Hello Again Kats & Kittens, Friend & Fiend,
So this thing works! So far so OK….no explosions yet….
ONWARD!
Let’s go CLASSIC….reeeeeeal CLASSIC with R.PLANT & the boys…LED ZEPPELIN from their very first record with the very first track, “Good Times, Bad Times”. Where to start?…Where to start? You know a great thing with homeboundness….it allows time for reading real books….might we suggest a purchase? HAMMER OF THE GODS: The Led Zeppelin Saga by Stephen Davis…hugely fun, eye opener, the Era, the Music, the Road, private plane, drugs, sex, crazy times for these young lads…we time tunnel to the early ‘70s…reveals how this band changed Rock-n-Roll…very much worth the time & cost… Fun Fact: gargantuan Band Manager Peter Grant made the name stick….the boys were toying with LEAD ZEPPELIN as a band name…he suggested losing the A….voila! History is made….LED ZEPPELIN.
We stay in “Good Times” with THE EASYBEATS from the cd The Easybeats: The Definitive Anthology. Formed in Sydney, OZ near 1964…..They became the in-country version of THE ROLLING STONES/BEATLES…Fairly short run, ‘64-’69….Rhythm guitarist was GEORGE YOUNG, older brother of ANGUS & MALCOLM…”Highway to Hell” anyone? GEORGE also produced AC/DC’s first couple records.
WISHBONE ASH…..remember them? Early 1970s? Probably maybe?…..or not…these Kats rocked! Amazing albums of heavy guitar Prog-rock. Journeys to far away times & up close fantasy….Headphones a must… The next tune is off the remastered Argus masterwork…. here’s “Warrior”…we now know where SPINAL TAP got inspiration. A search was at hand….Leader MARTIN TURNER & Skins-man STEVE UPTON needed a gutiarist…they found two, ANDY POWELL & TED TURNER (not CNN Ted)….Two lead guitars were not that prevalent in the late ’60s, they liked them both so they went to dueling guitars. MILES COPELAND Managed the band….their band name is from the members putting words on two lists, leader MARTIN TURNER picked one word off each list…WISHBONE & ASH. They’re still touring….
Must be feeling our collective head banging…..SLAYER is up….yes SLAYER! From the Seasons In The Abyss album…..here’s the title song, “Seasons In The Abyss”….Some consider these metalheads on par with METALLICA, MEGADEATH, & ANTHRAX….hmmm maybe….but trouble follows this SoCal Metal band….Wrongful deaths, Nazism, India rejects records, Anti-religion, Court dates galore….they decided to take a powder last year….permanent vacation we think…poor lawyers…
Let’s brighten our day with MIKE OLDFIELD….master composer & music maker…we offer “Wonderful Land” from his wonderful QE2 album….this Kat is AAAA-MAAY-ZING! The amount of work is Krazy, Hit songs “Family Man”, HALL & OATES, “Moonlight Shadow” MAGGIE REILLY to Soundtracks for The Exorcist, (Oscar winner) “Tubular Bells” & The Killing Fields, Multi-instrumentalist, Multi-Award winning, Multi-everything…Mr. O. puts out his output! Check out: Tubular Bells, Omnadawn, QE2, Five Miles Out, +++.
We shift to Oregon with SCOTT PEMBERTON, string man extraordinaire! Mr. P is a very Kool Kat, so Kool he plays his Geetar on the side, usually on a chair. Like this ⬇︎
He calls his style Timber Rock, seems he likes this so much he titled an album with it….here’s a classical piece titled…”Grieg”, with a lot of Timber Rock thrown in. This Kat is so easy to like…… so please enjoy!….we do… GO PORTLAND GO!
“Let’s slow things down, get a little funkier & play some Blues for ya…” thank you JOHNNY WINTER! But wait……we’re not playing Mr. W. no sir, we are not! It’s time for Blues with ALL THEM WITCHES. Taken off the 2018 ATW (wonder what that could mean?) album…..here’s “Harvest Feast”. Nice guitar work. These Nashville Kats …”Play clean as country waaatah…” & “Play wild as Mountain Dew”…WAIT!!!!! We are switching streams all over the place…get a grip! Special thanks to THE LOVIN’ SPOONFUL for the last verbiages…. Where were we?…..ALL THEM WITCHES yes….these bizykins have produced seven LPs in six years…started with two microphones (not two turntables, go home BECK) & a four track recorder….can we move on now, this is embarrassing.
Honky Tonk time….Toronto Tonk…BIG TOBACCO & THE PICKERS….great live band here, took in many shows at Cameron House…such good times…this sextet can really play. Steel Pedal & Ragtime Piano make it real nice. From The King Is Gone LP, “Freightliner Full of Sins”.
PUNCH BROTHERS are an odd bunch, first, none are related, so no brothers, second, they consider their music, AMERICAN CHAMBER MUSIC in BLUEGRASS form…they may be right…this quintet plays strange, alluring, & mysterious….all strings….from Brooklyn no less…. from the All Ashore LP, “Three Dots & A Dash”.
LEO KOTTKE has four arms, four hands, & twenty fingers…..he has to…..how else does this magician play guitar? Surely he must have extra appendages. We finish today’s musical travel with a master….from his 1971 classic LP, 6 & 12 String Guitar….here’s “Jack Fig”…….”I got Blistahhhs on me Fingaahs”.
Maybe you noticed……or not……today was kind of a strings day….. Thanks for listening, until tomorrow.
Peace & Distance.
