Discovering something different

I've been checking out some rock bands, that I've wanted to investigate, and listen to, for a while. 

They're not necessarily 'new' bands at all, but I hadn't really dug into their music, yet. (One could say that they're new to me, at least! Haha!)

So, I'm excited about checking these bands out; because I've wanted to do it for a while. And I've heard many good things, too.

Soundgarden is a great example of what I'm talking about. I actually own a fair bit of their music, already. But, for whatever reason, I put it aside. And then, I got into something else… and a fair bit time went by. 

But I felt like pulling out some Soundgarden music, again. And it's awesome!

Black Sabbath is another band that I really like. And I've been listening to them again, lately. I've listened to Sabbath, since my early teens. During the times when they were fronted by both Ozzy, and the late Ronnie James Dio. So it's cool for me to get back into them, again! I have quite a few of their albums. Especially the Ozzy-era stuff. So from around 1968, until the late 70s.

I was often listening to an Aussie band, called The Angels, as well. Which made the recent passing of their frontman, Bernard 'Doc' Neeson, all the more sad for me. R.I.P, Doc! The Angels were a great, hard-nosed, rock band.

Keeping things funky!

Hey, everyone. It's Mitch! 

I think it's time to post again! Let's 'get on the good foot'— and I'll talk about music that I'm into, at the moment! 

So, lately I've been listening to lots of very cool music. I'd say that I've been moving more towards the funk, rock, and R'n'B 'direction'. 

To be clear, when I say that I love 'R'n'B music', I'm talking about classic, old-school, awesome rythym and blues music. I'm not into the modern, popular stuff that gets labelled 'R'n'B' these days. 

Modern or popular R'n'B isn't my thing at all! I'm going to leave the current, popular stuff for other people to enjoy.

I'm getting back into rock music again, as well. For a while there, I wasn't listening to so much rock music; but I'm back into it, at the moment.

And I'm always listening to the blues! I never stray too far from the blues.

So here's what I've been listening to:

ZZ Top

I'm discovering ZZ Top, and it's way cool! I'd already heard many good things about those guys — but I never really took the time to listen to the music properly. I knew most of the hits, but then I started hearing other stuff, as well.

It's great music! It's bluesy, and it grooves!

Ry Cooder

I love Ry's work. I've heard lots of other musicians speak highly of him, as well. He has feel, AND incredible chops too! He's played with, and recorded with, so many great musicians. Like Taj Mahal, The Rolling Stones, Little Feat, Captain Beefheart. 

Snooks Eaglin

A very versatile blues and R'n'B singer/guitarist. He could play many different songs, and styles of music; like the old-school 'street singers' from the 20s and 30s. Watching him play guitar is amazing!

I've also been listening to Jimmy Reed.

Tune in next time for more! I've got way more to cover. But this post was hanging around, unpublished for a bit too long! This isn't all!

More rock: The New Barbarians. It's Faces + The Stones

Hi.

To follow up on my previous post about rock music -- here's a cool song, that's taken from a live performance in 1974. I really like this one, I must say; and it features some blokes (A.K.A guys) whom you might recognise... haha!

For those who remember my previous post, I wrote that I'm listening to both Faces and The Stones a lot, lately! And I'm getting pretty deep into Faces' music, which I hadn't really done, before. (Not deep enough, anyway.) And by the way, I've read that the band's name is actually 'Faces' and not 'The Faces'... but I'm not sure which one's right, anymore!

Playing on this track is Ronnie Wood, Keith 'Keef' Richards, and Rod Stewart... for a start. The band is called The New Barbarians. I don't think these guys recorded much (apart from officially recording their live shows), so it's cool to have this!



This nice 'country-ish' rock ballad is called 'Mystifies Me'. Love the guitar interplay between Ronnie and Keith! Cool vocal harmonies, and back-and-forth, between Ron and Rod, too.

I want to be clear, and say that I bought two versions of it from iTunes. Look under the song title, or for 'The New Barbarians'. It's worth it. The whole album's good! I think at least 2 N.B. shows are available.

I don't wish to rip anybody off. And honestly, when it's as good as this, wanted to own it properly. YouTube (and the rest of The Web) is great for finding something cool for the first time; then using it as a springboard, to take it further, and buy it. Or tell your friends.

Anyway, other versions of this song were also recorded; including from other Barbarians shows, and a Ronnie Wood solo album.

I mean here, we have members of The Stones, and Faces... just having a good time with the music, and playin' together -- and that's special!

Rock

I wanted to broadly discuss my interest in 1960s-70s rock music.

Around the age of 12 or 13, I really began to discover, and appreciate, the genre of music that many people would class as 'classic rock'. Specifically, I like blues-based rock -- mostly bands and artists from the 1960s and 70s. I got into artists and bands like:

Led Zeppelin
Cream
Jimi Hendrix
The Rolling Stones
The Beatles
Black Sabbath
Pink Floyd
Deep Purple
AC/DC
The Beatles' solo careers.
The Who
The Kinks
Eric Clapton -- not only was I investigating his solo career -- but I like most of the bands he's been in, over the years.

And please don't get me wrong -- that list is merely an indication of what I was listening to in my early teens. That was more than ten years ago. I've come so far, since then! And as far artists like Hendrix, Pink Floyd, The Stones, The Beatles, Zeppelin, Sabbath, and Cream go -- I own pretty much their entire catalog now! I know the music very, very well! Especially now!

That's one of the many wonderful things about music, there's always something new for the avid music junkie (= me) to discover! It never gets old! I'd say that I used some of these bands as a kind of 'launching pad' to discover other artists, and other forms of music. Because of my knowledge of the more 'well-known' musicians, I know about other artists, too; like Humble Pie, Little Feat, The Faces, Love, Taj Mahal, Mountain... etc. And I get into other types of music, too.

All art seems to be a door to get to new ideas.

Some reasons to love Mitch Mitchell

I have been thinking about this, since yesterday's post. Invariably, he will be billed as 'Hendrix's drummer'. Many other articles that covered the story, speak about Mitch, as though he were only some kind of skilled side man. Although playing with Jimi Hendrix is an incredible accomplishment, I think it is only fair to consider Mitchell as a talent on his own terms.

Here are some reasons, to love John 'Mitch' Mitchell:

• His apparent ability to hit everything on his drum kit -- at once; whilst being soulful.
• He played Woodstock.
• His commitment to keeping Hendrix's legacy alive.
• The drum part on 'Manic Depression'.
• He played on each of Jimi's studio albums.
• For being considered as a potential member of The Who (before Moon).
• For never trying to exploit his resume.
• His drumming (in general)!
• For using my given name!

If you think of more, always comment!

Looking into Wolfgang's Vault

The link below leads to a site that is known as 'Wolfgang's Vault':

Free streaming live music, Live concert recordings, Live music downloads, Classic rock concerts

So, what is so special about it? It offers rare and interesting concert recordings, for just about every influential musician you can think of. What's more, it's legal (and that is the real revelation). For once, it is possible to register for a free account and listen to your fill of hard-to-come-by music; without having to worry about going to jail for copyright infringement!

It seems far too good to be true! The website works because the artists are paid or compensated, every time the music is streamed. Also, I think the website buys the legal rights to use the music. Still more of the content can be bought by individuals and used.

The music that is offered not the usual mainstream, popular stuff, either. These were significant and historic (or just plain good) gigs. Everyone, from Jimi Hendrix to The Grateful Dead; to Van Morrison to Muddy Waters, to Neil Young; is listed. Each artist seems to have several shows to their name, at least.

I can only hope that it is, indeed, as good as it seems to be.

Richard Wright: 1943 - 2008

What you read in this link, is one of the official articles about Rick's death. It's more than likely, that other Pink Floyd fans have already heard the news. However, I only found out today. Of course, it came as a shock; especially as I did not know that Rick had been suffering from a serious illness. This is very sad news for me; I have been following the band, since I was quite young.

For those who don't know, Richard was a gifted keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist -- and a founding member of the world-famous rock band, Pink Floyd. Much like many other people, I first came across the band, through the album Dark Side of the Moon. It was a part of my Dad's record collection. Little did I know that the LP would change my life.

With albums such as Dark Side of the Moon, I began to realise that music can be very deep. It did not necessarily need to be a passive experience -- something that was enjoyable, but ultimately inconsequential. This was not the case with Pink Floyd, however. Their music was always interesting, because it spoke to my mind, as well as my heart. It was a life-changing album for me.

The structure of the music, as well as the lyrics, was intellectually challenging. Rick 's musicianship and lyrical contributions were immensely important; but they were often forgotten by fans and journalists. Perhaps it's because he never sought the limelight much, I don't know. Anyhow, during his time with Pink Floyd, and when he was working on a solo career, the music was always great.

So many examples of Rick Wright's music are coming to mind. Obviously most people will think of Dark Side Of the Moon, when they hear Floyd; but there were so many other musical high points. This is taking a while to write, because I have so much I wanted to say. It may even be necessary to write another post!

From my perspective, I feel this loss deeply; even though we had never met. You will be missed, Richard.