Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Remember the Legends

Freddie Mercury of Queen and Eric Carr of Kiss, 19 years gone today.

Mostly throughout the day, I was thinking of Freddie. I was thinking of what special thing should I do today to commemorate his death anniversary.

Then it occured to me, I don't really have to do anything special and grandiose. Just remembering him and thinking about him is already a special thing to do.

I still feel the same way to what I posted here a year ago about Freddie's long been gone but not forgotten.

So I don't have to write another long post, it's all here ("Freddie Mercury 18 Years Gone). This is for myself anyway.

I wonder where you are now Freddie? If there is such a thing as heaven, you deserve to be there. I wonder what you're doing right now? I'm pretty sure you're right there floating in the clouds with flocks of angels doing harmonies with you with their harps complimenting your piano playing. :D

Thanks for the inspiration.

To Eric Carr, it seems unfair to not write much about him. But since he's also part of the one thing that I truly love which is music, I thank him for his contributions with Kiss. You and Kiss just make me proud of you guys 'cause I actually know some of the "kids" I know in school who truly adore KISS. Which I think is a big step for them compared to what they mostly listen to nowadays. I know you're in a better place too. :)

I pay tribute by playing these legendary guys' music.

Freddie you are still my hero. I never would have gotten better with the piano if it weren't for you. Again, thanks.

peace.love.unity.

Advance Happy Thanksgiving everryone!

Friday, November 12, 2010

"I don't travel with a band anymore, I got so much equipment now..."

Music. Guitar. Harmonica. Jokes. Monologue. Classic. Neil Young. What more can you ask for?

Here's a video of Neil Young performing Heart Of Gold in 1971 live at Massey Hall. This was when Heart of Gold was just a brand new song. Wow, time really flies by so fast. Now, this song is a classic and a must hear for everyone.



I just realized that today is his birthday. My gosh, so that's why I was singing his songs today. I literally just found out now before starting this paragraph. I already posted the embed code for the video from youtube when I realized today he turns 65.

Ah, the magic of music.

Happy 65th birthday, Neil Young!
One of the best singers and composers of all time. Thanks for the music. It's amazing how music like Young's can make you feel so different. One second ago you feel in a certain way like maybe frustrated and confused, the next second you feel so calm and in peace with your mind.

Monday, November 8, 2010

My Back Pages

I found it! I've been looking for the video of this live performance of My Back Pages for quite a while now. I could never find it. Well unless I buy the DVD which I couldn't right now. Anyway, I was quite entertained with this song as the first time I ever heard it, I recognized the voices immediately. I didn't expect that it was a live performance and that there were six vocals from six great musicians. But I figured them out. I was so proud of myself (I've got a very low sense of happiness).

Just thought I'd post it here. This is a treasure for me now. What a great concert it was. This was for The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration of Bob Dylan for his 30 years of being a recording artist in October of 1992 (so basically 48 years now - amazing!). The video features the vocals of Roger McGuinn of The Byrds, Tom Petty of, of course Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, the MAN himself Bob Dylan, and George Harrison. Great combos of voices. Great music composed by a great songwriter. This was held in Madison Square Garden on 16 October 1992. The six musicians backed-up with Booker T. Jones on organ, Donald "Duck" Dunn on bass, and Steve Cropper on guitar - surviving members of Booker T. and the MG's, drummer Anton Fig filling in for the late Al Jackson , plus drummer Jim Keltner who I guess is best known with his work with the Traveling Wilburys and other famous artists.

Ah, but I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now


Isn't that a great line or what? Who could've thought of that other than Bob Dylan himself? Exactly. No one else. Oh man, I really can't help but think that I wish I was around back then or more like I was aware back then (I have said and typed this so many times, I could not stress it enough). So many great music. I just love it. Although I feel like I'm cramming all these great music now. Because there's just so much to appreciate. I want to take them all in! What more can I say? EPIC.

Enough with the rants, here's the video. Enjoy!


Neil Young,Dylan... My Back Pages
Uploaded by ivaxavi. - Mira més videoclips, en HD!

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Music news: The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, U2, Bruce Springsteen

I don't usually do this, but damn it these are good news enough that I want to post it here for my own entertainment and at the same time a reminder.

First off,

Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones are to tour in 2011 as confirmed by Keith Richards yesterday.


NEW YORK (CBS) The Rolling Stones are ready to hit the road again.


Guitarist Keith Richards confirmed Thursday that the band is planning to tour together in 2011, dismissing any rumors that they have retired. He also revealed the group is preparing to record new material.

"Everybody's ready to go out there again," Richards told BBC 6 Music. "Who said it should stop, and who said when?"

"Only we will know when it comes to an end, with a crashing halt," the 66-year-old added.

The Rolling Stones have not released a new album since "A Bigger Bang" in 2005. Their last tour, which earned $558 million according to BBC, ended in London in August 2007.

"After these many years working together, we have a lot of unfinished stuff to work on that we had to leave off the last album," Richards said.

Although he described frontman Mick Jagger as "unbearable" in his recently published memoir, "Life," Richards said he's "looking forward to working" with his band mate.

"Knowing Mick [Jagger], as I do, he's a very prolific writer. I have ideas [too] and we'll put them together in December or January."






"Nuff said. Just knowing their touring next year, I can't say more. I'm just excited!! Hopefully I'm done with my school next year. One more semester and I'm good to go. I hope they do an American tour! AHHH!


Aerosmith


NEW YORK (Q104.3) Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer dropped a bomb in a recent interview with Spinner.com --he says he and his bandmates are working on a new record that will be out next year.


"Yeah, we're going to make an album," Kramer confirmed. "It's going to be an old-school Aerosmith record. "We're going to do it the old way with the whole band [in the same room] and it should be a good one. We're all anticipating."

Kramer promises this album is just the beginning of Aerosmith's plans for the future.

"One of the things that's great about being in this band is that I never know what's going to happen next," he says. "What you see in the mirror, is that really what you're going to get or not? Really, at this point in time, the only thing that's going to stop us is if someone out-and-out dies. Other than that, we've already been through what we've been through and stood the test of time. What else is there?"


I wonder how are they going to manage since Steven Tyler currently resides as one of the judges of one of the stupidest show on Earth, the American Idol. I hate the show and I hate the decision Tyler made but if they really are still Aerosmith and planning on continuing to play music together, I still love him no matter what. How are they going to do it? I don't know but I hope the end results would be really good!

I'm not really a Kid Rock fan but I pretty much agree with what he said about Tyler joining Idol. “I think it’s the stupidest thing he’s ever done in his life,” Rock told EW. “He’s a sacred American institution of rock ‘n’ roll, and he just threw it all out the window. Just stomped on it and set it on fire. I think whoever’s advising him, we should bring back the guillotine, or whatever they call that thing. And if it was himself, he needs some serious counseling. I love him to death, but I gotta speak the truth.” :D




U2




NEW YORK (Q104.3) U2 rocker The Edge has assured fans that frontman Bono has fully recovered from spinal surgery - insisting the singer is in "great shape".


A back injury forced the Irish rock star to undergo the procedure last summer, prompting U2 to postpone dates on its U.S. tour.

But now the band is back on the road - and preparing to release a new album as early as next year.


The Edge tells the New York Post, "Bono is back in form. His back injury unfortunately forced us to postpone dates on the U.S. tour, but we are performing again, and he is in great shape.

"We're working on a new album that could be out early next year."

One of the bands I also want to see. So happy that Bono is finally back and made a full recovery. Can't wait for the tour to start. I hope I still got money to buy tickets!!! 'Cause I think I already missed the sales!




And last but not the least,

Bruce Springsteen


NEW YORK (Q104.3) 11/02/2010 Bruce Springsteen was in a quiet, cerebral and reflective mood yesterday at the Rome film festival for the screening of a new documentary on the making of one of his greatest albums, Darkness on the Edge of Town.


"Sometimes you look for the story but it finds you," he said in hushed tones after a screening of The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town, by director Thom Zimmy.
Springsteen, Zimmy and manager Jon Landau spoke on the stage as fans who normally shake, rattle and roll sat at times in awe-struck silence as The Boss took on an almost professorial role despite his black leather jacket.

The film, which is in competition in the festival's extra section, shifts back and forth between now and the period between 1976 and 1978 when Springsteen and his E Street Band created, rehearsed and recorded the landmark rock album.

Zimmy took hours of sometimes grainy black-and-white footage made more than 30 years ago and spliced it with interviews with Springsteen and band members now to bring the creative process to life in two time zones: yesterday and today.

Springsteen was only 26 then. He had already become an overnight superstar with the hard-driving Born to Run. But he wanted his next album to be different.

One of the most fascinating aspects of the documentary is Springsteen's many notebooks. He wrote as many as 70 songs during the process but only 10 of them made it on to the album.

An indefatigable re-writer, phrase honer and riff perfectionist, the documentary shows Springsteen anguishing over the search for the right word or phrase and sometimes swapping phrases from one song to the other.

"I hear it differently in my head," he tells sometimes exasperated band members several times.

Apart from recollections by Springsteen, Landau and members of the band, the documentary includes modern interviews with Springsteen's wife Patti Scialfa and Patti Smith, a singer/songwriter and artist who was a major influence on the New York City Punk rock movement.



Springsteen was the original creative force behind Smith's 1978 hit "Because the Night."

He had written the music and the words of the chorus but he gave her the song to finish and says in the documentary that he has no regrets because she made it come to life.

Later this month Sony Music will be releasing a deluxe package made up of more than six hours of film and unseen footage and more than two hours of audio made between 1976 and 1978.

The package contains three CDs, one with the re-mastered version of the "Darkness" album and two with 21 previously unreleased songs.


Yes! Now that's why they call you The Boss Bruce. You're the mind and talent behind of it all. I wonder what it's like back then really. It seems like those years where the years were pure talent, good music were created and accepted. Honestly, I haven't seen the documentary yet but I've seen some parts of it. I'm saving the best for last, so I'm going to watch it once this semester is over. And boy, I'm gonna watch it over and over again.



No to Manufactured Music

I seem to be back to my preoccupation about Nirvana, Kurt, depression and death. I guess its got something to do with my clinical rotation now being in a Psychiatric hospital. I see these patients, their emotions or their lack thereof, their mental state - its pretty contagious. It's depressing. I can't help to think now, that if someone actually noticed Kurt's symptoms of depression he wouldn't have been gone now. I think he could've gotten better because unlike others he's got something to get his feelings out and that's through music. I believe in the healing power of music. I wish it had helped Kurt more and others who suffer from severe depression and has suicidal tendencies.


Speaking of music, this is really getting serious, what has happened to our music today? The real voices, real instruments, with raw emotion...with make-music-not-money sort of thing? The "musicians" they call now are pampered brats, squeeky good looking with messed up make-up and hair, and wacky clothes, rich, untalented people. They got there without working their way through it. Great musicians struggled before they reached the top. Their bank accounts were once zero before they made milliions. They worked endless shifts, dirty jobs. They weren't chosen by the biased public by voting on American Idol or X factor and I don't even watch the shows. It's just that it's everywhere you can't help but know about it. I'm not saying though that there aren't any great musicians right now, there are some but you can only count them with your fingers.


For lack of better word, the music we call now really sucks! I can't wait for the day that all these crappy songs and artist would be gone. I mean maybe not gone but hopefully forgotten. I hope it comes sooner. I don't usually let things bother me because if it does bother me it's actually my problem because I let it bother me, but the way we are now about music it's unavoidable for me to not say anything.




I feel like I'm preaching so to wrap this up, here's some quotes by the hater himself Kurt Cobain, that pretty much sums up what we're dealing today with our taste of music that the media is feeding us:


I just cant believe anyone would start a band just to make the scene and be cool and have chicks. I just cant believe it.
As quoted in Option (January/ February, 1992)


Jocks have completely taken over music... And just to get back at them, Im going to start playing basketball.
As quoted in Musician (October, 1993)


...band would start, play one gig, and get signed to a major label right away, 'cause it [was] a trend.
Date unknown, but believed to be 06/30/92 in Sweden


Music comes first; lyrics are secondary. Most of my lyrics are contradictions. I'll write a few sincere lines, and then I'll have to make fun of [them]. I don't like to make it too obvious, because if it is too obvious, it gets really stale. You shouldn't be in people's faces 100% all the time. We don't mean to be really cryptic or mysterious, but I just think that lyrics that are different and weird and spacey paint a nice picture. It's just the way I like art.
Date unknown; appears on the home video, Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!


MUSIC SHOULD REALLY COME FIRST. MUSIC IS ART. MUSIC IS ORIGINALITY. MUSIC MUST BE HEARTFELT. NOT JUST 'CAUSE YOU'RE COMPELLED TO DO A HIT SONG.


Please, we should do like a movement or something to end this. This isn't right! Something has to be done to end all this conformity in music!