11-20-09
Funk #48 - James Gang, 1969 (Yer' Album)
In 1966, the James Gang formed in that hot bed of rock 'n roll, Cleveland, Ohio. Joe Walsh was at Kent State University and joined the group in 1969.
Thirty-one years later, Joe would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Eagles. He wouldn't have to go too far - the Hall of Fame is right there on Rock and Roll Boulevard in downtown Cleveland.
And today on Classic Vinyl, we're going to play track 3, side 1 of the debut James Gang record called Yer' Album.
Their producer said in the liner notes that today's song, Funk #48, “started out as a soundcheck warm-up riff,” adding that the “number 48 [in the title] came out of thin air.” Presumably the same holds true for the follow-up Funk #49, which you've heard here on The Bone a gazillion times.
It's probably your first for Funk #48
11-19-09
Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry, 1958 (Chuck Berry Is on Top)
Today on Classic Vinyl, the song that Rolling Stone magazine placed at #1 on their list of The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs Of All Time, Chuck Berry's Johnny B. Goode.
Johnny B. Goode is among the most widely covered rock and roll songs in history. Pretty much everybody's grandmother and dog has recorded it - Aerosmith, Hendrix, The Stones, BB King, Judas Priest, Angus Young duck walking across the stage - Pure Chuck Berry. Don't forget Santana, The Beatles, Green Day, The Dead, Marty freakin' McFly did Johnny B. Goode on Back To The Future for cryin out loud!
Want more? I'm running out of time. Buddy Holly, Elton John, Jerry Lee Lewis, Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Motörhead, George Thorogood, Twisted Sister mister. And thats only half the list.
And speaking of Angus and AC/DC, remember when he sang on Let There Be Rock, "In the beginning, back in nineteen fifty five"?
That was the year that Chuck Berry wrote this song, Johnny B. Goode.
11-18-09
Crossroads - Cream, 1968 (Wheels of Fire)
Today on Classic Vinyl one of the first and baddest power trios in the history of the universe. That would be Cream, featuring a 22 year-old guitar whiz by the name of Eric Clapton.
One of the liner notes on the record said, "They were one of those bands who shook the very foundation of rock in the sixties."
True enough, and the Cream-arranged version of Crossroads, the Robert Johnson blues classic, would really become the signature piece of Clapton’s career, Layla notwithstanding.
Maybe you've heard the story - so which is it? Some guy just trying to hitch a ride from an intersection as darkness falls, or some guy going to a metaphorical crossroads to meet up with the devil and sell his soul in exchange for becoming a famous blues player?
11-17-09
Bang A Gong (Get It On) - T Rex, 1971 (Electric Warrior)
T Rex was led by a guy called Marc Bolan. Bolan, who told his girlfriend that he didn't expect to make it to his 30th birthday, and who never learned to drive a car, and who had visions all his life of dying in a car crash, died in a car crash in England just before his 30th birthday.
A copy of the New Musical Express (an English music magazine) was found in Bolan's wrecked Mini Cooper, open to an interview with Pete Townshend, the headline of the interview reading, "Hope I Die Before I Get Old."
Today on Classic Vinyl, Bang A Gong (Get It On) from T Rex.
Riffs from this one song have been shamelessly stolen by the likes of Prince, AC/DC, the Rolling Stones and Def Leppard, but this is the original - dirty, sweet, and with a hub cap diamond star halo.
11-16-09
California Man - Cheap Trick, 1978 (Heaven Tonight)
A lot of people will tell you that Cheap Trick's third record, Heaven Tonight, is their best. Their first album was raw and edgy, their second was more pop oriented (with the original version of I Want You To Want Me), but this one is a combination of the two.
Today on Classic Vinyl, track 3, side 1, California Man - it was actually written in the early 70's by Englishman Roy Wood and contains one of the great lines in the history of Rock, "I don't care if your legs start aching, I'm a California man."
11-13-09
It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll) - AC/DC, 1976 (High Voltage)
Today on Classic Vinyl, a group that has sold in excess of 200 million records worldwide.
High Voltage was their first American album and this is track #1, It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll).
It was always a signature number for Bon Scott, who actually played the legendary bagpipe solo contained within.
Yikes! Bagpipes on a rock and roll record? - in 1975? - Why not? Bon Scott was a bagpipe playing champion in his younger years.
Of course he never really had any older years, and because of that you won't hear current AC/DC lead vocalist Brian Johnson singing It's A Long Way To The Top out of respect for his predecessor.
I tell you folks, It's harder than it looks.
11-12-09
Synchronicity II - The Police, 1983 (Synchronicity)
Although the Police's fifth record, Synchronicity, which came out at the end of the vinyl era, circa 1983, would be their most commercially successful album, it would also turn out to be the band's final recording.
The last track on side 1, Synchronicity II, is my all-time favorite Police song.
Everybody's grandmother and dog has a different interpretation of what it's about, but I'm going with the theory of a domestic crisis so anxiety producing that it wakes up the Loch Ness monster.
Put another way, a stressed out father comes home from work one day and kills his entire family.
Seriously.
That's why, "There's a shadow on the door of a cottage on the shore of a dark Scottish lake."
11-11-09
Ramble On - Led Zeppelin, 1969 (Led Zeppelin II)
Led Zeppelin was the definitive heavy metal band. That said, they also incorporated elements of rockabilly, reggae, soul, funk, classical, Celtic, Indian, Arabic, pop, Latin and country influences.
And don't forget J.R.R.Tolkien. Tolkien, born in South Africa, was the father of "high fantasy literature" as exemplified by his wildly popular book, Lord Of The Rings, of which Robert Plant was a huge fan.
Track 3, side 2 of Led Zeppelin II, which came out "years ago in days of old when magic filled the air," is the story of an intrepid traveller who ends up in a place called Mordor, in Middle Earth, where he met a girl so fair......
11-10-09
Life In The Fast Lane - Eagles, 1976 (Hotel California)
Since its release in late 1976, Hotel California by the Eagles has sold over 16 million copies in the U.S. alone. It won a Grammy for Record of the Year and you probably have a copy of your own.
Side 1, track 3, Life In The Fast Lane, is the story of a couple of crazy kids that take their excessive lifestyle to the edge; "They didn't care, they we're just dying to get off."
Glenn Frey of The Eagles says this is a true story: "I was riding in a car with a drug dealer, a guy we used to call "The Count," because his count was never very good. We were driving out to an Eagles poker game. I was in the passenger seat. He moved over to the left lane and started driving 75-80 miles per hour. I said, "Hey, man, slow down." He goes, "Hey, man, it's life in the fast lane." And I thought, "Oh, my God, what a title."
That, and Joe Walsh was now officially in the band and playing lead guitar. They said he "had a nasty reputation as a cruel dude."
11-9-09
Too Rolling Stoned - Robin Trower, (Bridge Of Sighs)
Bridge of Sighs is guitarist and songwriter Robin Trower's second solo album after leaving the band Procol Harum. Released in 1974, it was a breakthrough record for Trower, named after the actual Bridge of Sighs in Venice, Italy.
The album reached #7 on the charts and stayed there for 31 weeks. It was certified Gold almost immediately.
The first track on side 2, Too Rolling Stoned, is about how a little preventive maintenance can eliminate the need for major repairs later.
You know......like a stitch in time?
11-6-09
Swingtown - Steve Miller, 1977 (Book Of Dreams)
Book of Dreams is the tenth album by The Steve Miller Band, released in 1977. Steve keeps rockin' the "Space Cowboy" persona on this record with great tracks like Jet Airliner and Jungle Love and today's Classic Vinyl pick, Swingtown.
So, are there any actual swingers in Swingtown? It's ironic that last year's CBS summer replacement for Without a Trace, a TV show called Swingtown, took place in Chicago where Steve Miller was immersed in the city's blues scene at the time, and whose storyline revolved around a family named Miller.
Let's head out. To Swingtown.
11-5-09
One Of These Days - Pink Floyd, 1971 (Meddle)
One of These Days is the opening track from Pink Floyd's 1971 album Meddle. Thats M-e-d-d-l-e, a play on words; a medal, like what you win at the Olympics, and also meaning "to interfere." Meddle.
One of These Days is an instrumental, although you will hear their drummer, Nick Mason, utter in a distorted death growl, "One of these days, I'm going to cut you into little pieces."
The song begins with double-tracked bass guitars played by David Gilmour and Roger Waters. One of the two bass guitars sounds quite muted and dull compared to the other. According to Gilmour, this is because that particular instrument had old strings on it, and the roadie they sent to get new strings for it wandered off to see his girlfriend instead.
Maybe that's the guy they want to cut into little pieces!
11-4-09
Message Of Love - The Pretenders, 1982 (Pretenders II)
The Pretenders second record, Pretenders II from 1982, would be the final release from the original lineup; half the band would shortly die of drug overdoses.
Nowadays Chrissie Hynde, the group's founder and the lone survivor, operates a vegan restaurant in her hometown of Akron, Ohio, called The VegiTerranean.
Chrissie actually went to Kent State University in Ohio and was on the campus during the infamous Kent State shootings. She knew Jeffrey Miller, one of the fatalities.
Track 3, side 1, channels Chrissie Hynde's inner hippie for a little Message Of Love - you know - how love is good like....Brigitte Bardot!
11-3-09
Back Door Man - The Doors, 1967 (The Doors)
Backstage at a Doors concert in New Haven, Connecticut in 1967, singer Jim Morrison met an 18 year old co-ed from nearby Southern Connecticut State and they started making out in a backstage shower stall. A police officer interrupted them and ordered them out of the stall.
Jim Morrison defied the cop, who thought he was a hippie who had snuck backstage, and eventually Morrison got maced in the face, screaming in pain and, even though his manager explained who he was and the cop apologized, during the last song of the evening, today's Classic Vinyl track, Back Door Man, Jim told the story of the backstage episode and began taunting the police and baiting the crowd.
To make a long story short, the cops surrounded Morrison, dragged him off the stage and arrested him. Jim Morrison was charged with "breach of peace, resisting arrest and indecent or immoral exhibition."
Bob Gover, an author and journalist from the New York Times noted that Jim Morrison had "that invisible something about him that silently suggested revolution, disorder, chaos."
11-2-09
Gimme Some Water - Eddie Money, 1978 (Life For The Taking)
Life for the Taking is Eddie Money's second album. It was released in 1978 and, although it wasn't as popular as his debut record a year earlier, it did include the single Can't Keep a Good Man Down, and track 4, side 1, Gimme Some Water.
Gimme Some Water is the story of an outlaw who shot a man on the Mexican border, and then, because the Sheriff always gets his man, ends up hanging from the hangman's tree.
Hell of a time to get thirsty.
10-30-09
White Rabbit - Jefferson Airplane, 1967 (Surrealistic Pillow)
Jefferson Airplane were the only band to have performed at all three of the most famous American rock festivals of the 1960s — Monterey, Woodstock and Altamont.
They were the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success. If you need to put a musical tag on the Airplane, call it "psychedelic rock" or "acid rock." It was the Summer of Love.
Surrealistic Pillow, the group's second record, fit that description perfectly, mostly due to a two-and-a-half minute Grace Slick composition called White Rabbit. It's what you get when you mix LSD and Alice in Wonderland - a psychedelic doormouse screaming "feed your head."
10-29-09
Layla - Derek and the Dominos, 1970 (Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs)
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs is the only album by Derek and the Dominos. It is often regarded as Eric Clapton's greatest musical achievement. But it might not have been so without the contributions of a 23-year-old session guitarist by the name of Duane Allman.
In 1970, Eric Clapton had grown weary from the fame and high-profile chaos that went along with Cream and Blind Faith. He formed Derek and the Dominos and embarked on a summer tour of small clubs in England where he chose to play anonymously.
The band then went to Miami to record their album and that is where Eric Clapton and Duane Allman first met and just days later, recorded the twin lead guitar classic called Layla.
Great song, but how can you tell which guy is playing what?
In an interview, Duane said, "Eric played the Fender parts and I played the Gibson parts," noting that the Fender had a "sparklier sound," while the Gibson produced more of a "full-tilt screech."
10-28-09
Rip This Joint - Rolling Stones, 1972 (Exile On Main Street)
Exile on Main St. is the tenth studio album by The Rolling Stones. It was released as a double LP in 1972 and stylistically it was all over the place; from rock & roll and blues, to country and soul.
Today's Classic Vinyl track, Rip This Joint, is a flat-out rocker with just a touch of rockabilly. It's one of the fastest Stones' songs ever and, at 2 minutes 23 seconds, is absolutely frenetic from beginning to end.
It takes us on a journey around the backroads of America with the Bay Area even getting a mention: Mick Jagger says, "From San Jose down to Santa Fe, Kiss me quick, baby, wontcha make my day."
10-27-09
Katmandu - Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, 1975 (Beautiful Loser)
Today on Classic Vinyl - Katmandu, Bob Seger's first real national break-out track - but it didn't get really big until his Live Bullet album came out in 1976.
Today we're gonna spin the original studio version of Katmandu which came a year earlier on an album called Beautiful Loser.
And even though Kathmandu (correct spelling) was a popular hippie spot during the seventies (there was even a "Freak Street") you can still wander down the narrow winding alleys of an old town lined with tiny hobbit-sized workshops largely unchanged since the Middle Ages.
10-26-09
I Feel Fine - Beatles, 1964 - (single)
Whether or not The Beatles actually smoked pot at Buckinham Palace before they received their MBE medals, it was less than 2 months earlier that the lads took their first hit of the killer weed, offered to them by the great Bob Dylan, in a hotel room, on the evening of August 28th, 1964.
Ringo was the first to try it - he started laughing and this made the others want to get in on it. They soon did and in no time the place was in hysterics.
How appropriate that we would play I Feel Fine today on Classic Vinyl.
Released as a single, I Feel Fine stayed on top of the charts for five weeks, knocking off the Stones' Little Red Rooster.
10-23-09
Bringin' On the Heartbreak (remix) - Def Leppard, 1984 (single)
Def Leppard were one of the first groups to achieve huge popularity because of the MTV phenomenon. MTV was launched on August 1, 1981 and Def Leppard's 2nd record, High 'n' Dry had just come out that summer, but it never made it onto the U.S. charts. However, the music video of Bringin' On the Heartbreak was picked up by MTV and went into heavy rotation.
In no time, High 'n' Dry had sold 2 million copies. "Thanks MTV, now we can keep our house"
Today on Classic vinyl we're going to spin the single "remix" version of Bringin' On the Heartbreak. It's essentially the same recording as the album with a few synthesizer overdubs.
10-22-09
I'm Eighteen - Alice Cooper, 1971 (Love It To Death)
Alice Cooper's first two records were pretty much psychedelic/acid rock affairs - nothing like the rip-roaring, teenage-anthem stuff that The Coop would become famous for like School's Out.
It all changed with his third album, Love It To Death from 1971 where, before his record company censored it, the cover showed Alice's thumb sticking out of his pants, kind of looking like his, you know what.
Nonetheless, this was the album that brought the Alice Cooper band to the mainstream, mostly due to their first big hit, I'm Eighteen. This was the song that Johnny Rotten sang to get the job of lead singer of the Sex Pistols.
Alice must have been feeling his age, which was 23 at the time, when he sang "I'm in the middle of life. I'm a boy and I'm a man. I'm eighteen and I LIKE IT."
10-21-09
Cold Ethyl - Alice Cooper, 1975 (Welcome to My Nightmare)
Alice Cooper personally picked this song when he was my guest in the Boneyard studios. One of the few songs to deal with necrophelia, which is the sexual attraction to corpses, it speaks of his girlfriend "as frigid as an eskimo pie. She's cool in bed. Well she oughta be 'cuz Ethyl's dead."
10-20-09
Listen to Her Heart - Tom Petty, 1978 (You're Gonna Get It!)
You're Gonna Get It!, the second album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, was their first gold record. Released in 1978, it was originally titled Terminal Romance, which is exactly what today's Classic Vinyl track is all about, terminal romance.
Tom Petty has said he wrote the song after his wife went to Ike Turner's house and "got locked in." A man is trying to take another man's woman with his "money and his cocaine" but the singer knows that his girl will be back; "she's gonna listen to her heart."
10-19-09
Black Water - The Doobie Brothers, 1974 (What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits)
Today on Classic Vinyl, the Doobie Brothers first #1 single, Black Water, from their 1974 album What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits, a title that is tough to argue with.
Patrick Simmons, today's birthday boy and a good old San Jose lad, wrote the lyrics and sang lead vocals on Black Water, a song about a place half way across the country, the mighty Mississippi River, and how it's so easy to go all Huck Finn or Tom Sawyer for a day.
10-16-09
Amphetamine Annie - Canned Heat, 1968 (Boogie With Canned Heat)
Canned Heat's second record, Boogie With Canned Heat from 1968, pretty well sums up what these guys were all about - a rockin' mix of electric rhythm and blues with a significant emphasis on badass boogie-woogie.
Track 2, side 2, Amphetamine Annie, is the story of a chick who's "always shovelin' snow."
So, as we get ready to feel the love of yet another analog recording, you'll find out that this is a song with a message.
10-15-09
Roxanne - The Police, 1978 (Outlandos d'Amour)
You've probably heard the story of how Roxanne by The Police came about - Sting was walking around the Red Light district of Paris where The Police were playing in the 70's, checking out all the ladies, then went back to his hotel and wrote one of the great "I'm in love with a hooker" songs of all time.
Roxanne was actually a flop when it was first released as a single. It also appeared on the debut Police record, Outlandos d'Amour (translation: Outlaws of Love).
A year later The Police got famous, Roxanne was a monster hit and they were on their way to superstardom.
You might get the idea that Roxanne is kind of a reggae song, but Sting has said that he originally conceived it as a bossa nova, although he credits Police drummer Stewart Copeland for the final arrangement - as a tango.
Btw, the laughing at the beginning is Sting - he tripped in the recording studio and fell over the piano - they left that part in.
10-14-09
SWLABR - Cream, 1967 (Disraeli Gears)
Cream was the first Supergroup. Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker. Also one of the great power trios in the history of mankind. Right up there with the Jimi Hendrix Experience.
Besides playing bass, Jack Bruce sang nearly all the lead vocals in Cream. He also wrote today's Classic Vinyl track, SWLABR, which stands for She Was Like A Bearded Rainbow. Get it? She Was Like A Bearded Rainbow?
Of course not, but remember it was the psychedelic 60s. It wasn't supposed to make much sense. Unless maybe you just dropped some acid in the Summer of Love in 1967.
10-13-09
Rock The Nation - Montrose, 1973 (Montrose)
On the occasion of Sammy Hagar's 62nd birthday today, let me just remind you that not only has the Red Rocker been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and has been Commissioned as a Kentucky Colonel, he's had the opportunity to work with some of rock's most famous guitarists including Joe Satriani, Eddie Van Halen, Neal Schon of Journey and a guy we're going to hear today on Classic Vinyl, Ronnie Montrose.
Sammy played in a bunch of bands before Montrose really took off in 1973. The classic debut Montrose album starts with this track, Rock The Nation.
10-12-09
Venus - Shocking Blue, 1969 (The Shocking Blue)
Dutch rockers Shocking Blue were one-hit wonders. Actually they were International one-hit wonders.
With a catchy guitar riff that had "Pete Townsend/Pinball Wizard" written all over it, Shocking Blue had a worldwide hit in late 1969 with Venus, which was later a #1 hit for a group called Bananarama.
Venus reached #1 in America, France, Germany, and Japan - everywhere but the home country, Holland.
If the Beatles, The Stones and The Who spearheaded the British Invasion, Shocking Blue led the charge for the Dutch Invasion of the world in 1969.
10-9-09
Don't Let Me Down - The Beatles, 1969 (Let It Be….Naked)
John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE.. was born in Liverpool, England, 69 years ago today in the middle of a German air raid during World War II.
Don't Let Me Down is a John Lennon composition that The Beatles played at their infamous concert on the rooftop of the Apple building in London in 1969 - their final performance in public.
Don't Let Me Down is an anguished love song Lennon wrote to his wife Yoko Ono, a woman for whom he wrote "Nobody ever loved me like she does."
10-8-09
Rockaway Beach - The Ramones, 1977 (Rocket To Russia)
The best way to describe The Ramones is to say they've cut rock & roll down to its bare essentials — four chords.
Rockaway Beach was written by Ramones bassist Dee Dee Ramone (with a little nod to the Beach Boys and other early rockers) about Rockaway Beach, a surf spot in Queens, New York, where Dee Dee liked to hang out.
Johnny Ramone (today is his birthday) always claimed that Dee Dee was the only real beachgoer in the Ramones.
Well, let's go then! Its not hard, not far to reach. Rockaway Beach!
10-7-09
Dazed And Confused - Led Zeppelin, 1969 (Led Zeppelin)
In 1969, the first Led Zeppelin record initially received negative reviews. In 2003 it was ranked number 29 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
A lot of that had to do with today's Classic Vinyl track, Dazed And Confused, one of three Zeppelin numbers where Jimmy Page plays guitar with a violin bow.
Page used to play Dazed And Confused when he was still a member of the Yardbirds, so the song was a natural for Led Zeppelin's live shows from the beginning.
The last track on side 1 of their classic debut album, Dazed and Confused, would become Led Zeppelin's signature performance piece for many years to come.
10-6-09
L.A. Woman - The Doors, 1971 (L.A. Woman)
Today on Classic Vinyl, The Doors, L.A.Woman.
I know you've heard the song L.A.Woman a gazillion times, what with all that Jim Morrison/mojo risin' stuff, but let me just say that if your only exposure to the term "mojo" was in an Austin Powers movie, you get the idea anyway.
When an old blues singer sings of having his mojo working, he's saying he's gonna get lucky with the ladies that night.
Same thing in 1971 when Jim Morrison and The Doors took us on a full-throttle journey through the underbelly of Los Angeles, driving around looking for little girls in their Hollywood bungalows.
10-5-09
The Argument Clinic - Monty Python, 1972 (Monty Python's Previous Record)
Monty Python were to comedy what the Beatles we're to music - a major British institution. If you saw Spamalot when it was in San Francisco this Summer, that is pure Monty Python.
Today on Classic Vinyl we're going to play you one of the most popular and famous Monty Python sketches, The Argument Clinic.
9-25-09
Chickenfoot - Soap on a Rope, 2009 (Chickenfoot)
Chickenfoot is a band that came together quickly and may end just as quickly.
According to Sammy Hagar: "[Chickenfoot] started off with me, Michael Anthony and Chad Smith jamming at my club, Cabo Wabo, in Mexico. Then people started asking us when we were going to tour, make a record, etc. So I said if we’re going to do this properly then we’re going have to get a guitarist, so let’s talk to Joe Satriani. As far as I’m concerned he’s the best guitarist in the world."
Look at that. Nobody is arguing that point.
Take a listen to track 2, Soap on a Rope, from Chickenfoot's debut album.
Satriani rips!
9-24-09
Black Betty - Ram Jam, 1977 (Ram Jam)
Ironic that such a hard rocking song like Black Betty was produced by a couple of guys who had a string of classic bubblegum hits like Yummy, Yummy, Yummy and Chewy, Chewy.
But Ram Jam had a huge hit with the song, Black Betty, an old Lead Belly blues standard, the first track on their first record.
Black Betty is about either a Civil War rifle, a bottle of whiskey, or a hooker.
You decide.
9-23-09
Thunder Road - Bruce Springsteen, 1975 (Born To Run)
Thunder Road is the first track on Bruce Springsteen's breakout record, Born To Run, from 1975.
It is also one of the greatest rock songs of all time.
Thunder Road tells the story of two crazy kids living pretty hopeless lives that come to the realization that they've got "one last chance to make it real."
Thunder Road - a desperate car ride to salvation.
9-22-09
Killer Queen - Queen, 1974 (Sheer Heart Attack)
Queen's third record, Sheer Heart Attack from 1974, was their first commercial success. Track 2, side 2, Killer Queen, was written by the late Freddie Mercury.
It's one of the few songs by Freddie for which he wrote the lyrics first. That's because Queen's guitarist, Brian May, was in the hospital with hepatitis, so they just left a space in the song for whenever he felt better.
He did of course feel better, and Queen had their first international hit.
"A built-in remedy for Khrushchev and Kennedy."
9-21-09
Somebody Get Me a Doctor - Van Halen, 1979 (Van Halen II)
The second album by Van Halen came out in 1979, just a year after their spectacular debut album arrived to conquer the planet. A lot of the songs on this record we're actually around prior to the release of the first album, and today's Classic Vinyl track was even on the famous demo recorded in 1975 by Gene Simmons.
With the recent word that Eddie Van Halen is recovering from delicate hand surgery due to a bone spur, a twisted tendon, and a cyst in the joint of his left thumb, apparently all his bandmate David Lee Roth can say is, "Somebody Get Me a Doctor."
9-18-09
Can't You See - Marshall Tucker Band, 1973 (Marshall Tucker Band)
The Marshall Tucker Band got their name off a key to an old warehouse where they used to rehearse in Spartanburg, South Carolina in the 70's. On their way out to dinner one night, somebody noticed a tag on the key to the door that said "Marshall Tucker." The name would turn out to be that of a blind piano tuner who had rented the space previously.
One of their biggest hits, Can't You See, track 2, side 1 of their debut record, tells the story of an old hippie cowboy who's been dumped by his woman and just wants to find himself a hole in the wall and crawl inside and die.
9-17-09
I Just Want to Make Love to You - Foghat, 1977 (Foghat Live)
Foghat specialized in simple, hard-rocking blues-boogie, they toured incessantly, and they had tons of best-selling records.
The biggest of which was Foghat Live, selling over 2 million copies. It's success was due in no small part to their cover of the old Willie Dixon blues song, I Just Want to Make Love to You.
It was a big hit for Muddy Waters in the 50's, it was a hit for Foghat on their first record in the early 70's, and it was an even bigger hit for Foghat on this record, where guitarist and vocalist Lonesome Dave tells the story of a fellow that ain't exactly looking for a housekeeper.
9-16-09
Rock Candy - Montrose, 1973 (Montrose)
Ironic that the debut Montrose album wasn't that successful in the beginning - some say their record company had no idea how to market the group and their sound. However, as you know from the gazillion times you've heard it on the radio, Montrose has undergone a bit of a renaissance since then - the album eventually went platinum.
Track 2, side 2, Rock Candy, along with Bad Motor Scooter, it's probably the best known Montrose song. About "Reaching for your dreams" and "Taking a chance" in life, Rock Candy starts out with a brutal drum beat courtesy of Denny Carmassi and of course one of Ronnie Montrose's most famous guitar riffs.
9-15-09
Us and Them - Pink Floyd, 1973 (The Dark Side of the Moon)
Today on Classic Vinyl, we remember the great Pink Floyd keyboardist, Richard Wright. This guy was an absolutely vital part of the Pink Floyd sound from the very beginning. He passed away a year ago today.
David Gilmour said he and Rick had a "musical telepathy" and happily the two of them share vocals on today's song, Us and Them.
There's a great story that goes along with this tune. It was originally written on the piano by Rick Wright for the movie Zabriskie Point in 1969. Director Michelangelo Antonioni said, "It's beautiful, but too sad, you know? It makes me think of church."
The song was put on the shelf until The Dark Side of the Moon.
We join a London pub conversation in progress as track 1, Money, winds down and Richard Wright saunters in on Hammond organ.
"And in the end it's only round and round and round."
9-14-09
Turn It on Again - Genesis. 1980 (Duke)
1980's Duke album from Genesis was the line between the "new" and the "old" Genesis. When Peter Gabriel left the group a few years earlier, they auditioned singers like Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy, Peter Frampton and David Cassidy.
Wisely, they settled on their own drummer, Phil Collins, whose vocals would transform Genesis from theatrical, progressive rock to radio-friendly pop over the next ten years.
Track 1, side 2, Turn It on Again, is the story of a guy obsessed with his television set. He's a TV junkie, "I get so lonely when she's not there," sings Phil. This guy is so obsessed with the tube, that he thinks everybody on it is his pal.
Thankfully, even though all this fellow needs is a TV show, he'll take that, and the radio.
9-9-09
Help! - The Beatles, 1965 (Help)
Help! is the tenth US record by The Beatles, and is also the soundtrack album from their film of the same name, which The Beatles later said was shot in a "haze of marijuana".
Nonetheless, the song Help! was #1 on the charts for three straight weeks in 1965.
Help! was mostly a John Lennon song. He later said that it was a "cry for help." Apparently the pressure of being a famous Beatles started getting to him. Funny, but he called that time his "fat Elvis" period and named the song Help! "out of desperation."
9-8-09
Renegade - Styx, 1978 (Pieces Of Eight)
Styx is the first band to have four consecutive albums certified multi-platinum. And this is one of them - Pieces Of Eight, from 1978. Tragically, we don't have a copy of the record made with translucent, red vinyl, but we do have one of the greatest Styx songs ever, Renegade.
Renegade is the story of an outlaw, captured by a bounty hunter, who finally realizes that it's almost over for him, as he's about to head for the gallows. He recognizes "I don't have very long" and pens a note to his mother.
9-4-09
Only You Can Rock Me UFO, 1978 (Obsession)
Obsession is the 1978 record by British rockers UFO. This was the last studio album to feature the great Michael Schenker on lead guitar.
Have you heard about this guy? Michael Schenker played his first gig with the Scorpions at the age of eleven!
At 17, he played on the Scorps debut record. Then, when they went on tour with up-and-coming rockers UFO, Schenker was offered the job as their lead guitarist, which he took.
Only You Can Rock Me kicks off the album with a message of awesomenistic proportions, "If you aint with us then its just bad news."
9-2-09
Let There Be Rock - AC/DC, 1977 (Let There Be Rock)
Let There Be Rock is the fourth studio album by AC/DC, released in March 1977. The title track builds on a line from the Chuck Berry song Roll Over Beethoven: "...tell Tchaikovsky the news".
As you'll hear shortly, Tchaikovsky did in fact receive the message, and subsequently shared it with the masses, resulting in the rise of rock 'n' roll.
Following that ostentatious birth of rock way back in 1955, rock bands we're all of a sudden everywhere, musicians got famous, record companies made tons of money, and millions of people learned how to play electric guitar.
One of the great anthems in rock as told by one of the great frontmen in rock, Bon Scott, here's side 1, track 3, Let There Be Rock.
10-13-08 
Break On Through (To the Other Side) - The Doors, 1967 (The Doors)
The Doors first album has to be among the great debut recordings in the history of the universe. Or a least the Rock universe.
With spectacular songs like Light My Fire, The Crystal Ship, Soul Kitchen, Twentieth Century Fox, and 11-minutes of Jim Morrison killing his father and having sex with his mother in The End, this band never even came close on their subsequent recordings.
The Doors recorded the album in just a few days in 1966, almost entirely live in the studio, with several of the songs being captured in a single take.
Many, many years before music videos became commonplace, The Doors produced a promotional film for their first single.
Break On Through (To the Other Side).
8-31-09
Enter Sandman - Metallica, 1991 (Metallica, aka The Black Album)
Metallica, aka The Black Album, their fifth, is the band's best-selling record to date, with over 15 million copies sold in the United States and over 25 million copies worldwide.
The album cost $1 million to record, was remixed three times, and three members of Metallica were divorced upon its completion. Nonetheless, The Black Album would be Metallica’s commercial breakthrough. It has been certified 15 times platinum in the United States, which makes it the 25th highest-selling album in the country.
Nobody in the band complains about their royalty checks.
Track 1, side 1, Enter Sandman. You'll want to grip your pillow tight for this one.
8-28-09
Come Together - The Beatles, 1969 (Abbey Road)
Abbey Road became one of the most successful Beatles albums ever. In the UK, the album debuted straight at #1 and stayed there for 11 weeks.
Incredible popularity.
Today on Classic Vinyl, track 1, side 1 of Abbey Road, Come Together, a song that John Lennon actually started writing when LSD guru Timothy Leary, of all people, was running for Governor of California against Ronald Reagan. His campaign slogan was "Come together, join the party."
Lennon wrote the campaign song, but Leary was subsequently sentenced to 20 years in prison for possession of just half an ounce of pot, and that was that for Come Together.
You've heard the Aerosmith version a gazillion times. This is the original on vinyl.
8-27-09
Paradise by the Dashboard Light - Meat Loaf, 1977 (Bat Out Of Hell)
Meat Loaf has appeared in over 50 movies or television shows, most notably The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Fight Club. He also made an epic record in 1977 called Bat Out Of Hell.
So epic that the album has sold over 43 million copies and, even today, sells 200,000 cd's every year.
So epic that no other band has covered its most famous song, the 8 1/2 minute Paradise by the Dashboard Light, the crazy story of an awkward teenage back-seat love affair.
8-26-09
Bridge Of Sighs - Robin Trower, 1974 (Bridge Of Sighs)
Bridge of Sighs is guitarist and songwriter Robin Trower's second solo album after leaving the band Procol Harum. Released in 1974, it was a breakthrough record for Trower, named after the actual Bridge of Sighs in Venice, Italy.
The view from the Bridge of Sighs was the last view of Venice that convicts saw before their imprisonment.
Get it? They'd let out a big sigh, then it was "see you later, signore."
But that was 400 years ago. Much more romantic nowadays is the Venetian legend that says that you and your honey will be assured eternal everlasting love if you kiss on a gondola at sunset under the Bridge of Sighs.
8-25-09
Space Cowboy - Steve Miller Band, 1969 (Brave New World)
By the time Steve Miller's third record came out in 1969, he was really starting to catch on. Then he broke his neck in a car accident and subsequently developed hepatitis, which put him out of commission for most of 1972 and early 1973.
When he came back, he was "the joker" and the "midnight toker." Before the wreck, he was "the gangster of love."
Today on Classic Vinyl, Steve Miller is a "space cowboy" - I'm sure you know where it's at.
8-24-09
Ice Cream Man - Van Halen, 1978 (Van Halen)
Even though Gene Simmons of Kiss "discovered" Van Halen, he wasn't able to close the deal and make them famous. Gene wanted to change the band's name to "Daddy Shortlegs" and had even designed cover art (a daddy longlegs wearing a top hat), but the band weren't falling for it and stuck with Van Halen.
When Kiss' manager told Gene Simmons that "They had no chance of making it," that was it until a couple of guys from Warner Brothers Records heard them a few weeks later and concluded that they in fact did have a chance of making it.
The debut Van Halen record was laid down in the fall of 1977 with little over-dubbing or double tracking and has now sold in excess of 10 million copies.
Side 2, track 5, Ice Cream Man.
8-21-09
Burden in My Hand - Soundgarden, 1996 (Down on the Upside)
The band Soundgarden was named after a pipe sculpture in a park in their hometown of Seattle. Apparently the sculpture makes howling noises in the wind.
Ironic that Soundgarden's lead guitarist, Kim Thayil, would sometimes create a unique howling guitar sound by blowing on his guitar strings during songs.
Today's Classic Vinyl track, Burden in My Hand from their final record, Down on the Upside, peaked at number one on the Billboard charts in 1996, and with a warm and fuzzy theme of murder and guilt, it's no wonder that guitarist Thayil called the song "the Hey Joe of the '90s."
"I shot my love today, would you cry for me?......I left her in the sand, just a burden in my hand."
8-20-09
All My Love - Led Zeppelin, 1979 (In Through the Out Door)
In Through the Out Door is the eighth and final studio album by Led Zeppelin. It was also the last of three Zep records that was completely original.
It was also a very tragic time. In 1975, Robert Plant and his wife Maureen were seriously injured in a car crash in Greece. Two years later their oldest son Karac died at the age of 5 of a stomach infection when Plant was on tour with Led Zeppelin in the U.S.
Karac's death later inspired him to write the song All My Love in tribute.
He did the vocals all in one take.
8-19-09
Wang Dang Sweet Poontang - Ted Nugent, 1978 (Double Live Gonzo)
Ted Nugent had a minor problem in the 70's - his studio albums weren't quite as rockin' as his live shows - which we're legendary, btw. Anybody remember the Monsters of Rock Day On The Green with Ted Nugent, Aerosmith, and AC/DC?
And I know you had to have a copy of his Double Live Gonzo record which captured the Nuge at his absolute fiercest. And nastiest.
Track one, side 4, Wang Dang Sweet Poontang is a charming little Ted Nugent love song.
8-18-09
No No Song - Ringo Starr, 1974 (Goodnight Vienna)
When the Beatles split up, all four of them did solo records. Ringo Starr had a record called Goodnight Vienna, for which the cover artwork was based on the classic 1951 science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still, with Ringo's head replacing that of a guy in a spacesuit (with, by the way, a star placed prominently on the center of his uniform).
In the movie The Day the Earth Stood Still, Klaatu the spaceman, had come to Earth to deliver the message that the entire planet needed to adopt peaceful ways, a message that not-so-coincidentally matches with Ringo's personal mantra of "peace and love." Says it right there on the homepage of RingoStarr.com. Peace and Love.
Track 3, side 2 is a cover of Hoyt Axton's No No Song, wherein Ringo learns to "just say no" after winding up on the floor one too many times.
08/17/09
Pump It Up - Elvis Costello, 1978 (This Year's Model)
Elvis Costello's second album, This Year's Model, makes an appearance on Classic Vinyl - his first with The Attractions as his backing band.
A year earlier, in 1977, Costello and The Attractions appeared on Saturday Night Live as a last minute fill-in for the Sex Pistols, but Elvis played a song he wasn't supposed to and was banned from the program for 12 years.
This song, track 4, side 1, Pump It Up, is the perfect double entendre song - it can mean both turning up the volume on the music as well as doing the old couch hockey for one. You know...tickling the Elmo?
"Pump it up when you don't really need it. Pump it up until you can feel it."
8-14-09
Freewill - Rush, 1980 (Permanent Waves)
Permanent Waves proved to be the breakthrough record for Rush - an undisputed hard rock classic - just what they needed to become arena headliners. They released it on January 1st, 1980.
Shrill-voiced Geddy Lee has stated that the end part of Freewill, today's Classic Vinyl track, is at the highest part of his vocal range. That, and Neil Peart's songwriting is absolutely spectacular.
On the subject of freewill (which has been at the heart of philosophical thought since the beginning of the universe), you can go all Socrates and Plato with determinism versus indeterminism and stuff like that, or you can go with the classic simplicity of Neal Peart: Freewill is not a gift but rather a choice; If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.
8-13-09
Too Fast For Love - Mötley Crüe, 1981 (Too Fast For Love)
Too Fast For Love, the debut record from Mötley Crüe, shows off their down and dirty roots. These guys were L.A. party animals like no other.
And they had umlaut's in their name. You know - those two dots on top of the "o" in Mötley and the "u" in Crüe?
They weren't the first to gratuitously use the umlaut. Blue Öyster Cult was probably the first. Motörhead "put it in there to look mean," also there was Queensrÿche and even Spinal Tap used an umlaut in their name. Their lead singer said, "It's like a pair of eyes. You're looking at the umlaut, and it's looking at you."
Mötley Crüe's use of the umlaut apparently came from a German beer they were fond of getting plowed on back in the day.
But we digress. The title track to the first Crüe album, Too Fast For Love, tells the story of a very hot woman who is "So damn cool she can turn on the night."
8-12-09
Sultans Of Swing - Dire Straits, 1978 (Dire Straits)
Mark Knopfler, Dire Straits guitarist and main man, played guitar on a Bob Dylan album once - maybe thats why you can hear the Dylan influence on today's Classic Vinyl track, Sultans Of Swing.
Knopfler is actually a spectacular guitarist and his awesome, extended guitar solo on Sultans was listed at #22 on Guitar World's list of the greatest guitar solos and #32 on Rolling Stone Magazine's list of greatest guitar songs.
Sultans Of Swing is the story of a bunch of working class jazz guys who only want to play their distinctive sound in a London club, and they don't care how popular they are.
You feel all right when you hear that music ring.
8-11-09
Framed - Cheech & Chong, 1979 (Up In Smoke)
Today on Classic Vinyl, Cheech & Chong at, not the beginning of their stoner career, but the beginning of their movie career.
Track 5, side 1, of the Up In Smoke soundtrack is a remake of an old Coasters hit from the 50's called Framed.
Unfortunately we can't play the lead-in to this song, so let me just tell you that Tommy Chong plays Anthony Stoner (though in the final credits the character is listed as 'Man').
Anthony Stoner is a worthless hippie who gets booted out of his house by his father, gets picked up hitch hiking by Cheech Marin, aka 'Pedro'.
They smoke a joint which Chong says is made with "labrador" - marijuana and dog poop - due to his dog having eaten his stash, and having to wait 3 days to retrieve it.
Pedro says, "You mean we're smoking dog - s**t, man?" About the time that Tommy Chong says, "I think it tastes better than before, man," they get pulled over by Sergeant Stadanko who asks a very simple question......"What is your name sir?"
8-10-09
You Got That Right - Lynyrd Skynyrd, 1977 (Street Survivors)
You've heard the story. Lynyrd Skynyrd's Street Survivors album came out three days before their tour plane crashed in a Louisiana swamp, killing three band members including lead singer and songwriter Ronnie Van Zant.
Maybe 30 years of time makes it a little easier to forget about the crash, but with the best song on there, That Smell, talking about death and destruction, we're going to hear a song that's a little more upbeat.
Track 1, side 2, You Got That Right, is the tale of a good old Southern boy who's just got "that ol' travellin' jones."
8-7-09
All Right Now - Free, 1970 (Fire and Water)
Funny thing about the band Free is that they were just kids when they first got together in England back in the 60's.
Their bass player Andy Fraser, was only 15 years old while lead singer Paul Rodgers, guitarist Paul Kossoff, and drummer Simon Kirke, were also in their teens.
But they were tight. Andy Fraser said Free was like family, "We were brothers - like a gang, or team of commando's where we could be sure we were all watching each others back."
And Free had the #1 song in the galaxy in 1970.
8-6-09
American Girl - Tom Petty, 1976 (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers)
Tom Petty's first record came out in the bicentennial year of 1976 and initially was unpopular. That didn't last long though, due to the strength of songs like Breakdown and today's Classic Vinyl track, American Girl.
With those lyrics about cars rolling by "out on 441" and a desperate girl on a balcony, there have been rumors for years that American Girl was written about a woman who committed suicide by jumping from the Beaty Towers dormitory at the University of Florida in Gainesville, where Tom Petty grew up.
Not even close, says Tom, who says that he wrote the song while living in California: "In an apartment where I was right by the freeway. And the cars would go by. In Encino, near Leon Russell's house. And I remember thinking that that sounded like the ocean to me. That was my ocean. My Malibu. Where I heard the waves crash, but it was just the cars going by. I think that must have inspired the lyric."
God its so painful
Something thats so close
And still so far out of reach
8-5-09
Big City Nights - Scorpions, 1984 (World Wide Live)
Back to the year 1984.
Ronald Reagan was President, The Apple Macintosh was introduced, Michael Jackson's hair caught fire, and there was this German rock band who absolutely took the world by storm with their album Love At First Sting.
Remember that provocative album cover? Guy kissing a girl while at the same time planting a tattoo on her naked thigh?
Spectacular.
With that the Scorpions we're now officially superstars and they went on tour to cement that very idea in the minds of rock fans around the globe with a double live album, World Wide Live.
Track 1, side 2 was recorded right here in the Golden State with one of the great voices in rock, Klaus Meine, introducing the song onstage.
8-4-09
Dog Eat Dog - AC/DC, 1977 (Let There Be Rock)
Today on Classic Vinyl, AC/DC's first record to chart in the U.S. - Let There Be Rock. If you'll pardon the expression, this is a high-voltage, nasty album - just like the band itself.
To add to the group's allure, Bon Scott was even busted a few times for petty infractions in Australia and was rejected by the Australian Army for being "socially maladjusted."
Sounds like the perfect guy to sing for a dirty, sweaty rock band.
Side 1, track 2 - Dog Eat Dog.
8-3-09
Dancing With Myself - Billy Idol, 1981 (Billy Idol w/ Gen X EP)
When Billy Idol became disillusioned with his band Generation X in England, he moved to New York City and put out an EP - which stands for "extended play" - four songs on a 7" vinyl record - one of those songs was Dancing With Myself.
To set the record straight, Dancing With Myself is not about masturbation, you pervert. It really is about......dancing by yourself.
During Billy Idol's 1979 Japanese tour, he got the idea watching Asian kids "dancing with themselves" in a nightclub - kind of a pogo thing.
Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols played the guitar solo on Dancing With Myself, a song guaranteed to immediately fill the dance floor when its 80's Night at the Cat Club here in SF.