Song of the day/ The Great Beyond by R.E.M

Song of the day/ Starstruck by The Kinks

Song of the day/ Temptation by The Everly Brothers

Song of the day/ Highway Star by Deep Purple

DEAR ROCK 'N' ROLL HALL OF FAME F**** Y**

Song of the day- I Can't Quit Her by Blood Sweat and Tears

Happy 80th birthday to one of the greatest rock musicans of all time Little Richard.

Song of the day- This Will Be Our Year by The Zombies

Song of the day- No Easy Road by Wishbone Ash

Song of the day- Achilles Last Stand by Led Zeppelin

Song of the day- Dengue Woman Blues by Jimmie Vaughan

Song of the day- Gimmie Shelter by The Rolling Stones

Song of the day Hot Lanta by The Allman Brothers

Song of the Day Little Queenie by Chuck Berry HHRR version

RRF Runaround Sue by Dion

This was Dion's greatest record because it featured his two most well-known songs The Wanderer and the ablums title track Runaround Sue. The rest of the songs on this album are covers of Take Good Care of my Baby written by Carol King and was most known as being a hit for Bobby Vee that same year in 1961. Other songs covered on this Album include Kansas City written by songwriting greats Leiber and Stoller. He was still is and will always be more talented then Elvis because unlike Elvis he actually co-wrote Runaround Sue his biggest hit with Ernie Maresca who also wrote The Wander and worked for many years with Dion and with

Dion and the Belmonts more Dion went solo. Dion kept writing and recordings song thought the 60's 70's 80's 90's and still records today at the age of 73 with a new album called Tank Full of Blues released January of this year. This album is by far his best work and should be listened to by all fans of 50's and 60's rock 'n' roll.

Song of the day- Mull Of Kintyre by Paul McCartney & Wings

Song of the day- How Can I Slow Down by The Marshall Tucker Band

Song of the day-I'm Not Your Steppin Stone by Paul Revere and The Raiders

Song of the day- Live with Me by The Rolling Stones

Song of the day- Feels Like the First Time by Foreigner

Tonight I'm heading off to the blues club to see Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials.

 http://www.alligator.com/artists/Lil-Ed-and-The-Blues-Imperials/

Yesterday I listened to some of the oldest and iconic pieces of blues music ever recorded.

The artist is Blind Blake who lived from 1896 to 1934. The recordings I heard dated back to 1926, 27, 28 and 29.  He may be dead but his music   still lives on. Above is the only known photograph of Blake taken in 1927. Very little is known about his life. His real name was Arthur Blake and he was born in either  Newport News, Virginia or Jacksonville, Florida. It is truly amazing how much of his work survived and that it is still listened  too today more then 80 years after these tracks were recorded by me and 19 year old in the year 2012. He is dubbed as The King Of Ragtime Guitar. As we all know the King of Ragtime is and will always be Scott Joplin. You are not a real blues fan until you have heard at least one or more of his recordings.

Song of the day When Will I Be Loved by The Everly Brothers

RRF History: America's Greatest Hits by America

If you like America then you will like this album. You will also like it because the cover was designed by Phil Hartman before his days Saturday Night Live.

Some of The Chicago Blues finest musicians.

This video features Jimmy Dawkins on the red guitar, Bob Stroger on bass who i've had the pleasure of meeting, Tail Dragger on vocals, Billy Branch on harmonica and the sons of two harmonica greats Laurie Bell on guitar who is the son of the late Carey Bell and Kenny Smith the son of the late Willie Big Eyes Smith who I also met at the same show as Stroger. 

Song of the day- Good Captain Clack by Procol Harum

Song of the day I Gotta Move by The Kinks

Song of the day Hells Bells by AC/DC

Song of the day Dooby-Dooby Wah by Ritchie Valens

Song of the day Hot Rod Lincoln by Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen

Song of the day Maybelle by Chuck Berry

RRF Smokin' O.P.'s by Bob Seger

The random record  for last Friday was Smokin' O.P.'s which was released in 1972. I have 5 of his albums and this is my first time listening to them. I thought it was nothing special just another album with a few songs written by the artist and then covers of 50's rock musicians.  He covered Bo Diddly and Let It Rock. I will say this right now and that is that you are not a real rock band until you have covered at least one or more Chuck Berry songs. I can't really say much about Bob Seger because I have not heard much of his music other then a few songs on the local classic rock station I will have to give this one another listen.

Song of the day Accidently Like A Martyr by Warren Zevon

Happy 70th birthday to Johnny Rivers

Song of the day Kaleidoscope by Procol Harum

Happy Brithday to Art Garfunkel, Peter Noone, Bryan Adams and the late Ike Turner

Song of the day Lonely by Eddie Cochran

Song of the day is Not Enough Love In The World by Don Henley

Song of the day Ooh! My Head- Ritchie Valens

This is the only known footage of Ritchie Valens from the film Go Johnny Go! in 1958. By the title I'm sure you can guess who else is in the movie.

Song of the day SRV and Double Trouble- I'm Cryin'

Song of the day The Razor's Edge by AC/DC

Song of the day Reelin' & Rockin' by Chuck Berry

RRF ELO Out of the Blue

For random record Friday the record is The Electric Light Orchestra's Out of the Blue. I have only listened to this album once before. It is a fantastic album and one of there best. It has many of their greatest songs like Turn to Stone, Sweet Talkin' Women and Mr. Blue Sky. Below is the Concerto for a Rainy Day.This album also has one of the coolest covers ever. with a 2001 look to it. The album went platinum in America, Canada and The U.K.  selling over 1 million copies in the U.S. alone.

Song of the day- Ride On by AC/DC

 One of my 10 favorite AC/DC songs.

song of the day is Nutcracker and bonus song Comeback Baby by Pinetop Perkins and Hubert Sublin

Happy birthday to Jimmy Dawkins, Bill Wyman and to the late Sonny Terry and Big Bopper.

Song of the day/Something- The Beatles

Song of the day My Love by Paul McCartney and Wings

Song of the day Some Girls- The Rolling Stones

RRF Abracadabra - Steve Miller Band

This week's Random Record is Abracadabra by The Steve Miller Band. This would be the bands last big charting record of their career. I have never really gotten into their 80's stuff that much. They were mainly a 70's band even though they formed in 1967. It was not until 1973's The Joker that they became well known. Their mainstream success only lasted from 1973 to 1982. With the exception of The title track I don't really like this album I really only enjoyed their 70's albums. This album is nothing special they tried to get into the 80's groove with Synthesizer's in most of the tracks and sounding a little new wave. Just lots of bad love songs nothing special on this album.

song of the day Eric Clapton- Lonely Stranger

song of the day Dust my Broom Canned Heat

Happy 86th Birthday to the greatest and most influential musican in rock.

"If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it 'Chuck Berry'." -- 
John Lennon

"There's only one true king of rock 'n' roll. His name is Chuck Berry."
-- Stevie Wonder 


"Berry's On Top is probably my favorite record of all time; it defines rock and roll. A lot of people have done Chuck Berry songs, but to get that feel is really hard. It's the rock and roll thing--the push-pull and the rhythm of it."
-- Joe Perry 

"[My mama] said, 'You and Elvis are pretty good, but you're no Chuck Berry.'"
-- Jerry Lee Lewis

"You are most certainly the inspiration for all of today's rock 'n' roll guitarists. Your music is timeless."
--  Smokey Robinson 

Happy 70th Birthday to Gary Puckett of GP and The Union Gap

Happy Birthday too a Minnesota native. Born 1942 in Hibbing and the lesser known of the two Hibbing born musicians.

Song of the day Instant Party (Circles) The Who

I just love this album.

This quote is also true for me.

Tuesday's song Love Hurts- Nazareth

Random Song of the day Everybody Wants You- Billy Squier

Random Song Thursday If I Needed Someone- The Beatles

RRF Move It On Over- George Thorogood and the Destoryers

For random record Friday I listened to an album that was the first rock artist I listened too. I had a version of Move It On Over on CD and this was what I listened too before I got it on record which was one of the first 20 records in my collection. Even since listening to this album I have liked George Thorogood and the Destoryers. Move It On Over was Thorogood's second album and in my opinion  his best album. This album is made up of all covers by Chess artists such as Chuck Berry, Elmore James, Willie Dixon and Bo Diddley and also the albums title track Move It On Over written and preformed by Hank Williams in 1947. This was the album that opened the door for me to all of the classic blues and rock artists. After hearing this I decided to go and listen to the original tracks by the original artists.  I had  only heard the original version of Who Do You Love by Bo Diddley and Move It On Over.  Up to this point I have had never the original version of The Sky Is Crying by Elmore James. I had only heard cover versions by Thorogood, SRV and Gary Moore. It was great to listen too this classic album again.

RRF Late for the Sky- Jackson Browne

Today on random record Friday we go from a group I have barely heard(The Moody Blues) to a artist(Jackson Browne) who I have heard many times before and has become one of my favorite musicians. I will be seeing him on October 28th with Sarah Watkins. Late for the Sky is my favorite Jackson Browne album of all time and I think it is his best. It also has my favorite of his songs For a Dancer. One thing I just learned while researching the album that the it's cover was inspired by a 1954 painting by Belgian surrealist René Magritte called Empire of Light. He states on the back of the album "cover concept Jackson Browne if it's all reet with Magritte." When I was looking though the liner notes I saw names like Don Henley and JD Souther. Browne wrote The Eagles hit Take It Easy two years earlier. Great album with not one bad song on it.

R R F- To Our Children's Children's Children The Moody Blues

The record that I pulled today for Random Record Friday is To Our Children's Children's Children by English rock band The Moody Blues. This will be my first time  listening to a Moody Blues album even though I have had this album along with Every Good Boy Deserves Favor for several years. I have only heard a few of their songs on the radio but besides that I know nothing about them. One interesting fact about them is that they are all still alive and performing which is rare for groups of the 60's and 70's.


This album which was in 1969 has many references to space travel. Mnay English artists of the time were singing about space travel in their songs  like David Bowie and The Rolling Stones.  Being  some what psychedelic rock album it is of very strange sounding especially Eyes of a Child which I like because it is one of the only rock songs to feature the harp as a main instrument something I have not heard before in a rock group. The cover art is great because now days you do not see many painted covers. Their 60's and 70's albums were designed by Philip Travers   I liked the album it was very relaxing and puts you in a good mood.    

This is so amazing words cannot describe.

Some photos of Bonnie

A Young Bobby "Blue" Bland

Bill Boggs interveiws Little Richard in 1985

Random Record Friday- Back To Back The Mar-Keys/Booker T. and the MG'S

I am starting something new tonight and it's called Random Record Friday. Every Friday I will go downstairs to my +250 record collection and pull out a random record. I will then play it and talk about it on this blog. It is  important to note that both bands on this record have had a member die this year bass player Donald Duck Dunn of Booker T. and The MG'S and tenor saxophone player Andrew Love of The Mar-Keys. Booker T. and The MG'S also turn 50 years old this year as does their hit song Green Onions. The group of musicians on this recording were the main backing musicians for Stax artists like Albert King, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and Sam and Dave. Another thing to remember is that in the year of this recording Stax would lose one one of it's biggest stars Otis Redding in a plane crash. 

The record being from 1967 and having come from my grandma's basement may be  scratched  but it still sounds good.  The album is all live material from the Stax/Volt 1966 tour of Europe.  When you listen to the first track which is Green Onions you will then know why Donald Dunn is one of the best bass players in all of music. Up to this point you have probably never heard the names of most of these musicians only their sound.  This album is all instrumentals. I have never actually heard Jones sing and don't need to because his organ does the singing for him.  Not only did they play the music but Booker T. and The MG'S also wrote most of the songs on this album with the exception of  Gimme Some Lovin", "Philly Dog" which was written by another Stax artist  Rufus Thomas and Last Night written by The Mar-Keys. The Mar-Keys and their other horn section The Memphis horns are in my opinion the greatest horn sections in the history of music. If you want an album with groove and feeling then you should listen to Back To Back.

My mom reckons I'm going to be a star. And stars don't fall from the sky.

I recently watched the film La Bamba about Ritchie Valens. It was released in 1987 and stars Lou Dimond Phillips as Ritchie Valens. The film does a good job of showing the effect Ritchie's career in the music business has on his family and his girlfriend Donna Ludwig played by Danielle von Zerneck. It shows the struggles he must face during his path to becoming a musician. Everyone knows how the movie ends with a plane crash killing three, Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens the youngest of the three victims at the age of seventeen. The film ends with Ritchie's family and friends hearing the news on the radio and his brother running to a bridge and yelling RITCHIEEEEE!!!!!!!!!. The part when Bob yells is the most powerful part of the movie. The Buddy Holly Story does not go into the effects the crash has on the other characters in the movie. The film stayed mostly true to the life of Valens in part because his mother who died later that year was on set along with Bob Morales to make sure that their characters were portrayed accurately. The part that they did not get right was the coin toss between Valens and Buddy Holly guitarist Tommy Allsup. According to Allsup the coin toss did not take place at the airport but at the Surf where the coin was flipped by radio DJ Bob Hale not Buddy Holly. The music for the film was preformed by Los Lobos who I know little about, they also make a cameo in the film as does Brian Brian Setzer who portrays Eddie Cochran.  Who knows what he would have done if he'd lived longer.

September Lineup at the Blues Club

He was one of rock's finest keyboard players and will be missed greatly.

Happy 60th Birthday to Andy Summers of The Police

Joe Walsh's new album.

Here is the cover for Joe Walsh's new album Analog Man. Will post review after I give it a listen.

The Beatles are coming to a theater near you.

/http://www.dandeentertainment.com/the-beatles-yellow-submarine/

American Fool- John Mellencamp

Got a good copy of American Fool for 50 cents.

Today I feel in the mood for some Beach Boys.

I finally got around too listening to pet sounds this week. In the RS 500 greatest albums book I got a couple Christmases ago it ranked number two beating out heavyweights like Exile on Main Street, Hard Days Night, Are You Experienced and Thriller. The Beach Boys are good but they are no Rolling Stones.

Happy Birthday Carl Perkins

 On this day we celebrate and remember Carl Perkins on what would have been his 80th birthday.

I Pity the Fool who has never listened to the Lion of The Blues.

This week while trying to expose myself to more blues musicians I decided to checkout Bobby Blue Bland aka The Lion of the Blues. I had herd his name before but had not herd any of his music.  Bobby Bland was born on January 27, 1930 and at 82

he is one of the last great blues and soul musicians alive today being that most of his contemporaries Ray Charles, Etta James and Sam Cooke have since passed on. His soulful voice and bluesy style did earn him some success on the R&B charts but he did not achieve much mainstream success like those listed above. Over the years Bland has maintained a friendship with B.B. King and they have recorded two live albums together,  Together for the First Time... Live in 1974 and Bobby Bland and B. B. King Together Again...Live in 1976. 

Going to see James Cotton on the 29th.