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Like all my blogs, this one is only going to appeal to a small percentage of the people,
and that's perfectly OK with me.

I come from way back, when music actually had a melody, indeed, a complex one.
And musicians were very proficient with playing their instruments.
People actually came to listen & see musicians play excellent music.
Music was much more than some monotonous unmelodic chant of simplistic rhyme.
Indeed, vocalists were just another instrument, not the main focal point,
and it was music, not costumes, dance, nor special effects that were the main attraction.

As a young child, I began to explore music. Like a sponge, I absorbed it and simply wasn't fully
satisfied with what was spoon fed to us with commercial pop radio stations.
Being a youngster, I was into rock music.
Initially, for me commercially, the best I could find on the radio was Jimi Hendrix
and Frank Zappa. I also listened to the Allman Brothers, Yes, and Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
I explored their roots, bands they were in before becoming famous. I not only had a complete collection
of the albums recorded by the bands mentioned, but also the bands they came from, like the Strawbs,
The Turtles, and King Crimson.

But, not being a rich kid, I also explored discount record bins where I could find new records for $1, or less.
There was really where I discovered much better music, that wasn't watered down for the masses.
It was a real life example of following the path less explored making all the difference.
It's where I discovered the blues. My first B.B. King album led me to explore that genre
quite extensively, and I am vert thankful for that. I still listen to the blues.

It was also there, where I found a Return To Forever album, which was my first introduction to jazz,
I was simply amazed at how superior those musicians were. Man, they could play !
I remember some months later the first time I listened to
'Live at Massey Hall', which is sometimes termed "the best concert ever".
I literally fell to the floor from exhaustion listening to the complexities of the solos.
That certainly never happened with rock, or pop.

The history of the album itself is interesting. It tool place in Canada during a Joe Louis prize fight
and what happened was that one of the musicians would take a solo, while some of the other
musicians would actually in the middle of that solo, leave the stage and go to a bar across the street
to see what was going on with the fight.
It left the soloist to fully explore musical possibilities and those great musicians took full advantage
of the uninterrupted opportunity to do so.

Anyway getting back to how I first got into jazz, it was a jazz rock fusion band, entitled Return to Forever.
The leader & composer of the music was the excellent keyboardist, Chick Corea.
Originally it also had excellent bassist, Stanley Clark, and terrific guitarist, New Jersey native, Al DiMeola. Lenny White was on drums. Later they added Joe Farrell and vocalist Flora Purim
and replaced the drummer..

Here's one such song from this later group, Spain. Early on it features the flute of Joe Farrell and later Chick on electric piano at about 5:15. Yes, that's one pianist, playing a complex rhythm with his left
hand and a dynamic melody with his right hand.

It later became somewhat of a jazz standard with several people doing it.
Here's the original;

Also known as the forever 27 club, being 27 years old was a fatal age for many musicians.
Here's the short list of some famous musicians who never made it past 27:

Robert Johnson, musician, died at the age of 27.
Brian Jones, musician (Rolling Stones), died at the age of 27.
Jimi Hendrix, musician, died at the age of 27.
Janis Joplin, singer, died at the age of 27.
Jim Morrison, singer (Doors), died at the age of 27.
Kurt Cobain, musician (Nirvana), died at the age of 27.
Amy Winehouse, singer, died at the age of 27.
Alan Wilson, singer (Canned Heat), died at the age of 27.

There are many more famous (and not so famous) musicians who have died at the age of 27... coincidence?

Add your own favorite rain/reign songs, if you like

I started playing music in the school symphony by day and cutting my teeth for 'Rock-n-Roll' in a garage band by night. For years and years it was playing music by other known artists. This is referred to as 'Cover Bands' musicians who don't play compositions of their own.

When I bought albums, I would read everything from cover to cover and all through the record liners. Usually on the back cover you can find the song listings and credits. For the most part, members of the band wrote their own songs.

Go back a generation and you will find many artists/singers/performers were promoted by management and record companies and all their music was produced. They became stars by the hard work of others. That's not to say they didn't work hard on their careers, it's to say their huge success was manipulated by others.

Let's say I wrote a great song, but I didn't have the voice, stage presence or finances to promote the song. If I knew the right people, I could offer/sell that song to a record company who could match the song with an entertainer to record it. If you check on YouTube for some 50's music, you can find many artists recording the same song.

When we get into the 60's songwriters often teamed up with singers. The magical match was singer Dionne Warwick and composer/songwriter Burt Bacharach (and Hal David). Burt is listed as a singer... I didn't think that was his strong point, Dion was the singer and sold millions and millions of records.

I just scratched the surface with this blog about songwriters and plan to write some more insight to the record business in future blogs.


Thanks for reading !

"Do you know the way to San Jose..."

Drummers aren't usually known for being lead singers in their respective bands. However there are some notable exceptions.

Here is just a few. Feel free to add to the list and post a video if you can.

Karen Carpenter


Don Henley


Peter Rivera


Keith Moon


Don Brewer


Sheila E.


Ringo Starr


Levon Helm


Phil Collins


Dave Clark


Mickey Dolenz


Peter Kriss


That's my list. I know there must be more.

Points if you know anything about them.
Double points if you know how to pronounce them.
Triple points if you can name people associated with them.

Thanks for reading my blog...

No points if you have to Google this.

I listen to a local classic rock music radio station that has a few hours of talk show in the morning and music at 10am. One day, they talked about little known groups who re-record famous songs that help start their career. They stated, the price to pay for this is 50% of the total royalties.

YouTube is my favorite source for music and I often follow song remakes.
For this blog, I picked "You keep Me Hangin On" in 1966 by The Supremes, remade (as a psychedelic rock song) by Vanilla Fudge in 1967, and again remade in 1986 with a disco beat by Kim Wilde.

The Supremes

A co worker received a big package the other day from FedEx. MacBook Pro that he intends on using for his moonlighting gig of Disk Jockey. With the exception of 2 turntables all his gear is electronic. Years ago, he carried boxes of LP records and now everything is on a hard drive.

If there's an obscure song request not in his collection, he can quickly download it from a library he subscribes to.

He hires out for parties, Bar Mitzvahs and a few weekends a month he plays a night club until 3am.

I asked about the volume of the music played and he agreed when the speakers are behind him the roar would send him home with his 'hissing' from the sounds but lately he's been moving the speakers away from the DJ booth and has sound insulating headphones to lower the volume.

Ask any professional musician about ringing in the ears (Tinnitus) and actually any loud volume sound will do this. Actually, you don't have to be a musician to experience hearing loss. Lots of factory workers who are around machinery for hours on end without some form of hearing protection will also experience the same effect.

Back to the DJ job. My coworker says the money earned from his night job goes directly into a fund for family trips and vacations. I thought that was a great idea!

Steve Perry best known as front man for the rock group JOURNEY from 1977 to 1987 also spawned a solo career in the 80's and 90's and left the music scene due to health and family issues.

Like many other groups who disbanded, the fans always wished Steve would come out of retirement and rejoin Journey. He didn't. Journey was fortunate enough to find Arnel Pineda from the Philippines who has an amazing 'Perry sound alike' voice. That put Journey back on the map.

Recently, Steve made an appearance for Journey's induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Announced on August 14, 2018, Steve will release a new 10 track studio album titled TRACES on the 5th of October.

Lots of rumors over the years should soon be over. All the usual music sources and many rock stations are eagerly awaiting this new material. He's already released a new video for the song NO ERASIN' that's available on YouTube.
Congratulations Steve, it's about time!

Some time in 2006 or so I ran across a PBS program (Soundstage, I think) with John Mayer in concert. (It came at a low time in my life, when I'd gone through a divorce, a loss of employment, and a back injury. But I digress...) Like always, I was late to the party, as Mr. Mayer had already released several albums, and a killer single entitled "No Such Thing" that I'd heard, but more or less dismissed after the original hype.

The music, lyrics, and straight out raw talent that Mr. Mayer exuded knocked me for a loop on that Soundstage program, and after I reviewed the "Heavier Things" album I was an instant fan. (The tune entitled "Bigger Than My Body" caught me instantly, as it spoke of hope and looking toward the future--along with the amazing guitar and metaphor laced lyrics.)

Album after album took me by storm, with "Continuum" becoming my favorite--a masterpiece, if you ask me.

The other day, after a prolonged streak of boredom, I went on a John Mayer binge. While I've managed to collect almost all of his current works (aside from the live albums), I have yet to load the latest ones into my CD player and hit "Repeat," so that in the course of a few days I'm familiar with every word and guitar lick. I did, however, become quite acquainted with two songs from "Battle Studies"--namely, "Heartbreak Warfare" (which I've known for quite some time), and "War Of My Life", presented live (a new discovery). This is the one that threw me. (Before "War Of My Life," Mr. Mayer adds a few lines from a Tom Petty song, quoting "You don't know how it feels...to be me".)

Mr. Mayer, apparently, is a fallible human being, too. After throat surgery, a decline in record sales (partially due to his absence because of said surgery), and a prolonged reputation for being a womanizer, it appears that John Mayer is vulnerable, just like the rest of us. Up until this point, however, I never realized HOW vulnerable.

If you listen to Mr. Mayer in assorted recorded interviews, he refers to his therapist from time to time, but never really expounds on any issue in particular. In this video he opens up, to a spill-your-guts degree.

Sometimes it's fight or die. Sometimes one must publicly declare war. Sometimes one must take a stand. That's how it appears in this video. I've attached links below, in case anybody's curious.


lyrics:
You Tube "War Of My Life" link: