ClassicRockGuy's Blog

I’m baaaaaack!  Did ya miss me?

As I note in my bio, I’m fond of the live music we have here in the Milwaukee area.  I have already seen Springsteen and Asia so far this year and I have tickets to see Steve Miller w/Joe Cocker (Summerfest), Tom Petty and the Heart Breakers w/Steve Winwood (Summerfest), REO Speedwagon (State Fair) and the various acts coming to the Harley 105th including Springsteen again!  Along with these fine acts, I plan to take in some of the more local acts like Think Floyd USA (Summerfest for sure and State Fair too, I think! – no pun intended!).

Anyway…the reason I bring this up is that I want to relate to you my best concert experience here in Milwaukee, so far…

In early September 2005 the Rolling Stones came to the Bradley Center.  Maybe you were there!?  When I bought the tickets, it was more about being there than getting good seats – ‘cuz I’m basically cheap!  The seats I got were in the back of the hall, half way between earth and the heavens!  No worries I reasoned, the music will surely reach us!

As is our habit, my wife and I arrived early on the evening of the concert adorned with appropriate RS swag.  While eating a slice of pizza outside our section, a gentleman sauntered up and asked us if we would like a seat upgrade!  Noting the look of “too good to be true” on my face, the guy thrusts the tickets at me and walks away saying, “Don’t worry, you’ll love ‘em!”

And…he was right.  The seats he gave us were side stage, even with the front of the stage about ten to fifteen rows back from the main stage, but only four seats, or so, away from the stage wing!  Aside from the great music we got to see BLEEP, Keith and Ron (mostly Keith) up close and personal.  I also just missed getting the “set list” tossed over to us by one of the back-up singers!  That would have been the icing on the cake.

Because things like this do not happen very often in general and almost never to me, I’ve put a crowbar to my wallet when it comes to concerts I really want to go to and I pop for the best seats I can get (within reason…of course)!

That’s my story.  What’s yours?  Rock On!  CRG

 No…I am not trying to get into the softer side of classic rock…as you’ll see. 

 As I was listening to my IPod the other day a song by the J. Geils Band came on called “Love Stinks” and it got me thinking about some of the great classic rock songs with the word “love” in the title.  One of my personal favorites is “Love, Reign O’er Me” by The Who from their Quadrophenia album.  I really enjoy the transition from the tranquil opening to Roger Daltrey’s powerful vocals.  Another one I like is “Radar Love” (the extended version) by Golden Earring, mostly for the bridge portion of the song – especially the drum solo!   I also like “Love Hurts” by Nazareth.  I’m not really sure why, I just do! 

Clearly, I’m barely scratching the surface here.  I just did a quick search on my IPod and I have 59 songs on it with the word “love” in the title!  So tell me, what are your favorite classic rock songs with the word “love” in the title and why? 

Rock On!  CRG 

BTW…for those interested, I am getting the hang of Guitar Hero 3!  I’ve beaten the first two bosses and scoring pretty well on the easy mode.  My wife, on the other hand, has already finished the game on easy mode and looking to move on to the medium setting.  By the looks of it, I think she’s completely mad!

Those of you who are regular readers of my blog will remember that I posed a bonus question on my last blog posting - sorry, no prize - as to who you thought was the “King” of the concept album.  I was going to reveal my choice in a comment to that posting, but I had more to say than would fit in that format so I decided on a Part 2 to my original posting. 

TonyAdina came the closest to my choice with the reference to Pink Floyd.  In my opinion Pink Floyd is the top classic rock group when it comes to concept albums and I believe it was they who spawned the “King” – Roger Waters. 

Looking at the work he has done both with the Floyd and in his solo career is evidence enough to me that he deserves the title.  Starting with “Dark Side” – and a case could be made for some of the earlier albums – then comes “Wish You Were Here,” “Animals,” “The Wall,” and “Final Cut” all done largely with Roger’s influence and direction while he was with Pink Floyd.  In his solo career he continued the process with albums like “The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking,” “Radio Chaos,” and “Amused to Death.”  He recently helped produce his ultimate concept "album," the opera "Ca Ira" which is about the history of the French Revolution.

Recently I heard an old interview with Frank Zappa on one of WKLH’s weekend programs where he was talking about – if I heard it correctly – that all his work was one big concept!  I was never a big Zappa fan so it is difficult for me to have an opinion one way or another.

Either way, Roger is still my choice!  Rock On!  CRG

Ok, enough of the Fluff* (which, by the way, goes great with peanut butter in a sandwich, but that’s another topic!) let’s get into something meaty…your favorite concept album (or CD).

In my mind and I think most, if not all, would agree that the concept album was designed to convey a particular message in situations where one or a few songs could not make the same statement.  Some may suggest that the concept album approach was just a reason for bands to put out double albums (which most concept albums seem to be) so that they could get larger royalty checks as more songs were sold! 

For me, concept albums, at least the good ones, were a way for me to get more “in tune” with the groups I enjoyed as the songs were more connected and thought out rather than just a bunch of singles slapped together on two sides of a vinyl disk. 

My first concept album was “Days of Future Passed” by The Moody Blues.  Listening to it now still brings out some of the connections I felt when I first heard it back in the 70’s.  Other concept albums I like are “Pinball Wizard” by The Who and “The Wall” by Pink Floyd. 

What are your thoughts and favorite concept albums?  And, as a bonus question, who do you think is the “King of Concept Albums?”  I have my thoughts, which I will share in a later comment, but I’d like to know yours first!  Rock On!  CRG

 *Fluff is a registered trademark of the Durkee-Mower Company for their marshmallow crème.

As noted in my bio, I’m a bit of a frustrated musician.  At the same time, I am a pretty avid gamer who enjoys a little “Tiger Woods Golf” or “Call of Duty” on my Xbox 360.  While I have certainly heard of “Guitar Hero” (and even tried it once), I am trying to rationalize in my mind if this game would satisfy the little air guitarist in me!  I have already dismissed the “Rock Band” game as the last thing my neighbors need to experience is me singing at any volume or banging on a drum set!  

So, my questions to you are:  Do you have “Guitar Hero?”  Is one version better than another? Do you enjoy it?  How often do you play it?  Is it worth the money?  Is one guitar style controller better than another?  Would you recommend it to a middle-aged wannabe rocker guy?

Thanks for the input!  Rock On!  CRG 

The response to the blog has been fantastic!  Thank you all so much for the kind words and the interesting comments!  Reading some of them has caused me stop and reflect on what actually kindled my love for music in general and classic rock in particular.  I’m not trying to get all philosophical or deep here, I just thought I’d explore and share it with you!  So here goes…

I got my first taste for rock (before it became classic) when my parents bought my sister and I one album each for Christmas 1966 or 1967.  She got a Rolling Stones album (I think it was “Out of Our Heads,” but it may have been “Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass)”) and I got “Meet the Beatles.”  The only way to hear them was to play them on my parent’s console stereo, which we were not allowed to do very often! 

The next step in my rock evolution came when my parents gave me a 3-band radio as my sixth grade graduation present.  It had AM – the king of the airwaves at that time – FM – which had little or no broadcasting – and short-wave – for listening to remote broadcasts from around the world when you could find anything.

The next step was a quantum leap as I cajoled my father into “loaning” me some money to buy my own stereo record player as well as letting me join the Columbia House Record Club (I must have caught him in a weak moment!).  On a whim I selected the Moody Blues “Days of Future Passed” as one of my “three free albums for a penny!”  Thanks to this album I became hooked forever on progressive rock and a few years later when I discovered Pink Floyd…well...my bio covers this base! 

So – in a Freudian moment of clarity – it looks like I have my parent to blame...I mean thank...for my obsession with [classic] rock music.  Wow, what a breakthrough! 

Anyway…that’s the short version of my “Road to Classic Rock,” please take a minute or two and tell me yours! 

Still…Rock(ing) On!  CRG

Before I get into my next topic I would like to point out that I inadvertently saved one of my posts to the entertainment section of this blog site and I would like to encourage you to take a look at it.  It is titled the “Strangest Classic Rock Song Every Recorded?” – should have been ever recorded –  OK, so I had at least two brain skips that day…. 

Next topic…As the title of this post suggests, I am looking for your thoughts on the best media for listening to your favorite classic rock tracks. 

For the purists among us my first guess is that you prefer vinyl (45 and 33-1/3 RPM).  I have heard people over the years talk about the “warmth” this type of media brings to the listening environment.  If by “warmth” they mean all the pops and scratches then they can have it.  If by “warmth” they mean the dynamic range of vinyl, then I’m “all ears!”  As an aside, how many of you out there still have a turntable AND still use it?  (Please note that I did not say record player)  If you do, then you are my hero! 

Or do you prefer cassette and / or, the missing link of all media, the 8-track tape?  When I was in high school our neighborhood was split between those who preferred cassettes and those who preferred 8-tracks.  I was a cassette guy.  Another aside, does anybody out there have an 8-track tape player AND still use it?  If you still have one in your car AND you still use it, give yourself double the points and BTW - you may be the greatest hero of all! 

How about CD’s?  Is this your preferred music media?  They last longer than vinyl.  They do not hiss like tapes – unless you copied your old tapes, which were first copies of your old vinyl.  They are portable.  You can burn custom “albums” on you computer.  I have a bunch of them and they seem to do a nice job for me.  Some say that they lack the afore mentioned “warmth.”  I say, so what! 

Lastly, MP3 players – and, despite the “VHS vs. Beta type conflict going on out there” – for this portion of the discussion I mean I-Pods, too.  I received an I-Pod during this past Christmas and I love the ability to sneak a listen to my favorite tracks in just about any situation.  I am not yet sure that I’m a fan of I-Tunes yet.  It seems a bit to “Microsofty”  to me, but we’ll see. 

That’s enough from me!  What do you think?  Rock On!  CRG    

I swear you guys are in my head or at least looking over my shoulder!  First Karbird and now Volkd!  This is good karma! 

As I was writing my recent responses to some of the comments left on my blog, a thought occured to me about what was the strangest classic rock song ever recorded?  My first thought was "Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave Grooving With a Pict"  from Pink Floyd's Ummagumma.  If you have heard this song you know what I mean.  Very strange, but interesting at the same time.  Other ones that I think rank right up there are the Beatles "Revolution #9" from the White Album and anything from Frank Zappa! 

So...are there any others?

Rock On!  CRG

BTW - I went to the Springsteen concert last night at the BC.  Clarence Clemons absolutely rocked in Jungleland and made my night!

In one of her comment’s to my last posting, Katbird touched on an interesting subject when she wrote, “Back then we had great artists.  What happened???”

I would love to know what happened too.  There are a couple of newer groups - Wolfmother and The Black Keys - that have a touch of the classic sound, but do they have the staying power?

One of my sons has the opinion that the artists and groups my generation listened to were first great musicians.  They enjoyed jamming for jamming sake and making their own sound.  Money was secondary.  Newer entries into the rock scene seem to sound very similar one another and it seems to be more about the money than the music.

So my question for this post is a two parter!  A) Do you think my son is on to something here – I think he might be?  and  2) Who, in your opinion, will be the Classic Rock Groups of our children’s generation?  Popular groups like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Nine Inch Nails...or groups like Wolfmother and The Black Keys that have the more "classic" sound?

No right or wrong answers here…just looking for opinions! 

Rock On!  CRG  

Hello!

As this is my first entry in my blog I thought I would start off with something near and dear to all classic rockers - the top five classic rock songs – according to them!  For a boundary definition I consider the classic rock period to be the years from 1965 to 1985.  I am willing to give a little at both ends especially for singers or groups with their origins within this time frame. 

If any aspect of classic rock is more talked about than the top five songs in this category I am not aware of it.  Clearly these are choices based a multitude of personal inputs including, but not limited to, the group who sings it, when you first heard it, what the lyrics say, the inclusion of an awesome instrument solo and so on. 

As I have noted in my bio, I am an unabashed lover of Pink Floyd music so my choices are clearly influenced by this type of music.  Don’t get me wrong, I like to rock and I often like it LOUD, but what I really like is a song with interesting music progressions and something that sounds a bit different than “the main stream.”  At the same time I acknowledge that I am clearly not the all-knowing Rock Guy, but I definitely know what I like and I look forward to your thoughts and responses.  If for no other reason than to see what good songs might be missing from my I-pod! 

Rock On!  CRG

My Top Five Classic Rock Songs – 1) Comfortably Numb – Pink Floyd

2) Kashmir - Led Zeppelin

3) Seasons of Wither - Aerosmith

4) Baba O’Riley – The Who

5) Locomotive Breath – Jethro Tull

What are yours?