Archive for October, 2009
It was the mid 1960’s, the height of Beatlemania and smack in the middle of the Brittish invasion and Marc, Pete, my brother Tony and myself decided to start a band. That being said Marc said he would learn to play drums, Tony would learn to play keyboards, I went on to study bass guitar, while Pete waited for us, as he was one of those rare individuals with perfect pitch and could mimic anything played on tenor saxophone or piano.
It took us a while before we would play as a group, but when we did we had a unique sound especially when we relied on Pete playing sax as our lead instrument with me doing the vocals. The group played songs from The Animals, Jimi Hendrix and other groups of that era with one exception, Schaefer Beer was a beer promoted by one of the local “Major League Baseball” teams and used to run several commercials using a clever “Schaefer Jingle” with the opening line being “Schaefer is the one beer to have when your having more than one” , this tune was so catchy we put into our repertoire of songs. We played the song in an upbeat jazz style solidified by the exceptional talent of our sax player Pete.
Terry Kath was one of the co-founders of Chicago Transit Authority later to be shortened to Chicage. He had both jobs of lead guitar along with rhythm guitar. He couldn’t read music and composed and played by ear. He was an inovator, what seems ordinary today, he did back in the 70’s. To achieve the sound he got, he would plug his Strat into a Bogan PA which would run to a dual showman amplifier. Prior to this nobody ever thought to experiment like this. The Fender Telecaster Terry used was special too, he used a Gibson hun-bucking pickup, while leaving the bridge pickup origional. This enabled him to switch the sound from Fender to Gibson.
This being said you have to look long and far to find his name among the top guitarists of all time. Jimi Hendrix who is either at the top, or near the top of all the lists said to the saxophonist for Chicago Walter Parazaider “your guitar player is better than me.” So impressed was he that he hired Chicago as the opening act for his and Janis Joplins European tour in 1968.
If those who make up these lists don’t recognize Terry Kath as one of the greatest, and the man they voted as the greatest Jimi Hendrix considered Terry better than him why are the lists void of his name…Hmmm
It’s hockey season and for me it doesn’t get any better. A quicker, faster and harder hitting game you will not find. For those of you that are not fmiliar with hockey, it is a sport that competes for the oldest trophy in all of sports, the Stanley Cup. This award was contributed by Canadian governer-general Lord Stanley of Preston who purchased a silver bowl for $50 in 1893. Origionally the cup measured 7 1/2″ high and 11 1/2″ across and as time has gone by the NHL has added rings to it with the names of the players from the team that won it engraved on it. The cup presently is 35 1/4″ tall and 18″ across and now weighs 32lbs.
Last years opening night on Oct. 9, 2008, Def Leppard performed at Detroit’s Fox Theatre prior to the Stanley Cup winning Detroit Red Wings home opener. They performed songs such as “C’Mon C’Mon, Nine Lives,Pour Some Sugar On Me and others. This was a night the band would like to forget, not only were the guitars off and vocals badley out of tune, but sometime during the performance lead singer Joe Elliot paraded around the stage with the Stanley Cup raised above his head only to put it on the pedestal upside down for a most embarassing moment.
At the top of the Billboard charts sat Bye Bye Love for 22 weeks in the spring of 1957. Billboard described there sound as “distinctive and appealing”.
Of course I’m talking about the incomparable Everly Brothers. With their signature black acoustic guitars, and harmonies that were unlike that of any other group at that time, they were a definite influence for all others to come including The Beatles.
For those of us who grew up in that era it was a privilege to listen to them and we thank them. Younger people of today who have heard them and don’t agree will find as they grow older the uniqueness of The Everly Brothers. For those to date that have never heard of them, or heard their music look them up because your in for a special treat.
Rock n’ roll is here to stay. Music that was frowned upon by the older generations is now the music that almost everyone loves. For the past 55+ years, this music has been dominating the charts time and again, thanks to its youth appeal. Rock n’ roll has been an avenue for self-expression.
What differentiates rock n’ roll music from other music genres is the type of instruments being played. Sounds mostly come from electric keyboards, drums, and guitars. It then doesn’t come as a surprise that the number of electric guitars for sale has gone up. More and more music lovers, particularly guitarists, have traded their old guitars for the funkier ones. Knowing how to play an electric guitar is a skill and an art. The arrangements can be quite difficult that it takes talent and a lot of practice to master it.
After playing bass guitar in various groups in his teens he was forced to give up music when it threatened his job away from the music field. He left music for more than 30 years.
His children never knew of his music playing past, as he had gotten rid of his bass and bass amplifier. one dy his daughter Michelle expressed an interest in learning to play bass not knowing his past. He bought her a new blue bass guitar and a new bass amplifier. While she was getting aquainted with her new instruments she had asked him to play something. He put on a cd by Chicago and the song “Make Me Smile” . She couldn’t believe her ears as it sounded as good as the recording.
From that day on they shared the experience of playing together whenever she said to him come on dad make me smile.
Jennifer had always been a musician. Maybe not by practice, but she had an ear for quality sound and could match pitch like she’d been trained by the very best. Her father had been a singer -before he died – who had never made it big, but enjoyed his gigs at local bars and concert venues. Always a music enthusiast but never a true musician, Jennifer pleasantly surprised her family when she asked for a guitar for Christmas that year.
Now she was left with the decision of whether she wanted an electric or acoustic guitar. She pondered the subject for a matter for minutes before drawing a conclusion. She told herself that she had always enjoyed the simplistic rhythms of music; therefore she wanted to revert back to the basics and go with an acoustic one. Her choice filled her mind with the lyrics of The Beatles, “There will be an answer. Let it be.” And she smiled.