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I've always wanted to do a historic blog about the Hammond organ.... it's one of the most famous musical instruments in the last century. Consider this the first installment.

Hammond electric organs came into manufacture in 1935. They were large dual 61 note manual consoles mounted in wooden cases. The sound they make is synthesized/created by rotating tonewheels and magnetic pickups. The tone is shaped by controls called drawbars that can be pulled or retracted changing the harmonics and the overall sound. Over the years various model added features. The B-2 manufactured from 1949 to 1954 was very popular and had a vibrato circuit added to it's sound. The model B-3 is by far the most popular Hammond. it was produced from 1954 to 1974. The B-3 was used in Jazz, Gospel, Blues, Rock and many other genres.

In the beginning Laurens Hammond had a speaker system to go along with his brand of organs. Donald Leslie created a speaker cabinet with a rotating horn and baffle that created a chorale or tremelo effect to emulate the sound of a theater/pip organ. His attempt was to market his product with Hammond but Laurens wasn't interested. Leslie Tone Cabinets were sold as a stand-alone product around 1941.

To the ear, the combination of a Hammond with a Leslie was awesome!

...25 years since he left, and now one billion hits. Albums like "Never Mind", and songs like "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Began a whole genre of rock. Biting lyrics. GF choices could have been better. We all have our weak points. Sorely missed.

A brief Musical Interlude

'Tangled Up in Blue'

By Robert Zimmerman

Euge Groove is a saxophonist. He reminds me a little of the Brazilian saxophonist
Gato Barbieri. You may know Gato, as he has played with Santana.
Indeed, Santana covered one of Gato's songs (Europa) and then they later played it together.
However, Euge is much better than Gato.

His real name is Steve Eugene Grove. Shhh. It's our secret.
His mom actually gave him his stage name, Euge Groove.

He got his start in music playing studio tracks on records with the girl band Expose'.
He then went on to play in a soul pop band, Tower of Power.
In ironic fashion, he replaced another saxophonist, who left to go on to play jazz, Richard Elliot,
another excellent saxophonist.
Euge later did the same.

I first heard him on the radio with a hit of his, 'Sneak a Peek'.
I later saw him live play along with acoustic guitarist, Peter White,
who had a similar history, playing pop early on for 20 years with Al Stewart.
Both guys progressed greatly in playing more complex pieces and became bored with pop
to move on with jazz. I remember Peter talking about how his guitar complexities were actually
stifled in favor of more blase' playing.

Well, enough background (I used to love reading histories of musicians within the sleeves on records.
You don't get that anymore, not since CDs replaced the much larger long playing LPs.

So, first here's how I first discovered Euge Groove;

Sometimes you hear a song n makes you want to move, that make you want to sing or dance you listen the tune n when the words come out, you WANT them to come out, when it has a great beat sometimes you don't want the song to ennd lol making you think of a lost love, or a friend, or someone you just can't stand lol, sometimes we lip sync the words to ourselves n pretend we are stage as a famous singer in the world that everyone should hear some inspire, like Sir Elton John with his song ' Daniel ', songs that came from documentaries, some for depression, that all have some kind of beat that puts some kind if light in someone's heart....the list can on and on...this one OMG make you want to learn the lyrics to sing it lol....or think of him or her...

Thursday evening was probably the best evening of my life! I went to the Royal Arena in Copenhagen to catch Slipknot on their We Are Not Your Kind World Tour.

I have seen Slipknot countless times before, so I knew what I was getting myself into. I had, however, never seen Behemoth live before, so I was really excited to see them. Behemoth is a Polish blackened death metal band, whose gimmick is being a dark, satanic band, who just want to destroy everything they touch. If you are a Christian person, a Behemoth (Hebrew ?????, behemoth (modern: behemot)) is a mythological beast mentioned in Job 40:15-24. Metaphorically, the name has come to be used for any extremely large or powerful entity. In medieval demonology Behemoth ("several animals") is the nocturnal demon of indulgence and holds the ranks of caretaker of wine cellars, grand cupbearer of the royal household, and right watchman. He oversees the feasts of Jinnestan and is responsible for serving the Devil his food and wine. He also entertains with song and music.

For them to open up for Slipknot, was therefore the perfect fit!

Their opening consisted of a picture of Denmark, with an inverted cross across it, signalling that the Devil had arrived. The band took to the stage wearing full makeup and matching outfits, while fire and steam shot up around them. The band are a super talented bunch, and I really loved my 45 minutes in what can only be described as hell. Countless fireballs rose up towards the ceiling, and Nergals roaring vocals made the opening act something to remember.

After a "short" break of 45 minutes, Slipknot finally took to the stage, to the sound of Insert Coin, the opening track of We Are Not Your Kind. It jumped straight into Unsainted, which made the entire arena explode with euphoria. Slipknot was here, ready to make a statement. They wanted Copenhagen to know, that they mean business, and that they truly are one of the best live acts anywhere, of all time. I can agree with that, because judging by the way that Corey has the entire audience in the palm of his hands, Slipknot will indeed be remembered as the best live band ever.

The setlist was a mix of old and new, all of which was received extremely well. There were a few songs that I wasn't sure would go down well live, but they did.

My only gripe with this evening, was that it was on a Thursday evening, and I had work on the Friday. Next time Slipknot is in town, I hope it's on a Friday or a Saturday.

I will give Behemoth a 8 out of 10. Fantastic opening act, and a band I want to see again soon. Slipknot, well they get a perfect 10!

Let them run ahead Then I will have a good reason for shooting them them down.
Sharpvillee ? Attemping to escape Attemping to escape from the prison of their lives .
That is a most dengerus crime ..
It brings about revolution.

asao ff we go lads. D,C.


Cry hovoc and let loose the dogs of war.
W.S.




Walk good to all here.

The continuation of the series...
.. 12. Culture & Mass delusion
.x. 2. Neuroscience of belief.... } 24. Critical Mass
... Only for his [ Name's ] sake has he provided a template } Lmtd. Attn.-- Span Theater
... 54. sleep of restless hours / disillusion ......... 74. Isis & Osiris / ayreon
...-26. paradigm shift / Liq. tension Exp......... - 46. the Accolade / symphony X
... 28. Critical Mass, 1 - 3 / threshold................ 28. C M pt. 2 / ibid.
......... 89... perfect element / Pain of Salvation
.........-61. to bid you farewell / Opeth ) ) ) d3 } pro Metal 100, songs
..........28. C mass, 3 / threshold... } it should be no secret as to the substance of Ritual Number One: Roma ] Cat. Mass. Id est., Sun worship. Note how the subject comes up again as we chart
thru another [ Great ] course...
04. divide & conquer .................... 10. Calendar math
09. memorizing numbers ...............03. go Forth (x) and multiply
13. Calends [ of Gregory ......... ) ) Time - k e e p e r s ) see Daniel 7:25, changing Times
* * * * part Seven * * * Jet Propelled photograph ) the soft machine
... Take the long view of 'Rainbow Rising'; A 1976 LP by ..um, Rainbow. It is [ d.......*] in plane sight. The Stargazer[song from the LP] is Nimrod, ascending from the abyss by bending space--Time.
________
* deception...... } So as you re-Read the instrument from Lit. logic lotto [ gambling with your life
it should dawn on you at this TIME that deception, fraud, delusion, encompass our most fundamental groove: Time- keeping. From which cometh... sowing, reaping, } harvest.
[ but lets not just casually take my word for it ].....lets dew the Math, because numbers can't lie
.. 42. 7 churches / possessed .................... 22. vulgar display of power / pantera
..-25. vol.4 / black Sabbath ............................... 05. bs / bs } blk Sabbath
.. 17. Rainbow rising / rainbow..................... 17. R R / R } plan R
92. A blaze in the Northern sky / dark throne
- 75. the real thing / faith no more .. } d3 Metal Albums, 100
17. stargazer ) rainbow rising .....Rev. 9:11
...... We know that we are from [ Yah ] , and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. - 1 Yohn 5:19
Epilogue...
........ Focus / Cynic
.............. Storm of the Light's bane / Dissection
...... Glory of the Empire / Circus Maximus

I'm on a YouTube journey this afternoon surfing some old bookmarks of Japanese musical groups. The style is Hard Rock Baroque inspired melodies set to (high-speed) shredding guitar licks aka J-METAL. Not your average boy-band!


This first selection is with the band JUPITER.
On lead guitar is Hizaki. He's the one in full costume that looks like he is on the way to a 17th century ball. His former band VERSAILLES, had 2nd guitarist Teru a few different members, but the same costumes and music. I'm not sure if the bassist is a woman, that would require some research. In both VERSAILLES and JUPITER Hizaki & Teru often play melodic duet solos as part of the show.

Very talented, very different!

I first heard about the heavy-metal band QUIET RIOT in the 1980's from lots of MTV play with their version of the SLADE hit Cûm On Feel the Noize. They were one of the first bands to put metal on the map and like most, breaking up and reforming was in their DNA as members came and went like a revolving door.

Through the famed years singer Kevin DuBrow and drummer Frankie Banali were the common elements to hold the band together. Sadly, DuBrow passed away from a cocaine overdose in 2007.
If I recall, DuBrow owned the rights to the name Quiet Riot and it wasn't until years later his family allowed Banali to use the name and reform the group.

I've seen a few live performances and they always gave a good show, including acknowledgement for guitarist Randy Rhoads who founded the band with DuBrow and later joining with Ozzy Osbourne of Black Sabbath fame to find his own stardom until his untimely death in 1982.

In 2019, Banali, was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer and not expected to live out the year. He went through chemotherapy, dropping some 60 pounds and appeared to recover enough to return to drumming for a few gigs including one in Japan with the legendary Led Zeppelin tribute guitarist Mr. Jimmy. Success rate of recovery from this form of cancer is very rare. Three weeks ago, I heard that Quiet Riot was booked to play at the Sturgis Rally and thought Frankie (after more than 20 treatments) must have beat the disease. Could this be possible?

Friday afternoon, I received a call from a drummer friend. Frankie passed away Thursday evening, August 20, 2020.

I've heard there's a musicians gig in the sky where they all go to perform. Frankie, Kevin and Randy must be rehearsing right now!


Frankie in Japan with Mr. Jimmy and his tribute band: