So does anyone besides myself actually like the Buckingham Nicks record? Or even know what the heck I'm talking about? You might be asking yourself, "Wait, what? There's a Buckingham Nicks record? Since when?"
That's right. Before Lindsey and Stevie even met Mick Fleetwood and the McVie's, they had their own record out under Polydor. It was released in September of 1973. It flopped. Then it was reissued (as you can tell from what the poster is advertising). And today it isn't even available on CD. However, there are bootlegs aplenty and it's fairly easy to track down if you're interested. It's great. It really is.
The reason I bring this up is because a couple weeks ago on eBay I spotted a very cool BN poster (pictured above - forgive me for the glare!). It was a good price so I snatched it up. It came from the U.K. and finally arrived today!
Here's a close-up of the paragraphs (I think you can click to enlarge):
As the review says, if people had actually known about this sucker (i.e. that it even existed) back when it was released then things might have turned out differently. Go listen to it!
To make it easy for you, here's one of their songs called "Frozen Love": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vey-TKWYulo The music, the lyrics, the harmonies. Amazing stuff.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on cover songs - it was interesting to read all your comments!
First of all, I hope everyone had a splendid Memorial Day weekend. And I hope you all took some time yesterday to think about all the men and women of our military who make the ultimate sacrifice for us every day. I know this is a day late (it was a very long, hectic & tiring weekend), but I encourage you to take two and a half minutes to watch this video. And don't worry about what news channel this comes from because supporting our troops (past and present) isn't about political parties. I don't care if you're white, black, green or red or Democrat or Republican... we all need to support our troops and remember everything they do for us that we don't do for ourselves. They're risking their lives overseas so that we can live freely (well, for now...) here in the greatest country on Earth (again, for now...). It won't let me embed, but here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGzVkOcJYEM
In other news, it's one of my favorite artist's birthdays soooo Happy Birthday to Stevie Nicks! She's 61 today and still one of the greatest rock and roll women ever!
Oh and in other (minor) news... Adam Lambert (runner-up of American Idol this season) is apparently joining Queen? But also is considering an offer from KISS? So which is it? Who cares? I for sure don't. This kid doesn't know one thing about what it takes to be frontman, a very important job, for either band and surely isn't talented enough to join them (in my humble opinion, of course). I don't care how good he is.
I think that's about it for now... I feel like I'm behind in R&R news as well as everybody's blogs and I was only gone for four days. I'm going to be so behind when I jet off to London in a couple of weeks! Somehow I think I'll be okay with that though. ;)
P.S. You didn't think I was going to end without a video of La Nicks, did ya? It is her birthday after all. So, without furthur ado, here's a pretty kickass and speeded up version of "Rhiannon" from way back in 1976 on The Midnight Special. I can't decide which I like better: Lindsey's guitar solo starting at 3:05 or Stevie's last-minute (literally) freakout with her crazy vocal shenanigans (remember, this was only Year #2 of hard drugs for little Stevie). Again, won't let me embed so go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=py3w5fttedA
So, after seeing James Taylor last weekend (see the post below this one if you don't know what I'm talking about), I started thinking about cover songs. And which cover songs actually did better (on the U.S. charts) than the originals.
Through some "Google"ing and "Wiki"ing, I discovered that Linda Ronstadt is a cover recording machine. Songs from "Ooo Baby Baby" (Smokey Robinson) to "Back In The USA" (Chuck Berry) have topped the originals in the charts.
Other examples: "You've Got A Friend" - Carole King (didn't chart) - James Taylor (#1) "Blinded By The Light" - Bruce Springsteen (didn't chart) - Manfred Mann (#1) "Respect" - Otis Redding (#35) - Aretha Franklin (#1) "Cocaine" - J.J. Cale (didn't chart) - Eric Clapton (#30) "After Midnight" - J.J. Cale (didn't chart) - Eric Clapton (#18) "With A Little Help From My Friends" - Beatles (#71) - Joe Cocker (#68)
On the flip side, songs by Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and also Johnny Cash have been covered by artists.
James Taylor - Down Home Tour 2009 James looked great and sounded exactly the same as the first time you listened to Sweet Baby James in 1970. (Well, some of you at least. Not I!) Three things I learned about James last night: 1. I knew he was going to be bald, but I had no idea how TALL he is. He kind of reminds me of Gumby... he has these long legs and lanky arms.
2. He's FUNNY. He was cracking little jokes in between songs all night. Example: Before he started into "You've Got a Friend" he said that when he first started performing it in concert, he didn't realize he'd be playing it every night for the rest of his life.
3. He's got good DANCE MOVES. He shuffled his feet and jumped up & down all night. Very energetic.
After pretty much every song, there'd be a silence which would be filled by: 1) various fans shouting things like "We love you, James!" or "It's my birthday!" and 2) James taking a swig of water proceeded by him throwing the bottle in front of him (one time he accidentally loosened his floor plug-in for his guitar).
The stage: Accompanying James, there were four background singers (one who also played violin/fiddle on several songs), a piano/keyboardist, a lead guitarist, a bassist, and a drummer. James, front and center, would alternate between standing up and sitting on a stool. Overall, the set-up was pretty chill and somewhat intimate.
The setlist: Kim Taylor (wifey) came out and sang backup for two songs.
Native Texan Shawn Colvin sang with James on the last encore song, "You Can Close Your Eyes". She's from Austin and pretty much a one hit wonder... don't feel bad for not knowing who the heck she is because I didn't know either. (She sang that song "Sunny Came Home" - vaguely familiar.)
All in all, it was a great show by a great singer-songwriter! I'd say the venue was about full capacity. If it wasn't a sellout then it was very close to it.
Couldn't get any decent pictures where I was sitting, but here's a few just for grins... *I think you can click on the picture to see a bigger version!* Last song of the first set: Taking a bow (blonde in the black dress is James' wife): And, last song of the night ("Close Your Eyes") with that Shawn lady. I don't know who let her go on stage looking like that, but she should have looked in the mirror before she came out: And a cute tour t-shirt that I got (I am a sucker for t-shirts): Oh, and "blonde moment of the night" (Heck, I couldn't tell if she was blonde as I couldn't see her, so perhaps it was the "drunk moment of the night") ... in the silence after James came back onstage for an encore (while he was putting his guitar on), some lady shouted "FREEBIRDDDDD!" Definitely got a chuckle out of me. :D
I saw these little random sayings today and thought I'd share with all of you... just a little something before you start your weekend.
1. If you can't understand it, it must be intuitively obvious to the most casual observer. 2. Originality is the art of concealing your sources. 3. The English language is strange - skating on thin ice can get you into hot water. 4. Wear a watch and you'll always know what time it is. Wear two watches and you'll never be sure. 5. What do you call the cabs lined up at the Dallas airport? The yellow rows of taxis. 6. Stable relationships are for horses. 7. Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.
Happy birthday to Steve Winwood, who turns 61 today! Can't wait to catch him and Eric Clapton this summer - sure to be a great show :)
*This day in 1971...
Mick Jagger marries his first wife, Bianca De Macias - they divorced in February 1979. Bianca is later quoted as saying, "My marriage ended on my wedding day." Well that sucks. But that's what you get for marrying a rock and roll star...
Here's the [happy] couple, looking less than thrilled:
Well, not for forever, but for a loooong time. Three months to be exact! :) It feels so nice to be back at home for awhile.
So I had a really really really good idea for a post, but I can't remember what it was now. :(
Hopefully it will come back for me. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For now... I ran across this article - 10 Concept Albums You Need To Own
So... do you own 'em?
I love how under The Wall, the writer says: "Try watching the movie sometime for a real uplifting treat." <-- Too funny! It's true though, I remember being completely depressed after I watched the movie. What other concept albums do you enjoy that didn't make the list?
For me...
Of course the other PF concept album - Dark Side. It's just awesome. No words for it.
Eagles - Desperado. It's good. Real good. :)
P.S. If you say Green Day - American Idiot, I might throw up and call you an idiot. Don't judge me. ;)
I'm a college student who grew up two decades too late and missed out on some fantastic music. I relive those years through this blog, by talking about anything and everything rock music related from the '60s, '70s, and '80s-- with some of "today's" music thrown in for good measure. Enjoy!
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