The Altamont Disaster

It was a massive disaster from the beginning. They should have seen it from afar and put an end to it before it even started. 300 thousand drug induced people flocked to the Altamont raceway in California. The concert was free and was said to be the Woodstock of the west. The main card and most of the violence happen during The Rolling Stones set. Most people connect Altamont with just The Stones while dismissing the others that were on the card as well such as Santana, Jefferson Airplane, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, and The Flying Burrito Brothers. The Grateful Dead were also set to be on the card but backed out after hearing of the extreme violence that was taking place in the crowd. The concert was filmed for a later Stones documentary titled Gimmie Shelter. The Stones hired The Hells Angels as security which might have been a huge mistake considering their don't give a shit attitude. As soon as one person pushed forward towards the stage there was no problem about pushing back. Which lead to a accidental death to a young man. Three other deaths also happen during the concert, two from a hit and run by a car and the other by drowning in a river bank. Four child births were recorded at the event as well. But the most famous and widely talked about incident was the death of Meredeth Hunter, who was murdered in front of the stage after trying to get on stage. Altamont has gone down in history as the biggest mistake in rock and roll history and is synonymous with rage, anger, death and pain. Sympathy For The Devil is the perfect song for this concert. He seemed to be in the crowd that night with the concert goers. At the end of the video you can see The Hells Angels dragging a lifeless body onto the stage while Mick keeps repeating "get down, get on down" and it still sends chills through the spine of me and I am sure many others.

Failing To Fall Unpluggs The Pub

A calm night falls on Bonavista. Its one of the first in a while where mild weather graces us with her presence. You can hear the sea gulls squawking over the fish plant eying their next meal from above. Two young lads stroll into Walkhams Gate Pub with a tad bit of nervousness between them. Guitars under their arm and some pride in their chest they start setting up for their first show at the Pub. The two guys are Ryan Warren (Chester) and Marcus Elliott. Tonight was a free show to the public and oh what a night it was gonna be. Chester and Marcus sets up and gets their mind ready for the night. With song book in hand I later find out that most of the songs they would perform that night they only just learned. A few of the usual's start to surround the bar anticipating the opening song. They hit the stage and you could tell the tad bit of nervousness between them, but after a few tweaks from the board they were off, belting out classics from Tom Petty and The Tragically Hip. They even had a few originals that could easily been written by Springsteen or Young. After about a hour the pub started to fill with the masses of Failing To Fall fans ( Chester and Marcus's group). The nerves would be replaced with the love of performing with people in your face singing along and dancing to your strum. Marcus' voice was nothing but fantastic, he belted out raw and it carries stright from the throat. We were missing only one thing last night and that was Steve Abbott from Just BS 4 feet away from Chester's face singing harmony right in front of him just like Chester had done when Steve would grace us with his presence. But all in all it was a great night, filled with great music and 2 new regulars at The Walkhams Gate Pub. Congrats boys you really lived up to they hype.

The Strange But Deserving

There's no way I can not do a blog on the introduction of Tom Waits into the rock and roll hall of fame. Then I found out he was inducted by Neil Young it was absolutely perfect. I cant search through all the artists in the artist yellow pages or anthology and find anyone that deserves this prestigious award more then Mr. Waits. He is not your typical multi millionaire singer- songwriter that walks with pride and wealth. Waits still has the feel that he just crawled out of the gutter after a hard night of drinking in the dirtiest of dive bars. He is the cookie cuter cutout of a chain smoking, womanizing, coffee guzzling, brandy gulping, jazz crazed lunatic that strives for hard nights and even harder days. Waits said it best when he described music as " something strange you do with air", perfectly described for waits. He really does strange things with air since the late 60s. He still has that presence and voice proving it onstage performing Make It Rain and Rain Dogs. He lets no one down. You can see the joy on Young's face as he knows this is a huge step for the hall of fame taking in such a luminary. Waits asks for a smaller version of the award so he can carry it around just in case he gets in trouble and maybe it could get him out. That's Waits summed up, a troublemaker but also the smartest and most talented storyteller the music world have ever seen. He strives to be the best and the worst, the remembered and the forgotten, the sweet and the sour, the loved and the hated, but most important hes the most famed of the underground. No one might not understand Waits but that's the reason hes so tangible, hes one of us, hes real and raw. Congrats Tom Waits on getting what you probably didn't care if you got or not, into the rock and roll hall of fame. Keep writing the quirky and strange music that keeps running through my head.

When The Rock and Roll Greats Breaks

I've seen some amazing collaborations over the years. From Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks to The Band and Bob Dylan. But just recently I've stumbled across this wonderful combination of legends. What kind of superpower album would have it been if Neil Young and Led Zepplin would have released an album. We may never know the true outcome of this but for 10 mins at least we could just open the door and peek into the heavenly supergroup. At the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame some sick music organizer came up with the idea of throwing Jimmy Page and Robert Plant on the same stage as Neil Young. Was it ever a sight to have seen. The joy on Page and Plants face seeing Neil just rip into When The Levee Breaks was amazing. It was also wonderful to see Page just sit back and play the rhythm while Neil completely shreds the solos and riffs. Neil was so into it he even missed to cue that the song was over forcing Page to tap him on the shoulder to signal that its time to stop. The only complaint that I have with this performance is I have to question what possessed Robert Plant to pick up a guitar alongside Neil and Jimmy? He looks ridiculous trying to perform alongside two of the greatest guitarists of all time and it just makes him look awkward. But that put aside the highlight by far is seeing Neil do what he does best and just rip through the song with no regard. Its so much fun watching him get so into the song it just takes him to another place where everything else is relevant. You can see Page and Plant eye Young with respect seeing him do what he does best. Kill the guitar.

The Garrick Hosts Pat Braden

There's been numerous great songwriters that came out of Canada's hidden forests. Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitcheal, Neil Young, Stan Rogers just to name a few. Some has passed to the great pub in the sky to show off their talents, others have been selling out stadiums and concert halls all over the world. February 26 at the Garrick Theater in Bonavista Newfoundland you can see one of the top up and coming songwriters in Canada today. Pat Braden has been singing his talents all over Canada since 1984 and has been performing with numerous talents all over the great white north ever since. Hailing from Yellowknife, NT Pat's first instrument was the stand up bass which he studied in collage. Later he would pick up an interesting instrument called the Chapman Stick which he still plays today. Combining heart filled blues with great folk influenced songwriting Pat Braden is not a performer to miss. He will leave you speechless and I for one will be first in line on February 26 to be blown away by songs of Canada and Pat's talent. Tickets are only $18.00, a small price to pay for a great night of live music.

Get Blown Away By Neil Young

There are numerous Neil Young songs where I can say are my favorite. Its a tough choice, its like choosing your favorite son or daughter. Some days you choose one and others another pops into your head and then that's your favorite. Neil's songs are so diverse, starting off as a 60s kinda pop rock band with the Buffelo Springfeild. After they disbanded he went on to solo projects starting off with a folk sound then it morphed into a country sound when Harvest hit the charts. Tonights The Night saw Neil at his darkest moment with songs that can make a madman feel pain. Rock, Folk, Blues, Country, Electronic, Rockabilly, Grunge, there's not much Neil hasn't done or attempted to do. Later in his career Neil was approached by MTV to perform on their MTV Unplugged program. At first Neil didn't want anything to do with the program, stating that pride almost kept him from performing. But he became convinced that it was a good idea. Its a good thing he did because now its considered one of the greatest MTV Unplugged performances of all time. Like A Hurricane was one of the highlights on the show. Neil tapping away at the organ sounds so haunting on such a beautiful song of love and peace.

The Band Made A Difference

The Band came out of nowhere. Starting off as The Hawks with Ronnie Hawkins they kept the name when they started playing as a backup band for Bob Dylan. With Dylan they became The Band after numerous people were asking Dylan who they were and his reply was "oh, thats just the band". It stuck with them and decided to keep the name. The Band consisted of 4 Canadians Robbie Robertson, Garth Hudson, Rick Danko, and Richard Manuel and 1 American Levon Helm. They carried on through a phenomenal career from their debut album Music From Big Pink to Northern Lights - Southern Cross. In 1976 they decided to call it quits, after Robertson was weary of touring and Manuel was suffering a neck injury from a boating accident. But they didn't leave without a bang. Robertson came up with the idea of a last concert, later called The Last Waltz. This concert was performed on Thanksgiving day in 1976. On the card was everyone from Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan, Ronnie Hawkins, Van Morrison, Dr John, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Ronnie Wood, Neil Diamond, and Paul Butterfeild. Directed by the great Martin Scorsese it defined what The Band was all about. They had fun and you can really see it. This song It Makes No Difference also defined The Band, beautiful and soulful.

Some Plucking Good

The first time I heard of Bert was from the group Pentangle. A good friend from the record store I used to frequently visited loved my wide array of taste in music and suggested Pentangle to me and thought I would like it. Sure enough I fell in love with the album. But one guy stood out more than anyone else in the band and that was Bert Jansch. His finger plucking was extraordinary. I searched far and wide for Jansch on vinyl but could never find any of his solo stuff. Finally one day my friend Paul at the record store had one kept behind for me. It was Birthday Blues and I fell in love with it. Its scattered with both beautiful songs with great songwriting to breathtaking acoustic instrumentals. I can listen to this song all day and never be sick of it. Every time I listen to it I hear something new. His voice is hallowing with a slight echo that melds well into the hard plucking of his strings. Its no wonder that Neil Young has been one of Berts biggest fans, even taking him on his recent tour. You can hear how Neil was influenced by him especially in this song.

Theres no sand in your pants on this beach

Its hard for me to pick my favorite Neil Young album, its like picking a favorite son or daughter to some people. But On The Beach is up there with the best of them including Tonights The Night, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, After The Gold Rush, etc. The album was recorded after Tonights The Night but released before, in true Neil Young fashion no one really knows why he does the things he does.
Starting off the album is Walk On.  The song is upbeat and uplifting. Its seems more of a way for Neil to deal with the problems and troubles in his life. Especially after the death of Danny (Crazy Horse guitarist and singer) and Bruce Berry (Neils roadie) both dear friends of Neil. In the song hes basically saying no matter what life throws at you just walk on through. Perfect opener to the album.
See the sky about to rain flows in next with a beautiful piano intro. The song has a twangy feel from it useing slide guitars played by Ben Keith. I like the song but its not one of my favorites.
Coming in next with a bullet is Revolution Blues. Written about Charles Manson its one of the darkest songs Neil has ever written, which is saying alot if you ever heard his Tonights The Night album. David Crosby once said that the song scared him so much that he would not play it at concerts. He could barely listen to it. Young wrote it about Manson after meeting the man  himself while he was living in Topanga Canyon. "We live in a trailer at the edge of town, you never see us cause we dont come around" is the first line of the song that grabs ahold of you and you feel taken away back to the days of the Manson murders. The song is brilliantly written and is one of my favorites on the album.
By far my favorite song on this album is For The Turnstiles. Its has a bluegrass feel to it with Neil playing banjo on it and Ben Keith singing backup. I love this song its just what Neil is all about, diversity. He can write a hard rocking song, then a bluesy song, bluegrass, the man can do what he feels like doing and make it sound good and For the turnstiles is proof that he can do it all. If there was one song on On The Beach that i would suggest for someone to hear it would be For The Turnstiles.
Next is a Neils attempt to write a silly blues song. Vampire Blues comes out of nowhere. "Good times are coming, i hear it everywhere i go, good times are coming, but they sure are coming slow", the line suggest that Neil knows things will get better but not for a while. Young loves writing about his life and thats what makes him a great songwriter, it separates him from the crowd.
The title track On The Beach starts off side 2 of the album. It has a lethargic kind of feel to it. A slower beat and song structure but amazing lyrics. The song runs about 7 minutes long but worth every minute of it. An array of beautiful solos are thrown in there time and time again showcasing Neils guitar work. Its why he is considered by many as one of the greatest and underrated guitarists of all time.
Motion Pictures is Youngs tribute or elegy to actress Carrie Snodgress who Neil had a huge crush on from first sight. Its a beautiful song but is very hard to follow cause Neils voice is a little low and hard to understand at times.
Next is the beautiful and lengthy Ambulance Blues. Full of acoustic guitar and a sweet voice straight from Neils soul. The song was hugely influences unintentionally by Bert Jansch's song Needle Of Death. Its a beautiful yet angry song, it speaks strongly about his critics, Richard Nixon and his relationship with CSNY. The line "your just pissing in the wind" comes straight from CSNYs manager regarding their relationships. Its also the longest song on the album racking up 9 minutes of angry lyrics and harmonica solos.
On The Beach was wrote off as a flop at its first release by critics. But in later years it was considered one of Youngs best albums by fans and critics worldwide. The recording sessions of the album reflected on the album. Rusty Kershaw (slide guitar and fiddle) would make his famous honey slides which was a goop of sauteed marijuana and honey that you would eat. It would put you in a state of mind that matched that of heroin. You can tell how the mood changed on the album the later it went into it, more slow and laid back. Enjoy On The Beach.

First cut is the deepest

How great is vinyl? Well to me its the greatest way to enjoy any kind of music be it old or new. Record collecting has been an addiction that I've embraced for about 8 years now, with a collection of well over 2000 albums. I am constantly adding as well as enjoying the sound the needle makes as it rotates around that crisp wax until it reaches the middle. I really enjoy the snaps and crackles of old records as it adds to its history. There's nothing better to me than closing my eyes while the record is spinning and just imagining how great would it be to be there in the studio, how personal it must have been for the artist/artists to have just finished the last cut and listen to their final product, their heart and soul poured into the songs, be it pain or love or both.

In my opinion vinyl is much better sounding than a digital cd can ever sound. Don't get me wrong, I must admit that I do have a cd collection of my own, not nearly as vast as my record collection though. As it is with vinyl you can find albums that are not and will not be released on cd, same goes for cds especially newer music. For instance Neil Young (one of my favorite artists by the way) has two albums (Time fades away, Journey through the past) that he has openly announced that will never be released on cd. Why you ask? Because he has said that those albums will never sound as good digital; which I agree with on most albums.

The first thing that drew me to love vinyl is the sound. It's just untouchable and never bettered. Second is the history and collectabilty of albums. There are so many different sub versions of records; be it first pressings, colored vinyl, imports, promos, etc. These can make the same album go from being $10 to $150. There is always that chance of finding a diamond in the rough, the thrill of the search. Thirdly its the Art. You can never truly appreciate a well thought out album cover by just a tiny cd picture.

A record cover is the perfect size to pick out the details of a brilliant cover. For instance Iron Maiden's Powerslave album. Its Egyptian flavor is great but the amazing part is when you get really up close and you can pick out all the details in the pyramids (a hidden Mickey Mouse head on the bottom left hand corner above the sphinx); a stoners paradise. There are banned covers such as Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland British import that had a fold out of nude women of all shapes and sizes (which I have in my personal collection) to the Beatles infamous Yesterday and Today Butcher cover that has all four Beatles sitting and standing, smiling, with baby doll parts laid out on their body's covered in blood. Not good for publicity so it was yanked from the shelves. Then you have the great cover art of Pink Floyd, King Crimsom, Mahogany Rush, Yes, Rush, so on and so on. In my blog which I will be posting to mostly every day, I will be discussing my love of music, from my album collection to video postings to live music that I have enjoyed that day. I love a huge array of music from classic rock to blues to folk to jazz to gypsy to country to celtic to prog to punk... so I can promise you there's something for everyone in my collection. Music is my passion and I really enjoy sharing that passion with everyone I meet and now people I may never meet.