Creators Are People Too

For many people who are not serious con-goers, or who don't go to a lot of live music shows, or who don't participate very much in the "author" or "independent/genre flim/tv" or "independent musician" regions of social media; the people who create the art they love, are seemingly remote... set apart from "normal" folks.

Sometimes these folks wonder how it is I have met and/or know so many authors, actors, producers, directors, musicians and other artists and creators that I like; and how I've been lucky enough to have become friends with more than a few.

Simple...

1. Find out where they are going to be in public, be it a con, a book signing, a reading, a lecture, a showing, a festival, a small show, a big show you can get a backstage pass for, a public event of some kind...
   
   It's easy... they'll tell you when these things are happening, and ask you to show up and support their work.
2. Go there, while being reasonably well groomed and bathed, preferably with a few friends who also like the creator in question (though not a huge gang all at once... that can be overwhelming). Big Plus if you include an item of swag you bought from them in your accouterments. Big minus if you go as them in cosplay, because that's just creepy.
   
   Bringing me to...
   
3. Say hi, and tell them you like the stuff they create.. but don't be creepy. You may love everything they have ever done, it has changed your life, you have defined yourself by it... but don't gush... too much anyway. A little gushing is OK.
   
4. Remember, creators are fans too... And if you're a fan of their stuff, there's a good chance they're fans of other stuff you like, and you're fans of other stuff they like.
   
   Most creators were fans... and very big intense fans at that... long before they were creators themselves, and becoming a creator doesn't stop them being a fan. You may love their stuff... but you may both gush together over your mutual love of someone elses stuff.
   
   .. actually I can say without doubt, I have spent far more time with my creator friends, obsessing about the stuff that we love that other people have created, than every other subject combined
   
5. Say hi on Facebook, or twitter, or their blogs, and add them. Follow their posts, interact with them. JUST LIKE ANYONE ELSE.

Because creators are people too... No matter how remote they may seem

Often, they're very lonely people, especially on the road stuck away from their families for weeks or even months at a time. Someone being genuinely nice to them and liking their stuff, and being genuine and human and real, and not just wanting a piece of them... is great.

One step beyond...

Now... here's the advanced level course, for those of you who would like to be IRL friends with your favorite authors, or at least hang out with them:

Creators are often broke (or at least not rich and not on big expense accounts), and often like things such as steak and beverages.

Yes, really, you and everyone you know may love everything they do, but most authors, actors, directors, and other creators in general, don't make very much money most of the time.. and often, most of what they do make goes into trying to make more of the stuff you like.

It may be years in between books, or gigs with decent pay. In between, they're just trying to get by,often while living in the stupidly expensive New York or Los Angeles...

...and no matter what, creators have lots of non creators to pay... Lawyers, agents, accountants. publishers... It's not cheap to be a creator who wants to make a living from their creation

So, when they're out on the road promoting their creations, creators are often trying to maximize enjoyment and fan engagement, while minimizing cost to their personal wallets (most creators are eating on their own "thank god this is tax deductible" dime most of the time. Even if you can get one to do so, every dime another company fronts you for "promotional expenses" is probably 2 dimes taken out of your earnings).

So, if you're cool, and you're not creepy, and after interacting you seem to like them, and they seem to like you... If you get the opportunity, offer them free food and beverages.

This works particularly well if that food is something that your city is particularly good at that they haven't tried, or it's one of their favorites, or if it's beyond their normal budget.

How do you do that?

Again, simple:

"Hey... we really like what you do. We're going to get some of this awesome food. If you've got time and are up for it, we'd love to have you come get some of this awesome food with us. Because we love what you do, we'd be really happy if you'd let us buy you lunch/dinner/breakfast/elevenses"

Yes, really, it's just that simple...

If they have time, and you've been cool and non-creepy, there's a very good chance they'll take it. And if they don't have time, they'll still be happy you offered, because they know it means you like them, and their stuff.

Because the most important thing you have to remember, is that mostly, CREATORS ARE JUST LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE.

...except usually more broke, and with less time, and less room in their heads for stuff other than what they are creating.

Six men, three songs, a lifetime of music

I don't know about anyone else, but I can tell you the exact moment I decided I had to learn to play guitar: July 3rd 1985, at about 3:45 in the afternoon.

It was a particular song, played in a particular way, in a particular context. I'd heard the song many times before, but this was different. This was... powerful.

It hit me in the gut, grabbed me by the balls, and said "YOU WILL DO THIS".

Unfortunately, my mother didnt think I was old enough for my own guitar yet (I had been taking vocal, piano, and music theory lessons for several years already by then). She made me wait...

Maybe she was hoping I would change my mind, since my dad played guitar and she had some bad memories and associations there. She aways wanted me to play sax, which I started learning as a kid, but the reeds gave me mouth sores so I had to stop, and I had the same problem when I tried to learn trumpet (in retrospect, we were pretty poor that year, and the next couple years, and you could rent used band instruments for a few dollars a month but not guitars and amplifiers).

So I spent the next four years and five months messing about with other people's acoustic guitars, in my music classes, and family friends and friends, and anything I could get my hands on... before my mother finally bought me my own electric guitar.

Those years of messing with other people acoustics, and never knowing what tuning they'd be in, or whether theyd be in tune, or what the strings would feel like; imprinted on my so much, that every time I pick up a guitar, I automatically finger and play an augmented open G chord.

I play the augmented open G, because it let's you hear the relative tuning and intonation of every string clearly and immediately, and highlights any defects in the guitar and it's setup. It also sounds good arpeggiated, and several songs can be played within the arpeggiation.

Still today, my fingers just automatically reset to that position by default, whenever I'm not specifically playing anything else... and it's almost always the last thing I play before I put the guitar down, just by reflex.

My first guitar was a bright red Epiphone Stratocopy (an sm-3), purchased Christmas of '89 from Daddy's Junky Music, in Boston Massachusetts.

I very much wanted a Strat', very specifically because of two other songs, and two other players... again both of which grabbed me and said "you will will do this".

Those two songs ended up being the first rock songs I ever learned to play... That first song, that grabbed me back in 1985, was quite a lot harder, and took a lot longer to learn... and hell, I still can't play it "right" more than 25 years later... I don't think anybody can play it quite right, except for the true original.

So, I guess I can credit five... well, really six... people (all but one were guitarists), and three songs, with making me absolutely need to play electric guitar.

If you're a guitarist, or a music nerd, I'm sure you know what those three songs are and who three of those guitarists are, without even thinking about it.

The other three people (two guitarists) in question might be a surprise, but the answer is in that date above.

Anybody want to guess who those people are, and what the songs are?

Lucky Man Blues

There are many ways that I was lucky growing up.

My house was always full of music, as was my grandparents house (where I lived from 2 to 5, and then summers until I was 16).

My mother and grandfather both prefered to work with music on when they could, and my aunts and uncles were all music nuts.

Papa loved music from classical, to 30s through 60s swing and jazz and pop standards, to Elvis, to show tunes (he and my grandmother both loved the classic musicals), to classic country, and even outlaw country (I first heard Waylon Jennings in my grandfathers home office). Of course, he also liked "beautiful music"... but nobody's perfect.

My mother loved classic rock, jazz vocals, R&B and soul. I heard Nina Simone, and Santana, and 70's Michael Jackson from my mother. She would play tapes of her favorites over and over, learning the vocals.

My dad was a guitar player and singer too, still is... Classic rock and blues. He even played at their wedding. Though I didn't see him from the age of 5 'til I was 20... the influence was still there (and he and I sing a lot a like).

Growing up, my mothers sisters and brothers were more like my older sisters and brothers. From them I learned to love hard rock, and punk, and folk, and "alternative" before it was labeled alternative. Husker Du, the Afghan Whigs, the Hoodoo Gurus, Stiff Little Fingers, Leonard Cohen, Bruce Cockburn, the Lemonheads, the Pixies, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones...

We had family friends who were in the music business, concert promoters, managers, music producers. My grandfather's law firm had a lot of musicians and bands as clients.

I started vocal instruction at age 5. Was in a childrens performing chorus at age 8, and in choral competitions from age 13 through high school. I started music theory and appreciation classes at 12, learning piano and drums. I got my first guitar at 13, and my first bass a couple years later.

I have had a life completely full of music. I can't really imagine being otherwise. I've been a very lucky man.

Sons, and Fathers, and Bleeding Fingers

As I was finishing college, my father, whom I hadn't seen or heard from for 15 years (most of which time he was in prison) contacted me.

He had been out of prison a couple years, and was now off of parole and a free man... And he wanted to know... Would I please come and visit him, because he loved me, and missed me, and wanted to be a part of my life again.

So that Christmas, I packed up and flew back to Boston... And  suddenly, I had a father again.

That was... Well... I can't exactly put it into words... I can just tell you that family is extremely important to me.

After reconnecting, one of the first things my father and I bonded over.. and very deeply so... was our love of music. In particular our mutual love of the blues, soul, classic and hard rock, and great guitar work. After all, we both played guitar and sang (he even played and sang at my parents wedding).

At that point though, I didn't have any guitars (my guitars had all burned in my mothers house, when my brother burned the top two floors down, on my 19th birthday).

He did though...

One particular guitar, and amp, that he had wanted since they'd been introduced.

It was a 1994 Fender Stratocaster Ultra (40th anniversary). It had a maple neck, ebony fingerboard, lace sensors, and a custom fit gold tweed hard case, which matched the tweed of the Blues Deluxe amp wanted to go with it.

So he searched, and called in favors, and pestered friends and shopkeepers, and drove a couple hundred miles... and finally he found them, and bought them as a present to himself.

The one he found was in a special color, a deep metallic pearl blue (they had to stop using it because of changes in environmental regulation. They only ever made 400 guitars in that color), that looked great with the Ultra neck, pickguard, and hardware.

Unfortunately this isn't the guitar, I don't have any pics, but it's similar:

He loved that guitar, and he played the hell out of it...His fingers bled on that guitar... It was the guitar he wanted to keep for the rest of his life; his single most prized possession.

Until his guitar playing son came back to him... and didn't have a guitar to play.

So... to celebrate our first Christmas together since I was a little kid, he gave me a special Christmas gift:  His guitar.

His fingers had bled on that guitar... the guitar he wanted more than any other... and he wanted me to have it.

It was the best Christmas present I'd ever had... Both the guitar, and the meaning of it.. Having a father again... getting my family back...

Again... I can't put into words...

I truly loved that guitar. It was one of the few possessions I actually gave a damn about. My fingers bled on that guitar.

Unfortunately, I left it in storage in the U.S. (along with most of what I owned) when I moved to Ireland (originally I was going to send for them later, but my first marriage split, and I decided to leave the stuff in storage a while... which ended up being 3 years). I say unfortunately, because while I was in Ireland, even though I prepaid a year at a time; the storage company was purchased, and the new owners mistakenly auctioned all of my possessions, without notifying me.

It was the second time I'd lost all my guitars. I was so devastated, that it was actually years before I picked up a guitar again. Not until my wife bought me one in fact, for our first Christmas together as a family.

Fast forward...

15 years later... 15 years with my father, after 15 years without him; I was looking to get my father a rather special Christmas present, to celebrate that.

I knew what it had to be of course: A guitar... But not just any guitar, it had to be exactly the right guitar.

I wasn't just trying to be cute and clever... It was important.

So, I spent that entire year searching for exactly the right guitar. Late in the year, I found it.

Oh boy did I find it... 

What I found, was an extremely rare, very limited production, 100% perfect mint unplayed condition, vintage, masterbuilt select (meaning hand built, from hand selected special woods), Strat Ultra... but something even more rare... it was a full custom shop Ultra, built outside the normal production run... and it was another 1994, 40th anniversary guitar.

Now... from here until the last bit, I'm gonna get all guitar crazy for a bit, and obsess over the tiny details of wood and metal and electricity and the like, that go into making a guitar. If that's not your thing, feel free to skip ahead to "it was a beautiful thing".

The Ultra was a limited production model to begin with, as the absolute top of Fenders Stratocaster line from 1988 to 1997. On top of that, this was a custom shop masterbuilt select guitar; hand built by one of their master luthiers (who signs the heel of neck, the underside of the pickguard, and in the trem cavity; so you know it's all the original parts as they built them).

Basically, with a masterbuilt select guitar, the luthiers see an interesting piece of wood, or they have a special idea for what might make an interesting guitar. Then they hand pick the special wood and parts (or they modify or custom fabricate parts if they need to), and hand build and finish, one or more guitars from it (usually from one to four, sometimes as much as ten, but that's very rare).

The guitar has a AAA+ flamed and quilted maple body (not just a top and back plate, the whole body), in a special hand tinted and finished custom sunburst on both top and back. It's kinda like the antique sunburst, but with a bit of dark reddish brown blending into the brown and amber, and the amber has a more neutral darker maple tone, rather than a more yellow tone. Also, it goes dark but not black or opaque on the sides. All of which is specifically to show off the figured body better (you can see the figure on the sides straight through the wood to the back).

The chatoyance of this wood, in this finish, with this figure, is just gorgeous. The guitar looks like it's on fire, and the flames are coming out at you out of the depths of the wood.

The neck is a special extra thin, compound contoured profile, in AAA+ flame figured maple, with AAA+ figured headstock plate matching the body, an inlaid abalone Fender logo, a compound radius ebony fretboard with superjumbo frets, abalone inlays and sidemarkers, roller bearing string nut, and locking tuners. The neck also has a special truss rod system (to prevent both twist and bow, and to bias the relief from bass to treble without warping the neck), and the Fender neck angle adjustment system.

The guitar has a special shielded pickguard with four special lace sensors (two of them wired together as a humbucker in the bridge position, and two different tonal spec in the neck and center), special shielded wiring and control options including the Fender super switch with S1 system (meaning you can select any combination of pickups, including any single, two, three, or all four at once,; or wiring the neck and middle together as humbuckers to get double humbucker output), built in 3 band EQ (cut and boost for bass, mid, and treble are hidden in the original tone controls), phasing, coil tapping, and midboost, It also has a special stabilized two point tremolo, with graphite impregnated saddles. It even has special strap pins (for a straplock system). Finally, there's additional matching abalone inlay in the pickguard and control knobs (nothing gaudy, just picking out the text and a couple little accents).

Oh and it has it's own custom fit special hard case, lined in blue velvet, covered in black tolex; with real leather ends, straps, and handles; and chrome hardware and fittings.

Basically, this was the finest Stratocaster Fender could make in their custom shop that year, with every possible option.

As near as I can tell, it is the only guitar Fender ever built in that exact configuration, one of only 4 in that select series, and one of only 10 guitars hand built by that master luthier that year.

A standard Strat Ultra, runs $1100 to $3500, depending on the year, finish, the options, whether the case was with it etc...

This guitar, originally would have cost about $9,500 (about $15,000 today).

Today, it's probably, conservatively, worth about $8500; priced for a quick sale to a knowledgable buyer.

The guitar would be worth a LOT more, except that the lace sensor pickups have an undeserved, and undesirable, reputation.

An aside... a rant about pickups... 

For some strange reason, many people don't like how clean and "quiet" lace sensors are... 

...or at least they THINK they don't, based on what they've read. Most folks have no idea what lace sensors sound like. Even when they try a guitar with them, they don't know how to get the sound they want out of them. The "collective wisdom" says they're "cold", so people think they're cold. 

Lace sensors are very high output, and get very loud, with ultraclear and even response across the entire dynamic range and sweep of bass, mid, and treble frequencies, and almost no noise, distortion, or hum (unlike conventional pickups, which do have noise, distortion, hum -- even humbuckers -- and very uneven frequency response). 

Critically, lace sensors don't get dirty, hum, or distort (or spike impedance, or have weird inductance or microphonic issues, or many of the other normal problems of conventional pickups), through a clean amp, even at very high volume. 

You also get better sustain, better overall tonal clarity and definition (clearer chording and soloing, less "mud"), higher overall dynamic range, and higher clean output  (for a given volume and tone setting, and given force on the strings) out of a lace sensor, than a conventional pickup. 

This is a GOOD thing, because now YOU have total control over your tone. You decide how you want to sound, the limitations of your pickups or amplifier don't decide for you. 

But... Some people think they sound "cold" or "flat", and want a "dirtier" or "crunchier" tone by default.

Lace sensors don't actually sound cold, or dead, or flat, at all by the way. How they sound, is neutral, by default. In fact, they can sound however you want them to, depending on which one you choose (there are several different versions with different base tonal qualities), which ones you switch in, how you set your tone EQ, and how you set your amp (and your effects if any). 

You can get warmth, you can get heat, you can get jangle, you can get burble, you can get scream, you can get growl... But you'll never get dirty, or noisy,or distorted in way you don't want to, at times you don't want.

Of course, being able to get any tone you want from them, means that you actually have to know how to get the tone you want from them. To be aware of how your tone is created and shaped and changed, as part of your playing. Most don't want to bother. 

If the guitar had been originally built with the custom shop hand wound pickups instead of the custom shop special lace sensors, it would be worth north of $12,500... between $15,000 and $20,000 to the right buyer, looking for the work of that particular master luthier (who has now retired).

I paid $1150, plus shipping.

On ebay...

The guy had NO CLUE what he had. He knew it was an Ultra, but he had no idea about the rest. He was the guitar guy for a pawnbroker who had bought out the inventory of a high end music store when the owner died.

I recognized what it was from the pictures and the posted details, and bid, fervently hoping that no-one else would know what they were bidding on. They didn't. There were other bidders, but no-one else bid over the reserve. I sweated it out until the auction was up, and no-one outbid me.

Now... normally, I would tell the seller if they had a much more valuable item than they knew they had, just as a matter of ethics... But this wasn't another player, this was a professional guitar seller, clearing out an estate sale. My conscience was clear.

After I got the guitar, it was clear it had never been played, or at least not enough to leave the slightest mark. It was perfect, and I was pretty sure it was as special as I was hoping.

I checked the signatures under the tremolo plate and pickguard (don't take a neck off unless you have to; too much potential for damage), and confirmed the provenance with Fender (as well as I could anyway. Fender doesn't provide a complete detailed history or build sheet for non-original purchasers. I was able to get more by internet research and the websites of some Fender fanatics).

It was what I thought it was from the description... and more. The level of detail and workmanship on this guitar is just staggering, and only half was in the auction description).

Unfortunately this isn't the guitar, I don't have any pics, but it's similar:

It was a beautiful thing...

More importantly, it PLAYED. I played it through my Fender 2x12, and it was a beautiful thing. Weight, balance, action, tone, feel... It's an amazing instrument.

I played it, and I loved it, and my fingers bled on that guitar.

Most importantly, I was able to give my dad the best Christmas present I could ever have given him.

I managed to make my father cry with happiness.

I am in no way joking, when I say I consider that a major achievement in my life, and one of the best things I have ever done.

It's not just the guitar... It's what it meant.

My dad played that guitar... that special guitar that we both spent so much time wanting, and searching for... He played it, and he loved it, and his fingers bled on it.

So here we are today... 

A little while ago, I was sitting on my bed, playing my six string bass guitar, when my almost two year old son came into the room because he heard me playing.

I should mention at this point, that my father is Chris the Third, I'm Chris the fourth, and the boy is Chris the fifth. 

The boy smiled and ran straight over and climbed up to me, then climbed up and over my arm and wormed his way in between me and the instrument... Then reached down and started trying to play it with daddy.

And I thought about all of this... this... and I cried with happiness.

My father and I agree: The guitar stays in the family. My father played it... His blood is in it. I played it... My blood is in it. I hope to God that some day my son will play it, and his blood will be in it, and his son...

S'cuse me... It's a bit dusty in here at the moment. I think I have something in my eye.. s'a little blurry.

I think I'll go play some guitar with my son.

The concept of "Cultural Appropriation" is both false and harmful

So... The subject of "cultural appropriation" is coming up again, this time in regards to Iggy Azalea (born Amethyst Amelia Kelly), a young, extremely white, woman from Australia, who spent the last 7-ish years in the American south (mostly Atlanta); who raps in a "dirty south" style and accent, common to black rappers from Houston to Atlanta.

If you're unfamiliar with the concept of "cultural appropriation" here's a definition (from wikipedia):

Cultural appropriation is the adoption of elements of one culture by members of a different cultural group, specifically the use by cultural outsiders of a minority, oppressed culture's symbols or other cultural elements. It differs from acculturation or assimilation in that cultural "appropriation" or "misappropriation" refers to the adoption of these cultural elements, taken from minority cultures by members of the dominant culture, and then using these elements outside of their original cultural context.

Cultural appropriation, is often taken to be an act of racism, or at best racial insensitivity or intolerance, and in some cases, this can be a valid interpretation... SOME cases.

To be clear, Iggy Azalea doesn't claim to be black, pretend to be black, doesn't "act black" (whatever that's supposed to mean) in her normal speech, accent, or mannerisms etc... She simply raps in a style commonly used by black rappers.

Here's a video of her biggest hit to date "Fancy"(which hit number one earlier this year):

Overall, there is outrage, among the easily outraged, that a white woman is "acting black", and that this is racist, disrespectful, and cultural appropriation. Also, that she is racially insensitive... even stupid... And that in general, she sucks.

While I don't disagree that Iggy Azaelea sucks (actually, she's quite capable as a performer... she sucks on purpose, because it makes her... and her producers who really run the show... a lot of money), I hold the entire concept of "cultural appropriation" as a negative thing... or even as a thing... as not only false, but harmful.

If it was done mockingly, or deceptively, sure... but we're talking about a performance style, not someone actually passing themselves off as a different race.

More importantly, nothing is being STOLEN... You can't steal a cultural identity, or a performance style, or a form of artistic impression.

She isn't copying anyone in particular, she isn't plagiarizing, and she isn't stopping black people from rapping in the same way, or making money doing so.

No race "owns" any type or style of art. Just because someone of one race chooses to create or perform a style of art most commonly created or performed by another race, does not invalidate that art, or make it racist.

To suggest otherwise is to suppress freedom of expression.

It is also to suggest that Nat King Cole, Charlie Pride, and Harry Belafonte were illegitimate... or that the Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Who, The Yardbirds... Yeah, I could go on, about both sides... for hours.

I personally sing blues and soul. I love the music, it moves me, and I sing it very passionately, and well, with a great deal of emotion and expression...

If I preform this music as it is intended to be performed... or at all... Is that racist cultural appropriation?

I love Indian, and Mexican food... is it racist cultural appropriation if I cook and serve these foods in a restaurant?

Or is that just ridiculous?

Now... to criticize Iggy Azalea for racial and cultural stupidity... I'm right there with you.

But the whole cultural appropriation concept... or the notion that it somehow diminishes anyone or disrespects anyone... really needs to die.

We Are A Musical People

Say what you will about Miley Cyrus... the girl CAN sing.

Something that has kinda buggged me about the recent crapstrom surrounding Miley Cyrus...

Many people, most of whom have probably never listened to anything she's done; are saying that she's another no-talent pop "starlet" who can't sing.

 That's not actually true.

 Whatever else you can say about her... and yeah, her recent behavior isn't exactly wonderful, but it's doing exactly what she wants it to... Make her a HELL of a lot of money... She CAN sing.

 Here she is doing her hit single "Wrecking Ball" live on SNL, arranged as an 80s style power ballad... and frankly, it kicks ass:




I've never cared for her music, but I recognize when a performer is good and I just don't care for them, vs. when a performer isn't good.

 I'm not saying she's a spectacular singer... but she has decent vocal range (not used much in her singles, but it's there), expression, timbre, and intonation. She is a little too fond of melisma, but that's very common with female pop vocalists; and she often chooses a somewhat nasal expression, but again that's a choice (one I don't care for, but she CAN sing without it... it's just part of her general style, as is "talk singing". Her speaking voice is somewhat tight and nasal, with the tongue against the soft palate, and that transfers over).

 Listen to this A Capella version of her other current major hit single, with "the Roots" (who by the way are still great, and always have been) on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon":

 

Most importantly, she can sing her songs, in tune, without autotune, which is unfortunately rather rare among pop acts these days.

 Now... if you want an example of a pop singer who IS an amazing singer (but whose music is mostly not good), Christina Aguilera.

Or Pink (who is recently billing herself by her full name Alecia Moore), who can sing (though not as well as Christina), and whose pop music I think is actually GOOD. ...Or for that matter, Lady Gaga, who can both sing and play piano quite well, and much of her music is quite good (the stuff that isn't explicitly meant to be performance art).

 For an example of a big young female pop "singer" who can't sing whatsoever... Oh, how about Kesha.

 ...Smart girl though, literally... it's reported her IQ is something like 160, and she turned down early graduation and college scholarships to drop out of school and take a GED, so she could become a full time song writer; which she did very successfully, before ever recording anything. As of now, she's making a great deal of money on the image she has decided to portray.

 Oh and while she can't sing... she's actually a pretty decent musician (she can play piano, saxaphone, guitar, and drums).

 Oh and the thread between all these women?

Their really awful but very commercially successful music? Much of it is produced, and often written by, the same producer and production team, "Dr. Luke".

 The music industry hasn't really changed much from the 1950's and 60's "hit factory" days really... It's still oriented at selling hit singles to teenage girls, and it's still really the producers who are in charge. It's just that the producers own their own production companies now, instead of the record companies controlling everything.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Theater

Something came up in conversation today... and then again, a few hours later, with an entirely different person, who doesn't even know the other.

I figure that might be a sign I should share this.

The last time I was supposed to go to a concert, was the night my brother died (back in 2011).

I was driving down to see Joe Satriani at the Bing Crosby Theater in Spokane when I got the news.

My uncle David called me on the phone and said "Chris I'm so sorry"... and I had no idea what happened... I told him "What? Is it my mother?" (she had been very ill for a long time) and he said "Oh... no-one called you... You need to call your mother. Now".

Ok... So I called my mother... And found out my brother had died.

I was... stunned.

I pulled into the nearest bar, which happened to be Capones in Post Falls. I actually walked in, told the guy:

"My brother just died. I was driving and they called me and I pulled into the first place I could… I need a whiskey to toast my brother". 

The bartender ended up joining my wife and I, raising a glass for my brother.

Jack Daniels, Robs favorite, in his honor.

Never did go to the concert.

Bob Mould on Conan

So, Bob Mould was on Conan tonight, performing from his new solo project; and it was pretty damn good...

but...

Frankly, it chiefly served to remind me of two things:

1. I really miss Husker Du
2. Damn I'm frikken old now

Husker Du has been broken up for 15 years... and Bob Mould is now 52.

Oh one more thing it reminded me of...

Gay guys can in fact kick ass

Note: For those who don't know, Bob Mould is openly gay. And openly kicks ass. 

For those who know nothing about 80s and 90s punk and alternative; Husker Du,along with the pixies, the replacements, sonic youth, the lemonheads, the melvins, and Dinosaur Jr.; are pretty much the bands that took punk, and indie college radio, and fused them into what became "alternative" (obviously, some heavier than others). 

Without Husker Du, there would have been no Mother Love Bone; and without Husker Du and Mother Love Bone, there would have been no Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Sound Garden, or Alice in Chains. 

If you are any kind of music fan at all

Or a Henry Rollins fan, or a serious workaholic, or a nutjob fan of any kind... This is the craziest most amazing podcast I've ever heard:

http://nerdist.libsyn.com/henry-rollins

It's basically a 90 minute stream of consciousness from Henry Rollins, and a couple really big, really smart, fans of his and the music he is also a fan of. 

I was laughing my ass off the entire time, and just having my mind blown.

... But every time I hear Rollins do a spoken word performance, or do a long form show etc... He blows me away.

When people ask me how it is that I can write blog posts off the top of my head that take them an hour to read, I just tell them "that's just how I think. It comes off the top of my head like that, at a million miles an hour... "

I actually write like twice that much, typing it near as fast as I can think it; and then maybe I go back and revise it a couple times and clean it up, cut out the excessive or obscure detail, cut out the irrelevant 20% or 30%, clean up the language a little, add in the numbers and the images, and thats it... Takes me about as long to write it as it would to have it as a conversation. 

Well, my friends and I, this is what we sound like when we get going. It's just a mind walk all over the world. Anyone who has ever sat up with us at a get together (especially the Gunblogger rendezvous)... That's what this particular podcast was like. 

Anyone who's like that, even if I have no idea what they are talking about, even if I'm not even interested in the subject matter, I love the passion and the detail, and that you're really SEEING who these people are.

I just love it. 

Well worth the hour and a half... Frankly I'd listen to this for 8 hours and be bummed out when I had to stop. 

Random Musical Aside...

I'm a long time Dream Theater fan; having loved them since I was a teenager in Boston (where they were founded, out of Berklee College of Music; and when they were mostly traveling back and forth between Boston and NYC for gigs), and having posted about them several times before (here's a post with some of their music linked: http://anarchangel.blogspot.com/2007/07/change-of-seasons.html )

Well... a couple years back, Dream Theaters founding drummer, Mike Portnoy, decided he needed a break from touring with the band for a year or two; maybe do some side projects, take a couple months vacation... you know, pretend to have a life for a bit (and importantly, to rebuild his life after beginning recovery from decades of alcoholism).

Unfortunately, the rest of the band disagreed, and decided they were going to go on without Mike (and yeah, there's a LOT of bad feelings about that; within the band, within the rest of the metal community - Mike has a LOT of friends, and frankly... James LaBrie, who seems to have been the major driver of the decision to go on without Portnoy, is generally thought of... poorly -  and among fans).

Even more unfortunately, the band, and their music, has definitely suffered for their decision to move on without Portnoy (which, I should be clear, is not the fault of their excellent replacement drummer, Mike Mangini... also a Boston boy coincidentally). Their recent album without Portnoy is possibly their worst reviewed, and is definitely their worst selling album in many years.

On the other side of things though, Mike Portnoy has never been happier; and he's been making some great music with his friends, both guesting on others work, and participating in several new bands.

One of those bands, is another metal supergroup (I think Portnoys third or fourth supergroup) called "Adrenaline Mob"...

... and I have got to tell you, they SERIOUSLY kick ass... or better, I have to SHOW you:





Honestly, based on their first album, I think these guys are one of the best new straight ahead hard rock slash straight metal band of the last five or ten years.

There have been better bands in some of the subgenres of metal certainly... these guys are really just straightforward classic hard rock and metal, in the vein of Disturbed, Hellyeah, Avenged Sevenfold, etc... (the two singles I embedded above are both very radio friendly, some of their stuff is harder, more metal; some is more hard rock, even edging in to hard alt).... and there is absolutely nothing wrong with at.

The more music I listen to in my life

The more I realize, that no-one ever has been, or will be, as good as Thelonious Monk.


There has never been a better piano player certainly; nor a better composer of jazz music.


Why Monk isn't mentioned in the same breath as Mozart, Bach, or Beethoven, I simply do not understand.

Long live Neil Schon and Arnel Pineda

I just caught the DirecTV concert series live recording of Journey in Manila; with their new lead singer Arnel Pineda.

For those of you who don't know; in 2007, on the strength of many youtube videos, Journey brought Philipino singer Arnel Pineda (who was well known in Asia for his spot on covers of Steve Perry Journey songs) into the band.

I was initially doubtful about it; thinking that he would just be propping up the corpse.

I couldn't have been more wrong.

Pineda is amazing.

He has far more energy than Perry ever had. He has all the range Perry ever had... and his presence in the band spurs them on to really incredible performances.

I've seen Journey live, and listened to their music for most of my life; and they have never been as good as they were in this one concert in Manila.

During much of the 80's, people forgot how great a guitarist Neil Schon is (he was playing with Santana, and Eric Claption, at the age of 15). Playing off against Pineda, he was every bit as good as he ever was in the 60's and 70s.

Unfortunately, I can't find any good quality clips from that concert; but you can see just how good a performer Pineda is from this 2008 clip:

A Random Favorite Song

From a random favorite artist, Christy Moore (yeah, I know he's a commie. I don't care):

Trying out Spotify

I've got ten invites. Anyone want to give it a try?

UPDATE: Sorry guys, I'm all out.

So far I'm liking it, but there are some irritations

Frikken great song

5 years later - The Ten Greatest Metal Bands

Actually six year later; but since I'm doing a few different five years later posts I'm throwing this in with them.

Six years and two weeks ago, I wrote a post about who I thought the ten greatest metal bands were, here:

http://anarchangel.blogspot.com/2005/08/10-greatest-metal-bands-of-all-time.html

It's still one of my most commented on posts every (at one point the comment thread was up to over 100 before I lost all my comments in the move to disqus).

I got yet another comment today, and saw the post was over five years old... and thought I'd take a look again, see if anything had changed.

So, first, the ground rules for consideration:

Okay so ground rules.

1. Solo artists not allowed (including solo artists with backing bands like Dio and Yngwie Malmsteen)

2. This is my "definition" of metal:

Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Blue Cheer, and Blue Oyster Cult don't count (progressive blues, forerunners of metal, not metal yet). Metal wouldnt exist without them, they all made songs that are very much heavy metal, but they aren't metal by this definition.

I AM counting Sabbath as metal however. There is no metal without Sabbath, and although Sabbath with Ozzy trod the edge of metal and progressive blues, they created the entire genre of doom metal, and post Ozzy they got nothing but harder.

"Black Sabbath" (the early 1970 album) is still a little bluesy to be 100% metal. I say it marks the transition from blues based hard rock, into heavy metal, with "Paranoid" (also released in 1970, 9 months after "Black Sabbath") being the first real metal album (though many consider "Black Sabbath" be the first real metal album).

I count Sabbath both with Ozzy, and with Dio (frankly, they were a better metal band with Dio, but a better band as a whole with the first few Ozzy albums). Also, "Heaven and Hell" is Black Sabbath with Dio as the lead singer, so they don't count separately.

A special note on Deep Purple: Many people credit Deep Purple as the first metal band, because a number of their songs between '68 and '74 are either metal, or transitional metal. 

These include the early 1968 instrumental version of "Mandrake Root" (which is definitely a transitional metal song... in fact many of the "bits" of the song are used in many later metal songs), the instrumental "Exposition" from late 1968s "Book of Taliysen" (which is borderline metal/progrock), "Speed King" and "Black Night" (both transitional blues metal) from 1970s "In Rock",  "Fireball" and "Demons Eye" (both transitional metal) from the 1971 album "Fireball", "Highway Star" and "Space Truckin" from 1972s "Machine Head" (the first very much metal, the second transitional metal), and "Burn" off the 1974 album of the same name. 

Plus of course "Smoke on the Water" (also off "Machine Head") while itself clearly a hard rock song, probably inspired more metal guitarists than any other song of all time.  

 If you listen to those songs above, you will hear the themes, and many of the riffs, runs, and solo structure; in literally thousands of later metal songs. In a real sense, Richie Blackmore (who of course later founded Rainbow) invented the classic metal guitar sound, much as Tony Iommi invented the doom metal sound. 

Frankly, I think  "Highway star" and "Immigrant Song" (Led Zeppelin from 1970s Led Zeppeling III) are in competition for the first speed metal song (but the first speed metal band, was Motorhead, the year after "Rainbow" came out). 

Like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple is one of the bands that mark the transition between hard rock, and progressive blues, and heavy metal; but unlike Sabbath, Deep Purple always stayed on that line, while Sabbath moved further and further across it from 1971 on.  

Rainbow, probably the first band ever formed explicitly to play heavy metal; came out of Deep Purple, and Ronnie James Dios band Elf (talk about heritage) in 1974. 

The release of 1975s "Rainbow" and particularly 1976's "Rainbow Rising", and the 1976 release of Judas Priests "Sad Wings of Destiny" (Priests first album "Rocka Rolla" was more a transitional album), created what we now think of as "Classic Metal"; and in the process launched the New Wave of British Heavy Metal that brought us all the great classic metal of the late 70s and early 80s (though neither were really NWOBHM bands, along with transitional metal band Budgie; they created the platform for Iron Maiden, Saxon, Angel Witch, etc... ). 

Progressive metal (like Dream Theater), and altmetal/grunge metal counts, but progressive hard rock, hard rock, hardcore punk (although I'm wavering on L7 and the MC5) etc.. don't.

I'm on the fence about industrial, goth metal, death metal etc... some of it is real metal some is more electronica... some it just screaming and power chords. Let's make it an artist by artist thing.

Some hairmetal yes, some no. Hell most of it was really hard rock anyway. Let me repeat this, hard rock is not metal. AC/DC, GnR, Crue etc... are not metal. Twisted Sister and Skid Row are right on the edge of real metal (but don't even TRY and tell me that Dee Snider and Sebastian Bach aren't metal), Whitesnake (though I love them and they kick ass) are NOT real metal.

Nu-metal (though I like some of it) is right out...

Well... except System of a down, and Disturbed maybe, and a couple of other bands that are more real metal than nu-metal. I'm thinking of Linkin Park shit whan I say it's right out.

4. They must have been around for at least 5 years, and really 10 to be serious about it. By that I mean they need to have produced an album before 2000, unless someone can tell me there some amazing metal band that transcends it's newness. Damageplan, Audioslave etc.. need not apply.

I DON'T mean they need to have been together for five or ten years. I'm not going to disqualify a spectacular single album band.

5. The criteria for "best" are as follows
Best Music
Biggest Impact on metal
"Most Metal"

Since it's now 2011, bands from 2006 on are in consideration...

And yeah, frankly, nothing in my top ten has changed. I still think most deathmetal/blackmetal is crap. I still hate cookiemonster vocals and breakdowns.

Initially I cheated and only put in my top five, and said there was about a 50 way tie for positions 5 through 10... But what the hell, I'll put down my full top ten here, in order, now:

1. Black Sabbath (including Heaven and Hell)
2. Metallica
3. Iron Maiden
4. Judas Preist
5. Megadeth
6. Slayer
7. Motorhead
8. Anthrax
9. Pantera
10. ...and then I start cheating again and declare about a 50 way tie for tenth

Also, frankly, above position 4 you could swap any of them around a few places, and I wouldn't care one way or another.

The 50+ way tie starts here (yes, some of these bands are clearly better than others. I'm cheating again).


Diamondhead
Dream Theater
Queensryche
Faith no more (okay thats pushing it, they are on the edge between progressive rock and metal)
Korn (yeah, its pushing it, but I think they're real metal)
Alice in chains (prior to Jar of Flies they were real metal)
Soundgarden (prior to Superunkwnown they were real metal)
Mercyful fate (remember what I said about goth/industrial/deathmetal being on the borderline)
Rainbow (Rainbow is probably the first band actually formed to play metal from day 1)
Accept
Uriah Heap
Ministry
Scorpions (yeah they were the best of the '80s arena metal, come on you know it)
Testament
Manowar
Kings X
Candelmass
Danzig (technically a band and not jsut Glen solo but I'm kind of wavering on that one).
Racer X
Sepultura
Static-X
Soulfly
Suicidal tendencies (oaky I know, more punk but still...)
Type O Negative
Sisters of Mercy
Napalm Death
Fear Factory
Rammstein (again, on the edge of metal, but I love them anyway)
Prong
Helmet
Hatebreed
Shadows Fall
Deftones
Disturbed
System of a Down
Iced Earth
Mastodon
Black label society
Dragonforce

And of course there are LOTS more; that's just the "off the top of my head" list.

What exactly is "Classic Rock", and what is "underrated"?

There was a thread yesterday on a private music forum I frequent asking for who we thought were "underrated" classic rock bands.

I immediately thought of Boston and Journey; who are much loved by the public, but much reviled by music critics, music snobs etc...

Some objected to this on the grounds that everyone knows those bands, and they get a lot of airplay.

Lots of other folks (mostly people in their early 20s) brought up a number of artists who are most definitely NOT classic rock; artists I love like the Ramones, the MC5 and husker du.

Others brought up Rush and King Crimson.

A couple folks brought up Queen.

Lots of folks brought up artists that didn't start making music until the late 80s.

Ok, so people were bringing up lots of great bands... Most of which are not classic rock.

I realized they have a definitional problem.

Most of these kids were clearly thinking something along the lines of "everything made before I was born is "classic rock".

No.

Just, no.

Classic rock is not a chronological age, it's a genre.

In particular, classic rock is a broad class of subgenre sharing similar guitar and drum heavy styles, being blues based with progressive and pop influences; but not being too fast or too heavy and creeping into true hard rock or heavy metal, or too poppy and creeping into actual "pop" (and yes, those are very fuzzy lines often pushed very hard in one direction or another).

Prior to the early 80s, "classic rock" was in large part the genre generally called "album oriented rock" or "FM rock"; but the rise of consolidated radio networks like Clear Channel tended to focus the playlists on singles under 4 minutes from recognized popular artists (rather than the well known excesses of many 1970s albums and artists; both for better and for worse).

Classic rock primarily consists of music produced between 1965 and 1985 (with the vast majority between 1970 and 1980). Basically in between Oldies and New Wave, but not including Punk and Metal); or artists that became popular in that time period.

Just like "oldies" is still, and always has been, everything from Bill Haley to the British invasion (roughly 1953 to 1963). It is generally "birth of rock" and "pop standards" (including pop standards dating back to the 1930s), plus a little rockabilly, made for depression babies (people born between 1930 and 1945) by depression babies (with some exceptions, like Chuck Berry and Bill Haley, both born in 1925).

Similarly "Classic Rock" could also be defined fairly accurately as the popular rock music and artists (vs. straight up pop music) that the baby boom generation listened to from their teen years through their twenties. It was basically war babies and baby boomers, making music for war babies and baby boomers (every member of the Beatles, the Stones, and the Who,  except Bill Wyman, was a war baby).

Notably, the early Beatles work is largely grouped into the Oldies, while everything Rubber Soul (1965) and later is grouped into Classic Rock. Oldies radio very rarely plays late Beatles; but classic rock radio often plays early Beatles.

In comparison, the Stones, the Who, the Kinks, the Yardbirds, and The Animals; all of whom released albums prior to "Rubber Soul" and who in those early albums were no "harder" than the Beatles; are almost never included in Oldies radio, but again receive lots of classic rock radio airplay.

There are certainly subgenres of classic rock; from Progressive hard blues (Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin) to folk rock (Bob Dylan, CSN, the band), to arena rock (Journey, Boston), to country/southern rock (Lynyrd Skynyrd), to genre blenders like Queen and the Eagles; but all are in the same classic rock mold.

If new artists play music in those subgenre, they will generally get played along with the older artists on classic rock radio.

Now, as to what constitutes underrated...

Rush and King Crimson are progressive rock. Queen, can't really be defined as any genre other than "classic rock" but along with Rush and King Crimson, they aren't underrated.

They are perhaps under-appreciated by the non-fan public (who may know a few tunes from each, but have probably never heard anything that isn't a widely played single); but for knowledgable music fans, they are basically taken as a given that everyone knows and loves their work if they are a fan of their genres (Queen, being a genre all it's own of course).

Also, I disagree with the idea that lots of airplay equals "not underrated". Music critics and music snobs LOATHE Boston, Journey, Def Leppard etc... All the arena rock types. You will never see them in "best of" lists, unless it's ironically (or a list by the listening public, who love them).

Now for some arena rock, sure they really weren't any good (Elo and grand funk for example. Good musicians making mediocre music) . But in the case of the true classics, that just isn't true.

Sure, some of Journeys songs or Bostons songs were sappy or cheesy, but a lot weren't; and you can't deny that Steve Perry and Tom Brad Delp were spectacular vocalists; or that Neil Schon and Barry Goudreau were great guitarists.... and Tom Scholz is an honest to god musical genius.

...but you'll never see Rolling Stone admit it.

I was just subjected to the sublime awfulness of this "song" while on hold

... and I just had to share the misery

Ok, they're not an "Album" band, but what is your favorite Dead studio album?

Yeah, they're not an album band. You have to listen to them live. You have to have been to a concert. You have to have heard the bootlegs (which by the way often have better production values than studio albums).

Frankly, some of the Deads covers are, in my opinion, better than anything they actually wrote; and my favorite actual Dead album of mostly original material (vs. re-releases and directly recorded live performances released in the 90s and 2000s as albums, and albums of mostly covers) is the double live extended cut of "Dead Set".

BUT...

Taking a studio album, as a representative sample of who they were at that moment, with their material and their performance...

What is your favorite... or, if you prefer, what do you think is "the best" Dead studio album.

I'm going to cheat here; but it's because I honestly think you can't separate them. They are really a double album, they just didn't realize it at the time.In fact, Warner Brothers later (with the bands permission) released them as a remastered and extended double album set

And of course, Dead fans already know what I'm talking about; and may be rolling their eyes because it's so stereotypical...

I love the combo of "Workingmans Dead" and "American Beauty"; and no I can't choose between them on the basis of the actual studio albums.

That said, other than Direwolf (which is my second favorite Dead song after Scarlet Begonias); I think that in the later live performances, the songs from Beauty are better.

But seriously, I can't pick between Direwolf, Casey Jones, Uncle Johns Band, and Cumberland Blues; over Sugar Magnolia, Friend of the Devil, and Brokedown Palace.

I have other favorite original songs (especially live): Franklins Tower, Fire on the mountain (particularly with Scarlet Begonias as scarlet fire), China Cat Sunflower (yes, I actually like the song... and it's hellaciously difficult to sing), St. Stephen, Dark star (no two versions alike), Hell in a Bucket (my favorite post 70s original song)...

So call me trite... but no other original studio albums have the same mix, and the same feel, as Workingmans Dead and American Beauty.

I couldn't find a nice clean version of Scarlet Begonias that I like (I've made that complaint before actually, talking about the song a few years ago) so here's a pretty good, and very clean Dark Star: