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Record Store Day 2012
Anyone remember when there were so many record stores that you could bounce from one to the other, either to find exactly what you wanted or perhaps get that one album a little bit cheaper? Well, I do. Growing up in the woods in Daphne, Alabama, there was no place nearby to purchase records, so when rock and roll took off, I had a dilemma.
Fortunately, in the summer of 1957, my Mama started letting me ride the Greyhound bus to Mobile by myself to go to the movies once a week. I mowed lawns to finance these escapades, which required $5 for each trip. Expenditures were for the bus, the movies, lunch and – the pièce de résistance – my quest to find that one 45 RPM record that I couldn't live without.
My destinations on these missions were primarily Rutz Music and Jessie French. These two prominent stores sold instruments and sheet music, but, more important, they each had a record section with listening booths. Do you know how long it might take to pick out one hit single, which cost 99 cents? About two delightful hours.
I would cart untold numbers of LPs and 45s into ...
Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll: "The Message"
Grandmaster Flash (Joseph Saddler) didn't want to make "The Message." His emcees, the Furious Five, apart from Melle Mel (Melvin Glover), thought it was a bad idea. But when this grim slice of urban journalism hit in the summer of 1982, it was as inevitable as Woody Guthrie once had been: It was politics taken to the streets. Until "The Message," rap had been largely celebratory music, reflecting its block-party roots. When Sugar Hill Records eminence Sylvia Robinson pushed for "The Message" – ultimately a collaboration between Glover and studio percussionist Duke Bootee (Ed Fletcher) – the others balked: who wanted to take their problems to the dance floor? Still, the song took off, reaching an audience that had once dismissed rap as idle boasting, countering such notions with lead rapper Melle Mel's repeated, weary conclusion: It’s like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder how I keep from going under. For all its success, though, the song had its ...
Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll: "Louie Louie"
The most notorious song in rock and roll history has been recorded hundreds of times: by surfers (the Beach Boys, the Pyramids), punks (the Stooges, Black Flag), British rockers (the Kinks, the Troggs) and marching bands (U.S.C. Trojans, Rice University Marching Owls). During the first half of the 1960s, it was probably played at more live events than the National Anthem. R&B artist Richard Berry (who sang lead on The Coasters' "Riot In Cell Block No. 9") wrote and recorded "Louie Louie" in 1956.The record came out a year later, was a West Coast hit, and died a natural death. A few years later after the Tacoma, Washington-based Wailers recorded it, "Louie Louie" entered the set lists of various Northwest bands. One was Portland, Oregon's Kingsmen, who recorded the song in 1963. What the Kingsmen thought was a rehearsal run-through was the performance issued on 45. That might explain singer Jack Ely's garbled reading. People heard in the Kingsmen's "Louie Louie" what they wanted to hear – a song that just had to be dirty. Radio stations banned it, and sweaty- palmed juveniles made up their own lewd lyrics. Even the U.S. government ...
Concert Radar: J.D. Souther
This weekend, Nighttown in Cleveland Heights hosts J.D. Souther for a special two-night engagement, as the much-lauded musician performs at 8:30 pm on Friday, December 9 and Saturday, December 10.
Although born in Detroit on November 2, 1945, J.D. Souther spent his formative years in Amarillo, Texas. That upbringing likely contributed to the development of a country-rock appreciation that made him a major influence on big ticket bands of the 1970s, including Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee the Eagles (he collaborated with friend and former Longbranch Pennywhistle bandmate Glen Frey on tracks including "Best of My Love" and "Heartache Tonight") and Linda Ronstadt (producing and performing on 1973's Don't Cry Now, and penning "Prisoner in Disguise" and "Faithless Love"). As a session musician, vocalist and guitarist Souther has appeared on recordings by Don Henley and James Taylor, among others.
At the urging of then head of Asylum Records, David Geffen, Souther joined Chris Hillman (of the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers) and Richie Furay (of Buffalo Springfield and Poco) to form a country-rock supergroup of sorts with the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band. The group released a pair of solo albums and charted with "Fallin ...
10 Essential Ozzy Osbourne Songs
Born in Birmingham, England, on December 3, 1948, John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne started his carreer as a musician in the late 60s, as he, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward banded together, seeking to escape the trappings of factory life in their shared hometown. The foursome began to take shape as a blues band – influenced by the likes of Led Zeppelin and Cream – calling themselves Earth Blues Company (later shortened to Earth). Osbourne channeled his love of soul music (particularly Sam and Dave) to his duties as frontman, but the group took a tectonic shift after Osbourne penned a song about Butler's encounter with a sinister spectre, calling the song "Black Sabbath." The band eventually took Black Sabbath as their name – and the title of their 1970 debut album. The group would go on to release such heavy metal classics as Paranoid, Master of Reality, Black Sabbath, Vol. 4 and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, effectively defining the heavy metal genre and making Osbourne the voice of it. Osbourne's delivery was melodic and well-pitched, and he never resorted to the sort of histrionic screaming that became a hallmark of metal’s lesser lights.
Osbourne took his heavy metal charge ...
Concert Radar: Felix Cavaliere
This weekend, don't miss the opportunity to catch an evening of music with 1997 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee Felix Cavaliere, who long fronted the Rascals. Cavaliere is a great friend of the Museum, and has supported us with his presence and performances on numerous occasions. Cavaliere and his band will play two shows (7 pm and 9 pm) on Saturday, December 3 at the Tangier in Akron.
The Rascals were paragons of "blue-eyed soul," achieving commercial success beyond that of their peers – among them, the Righteous Brothers, Steve Winwood, Van Morrison and Joe Cocker. The group's indelible originals and energized covers were lead by Cavaliere's Hammond B-3 organ and expressive lead vocals.
These days, Cavaliere typically performs songs from a playlist of 19 chart-topping hits from his years as leader of the Rascals. Expect to hear the Rascals' famous uptempo cover of the Olympics' "Good Lovin'" (Number One in 1966), the soul-pop reverie of "Groovin'" (Number One in 1967); and the Rascals' biggest hit, "People Got to Be Free," a powerful response to the assassinations of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. that topped the Billboard charts for five weeks ...
Today in Rock: The Beatles hit Number One with "Come Together/Something"
On November 29, 1969, the Beatles were at the top of Billboard's Hot 100, earning their first two-sided Number One single with "Come Together/Something." It became the Fab Four's 18th Number One single – one more than Elvis Presley's 17, which he reached on November 1 that year with "Suspicious Minds." On the week of November 29, Billboard changed the way it calculated its charts, ranking both sides of double-sided singles in the same position rather than separately. This was key to the Beatles' Number One climb, as the previous week saw "Come Together" fall to Number Seven and "Something" hold strong at Number 3.
"Come Together" and "Something" appeared on Abbey Road, the Beatles' 11th studio album, released in the United States on October 1, 1969. George Harrison's "Something" was the first of his musical compositions to be released as an A-side to a Beatles' single. In Harrison's partial autobiography, I, Me, Mine, he explained of "Something": "This I suppose is my most successful song with over 150 cover versions. My favorite cover version is the one by James Brown – that was excellent." Ray Charles, Smokey Robinson, Shirley Bassey, and Booker T. and the ...
Booker T. in Cleveland
Cleveland was lucky this weekend, as it was one of only a handful of cities fortunate enough to have Booker T. Jones and his band perform in support of his latest CD, The Road From Memphis. I found the album so satisfying, I made sure every one of the Rock Hall's board members received a copy at our retreat this summer in New Orleans. I felt privileged for the opportunity to experience it live. And if that wasn't enough, it was Booker T. Jones' birthday to boot.
On November 12, Booker T. and his group played two incredible shows at Cleveland's famous jazz club, Nighttown, where owner Brendan Ring consistently books a vast array of stars, helping the cozy club garner a host of international accolades and a reputation as a destination spot for artists. Booker T.'s two performances – at 8 pm and 10 pm – were a great addition to that legacy.
The setlist for the night featured an exciting mix of material from not only Road From Memphis, but also his catalog of chart-topping and indelible hits, including "Green Onions," "Soul Limbo," "Hip Hugger" and "Time is Tight." The crowd was visibly moved, grooving and ...
