An Open Thread About Music
I am going to try something completely different here. I refuse to talk about politics, government, Right/Left, Up/Down, guns, or anything else that tends to divide us. Personally, I an sick of it all, and have been for a while now.
Instead, I want to talk about something that I am sure we all have an interest in — music.
Not any particular style — we all have our tastes, and some of us like almost all kinds of music. I know that I do.
I think it would be fun to have just one thread where we can talk about something without it turning into a war zone.
What is your favorite kind of music? Who are your favorite influences? What particular music would you like to see in the jukebox? What interesting stories or facts do you have about a particular artist or a particular song?
Here, let me prime the pump here for you:
Everyone here has probably heard the Deep Purple song, Smoke on the Water. But how many here know the story behind the song, or how an unfortunate accident this past week has put the story back into the news?
The lyrics of the song tell a true story: on December 4, 1971, Deep Purple had set up camp in Montreux, Switzerland to record an album using a mobile recording studio (rented from the Rolling Stones and known as the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio – referred to as the “Rolling truck Stones thing” and “the mobile” in the song lyrics) at the entertainment complex that was part of the Montreux Casino (referred to as “the gambling house” in the song lyric). On the eve of the recording session a Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention concert was held in the casino’s theater. During the gig a fire broke out: “In the middle of Don Preston’s synthesizer solo on “King Kong”, the place suddenly caught fire. Somebody in the audience had fired a flare gun into the ceiling, at which point the rattan covering started to burn”, as mentioned in the “some stupid with a flare gun” line. The resulting fire destroyed the entire casino complex, along with all the Mothers’ equipment. The “smoke on the water” that became the title of the song (credited to bassist Roger Glover, who related how the title occurred to him when he suddenly woke from a dream a few days later) referred to the smoke from the fire spreading over Lake Geneva from the burning casino as the members of Deep Purple watched the fire from their hotel across the lake. The “Funky Claude” running in and out is referring to Claude Nobs, the director of the Montreux Jazz Festival who helped some of the audience escape the fire.
Funky Claude died on January 9, 2013 in Lausanne, Switzerland from complications from being in a coma after a skiing accident three days earlier. He was 76.
For extra credit, can anyone tell me what the last recorded song by The Beatles?
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DJ SEZ
DJ… the only problem is this IS a politics, government, Right/Left, Up/Down, guns,blog.
Wanna talk music, try GLEE.
BTW
I Want You (She’s So Heavy) is the last song they recorded together as a group. I just remember that although I Me Mine was actually the last song recorded for “Let it Be,” Lennon wasn’t in studio, and didn’t play on that track. So, this was just Paul, George, and Ringo, so, not technically all of the Beatles.
The surviving Beatles got together to add to John Lennons song Free As A Bird in the 90′s, it was part of a documentary on the Beatles that aired during that time. I thought the song sucked and really wasn’t worthy of the effort but that’s my opinion.
I worked in a music store in 1976 during a two year long hiatus from college (due to too much drugs and alcohol and the resultant drop in my GPA). This was when Smoke On The Water was still really popular and every beginner, hack, teenage guitar player played it. We had a sign on our instrument room where the guitars were…..the sign read: Playing Smoke on the Water will result in your immediate removal from the instrument room.
and we enforced it.
There are some outstanding cuts on Machine Head….Lazy is probably my favorite, followed by Never Before and Highway Star, but then again…I’m a bit of a Deep Purple fanatic, especially the Ian Gillian years.
1976 was also the year that I bought my Les Paul Goldtop Deluxe. I found it in a pawnshop window and the idiot had it priced at $250. It had been prety badly beat up by the previous owner, the back of it being scraped raw down to bare wood and being dented up around the output jack where he had (drunkenly perhaps) tried to slam home the jack plug on the cord. It still played really well and I bought it on the spot.
Our instrument repair guy at the store where I worked used to be a tech at the Gibson factory and he took that guitar from me, got all the original paints and varnishes and fillers and completely restored that guitar for me for free. I still have it 38 years later and play it all the time. Got it appraised about 3 years ago and it appraised at $8,000 dollars.
Here’s a link of me playing it with the house band at the college where I teach. I ‘m the guy with the baseball cap on, there was no way in hell I could keep up with the two guys playing lead so I played rhythm guitar for them on a 10 minute version of FreeBird
I always enjoyed the double ad triple entendres of “Knocking On Your Backdoor” from “Perfect Strangers”.
LC 0311 Sir Crunchie I.M.H., K.o.E. recently posted..Open Thread About Music
ooops, forgot to add the link
Glad, it was my suggestion that Deej do this. So if you have a problem, I guess it’ll have to be a problem with me.
Darth Venomous says:
GLEE ain’t music
LC Gladiator says:
Sure, why not? I happen to like the show. I also sang in glee clubs when I was in school and was in the Northwest Boy’s Choir, and performed in almost sixty plays when I was young.
It is music, bud, and there is NOTHING to be ashamed about it.
But I think you miss the entire point behind this thread. Sure, you can be angry, upset and all that outside of this thread, but unless you find a spot where you can come in from all of that crap and relax for a bit, the acid is going to eat you up alive.
I don’t want to argue with you or anyone else here. Not any more. It really ISN’T all that important. I would much rather find things to enjoy rather than seek out the crap that I don’t like and dwell on that. Life is too short for that.
So DV suggested to me that every now and then I post something like this thread here. You know, a place to come in out of your battles and tribulations to relax and take a breather.
Jaybear, Colonel of Imperial Ancient Artillery says:
Yeah, I felt the same way — it really wasn’t the same magic.
LC 0311 Sir Crunchie I.M.H., K.o.E. says:
I will be sure to add that to the list of songs to post.
Jaybear, Colonel of Imperial Ancient Artillery says:
LOL! I know exactly what you mean. There were a LOT of guys who picked up the guitar because of that song and how easy that riff was to play. A good friend of mine who started Rail & Company back then and more recently Elsewaves, got interested in the guitar because he was able to play the Smoke on the Water riff immediately. Today, he is a very accomplished studio musician who has played on many very famous albums, for some very heavy hitting bands and musicians. All because of that riff.
More Cowbell! recently posted..Smoke on the Water ~ Deep Purple
Jaybear, Colonel of Imperial Ancient Artillery says:
Subtract all of the inane drama and just focus on the performances, and it IS music. Even if you take away the choreography, and just focus on the actual execution of the songs themselves, and you will find that most of the time they do a GREAT job with it.
I don’t watch the show for its idiotic story line, I watch for the music. In fact, I will often just close my eyes and just LISTEN to the songs. These actors aren’t slouches in the singing department at all. They aren’t “auto-tuned” fakes, these are accomplished singers who as a group or subgroup take well-known music and make it theirs. And most of the time they do a stand-up job at it. In fact most of the time, I have someone here cut out all of the music numbers and put them on a flash drive for me to listen when I have some time.
More Cowbell! recently posted..Smoke on the Water ~ Deep Purple
More Cowbell! says:
sorry man, we gotta disagree on that. I just think that we’re over saturated with singing shows, and they all sound the same.
Jaybear, Colonel of Imperial Ancient Artillery @ #10:
I guess it just boils down to whatever floats one’s boat. Nothing wrong with that.
More Cowbell! recently posted..Smoke on the Water ~ Deep Purple
More Cowbell! says:
nothing wrong at all…..
can you give some more detailed information on your friend the session guitarist? I’d be interested in hearing some of his work
Jaybear, Colonel of Imperial Ancient Artillery says:
His name is Rick Knotts, and his first band Rail & Company (later shortened to “RAIL”) could never quite get out there mainly because of lousy management, not from a lack of talent. They usually ended up making it big in Japan of all places, even though they had a contract with MTV and Sony Records. In fact, they were one of the first MTV Basement Tapes winners.
They still perform together once in a while but Rick is involved in another project right now
Here is Rail performing their song, “Hello”
They started at the same time that Heart did (they all went to Interlake High School in Bellevue with Ann and Nancy) and both bands performed at the same spots at the beginning. Both were shopped by the same management company, but Rail couldn’t accept the deal because they were under contract with an absolute idiot for a manager. Heart went on to make it big, Rail kinda flopped around but made it big in Japan.
More Cowbell! recently posted..Smoke on the Water ~ Deep Purple
If memory serves, it was: “Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! I’m shot! I’m shot!”
Man, where do I begin?
My tastes are all over the place so here’s a sampling from my iTunes playlist:
The Crystal Method, UTFO, 3rd Base, 16 Volt, 69 Boyz, Lenny Kravitz, Accept, Aerosmith, Alabama3, Aldo Nova, Alice in Chains, Andy Timmons, Animal Alpha (their breakup is a crime against music), Annihilator, Anthrax, Armando Trovajoli, Asian Dub Foundation, Ayumi Hamazaki (yes, J-Pop
), Bear McCreary, Beck, Benefit (Old school rap), Biffy Clyro, Bionic Jive (flamed out after only one album 
), Black Label Society, Black Sabbath, Boom Boom Satellites (Awesome!), Chickenfoot, Chris Joss, Chu Ishikawa (Literally a “metal” act), Corporate Avenger (now known as Taxman), Crossbreed, Danzig, Dash Rip Rock, David Bowie, Death In Vegas, DJ Tiesto, dope, Doro Pesch, Dream Theater (especially their Liquid Tension Experiment side project), E Nomine, Eels (thanks for introducing me to them Deej! 
), Esteban, Everlast, Fantômas, Fat Boys, fear Factory, Fifth Angel, Fight, Frank Zappa, Gary Numan Grace Potter, GWAR, Hail The Villain (make another album Dammit!!!), Halestorm, Hanzel und Gretyl, Hate Dept., iiO (Nadia Ali is such a babe!), ICP, Jane’s Addiction, Joe Satriani, John Valby, Johnny Cash, Jonny Lang, Judas Priest, Juno Reactor, KMFDM (more Awesomeness!), Kottonmouth Kings, Kraftwerk, Lääz Rockit, Laibach, Lamb of God, Last Crack, Limbo Maniacs (another one album band 
), Lords of Acid, Man or Astroman?, Marilyn Manson, Metal Church, MGMT, Ministry, Mojo Nixon (yes, i freely admit it 
), Motorhead, Mr. Bungle, My Dying Bride, N*E*R*D*, Nevermore, Nine Inch Nails (of course), Nuclear Assault, Overkill, Ozzy Ozbourne, Phillip Phillips, Pink Floyd, Pop Will Eat Itself, Potluck, Powerman 5000, Pungent Stench, Queen, Rachel Luttrell, Rainbow, Rammstein, Rehab, Run DMC, Rush, Sammy Hagar, Scorpions, She Loves 7 (my friend’s band), Soil, Spiderbait, Spike Jones, Static X, Stevie Vai, Street Sweeper, Sub Noize Souljaz, Suicidal Tendencies, Sully Erna, Testament, The Bar Kays, Breakfastaz, The Brecker Brothers, The Cramps, The Datsuns, The Great Kat, The KLF, The Pillows, Tiago Della Vega, Travis Barker, Twiztid, Volbeat, Warrior Soul, White Zombie, Xploding PlastiX, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Yoko Kanno, Yoshida Brothers, Yuki Kaijura (more J-Pop), Zug Izland, and many many more.
AWESOME thread btw!
I like Glee, so fuck y’all!
I grew up on classical and Broadway. I love classic rock, but Broadway will always be in my blood. I very nearly made musical theater my career.
Yes, I’m a nerd. Don’t judge.
LC Nicki the Resident Misanthropic Bitch recently posted..Want to know why this country is going to hell in a hand basket?
LC Gunsniper @ #15:
I’m going to need a whole jukebox just to cater to you, I see.
You’ve listed the artists, do you have any particular favorites from each one? I mean, something I can populate the Jukebox with? As you know, if it was ever recorded, I have it — and then some. I don’t do iTunes at all, since each recording comes with a snitch tag that Apple can shut off on a whimsy. (hence the reason why a lot of people inexplicably lose an entire playlist sometimes, and requires you to go out and get Senuti in hopes of trying to retrieve them.)
More Cowbell! recently posted..Smoke on the Water ~ Deep Purple
Black Label Society. DUH.
Oh mercy, I can talk about this til the heat death of the universe. I play guitar, keys, violin,and harmonica and I can’t go anywhere without my walkman. My tastes are pretty eclectic but I have a particular passion for acoustic guitar, especially pieces written in the fingertap style (cf. Erik Mongrain, Preston Reed & Andy Mckee among others). Here’s a few linky-links:
1). Ocean – John Butler – For my money, the greatest guitar instrumental ever written!
2). AirTap! By Erik Mongrain
3). Drifting, by Andy Mckee – Very mellow, but insanely fun to play.
4). Vaseline Machine Gun, by Leo Kottke
5). Night Ride, by Preston Reed
To name but a very, very few. If you only click on one of those links, do yourself a favour and make it Ocean. It’s no exaggeration to say that that song literally changed my life, enticing me to pick up the guitar again after a ten year hiatus just so I could learn to play it. Nowadays, I always work it into any set I’m playing and it always gets a standing ovation.
Other favourites include:
Bon Iver – Holocene (genius, IMO).
Keaton Henson – You Don’t Know How Lucky You Are.
HAIM – Don’t Save Me.
AWOLNATION – Sail.
Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeroes – Home.
Arcade Fire – Too many to list, but particularly ‘Suburban War’ and ‘Half Light II’
Johnny Cash – Ain’t No Grave.
Taylor Swift – We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (kidding!!).
R.E.M. – Again, too many to list, but particularly ‘Sweetness Follows’, ‘Nightswimming’ and ‘Let Me In’.
Matt Corby – Brother (one of the best singers alive, IMO. You gotta hear him to believe it).
Little Green Cars – The John Wayne.
Daughter – Youth (Amazing Scottish outfit who blend traditional folk structures with cutting edge effects. Very effective!)
Mumford and Sons – Sigh No More (British folk outfit, insanely catchy)
The Mountain Goats – Going To Georgia (frontman John Darnielle is one of the best lyricists around and the only person I can think of offhand who can hold a candle to Bob Dylan in this regard. Speaking of which…)
Bob Dylan – You don’t need any recommendations for this guy. Everyone’s already got their favourite Dylan.
Bruce Springsteen – Atlantic City (They call him the Boss for a good reason. The guy fucking rocks!)
Anyway, I could go on forever (and already have! – Ed.). All the above are on YouTube so check ‘em out! I’ll be spending the next couple of hours checking out your recommendations too. There’s nothing I love more than finding great new music
Heck – I’m easy – anything post 1959 and pre 1980 that stays away from grunge, acid, and crappy lyrics.
You see – this matches the time of my life where I was “aware” and before I had to work 8 to 10 hours/day from then on
I’ve been a touring/studio musician since I was 18. I’ll be 48 in May. I don’t know how to do anything else. There’s probably not enough bandwidth to hold all the stories I have. I will say this though, Willie Nelson has the best pot, by far.
Muzzy – Imperial Ignorant Slut says:
I can play that one
Deep Purple is a good choice for the top of this thread. I always thought they were under-appreciated, and their music was ahead of its time in a number of ways. My all time favorite song of theirs is Perfect Strangers (good track for the jukebox, DJ).
My music tastes are all over the place. Here are some random examples of that:
Aerosmith – Last Child
Bad Company – Ready for Love
Beau Jocque and the Zydeco High Rollers – Gardez Donc!
Beginning of the End – Funky Nassau
Ben’s Brother – Stuttering
The Black Angels – Young Men Dead
Blackfoot – Highway Song
The Blasters – I’m Shakin’
Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson – Pancho and Lefty
Bob Lind – Elusive Butterfly
Bob Marley – Three Little Birds
Bryan Lee – Ain’t Doing Too Bad
Camera Obscura – Hey Lloyd, I’m ready To Be Heartbroken
Capitols – Cool Jerk
Chakachas – Jungle Fever
The Church – Under the Milky Way
The Clash – Train in Vain
Commander Cody – Hot Rod Lincoln
Cowboy Junkies – Sweet Jane
Cracker – Low
Crosby, Stills & Nash – Long Time Gone
Danny O’Keefe – Good Time Charlie’s Got the Blues
David Bowie – Soul Love
Disturbed – Droppin’ Plates
Donald Fagen – I.G.Y.
Dwight Yoakam – Thousand Miles From Nowhere
Edgar Winter – Free Ride
Electric Prunes – I Had Too Much To Dream
Emerson, Lake and Palmer – Welcome Back My Friends
Eric Serra – Little Light of Love
Etta James – At Last
Frank Zappa – Jewish Princess
Fuel – Shimmer
Galt McDermot – Hair
Garbage – Stupid Girl
Ghostland Observatory – Midnight Voyage
Gomez – How We Operate
The Grass Roots – Temptation Eyes
Green Jelly – Three Little Pigs
Hall and Oates – She’s Gone
Heart – Tell It Like It Is
Hole – Violet
The Hooters – All You Zombies
Ian Dury and the Blockheads – Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll
Imogen Heap – Hide and Seek
Jake la Botz – The Wishing Well
Janis Joplin – Move Over
Jeff Beck – Led Boots
Jimmie Vaughan – Dengue Woman Blues
Jimmie Cliff – John Crow
John Hiatt – Feels Like Rain
John Lee Hooker – One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer
Johnny Cash – Ring of Fire
Jonny Lang – Good Morning Little School Girl
Julee Cruise – The Nightingale
Kenny Wayne Shepherd – Nothing to Do With Love
King Floyd – Groove Me
Kittie – Brackish
Lacuna Coil – Heaven’s a Lie
Led Zeppelin – Ten Years Gone
The Lemon Pipers – Green Tambourine
Linda Ronstadt – Party Girl
Link Ray and His Ray Men – Rumble
Little Feat – Time Loves a Hero
Los Lobos – Dream in Blue
Los Lonely Boys – Velvet Sky
Lyle Lovett – That’s Right (You’re Not From Texas)
Lynyrd Skynyrd – Simple Man
The Manhattan Transfer – Operator
Massive Attack – Dissolved Girl
Metallica – Whiskey In the Jar
Voco – Bring Me a Little Water, Silvy
The Moody Blues – Question
Morcheeba – Wonders Never Cease
Mother Love Bone – Stardog Champion
Motorhead – Ace of Spades
Muddy Waters – Hoochie Coochie Man
Norah Jones – Lonestar
The Outlaws – Hurry Sundown
Plain White T’s – Rhythm of Love
Procol Harum – Conquistador
Rainbow – Stone Cold
Ray LaMontagne – Trouble
Ray Lynch – No Blue Thing
Rick Derringer – Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo
Rinocerose – Cubicle
Robert Cray – Smoking Gun
Robin Trower – Too Rolling Stoned
The Rolling Stones – Can’t You Hear Me Knocking
The Roots – The Seeds
Ry Cooder – Feelin’ Bad Blues
Scissor Sisters – Take Your Mama Out
Seasick Steve – Started Out With Nothing
Simon & Garfunkel – Dangling Conversation
The Smiths – How Soon Is Now
Soundgarden – The Day I Tried To Live
Spin Doctors – Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong
Steely Dan – My Rival
Stevie Ray Vaughan – Superstition
Sting – Fields of Gold
The Stone Roses – I Wanna Be Adored
Susan Tedeschi – It Hurt So Bad
T. Rex – Ballrooms of Mars
Taj Mahal – (You’ve Got To) Love Her With a Feeling
Ted Nugent – Little Miss Dangerous
Temple Of The Dog – Say Hello 2 Heaven
Tito and Tarantula – After Dark
Tool – Sober
Trick Pony – Pour Me
Wall of Voodoo – Mexican Radio
Weezer – Say It Ain’t So
Wilco – Hate It Here
Lot’s of classical, blues and funk seem to round out the library.
LC SecondMouse @ #:
dang, that’s some fine music there….
anyone into Hawaiian music?
Whoops. I guess some song titles would be appropriate.
Boom Boom Satellites – Back on My Feet
Chickenfoot – Down the Drain
Chris Joss – Drink Me Hot
Eels – Restraining Order Blues
Death in Vegas – Aisha
The Crystal Method -Boom (The Crystal Method Remix)
Juno Reactor – Pistolero
Asian Dub Foundation – Rebellion
N*E*R*D* – The Way She Dances
Liquid Tension Experiment – Universal Mind
Limbo Maniacs – Shake It
Lamb of God – Redneck
K.M.F.D.M. – Fait Accompli
Jonny Lang – Still Rainin’
Doro Pesch – Warrior Soul
Xploding PlastiX – Sunset Spirals
White Zombie – Starface
Travis Barker – If You Want To
Volbeat – Who They Are
The Datsuns – Harmonic Generator
The Brecker Brothers – Some Skunk Funk
Sully Erna – Broken Road
Static X – Push It
Rachel Luttrell – Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered
Ozzy Ozbourne – I Don’t Wanna Stop
Nine Inch Nails – Discipline
Motorhead – Ace of Spades
K.M.F.D.M. – Vive La Mort
Joe Satriani – Ceremony
Jane’s Addiction – Superhero
Halestorm – Love Bites
Gary Numan – Dead Sun Rising
Davis Bowie – I’m Afraid of Americans (Nine Inch Nails version)
Chickenfoot – Avenida Revolucion
Black Label Society – Stillborn
Armando Trovajoli – Blazing Magnum
Annihilator – Wicked Mystic
Anthrax – Caught In A Mosh
Animal Alpha – Bundy
Alabama3 – Mansion On the Hill
Man or Astroman? – Radio Fission
Ministry – Scare Crow
Queen – Ride the Wild Wind
Pink Floyd – The Nile Song
Ozzy Ozbourne – Tattooed Dancer
Kraftwerk – We Are the Robots
Juno Reactor – Guardian Angel
LC Gunsniper @ #:
Black Label Society – Stillborn
Try Leningrad. Here is an example.
Robin Trower- In City Dreams
My musical tastes switch constantly. Right now I am in a country mood so my Pandora has a lot of country on it. Growing up, it was The Beatles, The Who, Rush, Queen and Springsteen. I have pretty much stayed there.
I have expanded my horizons with bands I toured with. I like Little Feat, Marshall Tucker and Mountain now. I despise Cheap Trick as there are no larger a collection of self absorbed douches on the planet. Guys, you ain’t the Rolling Stones, don’t piss on your opening acts as we pay your fucking guarantee with our fanbase showing up. I like Grace Potter as she rocks and is very easy on the eyes.
I like songs from other artists but not whole albums. I think it is rare that a band creates a complete body of work on a single album in the way Boston did with their debut record. I think it is for that reason that ITunes is so popular. People buy songs. People like “all killer no filler”.
Well, that’s about it for me.
I don’t have nearly the eclectic musical taste of some here. I’ve never heard of most of the bands and musicians people have listed.
I grew up listening to big bands and swing music because that’s what my parents listened to and I still enjoy it.
As a teenager in the 70s I listened to what is now called classic rock; then it was new. I still listen to it fairly often but not like I used to.
Where I live a lot of people listen to “top 40″ country, which I detest. I do like some country music, as well as bluegrass, especially Allison Kraus and Emmylou Harris. John Hiatt and Chris Isaak are favorites as well.
I’ve always loved smooth jazz. I’m a big fan of Spyrogyra, the Rippingtons, Dave Koz, and Sade.
Enya has the most beautiful voice I’ve ever heard and I find her music both soothing and inspiring. I like all of her albums but Shepherd Moons is my favorite.
The lyrics to How Can I Keep From Singing really move me.
My life goes on in endless song,
above Earth’s lamentations,
I hear the real, though far-off hymn
that hails a new creation.
Through all the tumult and the strife
I hear its music ringing,
It sounds an echo in my soul.
How can I keep from singing?
When tyrants tremble in their fear
and hear their death knell ringing,
when friends rejoice both far and near
how can I keep from singing?
In prison cell and dungeon vile
our thoughts to them are winging,
when friends by shame are undefiled
how can I keep from singing?
I am actually a DJ, and I spin Trance, House, Industrial and a number of other related Electronic (read: Techno) genres. I’m sure that’s way outside the norm here at the Rott, but I’ve been doing it professionally since the late 90s and I love the genre and edgy sound. Without going into politics too much, I can say that my political views are EXCEPTIONALLY rare in this music community, to such extent that I literally have to refuse to discuss them entirely in order to get my gigs. If it were known I was anywhere to the right of center, I’d be in trouble!
Nonetheless, I have a love for the music, especially Trance music, which takes a lot of influences from Classical. You’ll hear a lot of natural instruments, violins, guitars, flutes and pianos next to the 4/4 beat and synthesizer leads. Unlike many electronic genres, I believe it to have a complex quality (not all of the songs, obviously, but many) that the great composers of the past might still recognize as music, were they alive today. I do not think, on the other hand, that today’s modern gangster rap would be recognized as such, nor do I think a lot of pop would either. If Beethoven rose from the grave and were given his hearing back, I’m sure he would demand to go deaf again upon hearing those styles.
Here is a sample of the Trance style of which I speak:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrlMK9EA6Ng
That’s my $.02 for the day.
Best version that Deep Purple recorded of “Smoke on the Water” was the live concert in Osaka. Hands down. That became sort of an anthem for my high school class. Never got into the Beatles much. I was always much more of a Stones man. I remember when all the other kids were going apeshit over the Beatles, but when I heard and saw them, my reaction was “ehh”. The Stones, however, hit a nerve. And it stayed hit, to this day. If I had to pick my favorite genre of music, though, it would be “oldies”–about 250 years old and older. Handel, J.S. Bach, Telemann, Haydn, Purcell, Vivaldi, all those dead white guys with their powdered wigs, velvet breeches, and lace-trimmed shirts. But they could sure write music.
OK, I’ll throw in my own musician story:
Back in 1988, I got to meet the band Warlock when they were on tour for the Triumph and Agony album. Main things I remember:
1. The lead singer, Doro Pesch, was absolutely gorgeous and had a charming German accent (All important points for a 19 year old kid).
2. The band was happy to talk with all of us and one of the guitarists actually gave us promotional postcards for autographs that were better than the flyers we had.
3. The drummer was sick as a dog, but he came out for a few minutes to autograph said postcards.
Even better, I saw them again when they came back to our area and they remembered us. Funniest story from that meeting was a conversation I had with Tommy Henriksen (The bassist). He was on a break from the tour and his mother hit him up for three months of back rent. She said “You think a landlord will be nicer to you than me? Pay up!”
Its a tie between “The Archies” and “The Partridge Family” /
Actually Im a classical music fan
there’s some nice music being posted here, it’ll feed my addiction very well thank you.
I grew up listening to Big Band and Country, and I still love both of them. Favorite Big Band artists are Tommy Dorsey, Cab Calloway, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Glen Miller of course. My favorite Big Band song is
Song of India by Tommy Dorsey
As for Country music, I lean towards the more traditional and stay the hell away from the modern Hollywood country. Favorites include Merle Haggard, Roger Miller, Chet Atkins, Eddie Arnold, Buck Owens, and Johnny Cash (The Man). Bluegrass is also a huge favorite.
In 1967 this kid moved next door to me, he came from LA and brought all this wonderful music with him. We would sit for hours in his basement that he lit with blacklights and listen to The Doors and Cream and Iron Butterfly and The Yardbirds. It changed my life, and I still love that music to this day. Favorites are way too numerous to mention here, suffice to say that the Rock playlist on my Ipod contains over 250 songs. I lean mostly towards blues rock and electric blues and also have an affinity for the old Chicago and Memphis blues masters.
As for Classical music, probably my favorite piece of music in ANY genre is Handels Messiah, funny thing….it was also one of Jimi Hendrix’ favorite musical compositions.
Funk/fusion is also a passion…..not disco, let’s be clear about that. I love the pre-disco Ohio Players, you’ll never get a grittier funkier sound than the one they had in the early 70′s. George Clinton and the whole Funkadelic thing got a little irritating after a while but they still turned out some really progressive funk. Before Sly Stone cooked his brain he was the ultimate master of funk and soul, Curtis Mayfield’s Superfly album is a masterpiece, as is Tower of Power’s self titled album. I was hooked hard when guys like Herbie Hancock and Billy Cobham and Quincy Jones got funky, they really did it right. As for fusion, the golden age for that was 1970 – 1978, groups like Return to Forever…The Mahavishnu Orchestra….Weather Report really turned out some incredible other worldly music.
Oh….Zappa, did I mention Zappa? once he stopped with the silliness he could play like no other. He has an album called Shut Up and Play Your Guitar which is nothing but his instrumentals where he just cuts his band loose to play….incredible stuff. And the musicians that came out of his bands reads like and all star list, Jean Luc Ponty, George Duke, Chester Thompson, Aynsley Dunbar, Henry Vestine…….he also did one of the finest live albums ever called Roxy and Elsewhere.
what else…..OH yeah, Hawaiian slack key guitar. I went to a slack key festival on Maui year ago and fell in love with the playing. I hung out with a couple of the performers after the show and they showed me how to tune the guitar to an open tuning and how to finger pick. I credit learning how to play slack key with improving my guitar playing in general. It’s a magical sound, and is fairly easy to play with practice. I play in an open G tuning which the locals call Taro Patch tuning, it’s also the tuning that Keith Richards uses almost exclusively on ALL the Stones hits…..it also lends itself to slide guitar as well which is also a passion of mine.
jeez, talk about being musically scattered…..all I have to do is sort through the 600-700 vinyl albums I have or the 400 CD’s that I have to see that.
Best job I ever had? I was a studio engineer and DJ at a local NPR station in Boulder right after I graduated from CU. I pretty much ran the station on weekends as all of the show hosts were unlicensed and I was responsible for keeping the FCC happy and the station on the air. I also did a twice a week shift from midnight to 6 am where I was free to play whatever the hell I wanted for six straight hours…..one of the biggest mistakes I ever made was quitting that gig to go into advertising, what a huge mistake that was..
If I ever get the chance to do that kind of radio again, I will jump at it.
These are some great lists! I may have some time today to start adding some of these to the jukebox. I don’t know where I will start — probably just close my eyes and pick a few. But I will keep the list to work off of…
More Cowbell! recently posted..Smoke on the Water ~ Deep Purple
Anything by Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto/Astrud Gilberto…
The Propellerheads
David Bromberg Band: How Late’ll You Play ‘Til (both the studio and live albums)
Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen (Mama Hates Diesels)
John Coltrane
Miles Davis
Thelonias Monk Sonny Rollins
Art Blakey
Horace Silver
Hank Mobley
Hank Williams
The Darlingtons
Doc Watson
Earl Scruggs
Devo
Gene Autry
Grand Funk Railroad (The Red Album)
Johnny Winter
Nob Hill Boys
Queensryche
Savoy Brown
Sonic Flood
Third Day
Tubes
Ralph Stanley
As you can see, most of you don’t grok “eclectic.”
Hm. My attempt at a post went into the ether and it doesn’t seem to have reappeared. Let me try again:
I’ll throw in my own musician story:
Back in 1988, I got to meet the band Warlock when they were on tour for the Triumph and Agony album. Main things I remember:
1. The lead singer, Doro Pesch, was absolutely gorgeous and had a charming German accent (All important points for a 19 year old kid).
2. The band was happy to talk with all of us and one of the guitarists actually gave us promotional postcards for autographs that were better than the flyers we had.
3. The drummer was sick as a dog, but he came out for a few minutes to autograph said postcards.
Even better, I saw them again when they came back to our area and they remembered us. Funniest story from that meeting was a conversation I had with Tommy Henriksen (The bassist). He was on a break from the tour and his mother hit him up for three months of back rent. She said “You think a landlord will be nicer to you than me? Pay up!”
phil ochs
there but for fortune
highwayman
while i’m here
draft dodger rag
tom paxton
outward bound
last thing on my mind
where i’m bound
marvelous toy
forest lawn
tom lehrer
all
You guys are listening to some good shit but I didn’t see any Uriah Heep mentioned. “Stealin” is just an awesome tune.
Golden Earring’s Twilight Zone is another. Waylon, Willie and Hank Jr helped me drink more than a few beers back in the day. Damn good memories.
When I was in San Diego we would get cheap tickets at special services and go to concerts. Early to mid 70s, Santana, ELP, Moody Blues amongst many others and we had some times. I hadn’t thought of them for awhile. What a hoot!
Good post Deej.
Maxxdog, if you want to mention Golden Earring, don’t forget “Clear Night Moonlight.”
Back when I was a teenager i the mid 80′s I was a headbanger, all the classics like Maiden, Metallica, Dio, Sabbath etc. And I mean hard core metal heads too, to us Bon Jovie was a sell out and Cinderella, while their music rocked, were glam boys. After I came home from the Corps I really started to appreciate the “classic rock” of the late 70′s and early 80′s, Boston, Styx, Heart, etc.
When 9/11 hit though my old music tastes didn’t really resonate with me much, I needed something that spoke to me then, as opposed to 10 years earlier. Toby Keith’s “Angry American” did just that, and that led me to appreciate country, both musically and lyrically. I had also started to really appreciate classical music before that, especially Beethoven. His 9th symphony was amazing. Handel’s Messiah fueled the rebirth of my faith as well.
Then I found Trans Siberian Orchestra. They just blew my mind, musically and thematically. The story that their albums told touched my soul and reaffirmed my faith in God and in humanity. Each one of the is a virtuoso, and they have some of the most amazing vocalists I have ever heard.
When I learned that they were formed from Savatage I had to laugh. When I was in high school some one had tagged my school with “Metallica” and a bunch of other band names, including Savatage. Being a head banger, and having a totally undeserved reputation as a hell raiser, I was a prime suspect. In all honesty I had never heard of Savatage in my life, despite them being a Florida band. I have since come to really like them as well.
Savatage, Handful of Rain.
Chance.
And their pure 80′s metal ode to Greig, Hall of the Mountain King.
LC 0311 Sir Crunchie I.M.H., K.o.E. recently posted..Open Thread About Music
Speaking of “Hall of the Mountain King”, Apocalyptica’s version rocks. Heavy metal cello’s!
LC 0311 Sir Crunchie I.M.H., K.o.E. recently posted..Open Thread About Music
I have to say that in the almost ten plus year of being affiliated with this website, this has been BY FAR the most enjoyable thread I have ever participated in.
Fuck politics. To hell with who or what party thinks they are in “control”. After tonight, I don’t five a flying fuck. Forty-one comments about music means so much more to me than all the diversions the MSM wants to throw at us.
We’ve spent the better part of a decade arguing about …. well bullshit. Ask yourself, what exactly have any of us accomplished? I would have to say absolutely nada.
But in one thread, we have been able to get together an talk about something that we ALL can see eye-to -eye on and that is MUSIC. There is hope for us all after all.
I don’t give one good gol-dern about what divides us. There could be a NUMBER of things we disagree on. NONE of them are really all that important. What really matters is those things that we DO actually find common ground on. – that is the glue that binds us.
It is easy to find the negatives in everything — I have to admit that I can find them just as easy as anyone else. But I am really trying NOT to look for the negatives and only trying to look for the positives and I am feeling oh so much better because of it.
Music has always been a positive influence in my life. Of course that doesn’t mean that there hasn’t been negative aspects — there certainly have been. I am just making a consciously effort to focus mainly on these positive aspects now, because I no longer want to feel despair and depression.
I sincerely feel that while politics might divide us, music might actually unite most of us.I would rather find the things we have in common rather than the things that divide us. Even those with whom I have had differences in the past tend to have more in common than we know.
:Let me say THIS right now: FUCK politics. It is a diversion that I no longer wish to be a party to. I reject the label of Right / Left or any political stance. I only want to connect on areas where we can actually agree on — and I feel that is on music.
Sure there are going to be those who are locked into a narrow field of music — and there is NOTHING wrong with that. A lot of us appear to appreciate a wide gambit of musical tastes and that is cool too. I want to be able to bridge that appreciation.
While I appreciate the fact that this site (as Gladiator has pointed out) deals mainly on Right Wing view points of what is wrong in this country, I feel that I can provide a vehicle that transcends that divide.
MUSIC.
My resolution for 2013 is to stop involving myself into political arguments because I no longer feel the need to. If anything, they only continue to perpetuate a diversion that I no longer want to be a part of.
Instead, I would MUCH rather find the areas where I can AGREE with people, knowing that it is impossible to agree with someone 100 percent of the time.
This thread alone tells me how MUCH we all have in common with each other.. Because of this alone I refuse to look for those areas where we might disagree.
I will continue to post these musical open threads from time-to-time. I will try my damnedest to keep away from politics here.
More Cowbell! recently posted..Smoke on the Water ~ Deep Purple
I listen to a wide range of music, from classical to heavy metal, but jazz has been a refuge for me since high school.
The band director had been a studio and touring musician for decades, along with his wife; her multiple sclerosis made it needful for them to settle down in one spot with decent medical care. He had jammed with just about every big name in jazz in the 50′s, 60′s and 70′s, and a surprising number came to visit.
I didn’t realize until much later what a musical education I got there. It was just a high school, not one of the biggest, but… I got to play clarinet with Woody Herman and his Thundering Herd, saxophone with Supersax. Maynard Ferguson, Buddy Rich, Count Basie all played at our school auditorium. To this day when I’m angry or unhappy, some jazz will put me right again.
I listen to everything from Country to Metal to Classical.
My fave band is Rush, tho and you wanted a story about one of their songs, so here is the story behind ‘Countdown’ off the Signals album…..From HERE
Video here
I saw this tour in Houston and Geddy said, “Here’s a song for the Space City!!”. The place went CRAZY!!!
LC Draco recently posted..Fiscal Cliff legislation affects military, civilian paychecks
More Cowbell! says:
keep ‘em coming man…..
Oh, and I think a comment I wrote yesterday got caught in moderation….can that be checked on?
[Got it, Jaybear. Thanks for letting us know. -Venomous]
Before I forget, The International Blues Challenge happens in Memphis starting January 29th.
An old dear friend of mine’s band is playing there. His band won the Colorado challenge and is off to take Memphis by storm. The name of the band is Dan Treanor and the Afrosippi band. They are great, my friend is the guitarist in the band. you can go to the site that I linked above for a schedule of the acts……man, if I wasn’t in Colorado dealing with estate shit that week I would be there.
LC 0311 Sir Crunchie I.M.H., K.o.E. says:
Damn, you just saved me a whole lot of typing … DITTO!
Classic rock, heavy metal, hair metal, Nu Metal, Classical, Sinatra, Jazz … all good stuff. Only select country artists are palatable to me. Same with rap & hip-hop. Some industrial is good.
Best bands/artists ever: Hendrix, Black Sabbath (Ozzy era), Led Zep, Pink Floyd, Rush, Van Halen (pre-1984), and Metallica.
Well, my taste is somewhat eclectic, but here’s some artists that I enjoy and a favourite track or two:
Blackmore’s Night: Ghost of a Rose, I Still Remember
The Cruxshadows: Eye of the Storm, Winter Born – This Sacrifice
The Cure: The Lovecats
Deine Leiken: Over and Done, The Game
Delerium: Silence
Depeche Mode: Enjoy the Silence, Precious
Evanescence: My Last Breath, Lithium
The Fugees: Ready or Not, Killing Me Softly (actually those two are pretty much the only tracks I like)
Johnny Cash: Ballad of a Teenage Queen, A Boy Named Sue, Ring of Fire
Leaves’ Eyes: Norwegian Love Song
Loreena McKennit: The Highwayman, Dante’s Prayer
Meatloaf: Life is a Lemon, Objects in the Rear View Mirror
Metallica: Fuel, The Memory Remains
Nightwish: Nemo, Sleeping Sun, Ghost Love Score
The Pogues: Fairytale of New York, A Pair of Brown Eyes
Queen: We Will Rock You, too many others to list
R.E.M.: Losing My Religion, Everybody Hurts
Show of Hands: Roots, Cousin Jack, Undertow
Sisters of Mercy: 1959, Temple of Love, This Corrosion
Within Temptation: Ice Queen
That doesn’t include the Gregorian chant, the movie scores and the raft of other bits and pieces I’ve picked up over the years.
LC Gunsniper @ # 15: Well, while 1 or 2 songs of the genre sometimes are good, generally I’ve found that rap is the only form of “music” that has a silent c in front of it. Aside from that, you’ve got some hellagood stuff listed! I like everything from acid rock to smooth jazz. Country (some). Classic, to classic Motown. Electronica to Zappa. Far easier to list types I don’t particularly like than all the variants I do.
LC cmblake6, Imperial Black Ops Technician recently posted..Quick! Name this film!
More Cowbell! @ #44:
Gigadittos!!!
NR Pax says:
their whole Moontan album is a classic
I’ve got somewhat of a confession to make too, musically that is. When I was a young whippersnapper just starting to realize that girls weren’t necessarily all that bad, I liked ABBA because, well, Agnetha was pretty damned hot. To this day anytime I hear an ABBA song I have to smile.
But in all seriousness, Frida had a pretty good solo effort with I Know There’s Something Going On.
LC 0311 Sir Crunchie I.M.H., K.o.E. recently posted..Thank you all and God Bless you all
BigDogg says:
LC 0311 Sir Crunchie I.M.H., K.o.E. recently posted..Thank you all and God Bless you all
Speaking of great music, it’s hard to top this when it comes to pure guitar talent.
LC 0311 Sir Crunchie I.M.H., K.o.E. recently posted..Thank you all and God Bless you all
Thanks for all of the song suggestions. I will use these lists to add more music when I get the time.
More Cowbell! recently posted..Killer ~ Kate York
This is hilarious:
Ebay listing: up to $4500 so far!!!! (Be sure to read the questions from potential buyers….)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Assault-Weapon-Cavemans-AR15-Assault-Rock-/160953713972?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item257996c534
LC 0311 Sir Crunchie I.M.H., K.o.E. says:
Well at the risk of getting raspberries galore…I STILL like Abba.
I have folders full of 1940′s, 50′s, 60′s and 70′s songs. I don’t stick with any one group or singer. The mood I’m in dictates what music I listen to. One day it might be pop, next day Lordi, the next The Piano Guys. I like most anything but cRap, and that migraine inducing acid/fingers on a blackboard stuff some call music. Ever since Misha posted that vid from Glukoza..(remember Schweine?)…I’ve spent hours on Youtube searching out more international musicians. Btw…David Bisbal from Spain is HAAAAWWT! Hell I got hooked on Bollywood movies just for the music.
Lady M-ITT™-Imperial Sniper G.L.O.R recently posted..Today’s Thought
Most of what I listen to’s country. Anything from Hank SR. to some of today’s stuff. I have a liking for bluegrass, too. Would love some country and bluegrass in the box, but it’s hard to please everyone. I have no tolerance for rap, especially today’s version of it, and call jazz and classical musak in general.