I
have been giving old Blue Oyster Cult records a listen lately, particularly
On Your Knees, On Your Feet. I have long since sold off most
of my Blue Oyster Cult records, with this one the only one remaining. So I went over
to YouTube and found that people have posted the songs there. It was great
to hear the songs of my teenage years again after so long, and it brought
back my admiration of Buck Dharma (Donald Roeser). He was a huge influence
on me back then and I wanted a white Gibson SG like his. I also wanted a
Stratocaster like Hendrix, and a Les Paul like Duane Allman, none of which
I ever got as a teen!
Rory Gallagher
I have always been a fan of Rory
Gallagher, going back to 1978 when a friend loaned me the album, Against
the Grain.
Rory was born in 1948 in Dublin, Ireland. Influenced by Elvis Presley, he soon got his first guitar. He was also influenced by Lonnie Donegan, Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters and Jerry Lee Lewis, among others.
Rory formed Taste in 1967 and headed for London where they were an immediate success. Among their fans was John Lennon.
When Taste disbanded, Rory went on to a successful solo career. His first solo album "Fresh Evidence" came out in 1971, with many albums to follow until his death in 1995. Rory sold many millions of albums worldwide and toured the world many times, with more than 25 tours in the United States.
Rory exemplified all-out guitar rock. He played his one Stratocaster throughout his career, which in today hyped-up world of electric guitars, almost seems impossible. He found his one guitar and stuck with it! That battered guitar gave the world some of the best Stratocaster-fueled music ever. This YouTube video, from 1978, shows Rory in all his power at a German concert.
I just loved the fact that this is the only Stratocaster he ever used. Today, most famous guitarists use multiple guitars, boutique amps and tons of pedals. Rory used his guitar and a vintage Fender amp turned up all the way. These were the days before an old, beat up used Stratocaster cost as much as a new one, before they were locked up in vaults, or treated like a fragile old violin. Some guitarists today spend big bucks on fake brand-new beat-up guitars, hand made amps and pedals, just to get a sound like this. I bet that Rory would have sounded great on a cheap strat copy, too! Do you think that sometimes, the tone you get comes from your hands and soul and not as much on gear?
Rory is sadly missed. He left the world a vast amount of music that I hope the young guitarists of the world listen to.
Here is a link to his page on LastFM.com, where you can listen to some of his great music!
Here is a link to The Strat Collector website, where they discuss Rory's famous Stratocaster.
If you are into buying a copy of his guitar, Fender makes a Rory Gallagher Signature Stratocaster, if you have the money to afford it!
Allman Brothers Band - "Please Call Home" movie on DVD
I have been waiting for this one for awhile - a film about the Allman
Brothers Band's time in Macon, when they lived at the "Big House".
The big house was their home from 1970-1973. This is where most of them
lived at one time or another. It was where many of the songs were written,
and where they rehearsed. It was also the last place Duane Allman was at
before his death on October 29, 1971. The house has a long history, and
is currently owned by Kirk West, the ABB's road manager. It acts as a museum,
as well, with many historical items from the band's long history.
From the website, www.thebighousemuseum.org:
"You’ll be able to sit on the front porch where Duane Allman and Berry Oakley whiled away all those hot Southern afternoons, making music, making friends and making history. You can walk up the steps to that porch and almost hear the footsteps of Jaimoe or Butch Trucks or Chuck Leavell walking up beside you. Those bells you hear in the distance on a Sunday morning? They’ll ring forever in Dickey Betts’ “Blue Sky.” You’ll find out what it was about the place that made it magic, that made it special, that made it home—so much so that when Gregg Allman wrote, “Please Call Home,” this is the home he was writing about. This is where the journey began and the Big House Foundation is now making this one little stretch of Vineville Avenue in Macon, Georgia the road that goes on forever. "
"Please Call Home" was made by Bright Blue Sky Productions and The Big House Foundation and was produced as a fundraiser for the Big House Foundation. Visit the website, www.pleasecallhomethemovie.com.
Paul Kossoff
I started playing guitar
in 1974. I thought I knew all the great guitar players of the time, the
ones who I would spend hours trying to learn from. Paul
Kossoff flew under my radar, even though I knew of him and of Free,
from the hit "All Right Now."
I never listened to much of anything that he did until today. I sit here listening to him pour tons of emotion out of his guitar on the song, "Time Away", which came from his Back Street Crawler band, the last before his death at age 25 on March 19, 1976. This song was apparently influenced from his brush with death.
I went on YouTube and watched as much Free and other videos that are out there and have come away with the opinion that he had the best vibrato in rock, and did more with a Les Paul and a Marshall than most of us dream of. Not many effects - just straight in to the amp, maybe a touch of a Leslie rotating speaker here and there.
I have to say that the music that Free did sounds like it was recorded in the present. These songs came out in 1971! How did I miss this guy?
Now listen to Angus Young of AC/DC. You can tell he spent hours listening to Paul Kossoff, as the use of vibrato and the Gibson/Marshall tones are very similar. I love Angus and Malcolm's playing for just keeping it simple.
So many of the great musicians I have liked haved die young and left behind a legacy of music that carries onto the 21st century. Paul, Randy Rhoads (who also died on March 19), Duane Allman, and Tommy Bolin accomplished so much in their short lives, and even years after their passing, here we are still talking about them.
I hope the aspiring guitarists of tomorrow give a listen to Paul Kossoff and learn a thing or two about the art of simple, plug-in and play rock.