Huikean hilpeiden Galleria Selätyksen pikkujoulujen myötä nukkuminen on jäänyt liian vähälle. Eihän sieltä malttanut lähteä pois, vaan piti tanssia kaikki viime sunnuntain pikkujoulubiisit läpi puhki. Nyt kolottaa.

Sunnuntain klassikkona soi sitä myöten hieman rauhallisempaa musiikkia. Joe Walshin kaunis klassikko vuodelta 1974:

- Help Me Through The Night -

‘Help Me Through The Night‘ löytyy Joe Walshin ‘So What‘ -sooloalbumilta. Albumin julkaiseminen sattuu Walshin uralla ajankohtaan kun edellinen bändinsä, Barnstorm, oli jo hajonnut, mutta hän ei ollut vielä liittynyt seuraavaan bändiin. Näitä Eagles-miehiä on kuultu harvinaisen vähän täällä klassikoissa vaikka heillä on, niin yksin kuin yhdessä, varsin mittava skaala huikean hyvää musiikkia tarjolla. No, ehkäpä vielä joku päivä soitan Washin ‘Rocky Mountain Way‘ -biisin jos satun oikein muisteloimaan

Mitä se siitä nukkumisesta muuten sanoikaan…

I’ve been on the road this week (in fact, drove 850 miles in 11 hours on Monday — it wasn’t a great idea, but I will brag about it), so this post isn’t exactly timely. But I want to vent before tomorrow’s post-turkey overdose.

I’m generally not a sports assclown, but I am a huge fan of football, and would like to note that the Chicago Bears lost AGAIN Sunday, 24-20, at home to the Philadelphia Eagles.

But the Bears could just as easily lost to the Eagles, the band, in their current touring lineup:

• Glenn Frey – vocals, guitars, keyboards, harmonica
• Don Henley – vocals, drums, percussion, guitar
• Joe Walsh – guitars, vocals, keyboards,
• Timothy B. Schmit – bass guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals

And Frey has no wind at all because he doobed his way through the 70s, 80s, and 90s.

Why do the Bears suck so bad? It has to come from the top: ownership, management, coaching, star players. That’s obvious, but not too interesting.

What’s stunning to me as a current Chicago resident is that the sports base in the greater Chicagoland area actually puts up with this crap. Come on, this is a storied franchise! Why the suckball for so many seasons? And who in ownership is so in love with Rex Grossman that they’ve essentially cloned him as Jay Cutler?

But I don’t put this on Cutler. It takes a village of underperformers to keep things this mediocre, and few QBs could stand in the pocket as their O-line collapses like Iceland’s economy. Not to mention not having a true 1-WR, stand-out backs and ends, et al.

I didn’t grow up a Bears fan, so I feel more objective in my criticism. Being from North Carolina, the choices then were the Atlanta Falcons or Washington Redskins, which is why I pulled for the Miami Dolphins and the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Oh, speaking of, here’s hoping the Panthers suck just enough to get their head coach, John Fox, booted so Bill Cowher can step in with little fuss. It may not happen, but it would be sweet.

So the Bears will likely not collapse completely — they play the Ravens and the Rams, although they have to play the Vikings twice in 30 days — but it can’t look good for next season.

Posts like this may explain why Lovie hasn’t yet accepted my friend request on Facebook, though.

Depois de Lucy Walsh, contrariando os genes de seu progenitor — Joe Walsh, guitarrista do Eagles — e dando sequência à série a ciência não explica!, o caso científico da filha de Simon Le Bon.

Nos anos 80, o sucesso e a falta de beleza do vocalista do Duran Duran o levou às capas de revistas no mundo todo!

E essa é Amber Le Bon, 20 anos, que trabalha como modelo e, nota-se facilmente…

Que não herdou os genes new wave e/ou synthpop do papai!

Ringo Starr sempre foi um cara de sorte. A passagem de Pete Best pelo Brasil mês passado só fez reforçar o fato. Musicalmente, Ringo tem o mérito de sempre reunir os ex-companheiros de banda e de ser o responsável pelo melhor disco solo de um ex-Beatle (Ringo, de 1973).

Nos últimos anos Ringo vem caindo na estrada com sua All Starr Band (grupo formado pelos amigos que estejam disponíveis na época e que já contou com Jack Bruce, Peter Frampton, Billy Preston, Levon Helm e Dr. John, entre outros astros. Ele também lança discos com uma certa frequência e um nível mediano de qualidade. Seu último grande disco foi Stop and Smell the Roses (1982), que contava com canções dos parceiros George Harrison e Paul McCartney.

Agora, Ringo anuncia mais um lançamento – Y Not – para janeiro de 2010. O CD será lançado pelo conhecidíssimo selo Hip-O Records/UMe e conta com participações de Joss Stone, Joe Walsh, Van Dyke Parks e Paul McCartney, entre outros.

Não tenho idéia de como será o disco, até porque é Ringo vai se auto produzir pela primeira vez. Afinal, Y Not – segundo Ringo – é outra maneira de dizer Yes, We Can! O primeiro single, Walk With You, é uma reflexão sobre o poder da amizade e parte dela é cantada em dueto com Sir Paul, que também toca baixo em Peace Dream.

Ringo parece ter sido picado pelo mesmo mosquito nostálgico que infectou seu outro companheiro de banda dos anos 60. No novo CD há uma canção chamada The Other Side Of Liverpool.

Y Not, mais um gasto marcado para 12 de janeiro.

Conheça a discografia de Ringo.

Bottom of The Glass Report:

Click here to go to BOTG to check Joe Walsh “Life of Illusion”, “Rivers (Of The Hidden Funk)”, and Nils Lofgren “Keith Don’t Go (live)”

THERE WAS JOE WALSH

Joe Walsh writes pocket symphonies like this one disguised as drunken buffoonery.  Ever thought about how much thought must’ve gone into writing and recording “Life’s Been Good”?  And yet we don’t take it that seriously.  That’s his genius.

This song crept up on me after first hearing it during the opening credits of The 40-Year-Old Virgin.  It reminds me also of the closing credits of another movie, one of my faves from childhood, The Warriors, where Joe sings about life “In the City.”  I guess there’s something about his music that makes it suitable for opening or closing movies, or credits in general.  I can’t put my finger on it.  Or maybe opening or closing a bottle of tequila, I don’t know.

For awhile, I was playing this song every time I got in my car.  It’s so short that sometimes i’d play it twice before the trip was over.  My kids still hate me for it (the older one prefers “Life’s Been Good,” but for that song, all we have to do is turn on the radio).

Here’s my take on the song’s message: the other day, as I was driving, I saw my arms on the steering wheel, the wheel itself, and the whole panorama of sights.  If I looked to my right, I saw my wife, and if I looked in the mirror or turned around, I’d see my kids.  My vision was normal, but the feeling behind it was one of detachment, like I was watching a screen.  The arms I saw on the steering wheel were not mine, or rather, they were mine but they weren’t me.  My arms belonged to the external world.  I felt involved in the commonplace distinction between the external, infinite universe and the internal, equally complex world of my mind.  What was new was the feeling that my body belonged to the former rather than to the latter.  It felt like being in a spacesuit.

So, my point is that this song has to do with that feeling, I guess.

More than that, though, the song’s unbridled exuberance gets me pumped.  The “pocket symphony” thing shows up in the little touches: the trumpet parts, the slicing guitar solo, the talk box harmonies.

Key lyrics: Hey, don’t you know it’s a waste of your day / Caught up in endless solutions /That have no meaning, just another hunch /Based upon jumping conclusions… and so on.

Album info: There Goes the Neighborhood (1981)

Popdose Report:

Click here to go to Popdose to check ZZ Top “Tush”, Joe Walsh “Look At Us Know”, Lindsey Buckingham “Did You Miss Me”, Uriah Heep “Sweet Lorraine”, Megadeth “A Secret Place”…plus more

Tipo risoluto, Rudolf Schenker. È lui a scegliere di cosa parlare, dove farsi fotografare, la posizione e il taglio di luce. I capelli biondissimi e cortissimi illuminano un viso dai lineamenti scolpiti nella roccia mentre si china per estrarre dalla custodia la preziosa Flying V.

L’accoppiata Rudolf/Flying V è di quelle che superano senza danno l’ordalia del tempo e del passare delle mode. Due versi della stessa moneta.

“Credo di aver sempre usato questo modello. Da anni sono in ottimi rapporti con la Gibson e i suoi tecnici che, detto tra noi, sono i migliori sulla piazza. La forma a freccia ha subito colpito la mia immaginazione, associandola al rock come nessuna altra.”

“La serie più preziosa rimane quella del ’58, ne furono costruiti solo centro esemplari, ora valutati diverse decine di migliaia di dollari, e di questi ben cinque sono in mio possesso. Compresa quella che compare sulla copertina dell’album solista di Pete Townshend All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes (’82). Devi sapere che era appartenuta a Joe Walsh, che la regalò a Pete. Il quale, dopo qualche anno me la vendette. Per una semplice ragione, diciamo di carattere pratico. Dato che non la usava più, gli venne richiesta dall’Hard Rock Cafe per esporla in una bacheca. Pete rifiutò, seccato, dicendo che non aveva alcuna intenzione di vederla attaccata a un muro, preferendo saperla ancora attiva e accordata da qualcuno in gamba.”

Gli occhi di Rudolf si illuminano d’immenso. Il tono di voce si fa concitata, quasi eccitato, e l’infervoro aumenta quando ricorda: “Anni fa (’90-91) un artigiano ne costruì una ventina di esemplari procurandosi i pezzi sul mercato nero e di queste ben quattro fanno bella mostra a casa mia”.

Una vera ossessione.

“Mi recai personalmente a Nashville per scegliere le migliori del lotto. Entrai nel laboratorio per comprarne una, uscii con quattro. Ma come fai a dire di no, quando ti presentato tanto ben di dio?”

Giusto.

“Non se ne parla nemmeno. Non potrei concepire una vita diversa da questa, sono cresciuto con la chitarra in mano e la musica nelle vene. Non si può ripudiare un grande amore, abiurare una religione”.

Infine.

“Il rock è uno sporco lavoro, ma qualcuno deve pur farlo”.

Lavoro?Quale lavoro?

(Paolo Battingelli – Guitar Heroes)

Rock God Cred Report:

Click here to check Joe Walsh “Turn to Stone”…foreshadowing on how The Eagles would soon sound.

Buy “So What”

I was lucky enough to see The Eagles perform at the Verizon Center last summer when their tour came through Washington D.C.  Playing for a full three hours, I’d rank them right after Paul McCartney in my concert experiences.  As the group’s fifth album, Hotel California is probably one of their best known – and one of their best commercial hits.  Since it’s release in 1976, it has sold over 16 million copies in the United States alone.   

In 2003, the album was ranked number 37 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

The vinyl record pressings had custom picture labels of a blue Hotel California logo with a yellow background. They also had text engraved in the carry-out groove on each side:

1. “Is It 6 O’ Clock Yet?”
2. “V.O.L. Is Five-Piece Live” This is stating that the song “Victim of Love” was recorded in five parts live, with no overdubbing. 

The cover image is actually not “the Hotel California” but rather The Beverly Hills Hotel.  The inside photos were taken in the lobby of what is now the Lido Apartments in Hollywood.

I feel like I’ve had this album for so long it’s hard to remember where it came from, but after some sluthing on my part, I picked it up at my favorite now-defunt record shop, Orpheus Records in Clarendon.  The store closed a few months back after after a year-long closing due to limbo with the tenant planning to take over the space.  It served the D.C. music scene for 30 years – first from Georgetown and then from the Clarendon spot.  You could almost always find what you needed and walk away with a surprise.  Look for a shop profile in the coming weeks.  

The title song, Hotel California, is understood to be an allegory of the high life in LA.  It shows the dark side of the American Dream – excess.  My favorite story relating to this song is from an interview earlier this year by Plain Dealer’s music critic John Soeder.  The exchange went like this:  

Soeder:  ”On “Hotel California,” you sing: “So I called up the captain / ‘Please bring me my wine’ / He said, ‘We haven’t had that spirit here since 1969.’” I realize I’m probably not the first to bring this to your attention, but wine isn’t a spirit. Wine is fermented; spirits are distilled. Do you regret that lyric?”

Henley:  ”Thanks for the tutorial and, no, you’re not the first to bring this to my attention—and you’re not the first to completely misinterpret the lyric and miss the metaphor. Believe me, I’ve consumed enough alcoholic beverages in my time to know how they are made and what the proper nomenclature is. But that line in the song has little or nothing to do with alcoholic beverages. It’s a sociopolitical statement. My only regret would be having to explain it in detail to you, which would defeat the purpose of using literary devices in songwriting and lower the discussion to some silly and irrelevant argument about chemical processes.”

The third single from the album was Life in the Fast Lane.  Glenn Frey revealed that the title came to him one day when he was riding on the freeway with a drug dealer known as “The Count”. Frey asked “The Count” to slow down and the response was, “What do you mean? It’s life in the fast lane!” 

A bit more on the text engraved in the grooves.  Victim of Love is referenced on the groove to side 2 of the album in the message “V.O.L. is a five piece live.”  The Eagles have been accused of being fairly lifeless in the studio, so they decided to play live rather than recording the parts separately.  This was their way of letting fans know they had recorded the song at once, all together. 

Side one

1. “Hotel California” (Felder, Henley, Frey) – 6:30
2. “New Kid in Town” (J.D. Souther, Henley, Frey) – 5:03
3. “Life in the Fast Lane” (Walsh, Henley, Frey) – 4:46
4. “Wasted Time” (Henley, Frey) – 4:55

Side two

1. “Wasted Time (Reprise)” (Henley, Frey, Jim Ed Norman) – 1:22
2. “Victim of Love” (Felder, Souther, Henley, Frey) – 4:11
3. “Pretty Maids All in a Row” (Walsh, Joe Vitale) – 3:58
4. “Try and Love Again” (Meisner) – 5:10
5. “The Last Resort” (Henley, Frey) – 7:28

Music Induced Euphoria Report:

Click here to go to MIE to check Albert Hammond Jr. cover Buddy Holly “Well, All Right”, Stephen Malkmus covers James Gang “Funk#49″, Sufjan Stevens covers The Beatles “What Goes On”…plus more covers from other genres.

Rock God Cred Report:

Click here to check a 70’s classic from Joe Walsh “Meadows”…now this is vintage Joe.

Buy “The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get”

Echoes in The Wind Report:

Click here to go to EITW to check the Guess Who “Hand Me Down World”, the James Gang “Funk#49″, and Linda Ronstadt “Long Long Time”, and more.

2/1/1975
Academy Of Music, NYC

Disc One
1. Introduction
2. Meadows
3. Tend My Garden
4. The Bomber
5. Pavanne
6. Dreams
7. The Ashes, The Rain, And I
8. Welcome To The Club
9. Time Out

Disc Two
1. Rocky Mountain Way
2. Turn To Stone
3. Funk #49
4. Garden Gate
5. Midnight Man
6. Get Back
(last song cut)

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=AGS1WJ6W
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=I6HPCOXX
http://rapidshare.com/files/66673890/Joe_Walsh_1975-02-01_mp3_320_03.zip
http://rapidshare.com/files/66680219/Joe_Walsh_1975-02-01_mp3_320_04.zip

What a great life this man had. He created an icon. Countless riffs have been made on his guitars…his life was amazing. I’m getting kinda choked up thinking about it all…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Paul

One of the most famous Les Paul users…

Other notable Les Paul users…

Pleasure Cruise’n Report:

Click here to go to PC to check a Joe Walsh classic “A Life of Illusion”

Pasta Primavera Report:

Click here to go to PP to check Chromeo’s cover of the Eagles’ “I Can’t Tell You Why”