Music Blogs (1,258)

In the late 60's and early 70's there was a popular venue where they held teen dances Saturday and Sunday nights. It was originally a grocery store that went bankrupt, not long after it became a gathering place where they projected surfing movies on the wall. A father and son bought the place, erected 2 stages and hired local bands to perform there. The pay wasn't great, but it was steady work where as many as 4 bands playing each night and sometimes we were booked 6 to 8 nights a month.

The venue (legally) had a capacity of 90, but there where nights where kids stood outside waiting to get in and it was mostly 'standing room only' as the owners packed the place.
Lots of places would stamp your hand as identification so you could leave and return later and more kids would pay to get in as soon as a few left... even if they were going for a hamburger with plans to be back in 30 minutes. So total paid attendance would easily be 250 to 300 in a 4 hour period.

Because it was so popular, bands as far as 50 miles away were booked to play there. I got to hear a good sampling of the music being played in South Florida. There were a few Latin (Cuban) bands playing and a few soul or blues groups, but mostly the mix was rock & roll and later changing to hard rock music.

Over the years, I had been in a few different groups and my father managed us which was great because he was friendly with the owners that helped us get more bookings.

One afternoon, we had solid rain for a few hours and the streets were flooded. Some of the groups were forced to cancel their appearances. We weren't booked that night, but a desperate last-minute call from the owner asked if we were available. No problem. Our drummer had a Volkswagen bus, so we loaded our gear and was able to go through the flooded streets to make it to the gig! That effort put us in 'solid' with the owners.

As always, it was important to have a good opening song at the beginning of each set.
There was a band we often shared a stage with called "The Body Shop" and they played a mixture of blues and rock & roll. They were located across town so none of us knew them from school or any other connection, but we got along great with no friction or band rivalry in any way, so it didn't matter if they opened the set first or we opened the set first.
The cool thing about this group was they often opened their set playing the high-energy song "Living in the USA" by the Steve Miller Band.
I heard this song on the radio today and it reminded me of the group.
Great song!



"Somebody get me a cheesburger..."

Now that I'm getting back to music as a profession, my tone and volume is more important as a trio performing in small venues than as a five piece rock band playing at outdoor concerts. My cousin did a gig at a patio bar of a local restaurant the other night and the first thing the manager said was "Keep the volume down."

I get that. I walked around the venue to listen to the loudness and levels of the piano, drum machine, guitar and vocals then came back to make suggestions. For now, all the music came through 2 speakers on stands near the band. Louder near the front and not loud enough in the back.

The manager said the volume near the band was okay. I suggested moving the speakers further apart so the coverage near the back would better without having to make things louder. My cousin mentioned he has 2 satellite speakers not being used. That's perfect and all we need to do is make some extension cords for power and sound and we can place them on opposite sides of the venue for better coverage.

To keep levels under control, I'm thinking about some audio compression. It's something that gets used in nearly all processed media we listen to. I've been researching audio compression recently for where and how it gets used, also what benefits it will give in a live performance. Basically... it makes the sound more uniform where the peaks don't exceed a preset level and the lower sounds are raised making the music program sound fuller. The music is literally compressed into a volume range.

For me, it will even out my volume so finger picking style is the same volume as slap style. I bought an inexpensive compressor and will experiment with that.

Some videos on compression are 20 to 50 minutes long... too much for an example. I found a good example that takes less than 3 minutes to make the point.



A good explanation is a singer getting very close to the microphone and then backing away a foot or two. The compressor will compensate for both conditions so he/she will have the same level.

Beyond disability

A sweet song from yesteryears.

Both of my cousins who relocated/retired to Florida are musicians. The one who is 4 miles from me is active for small events, parties as a soloist on keyboards with some programmed electronic drum tracks. When possible, he hires out as a trio with a guitarist and bassist.

Several times we talked about his bass player going through some health (and personal) issues that is affecting his wanting to gig and if I'm interested should his guy decide to leave the trio. I said yes, but I'm no where 'up to speed' to play 40 songs at a gig. I'll need more time. He knows, I've got several bass guitars and amps and can 'rock & roll' at a moments notice... well, assuming I know the songs. But I want to be 100%

He's booked a local gig at a club in downtown as a duo because the club owner didn't want the trio. The bassist was offended and indicated it might be time for him to move on... I'll go to his gig, not to play and no expectations other than getting the experience of seeing them perform live, so I can make a few recordings. That way, I can fit in seamlessly and be an asset to the group.

I've been asked to provide some photos of me, the bass and me playing the bass along with a short write-up of my musical background so he can include it in an introduction sheet of the members with some list that he emails people who would be interested in hiring the group.

Doubting I can make this happen quickly, he's heard some of my demo tapes from years ago and said it should be no problem. He feels really good about this and said "Don't worry cuz, this is your fate."

Mary Weiss, the lead singer of the 1960s pop group the Shangri-Las, whose hits included Leader of the Pack, has died at 75.

The End is a song off The Beatles Abbey Road album that features 3 lead guitar solos. McCartney, Harrison & Lennon each taking turns and each having a distinct style. It was known that George Harrison and Eric Clapton were friends (perhaps more than friends as Clapton married his ex-wife) and rumored he was invited into the studio while they were recording that album.

There are some die-hard Beatles fans who probably have some documentation. It's believed Clapton many have played parts on the album, but was never credited for doing so.

Paul McCartney started out as a guitarist and later switched to bass guitar. He was the main song writer and often dictated to George Harrison exactly what he wanted for many of the guitar parts. I've heard Paul play a few guitar parts and knew he was good, but not as technically proficient as George. When it came to the 3 guitarists 'trading licks' for The End, it was my opinion that Clapton may have some input without credit.

The guitar cover in this blog has all the parts played singularly. There are several similar videos with some listing who played what part. I could easily believe the part listed as Paul was really George and the part listed as George could have been Clapton. Lennon was the gruff & noisy one.. no mistake about that.
Why do I think it was Clapton? The searing high notes with vibrato was his trademark when he was in The Cream. However, it was stated in many interviews that George was heavily influenced by Eric's style.

Here's one on many covers of The End:

A 90s song that is really a 80s song