This clip of Dean Ween and his group doing a take on that version could be used for the advertisement for this cool Rock ‘n Roll Fantasy Camp—as opposed to actual ones I’ve seen, where you get a taste of rock stardom under the tutelage of the likes of the guys in Styx and REO Speedwagon whose names you can’t identify.
If you could attend Cool Rock ‘n Roll Fantasy Camp, what would be your event-capping experience?
Nov 242014
Ride as you please, but let’s ride together in this week’s All-Star Jam!
Nov 172014
Nov 122014
During my recent, first trip to England (for work), which culminated in a free day and a half to myself running through the streets of London, I was immediately struck by how many locations I’d only dreamed of in song surrounded me. Most likely just as many New York locations pop up in popular song, but I didn’t grow up with much mystery over our largest city, situation just 90 miles up the turnpike from my hometown, A good part of my mad dash through London was structured around hitting spots I only knew through music, yet everywhere I turned 3 other locations cited in songs appeared. Beyond the above-ground locations, which I won’t mention for fear of giving away answers in this finite Last Man Standing, song references even flew by me as I rode the London Underground. The following link will bring you to a map of the London Underground system. For this week’s Last Man Standing, how many tube stations can we find cited in song?
https://www.tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/standard-tube-map.pdf
Go!
Nov 052014
We all know what we mean when we refer to a “Chuck Berry lick” or the “Bo Diddley beat.” These musicians made popular distinctive musical styles that taught the world a useful approach to arranging a rock ‘n roll song. It’s only just that the musical devices they made popular should be known by their name. Are there other examples of musical devices being known by a particular musician’s name?
Jerry Garcia and Keith Richards do some distinctive things that could probably lend themselves to a device named after them, but I’m not sure that’s happened yet. My bandmates and I have our own terms along these lines that have not caught on, such as The Foxton, as we call it, when suggesting we add the standard harmony that Jam bassist Bruce Foxton enthusiastically sang at the drop of a hat in every Jam song.
Is Micky Waller the drummer on Rod Stewart’s best songs: “Every Picture Tells a Story,” “Maggie May,” “You Wear It Well”…? Stewart’s best songs from that period (and not his Faces ones – Kenny Jones didn’t do this) have an extremely deliberate, plodding, non-drummer feel, like he set me down behind the drums and simply said, “Keep the beat and don’t fuck it up!” To me, that beat should be named after the drummer who pounded it out.
That’s what I’m talking about.
