Thursday, July 30, 2009

Louisiana Red - Back to the Black Bayou

By E. F Nesta

Louisiana Red - Back to the Black Bayou is vintage Red and vintage blues and Mississippi Blues covering a selection of songs from Red's songbook spanning more than 40 years.

Back to the Black Bayou: I'm Louisiana Red; Alabama Train; Crime in Motion; Ride On Red, Ride On; Sweet Leg Girl; The Black Bayou; Too Poor to Die; Don't Miss That Train; You Done Quit Me; I Come From Louisiana; Roamin' Stranger; At The Zanzibar

Personnel: Louisiana Red: Vocals, Guitar; Little Victor: Guitar, Harmonica; Robert Alexander Pettersen: Drums; William "Bill" Troiani: Upright Bass; Kim Wilson: Harmonica; Dave Maxell: Piano; Bob Corritore: Harmonica; Reidar Larsen: Piano; The Hawk: Guitar; Jostein Forsberg: Harmonica; Peter Lundell: Percussions

Louisiana Red - Back to the Black Bayou was released on the Bluestown Records label at the Juke Joint Studio (state-of-the-art/old-school analog studio) during the International Notodden Blues Festival in July/August 2008. So, amongst peers and contemporaries Louisiana Red found the fountain of youth and laid down a blazing release.

Noted to be well into his 70's, which for him is truly only a number, and having lived in Germany since the early 1980's, he has never lost the feeling for his roots and the music that runs through his veins. Little Victor who produced this release and has a long history of playing with Red selected the songs from the extensive Louisiana Red songbook, but with a twist on the arrangements to bring out different nuances to the music.

Little Victor wanted to record the release playing with a two guitar format that as Victor noted "is rarely heard on blues records these days." The release opens with the track I'm Louisiana Red an introduction to Louisiana Red for those blues lovers who may have forgotten about this blues icon. Ripping chords come straight at you as Red tells his story through soulful vocals and hot guitar licks. The arrangement of the Red classic Alabama Train has a complete makeover with a different groove that highlights Red's vocals and places his guitar work as fill until the end where all of Red's energy explodes and he accelerates the Alabama train to a smoking conclusion.

Crime in Motion features Red whaling away on slide guitar, but his vocals prowess is what will catch you on this track as he lets it all hang out. Ride on Red, Ride On first recorded in 1962, has lost nothing to time and this progressive arrangement brings new luster to the song. The track Sweet Leg Girl slows down the pace and brings out that familiar blues beat that will have you swaying and nodding to the lyrics that Red renders in a down-home style that will touch your soul. The Black Bayou and Too Poor To Die are Mississippi Blues and straight ahead blues from day's gone-by as Red and the band turn back the clock and lay down a classic groove.

Don't Miss That Train is an old Gospel song that shows Red's diversity as he covers this track like the great Gospel musician he could have been. Other great tracks include, You Done Quiet Me, I Come From Louisiana, Roamin' Stranger, and At The Zanzibar, each with its own Red signature and style stamped on the arrangement.

The release contains great blues, Mississippi Blues, and Gospel tracks that represent music from an era of 40-50 years ago, so for the blues devotee there will easily be a favorite or favorites to select from.

Websites where you can procure Louisiana Red - Back to the Black Bayou are Amazon, Play, CD Universe, Louisiana Music Factory, Emusic, and Blues Town Records.

E.F Nesta is the owner, contributing writer, and Publisher of Luxury Experience Magazine (http://www.LuxuryExperience.com).

Luxury Experience Magazine is a monthly on-line publication, which is read in over 80 countries with a reach of over 100,000.

Luxury Experience Magazine features experiential articles on luxury products and services; we do not book reservations or sell products on-line.

Luxury Experience Magazine's mission is to provide experiential editorial exposure on luxury products and services, and introduce brands and products to an audience across 80+ countries.

Luxury Experience Magazine is a team of high-energy professionals who bring a broad and extensive international background to their writing.

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Alice Walker's Literary Beginnings Drawing Much From Her Southern US Roots

By Arthur Smith

Alice Malsenior Walker was born on February 9, 1944, in the Deep South, in Eatonton, Georgia as the eighth and last child of Willie Lee and Minnie Lou Tallulah Grant Walker, who were sharecroppers.

As a sharecroppers' child, Alice Walker knew poverty and racism only too well. For according to her testimony, racism was familiar to her from birth:

When I was born in 1944 my parents lived on a middle Georgia plantation that was owned by a white distant relative, Miss M... M... (during my childhood it was necessary to address all white girls as "Miss" when they reached the age of twelve). She would never admit to this relationship, of course, except to mock it. Told by my parents that several of their children would not eat chicken skin she responded that of course they would not. No M. would... During the Depression, desperate to feed his hardworking family, my father asked for a raise from ten dollars a month to twelve. Miss May responded that she would not pay that amount to a white man and she certainly wouldn't pay it to a (black). That before she'd pay (him)... that much money she'd milk the dairy cows herself.

Her mother who worked as a domestic and made everything Alice and her seven siblings used, was known for the incredible gardens she grew which Alice Walker later commemorated in her classic essay "In Search of Our Mother's Gardens The Legacy of Southern Black Women." For through her, Walker became aware of the ways in which southern black women had always been artists, even when that word was not applied to them.

This small rural town of Eatonton, Georgia, both of Walker's parents being storytellers, and Walker especially being influenced by her mother, whom she described in Our Mothers' Gardens as "a walking history of our community" had all the ingredients to catapult her into her beginnings as a writer. She has sustained an abiding admiration for the struggles of black women throughout history to maintain an essential spirituality and creativity in their lives, and their achievements becoming sources of inspiration to others.

In Our Mother's Gardens, Walker wrote: "We must fearlessly pull out of ourselves and look at and identify with our lives the living creativity some of our great-grandmothers were not allowed to know. I stress 'some' of them because it is well known that the majority of our great-grandmothers knew, even without 'knowing' it, the reality of their spirituality, even if they didn't recognize it beyond what happened in the singing at church - and they never had any intention of giving it up."

In this way just from her mother's artistry, Walker learned that African American women's experiences and art are based on spirituality especially as related to nature.

The precocious spirit that distinguished Walker's personality during her early years vanished at the age of eight, when one of her older brother accidentally scarred and blinded her right eye with a BB gun whilst they were playing cowboys and Indians.

Teased by her classmates and misunderstood by her family, Walker became a shy, reclusive youth. Much of her pain however dwindled after a doctor removed the scar tissue six years later.

Even though this infirmity was partially corrected, it left a profound effect on her. Even when she eventually became high school prom queen and class valedictorian, she continued to feel like an outsider. She retreated into solitude which led her into nurturing a passion for reading and writing poetry in solitude. From this period - from her solitary, lonely position of an outcast - she began really to see people and things, really to notice relationships and to learn to be patient enough to care about how they turned out. She thus started recording her observations and feelings in a notebook.

Her experience of being different may in some sense be responsible for her tendency to pursue "forbidden" subjects in her writing.

Walker has commented that as a southern black growing up in a poor rural community, she possessed the benefit of a "double vision." "Not only is the [black southern writer] in a position to see his own world, and its close community ... but he is capable of knowing, with remarkably silent accuracy, the people who make up the larger world that surrounds and suppresses his own."

Her achievement of being valedictorian of her class, coupled with a state "rehabilitation scholarship" made it possible for her to go to Spelman, a prominent college for black women in Atlanta, Georgia.

During the two years at Spelman she became active in the civil rights movement joining in the rallies, the sit-ins, and freedom marches of the civil rights movement which as she said 'broke the pattern of black servitude in this country.' These experiences became the subject of many of her short stories, essays and her second novel Meridian.

She then transferred to Sarah Lawrence College in the Bronx in New York, where she continued her studies as well as her involvement in civil rights. She even traveled to Africa.

In 1962, in recognition of her attendance at the Youth World Peace Festival in Finland, she was invited to the home of Martin Luther King Jr.

Alice Walker volunteered in the voter registration drives of the 1960s in Georgia during which exercise she registered black voters in Liberty County, Georgia. She was also engaged in campaigns for welfare rights and children's programmes in Mississippi. She later worked as a case worker for the New York City Department of Welfare. Her experience here inspired her story 'Advancing Luna."

While at Sarah Lawrence College, Walker became pregnant at a time when abortion was illegal. Deciding to commit suicide because of the shame it would bring to their family and the powerlessness she felt, she reconciled herself to having the baby and putting her anxieties, fears and protests into writing. She thereby soon published her first book Once containing poems based on her experiences during the civil rights movement and her travels to Africa as an exchange student during her junior year written while she was a senior at Sarah Lawrence. Walker wrote many of the poems in the span of a week in the winter of 1965, as she wrestled with suicide. It was accepted for publication the same year she graduated.

Influenced by Japanese haiku and the philosophy of French author Albert Camus, Once also contains meditations on love and suicide. Walker speaks openly in her writing about the mental and physical anguish she experienced in contemplating to have an abortion or commit suicide. The poems grew not only from the sorrowful period in which she contemplated death but also from her triumphant decision to reclaim her life. They recount the despair and isolation of her situation, in addition to her experiences in the Civil Rights Movement and of a trip she had made to Africa.

Though not widely reviewed, Once marked Walker's debut as a distinctive and talented writer. Carolyn M. Rodgers in Negro Digest noted Walker's "precise wordings, the subtle, unexpected twists ... [and] shifting of emotions." Already in Once, Walker displayed what would become a feature of both her future poetry and fiction, an "unwavering honesty in evoking the forbidden, either in political stances or in love" (Christian).

After she received her bachelor of arts degree from Sarah Lawrence College in 1965, she lived for a short time in New York. Then from the mid 1960s to the mid 1970s, she lived in Tougaloo, Mississippi.

Two years after receiving this degree from Sarah Lawrence, Walker married Melvyn Rosenman Leventhal, a white civil rights attorney. They lived in Jackson, Mississippi, where Walker worked as the black history consultant for a Head Start program at a time when interracial marriage was illegal in Mississipppi working together to desegregate the schools there.

She also served as the writer-in-residence for Jackson State College which later became Jackson State University and Tougaloo College.

With the help of a 1967 McDowell fellowship, Walker completed her first novel, The Third Life of Grange Copeland, the same year that her daughter, Rebecca Grant, was born , in 1969 and got it published in 1970.

The novel depicts cycles of male violence in three generations of an impoverished southern black family (the Copelands), and displays Walker's interest in social conditions that affect family relationships, in addition to her recurring theme of the suffering of black women at the hands of men. A father (Grange) abandons his abused wife and young son (Brownfield) for a more prosperous life in the North, and returns years later to find his son similarly abusing his own family. The men in the novel are "thwarted by the society in their drive for control of their lives - the American definition of manhood - [and] vent their frustrations by inflicting violence on their wives."

Critics praised the realism of the novel as did Peter Erickson who noted that Walker demonstrated "with a vivid matter-of-factness the family's entrapment in a vicious cycle of poverty."

Walker was also often criticised for her portrayal of black men as violent to which she responds in an interview with Claudia Tate in "Black Women Writers at Work: "I know many Brownfields, and it's a shame that I know so many. I will not ignore people like Brownfield. I want you to know I know they exist. I want to tell you about them, and there is no way you are going to avoid them."

Through such works published in the 1970's Walker had a decisive effect on the literary world. Her focus on southern African-American women's voices helped to galvanize an explosion of African-American women's creative and critical expressions. Here she explored familial cruelty, especially as triggered by societal forces such as racism, unemployment, and sexism. She challenged the 1960's African-American cultural nationalists' idealization of "black manhood" and seldom acknowledging the oppression of women.

Walker on returning to the South after college worked as a voter register in Georgia and an instructor in black history in Mississippi inspired by Martin Luther King Jr.'s message, as she recounted in Our Mothers' Gardens, that being a southern black meant "I ... had claim to the land of my birth."

When her marriage to Leventhal ended in 1977, Walker moved to northern California, where she lives and writes today.

Walker continued to write poetry and fiction, and to further explore the South she came from. She described in Our Mothers' Gardens of being particularly influenced by the Russian writers, who spoke to her of a "soul ... directly rooted in the soil that nourished it." She was also influenced by black writer Zora Neale Hurston, who wrote lively folk accounts of the thriving small, southern black community she grew up in. In Our Mothers' Gardens she stated how she particularly admired the "racial health" of Hurston's work: "A sense of black people as complete, complex, undiminished human beings, a sense that is lacking in so much black writing and literature."

Walker's appreciation for her matrilineal literary history is evidenced by the numerous reviews and articles she has published to acquaint new generations of readers with writers like Zora Neale Hurston. The anthology she edited, I Love Myself When I Am Laughing ... and Then Again When I Am Looking Mean and Impressive: A Zora Neale Hurston Reader (1979), was particularly instrumental in bringing Hurston's work back into print.

In poems in Good Night Willie Lee (1979), she described her search for Hurston, which led her to placing a headstone on her unmarked grave. This was undoubtedly an important symbolic moment in the reconstruction of a black female tradition as well as her most important contribution to literary history - her rescue of her southern maternal ancestor.

Walker's literary influences extends to Harlem Renaissance writer Jean Toomer, black Chicago poet Gwendolyn Brooks, South African novelist Bessie Head, and white Georgia writer Flannery O'Connor Her creative vision is rooted in the economic hardship, racial terror, and folk wisdom of African American life and culture, particularly in the rural South. Her writing explores multidimensional kinships among women and embraces the redemptive power of social and political revolution.

Born and schooled in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Arthur Smith has taught English for over thirty years at various Educational Institutions. He is now a Senior Lecturer of English at Fourah Bay College where he has been lecturing for the past eight years.

Mr Smith's writings have been in various media. He participated in a seminar on contemporary American Literature in the U.S. in 2006. His growing thoughts and reflections on this trip which took him to various US sights and sounds could be read at http://lisnews.org.

His other publications include: Folktales from Freetown, Langston Hughes: Life and Works Celebrating Black Dignity, and 'The Struggle of the Book'

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Sunday, July 26, 2009

OPINION: The Best Four Albums Of The Beatles Career‏

by Jake Topp

The Beatles were such an incredible band that recorded so many fantastic albums that it's really hard to say which of their albums are there four best. And I would recommend getting all of their albums. But if you are new to the band, you may want to start with these four.

#1 The White Album

Anything (and everything) goes in this brilliant 30 song masterpiece from 1968. While it lacks the cohesive feeling of some of their other albums (most obviously Abbey Road & Sgt. Pepper) I don't think it's any worse because of that, in fact in some ways I think that's what makes the album so great.

This album is sort of like a summing up of all of the pop & rock music that had been recorded by everyone in the 20th century up to that point (1968). It even has influences from the 1920s in it ("Honey Pie"). The most controversial song on the album is definitely "Revolution #9." You can count me in on that one. I love it. I think it's brilliant that The Beatles included something so "far out" on one of their albums. Sure it may not be a track I listen to every time I put the album on, but I do find it fascinating when I do listen to it.

#2 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

No, I don't think Sgt. Pepper is overrated! In fact I think so many people have said it's overrated that it's now gone full circle and is actually underrated. I mean really, how can an album that ends with "A Day in the Life" be overrated? Here's a little tip to those who don't quite "get" what's so great about this 1967 classic: Next time you listen to the album make a real effort to listen to the bass part in every song.

#3 Revolver

It's not as varied as The White Album (although it does pretty good in that department) and it's not as "connected" as Sgt. Pepper but a very good argument can be made that it's a more consistently great album than any of their others. I think there's truly no weak songs on it.

#4 Rubber Soul

This may be The Beatles album with more "classics" on it than any other. "Nowhere Man," "In My Life," "Norwegian Wood," & "Michelle" are a taste of what I mean. But what keeps it out of the top three is that it does have a few "clunkers." Specifically: "Run For Your Life," & "What Goes On" are among their worst originals.

Jake Topp recommends the http://www.MusicByDay.com music blog.

New York Dolls - First Time Around

By Russell Shortt

They didn't age well, however recently they have being experiencing something of a renaissance. Their circus never fitted well with many, dismissing them as a band of freaks with nothing much going on underneath the smeared lipstick, knee boots, high heels and mini skirts. This is simply not to know your music, the Dolls are the source of so, so much that came after them. Arguably, they set the punk rock ball rolling and look where that ended up.

They looked like they came from Pluto and in many ways they had, boiled in a cauldron of dull AM radio, soft seventies feel good hits and soppy acoustic warblers, their's was a voice in the wilderness, but there were many folk dwelling in the wild. They emerged into a scene that was jaded after all the broken ideals and crushed dreams of the 1960s.

Fighting the insurmountable odds of The Man had failed, everyone had squirreled away, burrowing themselves deep into fun-time Bobbie crooning, preferring to forget. Of course, the problems still lingered rotten, and in 1971 the Dolls had decided to take them on. Their influences were diverse from 50's R&B to classic American girl groups, from post-psychedelic bands like The Stooges and MC5 to the burgeoning British glam rock scene of T-Rex and Slade.

But the public never got down with the words or the music, been completely unhinged by the antics of and exhibits that were the band. With America not happening, the band re-located to London, where after playing support to Rod Stewart, they were chased by every record company in the city. However, their drummer Billy Murcia, tragically died of accidental suffocation after he passed out from drugs and alcohol at a tenement party, forcing the Dolls to beat a hasty retreat.

Of course, the slack-jawed gawker brigade turned their vulture necks in their direction, nothing like a rock and roll death to make your place in rock and roll. Momentum began to gather, the Dolls played to bigger and bigger crowds every night, eventually been signed to Mercury Records in 1973. The first record, New York Dolls (1973), faced the challenge of trying to channel the energy of their live performances, difficult, but it is a fine record.

Raw, gritty, stomping, slashing ... it's a compelling record, confused by clashing ideals, it's bloody original. Macho but prissy, technically flawed but bustling with energy, part Stones, part Ramones. They say it's punk, it isn't, not now, now it's rock and roll but it was punk before punk, meaning it paved the way for the antics of 1977, confused?

You better be ... you see it was more that the ethos was punk rather than the music. The Dolls proved that you didn't have to be The Allman Brothers to make great rock and roll. However, the public remained nonplussed, perhaps the mother's closet/Frankenstein cavern antics were too garish or too confusing, either way no-one bought the record. Pity.

They went on the road with it, it was rambunctious - bassist Arthur Kane stabbed by girlfriend, lead singer David Johansen was charged with obscenity, lead guitarist Johnny Thunders broke his guitar over an over zealous fan's head, venues were wrecked - the record company was bugged. They demanded another record, drafting in legendary girl group producer, Shadow Morton to work something different for the band.

It was a rushed affair, four tracks being covers, indicating that the muse wasn't sitting too easily on the shoulders of Johansen, the songwriter, although considering the timescale and off stage antics, it really isn't any wonder. There are tremendous silver linings in Chatter Box and Human Being but ultimately it bombed and Mercury, tired with the dalliance dropped them. It was all but over and then Thunders and drummer Jerry Nolan began banging up heroin and Kane hit the bottle big-time.

Step in the ominous knight in shining armour, Malcolm McClaren, promising that he could revive the band's fortunes. Insanely, he dressed the Dolls in red leather from head to toe, placed them in front of the Soviet flag and ordered them to PLAY! Perhaps a good idea in the schlock bars along the Griboyedov canal in St. Petersburg but not in America. Suffice to say it didn't go well, McClaren was fired while Thunders and Nolan left. Sylvain and Johansen battled on through various incarnations before giving up the ghost in 1977.

Russell Shortt is a travel consultant with Exploring Ireland, the leading specialists in customised, private escorted tours, escorted coach tours and independent self drive tours of Ireland. Article source Russell Shortt, http://www.exploringireland.net

http://www.visitscotlandtours.com

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MOVIE REVIEW: Wake in Fright - A Classic Australian Movie from 1970

Article written by Justin Sheedy - Australian author: http://crackernight.com/

'Wake In Fright' – A Lost Masterpiece Found. A Film Appreciation by Justin Sheedy.

In 1991, I did my final essay for my Fine Arts degree at Sydney University. The essay topic (of my own devising) was a little-known film, a film (to my knowledge at the time) that had never been so much as mentioned by Australian art academia – a community quite fixated at the time on a quest for an Australian national 'identity' as portrayed by the all-pervading notion of 'the Landscape' in Australian art and film. They went on about a string of films they saw as embodying this 'identity', a list stretching all the way from the cinematic gem 'Picnic at Hanging Rock' to 'Mad Max' and 'Sunday Too Far Away', to such rotten tomatoes as 'They're a Weird Mob'.

My essay was on a film they'd left out. And that, indeed, was the singular, foaming-at-the-mouth point of my essay. It wasn't the world's best essay (I wasn't the world's best student), but it made its point. After handing it in with a copy of the film I'd videoed off a rare TV screening, I met my tutor by chance in a pub and he said he'd enjoyed reading it (he couldn't understand why it was the first time he'd read about this film either). The film was called 'Wake In Fright'. Though I didn't know it at the time, the Sydney Uni Fine Arts Department could hardly be blamed for never having caught on to 'Wake In Fright'. The film had been lost.

With its cinema release in 1970, though nominated for the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival in 1971, 'Wake In Fright' had not done well at the Australian box office nor, it would seem, internationally. Evidently Australian audiences ran screaming from it, so confronting was the giant mirror it held up to them. Hence, since 1970, it was never reproduced in film format or released on video, only ever (to my knowledge) being shown on TV every now and then until the mid-80s by Australian film presenter par excellence, Bill Collins.

So you can imagine my delight to hear recently that the single salvageable copy of 'Wake In Fright' known to exist had been found in an obscure U.S. storage facility (along with the Arc of the Covenant, presumably), that the film has been restored, re-printed and is in cinema re-release. I rushed out to see it at a local independent cinema. If you want to see one of the finest, most important films ever made in Australia, so should you.

'Wake In Fright' is the story of John Grant, an intelligent and ambitious young man dissatisfied with his lot in life: He is the lone schoolteacher at the one-room schoolhouse of the two-building outback town of Tiboonda, an all-but-deserted outpost of the larger country mining town of Bundanyabba. By John's own admission, he is 'a bonded slave of the Australian Department of Education', his one desire, at the beginning of the six week Christmas school holidays, being to escape Tiboonda, escape teaching, escape Bundanyabba for Sydney, where resides his girlfriend, then escape Sydney for London, where, in John's mind, resides 'civilisation'. However, on the eve of his air departure from Bundanyabba, he makes a fatal mistake, what Bill Collins once called a wrong turn at a fork in the road for which John is going to pay, and pay, and pay – possibly for the rest of his life.

Cinematically, 'Wake In Fright' is stunning from its opening shot: From an elevated camera point of view, we see a lone building in the mid-distance. All around it and beyond it to the horizon lies the flat, infertile nothingness of the Australian Outback. To the eerie early synthesizer strains of composer John Scott, the shot then pans very slowly to the right. Taking a full minute, the camera pans through a full 360 degrees of this desolate nothingness, finally coming to rest on the town's second building by the first, and the train-line running between them. Not unfittingly was the film entitled 'Outback' for its initial U.S. release.

If there is one word that describes this film, it is harrowing. Not harrowing as in the harrowing physical violence and terror of the excellent Australian film of
2005, 'Wolf Creek', but harrowing in its portrayal of the baseness of human behaviour and in the truths revealed, firstly, about the rough mining town locals John finds himself surrounded by, or, more accurately, seduced by: The false hope they offer him, their fickle hospitality, the offer of a light for his desperate cigarette being from a cigarette lighter flame just a shade off a blow-torch. Secondly, it is harrowing in the truths revealed to John about himself. 'Wake In Fright' is being called a film of true greatness. My description of it so far may make it sound reminiscent of the classic 'Deliverance'. In my opinion, 'Wake In Fright' puts 'Deliverance' in the shade.

The peculiar brand of Australian 'mateship' and social goodwill of the outback town locals is cast in another of the film's opening scenes: John boards a one-carriage train from his schoolhouse outpost bound for the country centre affectionately known by its residents as 'The Yabba'. Making his way up the train carriage, he passes through a clutch of rowdy but ostensibly friendly local men who try to press a can of beer onto him. John declines it, moving up the aisle and taking his seat at the vacant end of the carriage.

Sitting down, he notices across the aisle from him an old Aboriginal man sitting silently and alone, as if segregated, tacitly excluded from the 'white' end of the carriage. The old man sits with quiet dignity, nothing else to do but accept his 'place' within the carriage: To the whites in the carriage, he isn't there. Clearly, the old man has accepted his place (or lack of it) on the margins of their society. His Australia is their Terra Nullius – the Land of Nothing.

But most of all, 'Wake In Fright' is a film about beer. On his first night in The Yabba, John experiences the town eccentric, 'Doc' Tydon, drinking beer while standing on his head. Mid-sip, Tydon (played by Donald Pleasence) explains that beer gets to the stomach not due to gravity but due to Peristalsis: For the town drunk and clown 'of character' is, by his own admission to John, "a Doctor of Medicine, a tramp by temperament ... oh and also an alcoholic ... My disease prevented me from working in Sydney. Out here it's scarcely noticeable."

Based closely on the novel 'Wake in Fright' by Kenneth Cook, the title is taken from an ancient curse, 'May you dream of the Devil and wake in fright.' During one scene of booze madness, though John has just fallen off his chair, Doc Tydon still responds to a lost comment from John: "Your idea of Civi ... Civilisation? Civilisation ... It's a vanity born of fear ... Hey ... Where'd 'e go?!" 'Wake In Fright' debunks a few Australian myths, one particularly, one we long held so very dear, as pronounced by a young Jack Thompson, mine-worker: 'She'll be right, mate ... Darn worry. Drink ya beer...'

The film's soundtrack by John Scott is unforgettable. Early in the film, Scott's music evokes the main character's exquisite rush of hope, of possible escape and victory. Though the moment is conspicuous within the film, for the tone is chiefly one of eerie desolation. At key points, the soundtrack is nothing short of manic, especially when accompanying the film's montage sequences – rapid-fire image assaults portraying John Grant's mental descent. These sequences verge on the psychedelic – though their mode is one of the very worst trip indeed.

To me, 'Wake In Fright' possesses a 'realness' about it like no other Australian film, or any other film I can think of: Soon-to-be-legendary is the film's epic kangaroo hunt. Real animals are slaughtered on film, and not just one like in 'Apocalypse Now'. Seemingly real is the violent, alcohol-fuelled mania of cast members – Jack Thompson, particularly Donald Pleasence. The doomed daughter, Janette, also the ghoulish, automaton-like motel clerk, these performances must be seen to be believed, not to mention those by John Meillon.

Then there is the 'realness' of the withered old man on the Main Street Yabba bench beside which John Grant finds himself sitting, the knotted gaze from the old man that says to the young man, 'I was once you. You will be me.' Realness? Unless I'm mistaken, this withered old man is no actor. He is a withered old man of Broken Hill, the town where 'Wake In Fright' was filmed.

For me, 'Wake In Fright' is reminiscent of many things. It seems influenced by the aesthetic of Australian Outback painter, Russell Drysdale, his human forms reduced to the wasted physicality of the harsh, unforgiving landscape they must inhabit. Re: the roo-shooting scene, I can't help thinking of Peter Carey's description, in his 'True History of the Kelly Gang', of the young Ned's necessary first slaughter of an animal (to Ned's agonizing regret, it's not a 'clean' kill).

'Wake In Fright' is reminiscent of Hitchcock in mood and atmosphere. For, like that grand master of the cinema, Canadian director Ted Kotcheff ('Rambo') exposes that which is fearful, twisted and desperate just beneath the surface of the Ordinary. In my calling this film one of the best films ever made in Australia (as have others recently), I put it to the test: Is this film of the same calibre of Hitchcock's best work? Does it consistently match the standards of the grand master's craft, levels which even the greatest films fall narrowly short of? In my opinion, it is, and it does.

Now that 'Wake In Fright' has been rediscovered after 39 years oblivion, I can only hope that the world of Australian film and art academia will retro-award it its rightful place on the film school syllabus. In 1991, I was swimming (drowning) in Australian art theory of the literal 'O' of the Outback, the infinite 'zero' into which Australian explorers like Burke and Wills had ventured only to disappear – just as Miranda and her school chums in 'Picnic at Hanging Rock' had disappeared. By
1991, so had 'Wake In Fright'. It has returned.

Though beware: Film critic Leonard Maltin once wrote that this film would hardly be likely to be endorsed by the Australian Tourist Commission. Go see it.

Justin Sheedy 2009
http://crackernight.com/

To see a YouTube snippet of the film, click on the link below (only one of the two characters is an actor).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiz7sx0fD7E

Saturday, July 25, 2009

NEWS: Friends Of Harvey Kagan Benefit

Harvey Kagan began playing music at the age 13 with Sammy Vaughn and the Star Marks, playing record hops throughout South Texas. When Sammy left for Dallas, Harvey joined Doug Sahm who was, at that time, a local artist with great success with charted records in the area.

After completing high school, Harvey got back together with Augie Meyers, who he had previously played with in another local band, to form Lord August and the Visions Of Light. They both returned to California in 1969 with Doug Sahm (Sir Douglas Quintet). He remained on the West Coast for a few years and hit the road with the Quintet, touring the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Harvey recorded numerous albums with SDQ before returning to Texas to attend college.

While in California, he also played with and did studio work for various other artists such as Gene Vincent and Dewey Martin, formerly of Buffalo Springfield. He continues playing all genres of music today - pop, country, oldies and contemporary music with various bands.

His natural musical talent, professionalism and his ability to get along with anyone is a winning combination. Harvey is a gentleman in all senses of the word; he never loses his cool, he’s a stellar husband and father to his two daughters. He is one of the most loyal and genuine people you will ever meet.

On May 19, Harvey was taken by EMS to the emergency room. He had been suffering from severe headaches for almost two weeks, which was abnormal for the otherwise healthy 63 year old. The CT scan showed something no-one had expected, a subdural hematoma, a serious brain injury. Three weeks later, following brain surgery to remove a large hematoma, Harvey awoke in the neuro ICU confused and unaware of the serious state he was in.

He was soon transferred to a rehabilitation center to begin physical and occupational therapy. Just three days after his arrival at the facility, he began feeling very short of breath. Harvey was sent back to the hospital, where they found a substantial amount of blood clotting in his legs, which had traveled up to his lungs. While blood thinners are usually the treatment for clotting in the body, this was no option for him because of the hematoma and the neurosurgery he had just a few weeks earlier.

Harvey’s blood pressure and heart rate dropped to an alarming rate. Without medications to regulate his heart rate, the only option was a pacemaker. Harvey went for the surgery and it proved to be a success.

While it seems the worst is behind him, Harvey has a long road to recovery ahead of him, both physically and financially.

A benefit for Harvey will be on Sunday July 26, 2009 at Sam’s Burger Joint, doors open at 1:00pm till 6:00pm. The show will be headlined by Augie Meyers and feature many talented San Antonio performers such as Butch Morgan, Billy Mata, Jody Jenkins, The Petals, Rick Cavender, Dub Hankins, George Chambers, Patsy Coleman Brown & Bubba Brown, Lofton Kline and other surprise guests. Sam’s Burger Joint is located at 330 E. Grayson, off Broadway.

Join us for an afternoon of great entertainment and the opportunity to do a good thing for a great person, Harvey Kagan.

Donations can be made by sending them to: Harvey Kagan (in care of) Broadway Bank 20710 U.S. Highway 281 N. San Antonio, Tx 78258

The Beatles Mono CD Box Set‏

by Jake Topp

Up until the of their years as a working band The Beatles spent most of their time and energy on the mono mixes of their songs, not the stereo mixes. Mono was "the standard" as it was the way that most people listened to their music back then so it makes sense that the mono mixes were their primary concern.

Sadly these original mono mixes have been "lost to history" since the advent of the CD in the 1980s because the CDs were pressed in stereo and the original mono mixes then could only be found on the original vinyl LP. And of course these days few people even have a record player, and even if they do, it can be very difficult to track down the original mono mixes of The Beatles albums on vinyl.

On 9/9/9 The Beatles Mono Box Set is coming out. It will include their UK studio albums from 1963 (Please Please Me) through 1968 (The Beatles, better known as The White Album). The Mono Masters non-album tracks compilation completes this mono box set so that every single original mono mix of a Beatles song is included it it. But that's not all, it also includes the original stereo versions of the band's two 1965 albums: Help! & Rubber Soul.

Why are the stereo versions of these two albums included in a mono box set? Because these original stereo mixes have been "lost" since the CD era. New stereo mixes were made when the albums were released on CD and so the only way to hear these original stereo mixes has been with the original vinyl LPs.

This box set is aimed at people who are interested in The Beatles history and how their albums sounded like in the 1960s. That's why it makes sense to include these original stereo mixes for Help! and Rubber Soul even though they are stereo and not mono like the rest of the set.

Yellow Submarine, Abbey Road, & Let It Be are not included in this box set. The reason for that is pretty obvious: They were never mixed in mono in the first place. And unlike Help! and Rubber Soul their stereo mixes were not changed for the CD release.

As far as the Mono Masters compilation, you may think that since this is a compilation of songs that didn't make it onto The Beatles albums that they are mostly forgettable B-sides. But that's definitely not the case. The Beatles would often exclude big hits from their albums feeling like most of their fans had already bought those songs on the singles, so they didn't want to include them on the albums as well.

"From Me To You," "Hey Jude," & the fast version of "Revolution" are some of the big hits that are included on the Mono Masters set.

And I would also dispute the notion that The Beatles B-sides are "forgettable." Sure a few might be (such as "Matchbox" and "Bad Boy") but there are also some real gems like "Rain" & "This Boy."

There are two more really important points about the mono box set that you should know. The first is that these mono mixes of The Beatles albums are only available as a part of this box set, not for individual sale. The second is that there are apparently only 10,000 copies of the box set being made so it's a good idea to order it now to make sure you get your copy.

Jake Topp does recommend ordering The Beatles Mono CD Box Set sooner rather than later because it's being released as a limited run of only 10,000 copies which could sell out fast. Go to http://www.musicbyday.com/the-beatles-mono-box-set/490/ to learn more.

A Theoretical 1970 Beatles Album - What If the Beatles Hadn't Broken Up?

By Johnny Moon

The Beatles broke up officially in 1970 and while Let It Be was released in 1970 as The Beatles final studio album, it was actually recorded prior to Abbey Road in early 1969.

What if The Beatles had not broken up and they had stuck together for one final album? What songs from their 1970 solo albums (Paul McCartney's McCartney, George Harrison's All Things Must Pass, & John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band) would have made it onto such a Beatles album?

What follows is the track listing of the theoretical 1970 Beatles album I would have made out of these three solo albums if I was The Beatles producer. It would have been released in December of 1970 as that's when the last of these three albums (Plastic Ono Band) was released.

Track Listing Of Imaginary 1970 Beatles Album

Side One

#1 "My Sweet Lord" - Harrison.

This is a pretty uptempo uplifting catchy song that would have made a nice opener. I think it could have sounded real nice as a Beatles song. It's a great tune as is, but a great McCartney bass line could spice it up. I think this would have been a hit single for The Beatles just as it was for Harrison. I would have cut the running time a bit. And that goes for many of the songs on this theretical Beatles album.

#2 "Hold On" - Lennon.

This is a great little tune that I think would work nicely as the second track.

#3 "Every Night" - McCartney.

As you can see this album is shaping up to be quite a groovy chilled out acoustic album. Sort of like a second Rubber Soul.

#4 "What Is Life" - Harrison.

This would help pick up the pace a bit but it still has a pretty groovy Rubber Soul part II feeling. I'm not sure how Lennon & McCartney would feel about having two singles from the album as Harrison songs but if the shoe fits.

#5 "Glasses" - McCartney.

I think this little experimental piece would fit nicely as a segue between the upbeat "What Is Life" to the more somber "Isnt It A Pity." The "Hot As Sun" bit that precedes it is nice enough but I think it would work better if "What Is Life" just went directly into "Glasses." This would be about 20 to 30 seconds long.

#6 "Isn't It A Pity" - Harrison.

I can imagine this is a pretty grand Beatles song (as it's already a pretty grand George Harrison song). A sort of more weepy take on the "Hey Jude" approach. I'm not sure if it would need to be the full 7 minutes if on a Beatles album though. In fact it probably wouldn't fit on this side one at that length. I'm thinking it would work as a 4 or 5 minute song in this context.

#7 "Junk" - McCartney.

This is the sadder side of that groovy laid back acoustic feeling. It seems like it would follow up "Isn't It A Pity" real nicely.

#8 "Working Class Hero" - Lennon.

Lennon would close off side one with this rather dark tune. This album is shaping up to be a bit serious isn't it? Yes. I think it would actually fit nicely ast he final Beatles album as it has that sort of feeling to it. There's a sense of seriousness about these songs and it's amplified by putting them one after the other like this.

Side Two

#9 "Mother" - Lennon.

This would probably have sounded quite a bit different as a Beatles song but I think it could have kept it's darkness while possibly adding a little more interest to it musically (again I'm thinking of McCartney on bass).

#10 "I Found Out" - Lennon.

This song rocks pretty hard on Plastic Ono Band but I think it could have been more musically interesting as a Beatles song with Paul's bass and George's lead guitar licks.

#11 "All Things Must Pass" - Harrison.

I've always thought this was a brilliant song. I prefer the more stripped down Anthology version over the more orchestrated version on the album that's name after it.

#12 "Teddy Boy" - McCartney (Ringo on Vocals).

I don't know if this would really work, but you know Ringo would have to take vocals on a song and it seems like maybe he could pull this off, maybe with plenty of help from Paul.

#13 "I'd Have You Anytime" - Harrison.

Would a song co-written by Bob Dylan really end up on a Beatles album? Well I think this is a lovely song so it would if I were the producer.

#14 "Maybe I'm Amazed" - McCartney.

I don't think this selection needs to be explained too much. It's probably McCartney's most timeless song as a solo artist and it would be a great album closer for the final Beatles album.

Missing Songs

I know I'm missing a lot of great songs. It's hard to cut three solo albums down to a single album, especially when one of those albums is a triple album (Harrison's All Things Must Pass.) Some of Lennon's solo songs just don't work in the context of a Beatles album. "Mother" is a stretch. "God" ? I don't think it would work.

Paul?

It's also impossible to imagine Paul being OK with only singing 3 songs on this album. I just don't think he'd go for that, even though I think it's quite clear that George was writing more good songs during this period, or at least he had a lot more built up. Thinking about this, it starts to become clear why The Beatles did break up when they did. I guess maybe it was for the best.

That's not to say I don't think this album I've just described wouldn't have been an excellent album (although probably not as good as Abbey Road for instance) just that they (John, Paul, & George) were writing too many songs and going in too many different directions to really be restrained by being in a band any longer.

While this theoretical Beatles album was never made, they did record and release 13 awesome albums from 1962 through 1970 and you get all of them in the new Beatles Remastered CD Box Sets.

There is a stereo box set which includes all 13 studio albums in remastered stereo and there's a Beatles Mono CD Box Set which includes all 10 of The Beatles albums which were originally mixed in mixes with their original mono mixes. This is the first time these mono versions have been released on CD ever.

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Beatles For Sale - Is it Really the Worst Beatles Album?

By Jackson Weinheimer

Singled Out

Beatles For Sale, The Beatles 4th album, is often singled out as The Beatles worst album. But I believe it's actually superior to their debut album Please Please Me & their second album With the Beatles. I think it's only the context of when Beatles For Sale was released that makes it stand out as a dissapointing Beatles release.

Context

What context am I referring to? Their previous album was A Hard Day's Night which really made a big statement as all 13 of it's songs were Lennon/McCartney originals. Their next album was Help! which featured some of their all time greatest songs (the title track along with "Yesterday," "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away," & "Ticket To Ride"). In comparison to these two stellar albums, Beatles For Sale is rather poor and it's easy to see how it was a dissapointment at the time.

Compared To Please Please Me

I think Please Please Me is actually somewhat overrated. It's their debut album and it's important for that reason. It's a cool story (10 of the 14 songs recorded in a single day) and it captures a moment. But is it really a better album? I don't think so. "I Saw Her Standing There" & "Please Please Me" are great originals and "Twist & Shout" was a brilliant cover but I think the rest of the album is somewhat weak ("Love Me Do" is The Beatles worst single ever) and definitely bettered by the orignials on Beatles For Sale.

Compared To With The Beatles

Personally I think this is the very worst Beatles album (not counting Yellow Sumbarine which only has 4 original songs it). "All My Loving" is a great tune but I think the rest of the album is rather weak. I find the covers on this album boring. The covers on Beatles For Sale are boring too, but the originals are better than those on this album.

Beatles For Sale Originals

"No Reply," "I'm A Loser," ' Baby's In Black," "Every Little Thing," "Eight Days A Week," "I'll Follow The Sun" "What You're Doing," & "I Don't Want To Spoil The Party" are a great bunch of songs. I love the "darker" sound that a love of these tracks have. I think these are some of The Beatles most underrated songs on their most underrated album.

CLICK HERE to find out how you can hear clips of the newly remastered Beatles albums for free.

Complete Your Beatles Collection: Everything you need for a truly complete Beatles collection.

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The Beatles Revolver - In Mono on CD For the First Time on 9-9-9

By Jackson Weinheimer

Revolver: A Step Forward

I love Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (which was released in 1967) but I do sometimes think it gets too much credit as being the album that introduced "art" to rock music. What about Revolver? (Or The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds?)

Rubber Soul?

I also question those who say that they don't hear much difference between 1965's Rubber Soul and 1966's Revolver. In my view Rubber Soul was a great collection of songs but Revolver definitely took it to the next step both as far as the cohesiveness of it and as far as the experimental nature of much of the music and production.

Experiments In Songwriting, Arrangement, & Production

The Beatles had never done songs that sounded like "Eleanor Rigby," "Tomorrow Never Knows," or "Love You To" before. These were all huge steps in a new direction. As were many of the other songs on the album to a somewhat lesser extent.

Mixed In Mono

When Revolver was recorded and mixed in 1966 it was done so in mono. The stereo mix that was made was basically just "thrown together" in comparison with the many hours spent getting the mono mix just right.

The Original Mono Mix Has Never Been Released On CD

When The Beatles albums were put on CD in the 1980s the original mono mixes of albums like Revolver were excluded which has meant that the only way to hear these original versions ("the albums as they were intended to be heard" as real mono-maniacs would say) would be to track down the original vinyl LPs or to try and purchase illegal bootleg CDs. In both cases it could be difficult to find what you're looking for and very expensive to pay for it once you have found it!

Revolver (And The Other Beatles Albums) Out In Mono On CD On 9/9/9

On September 9th all of The Beatles original mono versions of their albums are being released on CD for the first time. On this "Beatle Fan Holiday" remastered stereo mixes of their albums are also being released along with The Beatles Rock Band video game. Christmas is definitely coming early for Beatles fans this year.

CLICK HERE to learn how you can order Revolver in it's original mono mix as a part of the Beatles Mono CD Box Set. None of the mono mixes of these albums are available for individual purchase, only as a part of this set. I believe this is to keep people who only want the stereo versions from accidentally purchasing the mono mixes.

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The Beatles Rubber Soul - Original Mono & Stereo Mixes Available on CD For the First Time

By Jackson Weinheimer

Rubber Soul - A Groundbreaking Album

People often point to Sgt. Pepper or Revolver as groundbreaking albums (and for good reason) but they were not the beginning of The Beatles treating their albums as "art." After all it was Rubber Soul that inspired Brian Wilson to create Pet Sounds (which in turn inspired Paul McCartney to create the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band concept).

Rubber Soul was a clear step forward for the band. The songs sounded more "serious" than the majority of their previous work and there was little on the album that could be called "filler" (although "What Goes On" is pushing it).

The Mono Mix

In 1965 mono was king. It was just the way people listened to music back then so it makes sense that the mono mix was what The Beatles spent almost all of their time working on. After The Beatles (along with their producer George Martin & their engineer Norman Smith) would perfect the mono mix, the stereo mix would then be "thrown together" rather quickly as they just didn't consider it very important.

The CD Release Of The Beatles Albums In The 1980s

When CD became the main format of music in the '80s (replacing vinyl & tape) all of The Beatles albums were remastered (poorly) and in two cases they were also remixed.

Only a stereo version of Rubber Soul was released on CD (as, of course, stereo had long overtaken mono as the standard way to listen to music.) And since the original stereo mix was considered to be too "experimental" (or "weird") it was remixed. What this means is that neither the original mono or stereo mix of Rubber Soul has ever been on CD officially.

9/9/9

On September 9, 2009 that changes because Rubber Soul is being released (as part of a set) in both it's original mono and stereo mixes. For those Beatles fans who want to hear this classic album as it was originally heard in the 1960s this is a very exciting thing!

The Beatles Mono Box Set includes Rubber Soul in both it's original mono & stereo for the first time ever on CD. It's not available for individual purchase, it can only be bought as a part of this box set (which includes all 10 Beatles albums which were originally mixed in mono.)

Help!, The Beatles other 1965 album, is the other Beatles album that has never been released in it's original mono or stereo mix on CD. It too is included in the Beatles Mono CD Box Set with both of those original mixes included on one disc.

None of the CDs in this box set are available individually but only as a part of the set which is a limited edition so should be ordered as soon as possible.

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The Beatles Mono Mix CD Box Set - Features of This 13 Disc Set

By Jackson Weinheimer

Why Would Anyone Want To Listen To Mono Mixes?

It may be confusing to some younger Beatles fans who don't know the history or context of how The Beatles music was recorded in the 1960s that anyone would purposely want to listen to mono instead of stereo mixes of The Beatles albums. They may have a hard time understanding the importance of The Beatles Mono Box Set coming out on 9/9/9.

The "Original Intent" Of The Beatles

A lot of people want to hear these mono mixes because they feel they are the albums as The Beatles originally intended them to be heard. For the folks who want to listen to these original mono mixes for this reason it's all about preserving the historical record. They want to hear The Beatles just as their first fans in the '60s did.

For the band's first 10 studio albums their focus was primarily on the mono mixes, the stereo mixes were an afterthought in comparison. This is because at the time most people listened to music with a mono playback system so it only makes sense to be focused on what most people are going to be listening to.

Some Say They Sound Better

For some people it's less about the historic context and more about the sound. Some claim that the mono versions of albums such as Sgt. Pepper simply sound better than their stereo mix counterparts. Among those that have claimed that is John Lennon.

It makes sense in a way because the band spent so much time perfecting their mono mixes while stereo mixes were new and The Beatles approach to stereo mixing was quite "experimental" (because it was new and there weren't many "rules" on what you should do and shouldn't do).

The Beatles Mono Box Set Features

  • The Beatles first 10 studio albums in their original mono mixes on CD plus Mono Masters.
  • Mono Masters is a collection of all of The Beatles non album tracks in mono.
  • Includes every mono mix that The Beatles officially released in the 1960s!
  • The original stereo mixes of Rubber Soul & Help!
  • An essay on The Beatles.
  • New "LP replica" packaging.
  • The only way to get the mono mixes of The Beatles albums as they are not sold separately.

Quick Explanation Of The Stereo Mixes Of Rubber Soul & Help!

Why are they included? Because these are the original stereo mixes that were lost to history when The Beatles CDs were first released in the 1980s. At that time these original mixes were deemed to be too "weird" (these early stereo mixes were very experimental by later standards) so new ones were created. By including these original mixes (even if they are flawed) it sort of completes the historical record so that every mix originally released of The Beatles music in the '60s is now available on CD.

CLICK HERE to find out how you can order this box set online now. It's being released as a "limited edition" so it's a good idea to Order Online ASAP! This is your chance to hear the original mono mixes of legendary Beatles albums like Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Revolver, Rubber Soul, A Hard Day's Night, Magical Mystery Tour, & The White Album.

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Yusuf Islam - His Former Life‏

by Brent Warnken

When most people hear the name Yusuf Islam, they think of a man who inexplicably abandoned a successful music career and has since become better known for a few controversial events. This truly is a shame, because the music he created under his former identity, Cat Stevens, is some of the best and most moving folk music ever created.

After a major hiatus following his conversation to Islam, he's back to recording and performing, though under his new name. Cat Stevens fans can now purchase Yusuf Islam tickets to hear him play some of their old favorites from the '60s and '70s as well as his new material. As I discuss his older work, I'm going to refer to him as Stevens; recognize that Stevens and Islam are the same man.

Stevens had a way of saying things in a fashion that people mostly only thought. People don't often convey their thoughts in the same language that they'd use when thinking about them, as there's an honesty and a passion that are often lost in the translation. Stevens' music came off as extremely heartfelt and sincere, saying the things that we all wish we could. He had a way with words, that is for sure, and he touched the hearts of so many and broke them when he decided to leave his profession.

People have difficulty expressing their true feelings in everyday conversation, and this trend only seems to worsen as time progresses. People have been conditioned to be embarrassed to express their feelings by a society that is drifting away from any kind of heartfelt expression. Stevens acknowledged this in his music, which was his way of releasing those feelings to the world.

"I love you," he sings on the song "Two Fine Lovers." "Though the stars may fade and mountains turn into sand/I love you/'Til my body changes into an old man/I love you/And the song that I sing is the only way that I can explain." People often use artistic forms of expression to convey their deepest thoughts and feelings, whether it be song, poetry or painting. Stevens used his music and the emotions present in his songs make for some of the greatest music of his era.

Stevens' song "Father and Son" is sung from two points of view, as that of a father imparting life lessons on his son trades verses with that of the son. It's essentially an exchange that any father could have with his son if the two were willing to lay their feelings out on the table. "I was once like you are now, and I know that it's not easy/To be calm when you've found something going on/But take your time, think a lot/Why, think of everything you've got/For you will still be here tomorrow, but your dreams may not," Stevens sings from the father's point of view.

"How can I try to explain, when I do he turns away again/It's always been the same, same old story/From the moment I could talk I was ordered to listen/Now there's a way and I know that I have to go away/I know I have to go," comes the riposte from the son's point of view. The song is a very interesting exchange between the two sides and Stevens even alters his vocal inflections to highlight the different parties' verses.

It seems that the everyday person becomes less and less willing to let people into their mind, heart and soul. Many still express themselves through art of some kind, though few do it so honestly and so gracefully as Stevens did and is now again doing as Yusuf Islam.

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The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Original Mono Mix

by Jake Topp

Every Beatles fan already knows the significance of the landmark 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It established the idea that popular music could also be "art music." It's lead to (either directly or indirectly) all of the more thoughtful pop music of the last 42 years.

But not all Beatles fans know that Sgt. Pepper was originally recorded and mixed in mono. Yes a stereo mix was also done in 1967 but it was merely an "after thought" compared to the amount of time spent on getting the mono mix of the album perfect.

In 1967 mono was the way that most people listened to their music so it made sense that The Beatles were primarily concerned with that mix. The Beatles along with George Martin (their producer) and Geoff Emerick (their engineer) all worked together on the mono mix to make sure that all of the effects and sound levels were "just right." On the other hand the stereo mix was put together with little (if any) input from the band.

For this reason many serious Beatles fans consider the original mono mix to be the "real" version of Sgt. Pepper. Many of those who have heard it say that it is superior to the stereo version that most people know today. Among those who have said that the mono mix of Pepper is better was none other than John Lennon himself!

Unfortunately over the last 22 years the mono mix of Pepper has been almost entirely lost to history. Why? Because only the stereo mix of the album was made available on CD when their albums were released in the CD format in 1987.

This means that the only way to hear the original mono mix is to have a record player (few people do these days) and to track down an original mono vinyl copy of the album. This is very hard to do and also very expensive.

But as of 9/9/9 that is no longer the case. Why? Because that's the release date of a Beatles Mono Box Set which includes the original mono mixes of all of The Beatles albums that were originally mixed in mono (that's their first 10 albums up through The White Album).

If you have yet to hear Sgt. Pepper in all of it's original glory now you can. And it won't be difficult to do either. Now it's just a matter of ordering the mono CD box set online and waiting for the mailman.

Jake Topp highly recommends buying the Beatles Mono Box Set so that you can hear Sgt. Pepper in it's original mono: http://www.musicbyday.com/the-beatles-mono-box-set/490/

Please Please Me - The Beatles Debut Album on CD in Remastered Mono & Stereo

By Jackson Weinheimer

March 22, 1963

To really get an understand of how exciting Please Please Me was when it was released in the UK on March 22nd of 1963 you have to think about the kind of music that was being played on the radio at that time. While it may sound quite tame to our ears 46 years later, this was definitely "rock n roll" in '63 and far more "hard" than just about anything else out at the time.

Critical Acclaim

While generally being seen as not as great as their later albums, Please Please Me does have it's fans and it was ranked #39 among the top 500 albums of all time by Rolling Stone in 2003 (which I think, even as a huge Beatles fan, is absolutely, ridiculously way too high)/

They Wrote Their Own Songs

The John Lennon & Paul McCartney songwriting team wrote 8 of the 14 songs on the album. Now it's expected for a rock band to write it's own songs, but in 1963 most of the stuff on the radio was written by others (look up Tin Pan Alley for more info) not the artist themselves.

The Originals

The album included the title track and "I Saw Her Standing There" (the first song on the album) along with their first single "Love Me Do" and "Do You Want To Know A Secret?" which was a #2 hit in the US.

"Please Please Me" & "I Saw Her Standing There" were both included in Rolling Stone magazine's top 500 songs of all time list which was released in 2004. I think these two songs really stand out from the rest. They show the promise of the band yet to come.

The Covers

The three covers that really stand out in my opinion are "Twist & Shout" (obviously) , "Baby It's You," & "Anna (Go to Him)". On the other hand I think "Boys," "Chains," & "A Taste of Honey" are all actually quite bad.

New Remastered Mono & Stereo Versions

On 9/9/9 new remastered versions of both the mono and stereo mixes of Please Please Me will be released. The mono version (the original mix) will only be available as a part of the Beatles Mono Box Set.

Please Please Me is a part of both the stereo & mono Remastered Beatles CD Box Sets. Both box sets are recommended for serious Beatles fans.

Complete Your Beatles Collection - Everything you need for a truly complete Beatles collection. Audio & Video.

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The Beatles 1965 Classic Help! On CD in Original Mono & Stereo Mixes For the First Time on 9-9-9

The Beatles 1965 Classic Help! On CD in Original Mono & Stereo Mixes For the First Time on 9-9-9 by Jackson Weinheimer

1965: Mono Was The Standard, Stereo An Afterthought

In 1965 when Help! was recorded and released mono was the standard way that people listened to music. Stereo was still very new at that time. This is why The Beatles focused their time and energy on the mono mix of Help! The stereo mix was done in a very "experimental" way because little was really known about how you should mix in stereo.

1987: CD Release Of The Beatles Albums

22 years later when Help! was released on CD for the first time, stereo was definitely the standard way people listened to music so only a stereo version of the album was released.

And since the original stereo version was deemed "too strange" or "too exerimental" in 1987, a new stereo mix was made (by George Martin) and used for the CD release.

This means that the original mixes (both mono & stereo) of Help! released in 1965 were not available on CD.

2009: Remastered Beatles CD Box Sets

Another 22 years after their original CD release, all of The Beatles albums are being re-released on CD in new remastered versions.

There will be a Beatles stereo box set which, of course, features stereo mixes of all of The Beatles albums. These will be the same mixes on CD now, the big difference being that they are remastered for more clarity and finer detail (and these CDs will be louder than the ones released in 1987).

There will also be a Beatles mono box set which will include a CD which has the original mono & stereo mixes of Help! on it. This box set includes mono mixes of the first 10 Beatles albums (through The White Album) and original stereo mixes for two Beatles albums (Help! & Rubber Soul) which have never been released before on CD.

CLICK HERE to learn how you can order the The Beatles Mono Box Set online.

The Help! CD which includes the original mono & stereo mixes is not available for individual purchase, but only as a part of the box set.

There is one other Beatles album in the same situation, Rubber Soul. It was also recorded & released in 1965 and it also has never had it's original mono & stereo mixes released until 9/9/9. These original mixes of Rubber Soul are included in the Beatles Mono Box Set as well.

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The Beatles - 1964's a Hard Day's Night Vs 1965's Help! Both Available on Remastered CD on 9-9-9

The Beatles - 1964's a Hard Day's Night Vs 1965's Help! Both Available on Remastered CD on 9-9-9 by Jackson Weinheimer

The Best Of The Early Beatles

1964's A Hard Day's Night (The band's 3rd album) and 1965's Help! (The band's 5th album) are usually considered to be the best two of their "early albums" (usually defined as the five UK albums released prior to Rubber Soul which represented a large step forward for the band artistically).

The Case For A Hard Day's Night

This is actually The Beatles only album which included only songs written by the famous Lennon/McCartney songwriting team. It's also The Beatles only "early album" with no covers.

The album includes many remarkable songs including the the title track, "Can't Buy Me Love," "If I Fell," "And I Love Her," "I'll Be Back," & "Things We Said Today."

The sounds of the 12 string guitar that George Harrison played on this album was extremely influential. The Byrds cited it as the reason they got into rock music (they were strictly a folk group previously).

The Negatives

The album does include a few songs that might be called "filler." "When I Get Home" is probably the best example. I don't think I've ever seen a Beatles fan include that song among his or her favorites.

The Case For Help!

As good as the best songs on A Hard Day's Night were, I think the best songs on Help! are significantly better: The title track, "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away," "Ticket to Ride,' "Yesterday," & "I've Just Seen a Face" are all Beatles classics.

"You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" shows the influence of Bob Dylan on John Lennnon's songwriting. There is a more "mature" sound to this song and to the album in general. And of course "Yesterday" is one of the most famous songs of all time and was a step forward for the band as far as trying new non-standard arrangements.

While not up there with the above songs, I also think "I Need You," "The Night Before," "It's Only Love," & "Another Girl" are all good songs and better than the comparable "second tier" songs on A Hard Day's Night.

The Negatives

"Act Naturally" & "Dizzy Miss Lizzy." I have little to no patience for these early covers. I don't think "You're Going To Lose That Girl" & "You Like Me Too Much" aret particularly strong songs either.

Overall

My vote goes for Help! but only by a hair. Both albums are essential.

9/9/9 - Remastered Beatles CDs (Stereo & Mono)

Both A Hard Day's Night & Help! are included in the new remastered Beatles stereo & mono box sets which are out on 9/9/9. This is the first time that The Beatles albums have been remastered since they were first put on CD in 1987. Reportedly the new remastered versions sound vastly superior to the old CDs.

Hear The Beatles Remastered.

Both A Hard Day's Days Night & Help! are included in both the stereo & mono Remastered Beatles CDs

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With the Beatles - The Worst Beatles Album

With the Beatles - The Worst Beatles Album by Johnny Moon

Vs. The Debut

With The Beatles was The Beatles second studio album. It was their follow up to Please Please Me. While I do not think it represents a real drop from the quality of Please Please Me, I do rank it below that first album because that first album has more "energy" and it also has the historical significance of being the first album.

With The Beatles has "All My Loving" which is arguably better than any song on their debut, but other than that I think it pales in comparison. Certainly none of the covers on With The Beatles comes close to matching the intensity & excitement of "Twist & Shout" which closes out Please Please Me in style.

Vs. Beatles For Sale

Beatles For Sale commonly wins the "prize" as the lowest rated Beatles album by Beatles fans but I don't really understand why as I think the originals on this album are far superior to those on both the debut and the second album.

Yes the covers are boring. But so are almost all of The Beatles covers. I rate these early albums on the originals and in comparing the songs of Beatles For Sale ("No Reply," "I'm a Loser," "Baby's in Black," "I'll Follow the Sun," "Eight Days a Week," "Every Little Thing," "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party," & "What You're Doing") vs. those of With The Beatles ("All My Loving," "It Won't Be Long," "All I've Got To Do," "Don't Bother Me," "Little Child," "Hold Me Tight," "I Wanna Be Your Man," & "Not A Second Time"). I think the former is clearly the victor.

Vs. Yellow Submarine

I don't really consider Yellow Submarine a true Beatles album as it only had four new Beatles recordings. Of those four two are really great songs "It's All Too Much," & "Hey Bulldog!" but two great songs does not make an album. The other two original songs were "It's Only A Northern Song," & "All Together Now" which are definitely not among The Beatles best.

Trivia: With The Beatles was released on November 22, 1963. The same day that John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

With The Beatles is included in both of the new remastered Beatles CD box sets

For those interested in hearing With The Beatles (and the rest of The Beatles albums) in their original mix (as they were originally intended to be heard) will want to Buy The Mono Box Set.

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The Beatles Remastered CD Stereo Box Set - Features of This 16 Disc Set

The Beatles Remastered CD Stereo Box Set - Features of This 16 Disc Set by Jackson Weinheimer

Less Than Stellar Mastering On 1987 CDs

The main reason that Beatles fans have been asking for remastered versions of The Beatles albums on CD for over 20 years is that it's a widely held belief that the mastering done for the original release of Beatles albums on CD (in 1987) was not good. Over the course of the past 22 years this has never been rectified, until now when new remasters of all of The Beatles albums have been made.

9/9/9

On September 9th, all of The Beatles newly remastered albums are being released on CD both individually and as part of a stereo CD box set. There's also a mono box set being released, but that's beyond the scope of this article.

The Stereo CD Box Set

All 13 of The Beatles official UK albums are included. Yes, that includes Magical Mystery Tour which was originally an EP but which has been retroactively added to The Beatles "official" albums list. It also includes Yellow Submarine despite the fact that most of the album is made up of instrumental "movie music" which can hardly be called Beatles music.

Along with all of their original albums, this comprehensive box set also includes the Past Masters compilation which includes every non-album track that The Beatles released. This is a two disc set as a lot of The Beatles songs (including a lot of their biggest hits) were never released on their official studio albums.

Every Song

This box set includes every song The Beatles officially released from 1962 through 1970 in newly remastered superior stereo sound. And except for two instances, each recording is only included once (so there's not a problem with the same song being on multiple discs like when you buy "greatest hits" packages). For those who are curious, the two exceptions are "All You Need Is Love" which is on both Magical Mystery Tour & Yellow Submarine, and "Yellow Submarine" which is on both Revolver & Yellow Submarine.

Documentary DVD

A DVD is included which features a short "mini-documentary" on the making of each album. This DVD is exclusive to this box set.

CLICK HERE to learn how you can BUY this comprehensive collection of all of The Beatles official UK albums in remastered stereo.

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Rubber Soul Vs Revolver - Both Beatles Classic Albums on Remastered CDs on 9-9-9

Rubber Soul Vs Revolver - Both Beatles Classic Albums on Remastered CDs on 9-9-9 by Jackson Weinheimer

The Case For Rubber Soul

One can argue that the best songs on Rubber Soul are bigger classics than the best songs on Revolver. Certainly they are more widely known.

"Drive My Car," "Norwegian Wood," "Nowhere Man," "Michelle," "Girl," "I'm Looking Through You," & "In My Life" are a pretty incredible group of songs to all be included on one album. The album almost has a "greatest hits" compilation feel it at times because it includes so many legendary songs. And while Revolver (deservedly) receives more praise for it's groundbreaking production & arrangements. Rubber Soul deserves credit for introducing the sitar (played by George Harrison in "Norwegian Wood") to the Western world.

One can also make a case that Rubber Soul actually has a more "cohesive" sound to it. It has a sort of "laid back grass influenced" sound throughout most of the album. While on the other hand Revolver sounds more like 14 totally different trips all included on one album (which can also be a positive depending on taste).

The Case For Revolver

It's definitely a more consistent album. It has no songs anywhere near as weak as "What Goes On" (one of the worst songs The Beatles ever recorded). "Wait" & "Run For Your Life" are also weak tracks. In comparison I don't think Revolver has any weak songs, although admittedly I'm not always in the mood to hear "Yellow Submarine" - it's still a classic.

The main case for Revolver is the variety of the songs (so many different styles all done perfectly) and the groundbreaking experimentation ("Tomorrow Never Knows" is the most obvious example of this, but really it's throughout the album).

My Verdict

Revolver wins this battle rather handily in my view. While "Here, There, & Everywhere," "For No One," "She Said Said She Said" & "Doctor Robert" may not be as well known as some of the classics on Rubber Soul, I think they are definitely just as good. Plus I haven't even mentioned the stunning "Eleanor Rigby" yet or the fact that George Harrison established himself as a good songwriter with this album ("Taxman," "I Want To Tell You," & "Love You To.) Speaking of "Love You To" - While it's not one of my favorites on the album, it is remarkable for taking the Indian influence to the next level.

9/9/09 - Both albums are included in both the mono & stereo CD Beatles box sets being released on September 9, 2009. Both albums are absolutely essential for any Beatles fan's collection.

Rubber Soul being released in it's original mono & stereo mixes for the first time on CD on 9/9/9. These original mixes are included on the Rubber Soul CD in the Beatles Mono CD Box Set. They are not available for individual sale. Both Rubber Soul & Revolver are included in the Beatles Remastered Stereo CD Box Set

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Beatles Songs With Great Guitar Riffs

Beatles Songs With Great Guitar Riffs by Jackson Weinheimer

While many of the other classic rock legends of the 1960s like The Who (Pete Townshend), The Rolling Stones (Keith Richards), Cream (Eric Clapton), Led Zeppelin (Jimmy Page), & Jimi Hendrix are well known for their riff based rock songs, The Beatles are usually considered a guitar riff based band.

And there's a good reason for that, The Beatles wrote all kinds of different songs with all kinds of different arrangements. But they did sometimes write songs with some really awesome guitar riffs too. And what follows are some of the best of those songs.

"Day Tripper" - What a legendary guitar riff! It's one of those riffs where you instantly know what it is as soon as you hear it.

"Paperback Writer" - Here's a tip: Listen closely to the harmony vocals. You may be surprised to realize what they are singing.

"I Feel Fine" - One of The Beatles best early singles. And that's saying quite a lot. The riff in this song is almost as instantly recognizable as the one in "Day Tripper."

"In My Life" - This isn't a "rock n roll" song and not the type of song people usually think of when they're talking about riffing on the guitar but I think the riff in this song is really beautiful and totally timeless.

"Birthday" - This is a song that gets it's share of "hate" from some Beatles fans but it does have some pretty cool guitar riffs in it.

"And Your Bird Can Sing" - This song features some really cool guitar parts as well as some delicious lyrics and great vocals. The Beatles were pretty darn good.

Jamorama Guitar Lessons can help you to learn how to play guitar like The Beatles (and all of the other guitar legends too).

Complete Beatles Collection: Everything The Beatles ever released.

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The Best 11 Beatles Albums

The Best 11 Beatles Albums by Jackson Weinheimer

Why 11 Albums Instead Of 13?

The Beatles have 13 albums in their official UK discography in the CD age. I've taken 2 of those albums out of consideration. Magical Mystery Tour because it was originally released just as an EP. The extra tracks added to it are from earlier singles and it really makes it a bit of a "compilation" in comparison. Yellow Submarine because it only included four new Beatles recordings which wouldn't have even been enough to qualify for an EP, much less an LP. It's padded out with George Martin's instrumentals for the Yellow Submarine movie.

The Ranking

#1 The White Album - The ultimate Beatles album. So much variety. To me it's the one album that I can listen to over and over again and never get tired of. It's imperfections don't bother me, they actually seem to make the album more interesting in a way. I'd also rank this as the greatest album of all time by any band or artist.

#2 Sgt. Pepper - I've heard so many people say that Sgt. Pepper is overrated that I'm pretty sure it's now underrated. I find every song on the album interesting. The arrangements are fantastic. The songs are always imaginative. Obviously if you are someone who only gets off on straight forward rock n roll this won't be your cup of tea.

#3 Revolver - One brilliant song after another although it does lack the cohesiveness of Sgt. Pepper.

#4 Abbey Road - The Beatles most "modern" sounding album. The "suite" on the second side (not that there's "sides" in the digital era) sounds incredible every time I hear it.

#5 Rubber Soul - A lot of classic songs but it does have a few weak spots in comparison to the above albums.

#6 Let It Be - A sort of "clunky" album, especially by Beatles standards. But I think that's the charm of it. Plus it has a lot of really great songs on it. In some ways the 2003 version (Let It Be... Naked) improved upon this release (the stripped back arrangements) but in other ways it took away some of the charm (too "clean" sounding, I miss the little weird linking songs like "Dig It.")

#7 Help! - The title track, "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away," "Yesterday," "I've Just Seen a Face," & "Ticket to Ride" are all on this album. I think it's actually a bit underrated.

#8 A Hard Day's Night - This was a huge step forward from their first two albums. Along with the title track "If I Fell," "And I Love Her," & "Things We Said Today" are all great songs.

#9 Beatles For Sale - I think this album suffers from being sandwhiched by the clearly superior albums A Hard Day's Night & Help! when fairly compared to their first two albums (the two at the bottom) I think it's definitely better. The originals here are great. I ignore the covers, they are of little interest to me as they are mostly boring and in some cases downright terrible.

#10 Please Please Me - Their first album. It's got some good songs (the title track, "I Saw Her Standing There," along with their brilliant cover of "Twist & Shout") on it and I like the "energy" of the album overall. But some of the covers are really awful ("Chains," "Boys," "A Taste of Honey"). And some of the originals sound more like songwriting practice than anything really worth listening to.

#11 With The Beatles - I don't find much about this album interesting. I definitely think it's their least essential album. Even less essential than Yellow Submarine because that at least has a couple of awesome songs on it ("Hey Bulldog" & "It's All Too Much.") With The Beatles has "All My Loving" which while it is a great early single, it can be found on lots of Beatles compilations. The rest of the album is basically a bunch of filler in the form of early originals that aren't particularly good and covers that I find very uninteresting.

Listen To The Remastered Beatles. Clips from the newly remastered versions of their albums.

Complete Your Beatles Collection.

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Bruce Springsteen - Rock & Roll‏

by Brent Warnken

Bruce Springsteen is an established star who can look back on his career and say he produced one of the best-selling albums of all time, won Grammy awards and an Oscar, and sold out shows for each concert. Get Bruce Springsteen tickets and see a legend on stage.

In 2002, the Boss released his first full-length studio album to feature his band as a whole since Born in the U.S.A., The Rising. After coming back from a successful tour, the group released Devils and Dust (2005). One year later, Springsteen released his first covers album of his career; a tribute to the songs of Pete Seeger called We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions. The singer then returned to the E Street Band and released the Magic in the fall of 2007.

Growing up in southern New Jersey, Springsteen turned to rock & roll and performed with many bands during the mid-'60s. His music varied from garage to blues-rock. By the early '70s, the Boss had picked up on being a folky singer/songwriter in Greenwich Village.

Columbia Records signed the talented singer in 1972, and Springsteen brought his Jersey-based musicians with whom he'd played with over the years into the studio. They produced Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (January 1973), which went unnoticed when it was released. The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle (September 1973) also was overlooked even after rave reviews (both albums have since gone Platinum).

By 1974, the Boss revised his group and called them the E Street Band, which included saxophone player Clarence Clemons, Bassist Garry Tallent, second guitarist Steve Van Zandt, pianist Roy Bittan, organist Danny Federici, and drummer Max Weinberg. When Born to Run (August 1975) was released, Springsteen's critics sided with him, and the title song became a Top 40 hit while the album reached the Top Ten.

His fourth album, Darkness on the Edge of Town (June 1978), was not as successful as Born to Run. The Boss returned with the double album, The River (October 1980), which topped the charts and featured Springsteen's first Top Ten hit, "Hungry Heart." The group released Born in the U.S.A. (June 1984) and went on a two-year international tour. That record pumped out seven hits singles and sold over ten million copies, putting the Boss in the pop heavens with Michael Jackson and Prince.

In November 1989, Springsteen broke up the band that stayed together for 15 years to pursue other projects. In March 1992, he released Human Touch and Lucky Town. The boss continued to tour until 1993, when he wrote and recorded "Streets of Philadelphia" for the soundtrack to the film Philadelphia. The movie was about a lawyer dying of AIDS. The song became a Top Ten hit in 1994, winning the Academy Award for Best Song. "Streets of Philadelphia" also earned the singer a Grammy Award.

During this time Springsteen got his band together and finalized his Greatest Hits album (February 1995). The album became a best-seller and the group followed it up with The Ghost of Tom Joad (November 1995). After the Boss was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, he embarked on a world tour with his band that lasted until the mid-2000.

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1970s Rock Music

1970s Rock Music by Norm Bentley

1970s Rock music is part of a popular genre because people are searching for something genuine and classic. It has been said that 1970s rock music is a lot better than the style people listen to today because 1970s rock music was a legitimate form of music. There were extremely talented composers of 1970s rock music, and many were even considered to be masters.

The 1970s rock era looks more and more like the last great era of rock music experimentation and creative upheaval. When I consider the range and diversity of the music that was being produced and selling well, Joni Mitchell, Bob Marley, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, and Led Zeppelin come to mind as top producers of 1970s rock music.

The top 20 rock, (or related sub-genre) songs of the 1970s were:

1. Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin
2. Imagine - John Lennon
3. Hotel California - The Eagles
4. What's Going On - Marvin Gaye
5. Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
6. Layla - Derek and the Dominos
7. Superstition - Stevie Wonder
8. Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
9. Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon and Garfunkel
10. Let's Stay Together - Al Green
11. Let It Be - The Beatles
12. Maggie May - Rod Stewart
13. American Pie - Don McLean
14. Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who
15. Stayin' Alive - The Bee Gees
16. Free Bird - Lynyrd Skynyrd
17. Brown Sugar - The Rolling Stones
18. Let's Get It On - Marvin Gaye
19. Go Your Own Way - Fleetwood Mac
20. Papa Was A Rollin' Stone - The Temptations

1970s Rock had several sub genres, some of which include progressive rock, heavy metal, and punk rock.

Progressive rock

Two of the most popular progressive rock bands of the seventies were Pink Floyd and The Moody Blues, because they played music that was more intricate. At times progressive rock meant using different instruments or producing music with unusual sounds.

Heavy Metal

Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath are examples of Heavy Metal bands from the 1970s rock era. They originally played blues based music that was very loud.

Punk Rock

Punk rock from the 1970s was straightforward, loud and rough. Punk musicians quite often had bizarre hair, ripped clothing, leather jackets and leather boots. The Sex Pistols, the Clash and the Ramones were a few of the most well-liked.

Some of the most well-known bands from the 1970's era were: Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, The Bee Gees, Black Sabbath, Blondie, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Chicago, David Bowie, Elton John, James Taylor, John Lennon, Kiss, Led Zeppelin, Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney and Wings, Paul Simon, Pink Floyd, Queen, The Eagles, The Osmonds, The Police, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Village People, and ZZ Top.

If you're into Classic 70s Rock then Norm Bentley is extending an invitation for you to visit http://www.Classic70sRock.com for plenty of info and trivia such as the origin of band names, types of guitars, listen to the top 100 songs of the 70s, see how vinyl records were made, 70s memorabilia and lots more.

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