Music Blogs (1,258)

For the record, every country has their own style of Country Music.
I was active on Citizens Band (CB) radio in the 1970's and listening to channel 19 that was commonly used as a call channel for truckers, someone asked "What radio station is Country Music on?"
Unlike other places in America, Miami is multi-cultural... so I just had to ask "What country?"


I see there is some confusion including cross reference between the different styles of early music in America. Not all are lumped into "Country Music"

Today, I'm blogging about Mississippi Delta Blues. That's the original folklore story where the young man met Satin at the crossroads and sold his soul for a musical talent he couldn't achieve without 20 years of practice!

That is not to be confused with American style of 'Country Music' with my ex'es from Texas or 'Fiddles from Hell' ala Charlie Daniels Band.

Steel Guitar is associated with Country Music. That instrument is played horizontally where the strings are 1/4" (or more) above the neck and uses a solid bar of polished metal (steel) played on an instrument. Due to the metal bar, all the notes played ring out clear.

Delta Blues is played on a standard guitar... at least 50 years before electric guitars came along and the 'slide' sound comes from a piece of glass. Commonly, it was a broken neck of a whiskey bottle, hence then name 'Bottlebeck Guitar'
The notes on the bottleneck aren't as sustained as a Steel Guitar and that contributes to it's unique sound and style of play.

One of the early legends to this style of music is Muddy Waters. Here is a sample of this music:

When Satan gave us country music, what was it exactly that we did to deserve it?

YouTube has endless selections of Japanese Popular music (J-POP for short) and most are headed up by all girl bands. I came across one group BAND-MAID, five young women wearing sexy maid costumes.
At first, I thought their instruments were props... typical of some American bands that had real musicians behind the scenes while they pranced around the stage... not to say that there aren't any like that in Japan. BAND-MAID can hold their own with real talent.

I've listened to a few of their songs and amazed how good they perform!

Typical of many Japanese bands, their music is sung in Japanese and every once in a while there is a phrase in English.

"I've gotta be on my way"

Last night at the Irish festival held in Marbella I finally got the oportunity to see Finbar Furey an Irish legend. It was a wonderful night, he is amazing on stage and off.



This is not my video so thanks to who uploaded it on youtube.

I just got home and heard about this. The Cars were an awesome band! My Favorite song and video from them had to be "Drive" in 1984.

Ric Ocasek, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame singer whose popular new-wave band, The Cars, helped define the sound of rock music in the late 1970s and '80s, was found dead in his New York City apartment on Sunday, a police spokesman told Fox News. Ocasek was 75.

His estranged wife, supermodel Paulina Porizkova, found him unresponsive Sunday afternoon at his home in Manhattan's Gramercy Park neighborhood, sources told the New York Post, adding that he apparently died of natural causes. Police said there was no sign of foul play.

The Cars' self-titled 1978 debut album was a smash hit, boosted by singles including "Just What I Needed." The album helped lead the way for new wave's influence on rock music throughout the following decade.

The band's 1981 single "Shake It Up" hit #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, while 1984's "Drive" hit #3.

"I liked songwriters, I was always attracted to people like Buddy Holly, Little Richard, Gene Vincent in the '50s, and when the '60s came, of course I loved The Beatles, but I also loved the Velvet Underground, Captain Beefheart, and Frank Zappa," Ocasek told The Vinyl District earlier this year. "I certainly always loved a good pop song. I always liked great songs, and it didn’t matter if it was from the Carpenters or Lou Reed. As long as they were done well and they weren’t corny or fake."

The band broke up in the late-'80s, as Ocasek embarked on a solo career. His 1986 single "Emotion in Motion" was Ocasek's only song to crack the Top 40 without The Cars behind him.

Ocasek and Porizkova were married for 28 years before their breakup last year. They were said to have met while The Cars recorded the music video for "Drive."

The Cars were inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2018, an occasion that saw the band perform together for the first time in years -- but without co-founder Benjamin Orr, who died in 2000.

Ocasek, in a Rolling Stone interview, described the performance as "a good cap on the bottle" of his career, which also included painting in his later years.

"It’s kind of weird because it’s like a lifetime. It is a lifetime. I had three families during that time. They are like lives that go by and millions of people and things and artists and writers and business people and fans. … It’s a lot of stuff. It’s been a pretty eventful life, I can say."

FOX News

I didn't lose my mind, it was mine to give away

This is a different version of a song which was a very big hit back in the mid 50's. Anybody remember the original?

This one is a free jam on my flamenco acoustic guitar... it’s like a classical guitar with different wood to make it sound brighter. That’s what I heard..