Before we get to the other news, George Young, part of the Harry Vanda/George Young production team, passed away from a short illness Sunday. He was 70. George was part of The Easybeats, the first true Australian rock and roll band along with Vanda, seen the band through their final single for Rare Earth Records, St. Louis, then went into production, producing the likes of AC/DC, to which had Vanda/Young didn't produce them, there would be no AC DC. They also produced The Angels (Angel City), John Paul Young (Love Is In The Air) and then Vanda/Young would form the oddball New Wave band Flash And The Pan, which scored a minor hit with Hey St. Peter in 1979.
Daisy Berkowitz aka Scott Putseky, passed away from cancer, he was 49. He played guitar on the first Marilyn Manson album, then moved over to other bands (Jack Off Jill, Godhead)
Martin Eric Ain (Martin Stricker), bass player for Celtic Frost died Saturday from a heart attack, he was 50.
Robert Guillaume, fine actor who played Benson in SOAP and later Benson passed away from prostate cancer at age 89. Robert was also a gifted singer, appearing on a album by Cannonball Adderley and was the first black to headline the Phantom Of The Opera. He won a grammy in 1995 for the spoken read along album The Lion King. https://www.riverfronttimes.com/artsblog/2017/10/24/robert-guillaume-st-louis-native-who-earned-fame-as-benson-has-died
Fats Domino: One of the originals rock and rollers beginning with 1949's The Fat Man and then ending with Lady Madonna in 1968 for Reprise Records passed away Tuesday from natural causes. He was 89. Fats' golden years were with Imperial in the 50s and early 60s with Blueberry Hill being the highest charted one of them all (number 2). While rockers tried to update their sound, Fats rather played the songs in his own distinctive way, the piano triplets and the mid tempo beat. After his Imperial years, he moved over to ABC Paramount and sad to say his singles didn't do much on the charts, the record label had him record in Nashville with Bill Justis instead of Dave Barthomolew and while the songs were okay, they sounded a bit too Nashville polish than New Orleans R and B. He made a decent live album for Mercury and a couple of singles before concluding his recording career with Reprise Records with the lively Fats Is Back album (Produced by Richard Perry, to which this album would serve as the template of the Ringo Starr albums, get all star session people to play and help along. Paul McCartney wrote Lady Madonna as a Fats tribute for The Beatles to which Fats would record note for note and it was his last charted single which took the last spot on the top 100 for a couple weeks. Fats Is Back is in reality Domino's last studio album, the followup Fats, was basically a few singles that Fats recorded for Broadmoor before Reprise signed him. A shame that Reprise didn't bother to add the failed singles of Have You Seen My Baby and Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey since Fats was only 29 minutes long on LP. After that Fats was contented just to do a few shows in New Orleans and some music festivals, (stories abound that Fats had to work the Vegas scene to pay off some outstanding gambling debts) and stayed in New Orleans, even up to the 2005 Katrina Hurricane mess that destroyed his home in the 9th ward and rumors that he may have died in the hurricane. For a rock and roller, Fats was different, he didn't do drugs, nor ran around with the wrong crowd, (He was married to his wife for 50 plus years till she passed away in 2008 thereabouts) and didn't get arrested. He lived a modest but reclusive life till his passing from natural causes. He may not looked like it but he was more rock and roll than you are.
It's over for the Chicago Cubs who lost to Los Angeles and it's goodbye to Chris Bosio who was relived of pitching coach duties. The Cubs were 30th in unintended walks, which it seemed quite obvious that probably did Bosio right in. He did helped Jake Arrieta turn things around and Kyle Hendricks but this season, Bosio didn't have much of a bullpen to help and their shitty pitching was big hinder upon itself. Arrieta is moving on as well, he shaved off his beard and put his Chicago home up for sale in search of getting a big contract from somebody willing to pay him big bucks. The Cubs did go 49-25 after the all star break but simply ran out of gas. Basically the off season starts today and the Cubs need to pick up some quality pitching, as well as bull pen help. Getting a lead off hitter would also help things. Dexter Fowler was surely missed although his Cardinals year found him struggling as well. Meanwhile, Los Angeles plays Houston, who knocked the New York Yankees out of the playoffs after falling down 3-2 when Houston couldn't beat them in New York. They just waited till they got home and took care of business. The guess is that Los Angeles should win this in 6 games.
Arizona State has turn things around in two weeks, they went up to Utah and dropped the Utes 30-10. Suddenly,, The Sun Devils find themselves to be one of the hottest teams and to use the term loosely, can control their own destiny by winning their last five games, the big one this weekend as they host USC, which Notre Dame blowing the Trojans out of South Bend 49-14.
And what to make of the Los Angeles Chargers? They shut out Denver 21-0, first time in 25 seasons that Denver didn't score anything. Phillip Rivers won his 100th game as a Charger QB, quite a feat upon itself, given my discontentment of his career being Charger QB. Travis Benjamin scored on a 42 yard TD pass from Rivers as well as returning a punt 65 yards for the first TD was MVP. It was also the first game that the Chargers won in LA since 1960. Hopefully more to come.
On the stink side of things, welcome Iowa Hawkeyes who stuck up the field and lost in OT to a Northwestern team that seems to find a way to beat the Hawkeyes, even though they have been giving up 25 points per average when they play other teams. Akeem Wadley probably should have considered going to the NFL draft had he found out his offense line can't block (he did managed 90 yards on 23 carries) and the Iowa WR's can't catch the fucking ball. But then again, Iowa's Ole' blockers didn't do much to Nate Stanley, yelling Look Out when Northwestern DTs are whizzing by them. Brian Frerenz, the son of the coach, is the new offense coach, but he seem to keep the Greg Davis playbook of getting 4 yards when it's 3rd and five. Hilary happens on a fourth and short and Iowa OL guy gets a false start and the Hawkeyes have to settle for a long and game tying FG. And then in OT, win the toss and proceeded to give the ball, and the wind to Northwestern to which NW got a touchdown despite a third and long to which Iowa defense falls asleep and NW gets a first and goal to which they score a TD. And then Iowa fucked around a 3 yard run, and then a pass thrown out of bounds and Wadley getting six yards before on a 4th and 1, the TE drops the ball, thus ending the game and a 17-10 NW win. I don't hold much hope for Iowa to keep Floyd of Rosedale for another year as Minnesota comes calling, the offense line is a joke and the receivers have glass hands. Good thing Iowa isn't playing Iowa State, who beat Texas Tech and now is ranked 25th in the Coaches poll, first time in 12 seasons that has happens. That may not last long, they host number 4 TCU in Ames.
I found this somewhat humorous, but a EF1 tornado touched down at a Oklahoma Casino and tore the roof off during a show by Mike Love's Beach Boys, thankfully nobody got hurt but I wonder if this was sent from the ghosts of Carl and Dennis Wilson playing a prank on the dour Mike Love?
For the past two years I've been taking part of jams in Cedar Rapids and through this time have worked up a good friendship with the majority of guitar players, bass players, drummers and such. I thought I would compile a list of the more unique rock and rollers out there. There are plenty of great musicians out there and it's hard to pick the best of them all. So what I did was try to compile the best of the best musicians in certain categories. Don't take it too seriously but this is what I think are the best of the best. Opinions will vary.
Best Vocalist Male: Joe Hutchcroft (Fossiltones) Runner up: Chad Johnson (Past Masters)
Best Vocalist Female: Karie Skogman (Lipstick Slick), Runner up; Belinda James (Egads!)
Best Rock Guitarist: Rick Clay (Four Day Creep), Runner up: Buddy Archbremmer (Lipstick Slick)
Best Blues Guitarist: Rich Toomsen (Wooden Nickel Lottery), Runner up: Dennis McMurrin
Best Alternative Guitarist: Brook Hoover (Surf Zombies), Runner Up. Stu Fondle (Rumours)
Best Country Guitarist: Doug Spinler (5 of Hearts), Runner Up: Dan Hartman (Kick It)
Best Bass Player: Ken Webb (Hostage), Runner Up: Barth Walter (Saloonatics)
Best Blues Bass Player: Dan Johnson Runner Up: Jeremiah Murphy (Dr Z. Exp)
Best Keyboard Player: Kip Wieland (Crankshaft), Runner Up: Greg Mein (Crazy Delicious)
Best Hard Rock Drummer: Troy Mitchell (Four Day Creep), Runner Up; Tiffany Z. (50 Shades Rock
Best Metal Drummer: Mike Serbousek (Cocked n Loaded) Runner Up: Terry McDowell (Flex)
Best Horn Player: Mitch Smith (Crankshaft), Runner up: David Boston
Most eccentric: Ed Butler, Runner up; Rodney Smith
Best original songwriter: Tommy Bruner, Runner up: Rodney Smith
I'm this is a flawed lineup but these fine folks are the ones that stick out in my mind the most in terms of looking for people to start up a band. For hard rock Rick Clay makes playing lead guitar so damn easy and Buddy has made Lipstick Slick sound that much better, they also have the finest rock singer in Karie Skogman too. For charisma, Chad Johnson plays the role of singer very well in the Past Masters, but Joe Hutchcroft has always been the most perfect type of lead singer. A born natural so to speak. There's no shortage of great guitar players, Ryan Phelan can play blues, jazz and jam band all at the same time, Tommy Bruner's can do a nice Clapton/Keith Richard and Brook Hoover is all over the place with his surf guitar, but over all the best overall guitar player remains Rich Toomsen, if he lived in Memphis or Nashville he would be as well known as Stevie Ray Vaughan.
For female singers, Cedar Rapids has some of the finest around. Julie Gordon balances between alt rock and hard rock, Cathy Hart a sweet country singer, Amanda Britcher one of the more harder screamers of rock and Dawn Sedeleck can do modern rock with the best of them. Karie Skogman remains the queen of rockers in town and one of the hardest working folks in town, Lipstick Slick is always playing somewhere on the weekend. I make no secret of Belinda James's vocal ability, looks can be deceiving, she might have to use a walker to get around but once she sings, you can hear the blues coming from her soul. She owns Stormy Monday.
For drummers, substance and style do matter. For hard rock Troy Mitchell has always had the drive and power to play hard rock as does Mike Serbousek. Tiffany Z, may be living in La Crosse now but she still comes in the area to play with 50 Shades Of Rock and remains one of the five best drummers in the area. Terry McDowell remains high in demand and plays in many many bands here, nobody can do grunge rock like he can.
There's not many keyboard players out there that I know of, Tom Giblin is a blues hall of famer but nobody out there can play them like Kip Wieland, one of the more off the wall dudes I have ever met. I still believe that Ken Webb remains the most fun and exciting of all bass players that I known and he's always having fun on stage, Barth Walter is not as well known but once you hear him play you'd want him in your band too. Dan Johnson is legendary and a big supporter of the blues and rock and can play and teach at the same time.
For the most eccentric player out there. I know for a fact that I am perhaps the most eccentric with my song list that goes from The Doors to O Brother Where Are Thou and Tom Waits. Brook Hoover is also very eccentric for his knowledge of forgotten surf songs and pop hits of the 60s. However since I cannot in good faith put myself at number 1, Ed Butler has shown to the most eccentric with a song list that goes from Prince to Cyndi Lauper to Tom Waits and Bob Wills. He's the Captain Beefheart to my Howling Wolf. His song selection will make people scratch their heads at the Rock jams but put him in a folk acoustic setting and it all sinks in. It's fun to be from the odd side of the fence with songs nobody knows much about. Anybody who can play Matty Groves does get pushed to the top of the line. And he owns Wicked Game too.
Record Reviews:
Robert Plant-Carry Fire (Nonesuch/Warner Bros 2017)
You gotta smile and admire that Plant has blazed his own musical trail from the days of Zeppelin. His new album continues the journey that Lullaby and the CEASELESS ROAR (the title) started but is a bit more melodic and not so far out there. It's also quite boring when the songs don't strike a chord. There's a charm to the remake of Bluebirds Over The Mountain and it starts out fine with The May Queen, but it's really not rock and roll to me. The title track is hard to stay awake to. I think I liked Lullaby...better but I don't play that often either. Give this three stars and move on to the next album. Taken down a point due to yet another oblong CD digipak that's hard to store (just like the new Ride album, bring back the GD jewel case)
Grade B
Black Stone Cherry-Black To Blues EP (Mascot 2017)
BSC seems to be the only band that I have kept any sort of interest in since their inception 10 years ago and this time out, while passing time decided to modernize the blues into 2017 rock and roll. At times they find their spot with Palace Of The King and Built For Comfort does rock, till a sleepy passage toward the end of the song derails the song. A nice version Born Under A Bad Sign, at least they don't mess around the song like they did with Comfort and Champagne and Reefer. Instead of real gritty delta blues, you get more of a Soundgarden sound had that band decided to cover Willie Dixon or Muddy. For a stop gap 20 minute EP, it's good in spots but it make you seek out the original songs which are still out there if you look hard enough for them.
Grade B-
4Boxorocks (2006)
On the local circuit comes this little artifact featuring recently inducted hall of famer Dan Johnson, future Iowa rock and roll hall of famer Tommy Bruner and of course Tom Giblin and Eric Douglas rounding out the band. It's interesting to hear the rock and roll of Bruner crossing with the blues and jazz that Johnson tends to favor and Gibby and Eric has played with the blues legends in town (Billy Lee and Bryce Janey, Bob Dorr and The Blue Band, Craig Erickson) Johnson has played That's Where My Money Goes, and You're No Good at Parlor City from time to time (I know I played drums to both songs if memory serves me right...but don't quote me on that) and Tommy has covered Can't Find My Way Home and Beast Of Burden (I do know I played on both of those songs at various jams) and the connection between Tommy and DJ is their love of The Beatles to which they do a fast version of Back In The USSR and two versions of We Can Work It Out. Knowing Tommy, he's done quite well with his last two albums which suit him better rather than Papa Bear's Blues and he sings in a higher voice, he almost matches Steve Winwood on Can't Find My Way Home. Overall, it's a enjoyable effort and gives you an insight of what you may hear when you should come across these guys on a Parlor City Blues Jam Tuesday Night.
Grade B+
UFO-Making Contact (Chrysalis Reissue 1983)
The fourth and final album with Paul Chapman finds UFO in a rough spell, Pete Way left the band and Gary Lyons, original producer intent was disinterested (Way formed Fastway with Eddie Clarke from Motorhead and Jerry Shirley only to leave when Chrysalis mentioned Pete was still under contract with them). So Chapman and Neil Carter split bass playing duties and the band carried on. For an album that showcased the band falling apart, it holds up quite well although the ballads and the goofy Spinal Tap like When It's Time To Rock makes this record a bit second tier, this would be UFO's last good album till Walk On Water 12 years later on. Blinded By A Lie is a fine failed single and The Way The Wild Winds Blows , has some of Phil Mogg's cool lyrics and Push It's Love is probably the most hardest rocking song of the Chapman era. Yeah, it's hard rock and yeah it is mostly stadium rock but still Making Contact came out better than it should. To which afterwards UFO tried to promote the album but the whole tour was a disaster and UFO would split apart for a couple years before Phil Mogg put together the band with new hired help and Paul Raymond in tow. Bonus track is B side Everybody Knows, and a couple of subpar live run throughs of When It's Time To Rock and Blinded By A Lie, you can just about hear the disintegration of the band imploding on the Birmingham March 1983 dates and these were the highlights of that tour. Earns a winning grade due to overcoming Pete Way's departure and soldering on despite the odds.
Grade B+
The Left Banke-There's Gonna Be A Storm (Mercury 1992)
They will forever be known as making three of the best singles of the 1960s' Walk Away Renee, Pretty Ballerina and Desiree but when I take a listen through their albums with Smash and collective singles, I find them to overdo the Beatles Sgt Pepper/Magical Mystery Tour era and the the last five sections on this overview bore me to death. Can't say if they sound like Badfinger on a off night, the title track an exercise in trying to stay awake. Michael Brown could come up with some nifty sides, especially on their first album, but after Desiree, it just doesn't have it for me. Many years ago, I bought this CD and this made the same impression on me the first play and I ended up selling it and getting my money back plus a couple times over. There's Gonna Be A Storm combines both albums plus a couple of singles including And Suddenly, to which the Cherry People managed to score a hit. Sundazed managed to split the albums back into their original format, The first album remains a pretty good debut, but Too the followup, Micheal Brown left the band but left behind Desiree. Without Brown around, The Left Banke got to be a bland pop band. And still convinces me that they might have been a bit overrated.
Grade C+
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