Last Commented Music Blogs (1,259)

Another productive weekend coming to an end and I'm in YouTube overload mode. Earlier today I did some Jimi Hendrix research and in the suggested video list was the band LEVEL 42. I only knew them by their hit song 'Something About You' and some 'slap style' bass guitar videos of bassist Mark King.

This live concert taped in Holland, February 2009.
I'm enjoying it and maybe you will too!

I was listening to a YouTube documentary about Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant yesterday. In the video, they mentioned him having surgery to remove vocal cord nodules and that the news wasn't widely publicized.

Common to many singers who have had this type of surgery, it often changes your voice. Some singers recovered and some have had to change their style as their singing voice was totally affected by the surgery.

It was noted by true fans somewhere around 1972-1973 Plant cut back on his high-octave wailing and screams in live concerts, possibly as a result of the surgery.

I Googled and found a long list of professional singers who had vocal cord issues including cancer, polyps and burst blood vessels. For example, Rod Stewart's throat cancer surgery set his recovery back more than nine months.

I'm unable to find any stories on Sting having vocal cord surgery. A decade ago he was doing acoustic versions of Roxanne and 'eased up' on the high notes but in this 2017 performance he's done a great job of holding it together.

My ex-wife wanted to get her niece interested in music, so she bought her a cheap violin and paid for lessons. I contributed a music book and a folding music stand. The whole episode only lasted a few weeks before everyone realized she had no musical talent. The lessons stopped and violin was put to the side. At the beginning of this musical venture, my ex bought herself a cello thinking there would be a musical duet in the making. It was a really cheap one... looked real, but the tuning pegs wouldn't stay tight. I tried some liquid specifically designed to make the pegs hold... failure.

Both instruments came under my roof and were stored in a closet.

When I got around to preparing my house for sale, I had to unload these instruments. Before that, I thought I'd give them a try. I'm left-handed and they were right handed. Shouldn't be a problem... The violin was horrible. I couldn't get a clear tone from it... that's probably why my niece lost interest. It created scratchy tones that made my neighbor's dog howl!

Okay.. back in the case you go.

The cello was unplayable. My daughter listed both instruments on Craigslist and away they went.

There was an Asian market near me that sold clothing, beauty aids, books and medicines. The TV in the front was always playing a video of the 12 girls band. They are a musical group playing Western music with traditional Chinese instruments. The 2-string Chinese fiddle called Erhu caught my attention. On my travels to China 10 years ago, I visited a music store to get to see an Erhu, close up. With the rate of exchange, about $100US could get a student instrument, but I'd have to bring it back through the airport and most likely have to check it as baggage. I found an online seller based in the US who could ship to my door, but a few YouTube videos revealed, the sound they make in a beginner's hands to be 10 times worse than than a violin.

Currently, I've got a collection of guitars I don't play and think if I purchased an ERHU, there would be a 99% chance it would be in a case brought out only on holidays to show friends and family.

In music news, Stevie Nicks has teamed up with with Billy Joel for a nine date concert tour. They kicked it off in Los Angeles last night (Friday March 10) to a packed crowd of 70,000.
The event is called: Two Icons Tour.

They each performed their own set list, but had two duets together last night.
Nicks, gave tribute to her late bandmate Christine McVie and Top Petty, who recorded Stop Draggin' My Heart Around many years ago.





Story link with links to Instagram:

Fell out of bed... dragged a comb across my head.
Found my way downstairs after having a cup.
I noticed I was late.
Put the helicopters in my car... my friends know I'm sometimes late.
I'll use sunblock at the field... or my skin will peel.
It's lunch and a nap in the afternoon when I get back.


Many thanks to Lennon and McCartney for the songs that inspired generations of adoring music fans!

A Day in the Life, Track 13 from the Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, released in 1967

I watched a rare interview from 1993 of Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts who died this week at the age of 80. Initially, Charlie was a graphic artist (who did some record sleeves for the Stones) interested in jazz and became friends with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Brian Jones.

Charlie had played rhythm & blues in clubs around London before becoming a Rolling Stone in 1963 when asked to join the band. That gig lasted 58 years and he performed every concert and played on every album!

It must have been difficult for Charlie as he was very shy and avoided interviews and media coverage with the only exception for his love of fashion and owning some 200 bespoke (custom) suits.

Mentioned in the interview, Charlie was self-taught and learned by listening to records of other drummers. Pair of diddles... is a funny takeoff for a basic drumming rudiment called PARADIDDLE consisting of four even strokes played in the order left-right-left-left or right-left-right-right.

He died in a hospital and had undergone some earlier unspecified emergency procedure. No other details to his death had been provided.

This is a strange story about a doctor who leaves the hospital on Thursday and disappears. Police were able to access his home surveillance video and see he left on foot Thursdayafternoon, so they searched using K-9's drones and officers on foot.
Nothing was found... but for some reason they decided to drill through the ice of a nearby pond and found the doctor!

Unclear how he ended up in the pond, the medical examiner's office will perform an autopsy with toxicology testing.

I'm speculating he thought the ice would support his weight. When it cracked he slipped in a froze to death.
What a horrible way to go...


Link:

It's a YouTube Thursday that's taking me across some blues rock and I hit a biography about Johnny Winter. What heights would his career have gone without his heroin addiction?
Hi younger brother Edgar followed the 'path of rock' while Johnny leaned toward blues, he often performed rock and roll in live concerts.

Here he is playing the Chuck Berry standard Johnny B. Goode



Of the lyrics "He used to carry his guitar in a gunny sack" I wasn't 100% on the words gunny sack, so I looked it up.

Gunnysack or gunny sack is a large bag of heavy woven material, typically burlap.


There were lots of Southerners living in Miami 60+ years ago when my family moved from New York and they had words that weren't in my vocabulary. I remember going to a store to buy bubble gum. The lady at the counter asked if I wanted to put them in a sack. I hesitate and she repeated herself. Not understanding 'sack' she rephrased the question:
"Do you want me to put them in a 'bag' for you?"
"Yes please"