Give me your music, your art, your huddled masses of words and rhythms yearning to breathe free.
“Everyone else wanted to be Elvis; I wanted to be Scotty,” Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards once told music writer James L. Dickerson. He’s referring, of course, to Scotty Moore, the finger-picking phenomenon who has long been considered rock’s first lead guitarist. Mr. Moore, who turns 83 today, was Elvis Presley’s sizzling sideman from 1954 … Read more
I’ve stayed in my share of dreary motels, haughty hotels, Socialist-designed apartments with poster-board walls, and even nuclear plant “guest houses” (don’t even ask) in villages with names that lacked vowels, but I’ve never experienced anything quite like Frank Zappa’s 1971 mind-blowing movie, “200 Motels.” But then, I never dropped acid, either. (Becherovka was the … Read more
What do Nerk Twins, Glimmer Twins, and Toxic Twins have in common? They’re all pseudonyms for musical duos who, through some mystic alignment (or collision) of planets, came to front legendary rock bands. Today I’ll take a look at the origin of these monikers and offer up a few of my own. The Nerk Twins … Read more
Imagine the Rolling Stones’ classic “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” sans the embellishments of the London Bach Choir. Definitely doable, in my opinion. Ponder the Beatles’ “The Long and Winding Road,” minus the Phil Spector-imposed orchestral strings and choir of angels. Totally preferable. Contemplate Bob Dylan’s landmark “Like a Rolling Stone” without those … Read more
Cutting your teeth…honing your skills…paying your dues…(and, my favorite)…making your bones. Whatever you want to call it, Jimi Hendrix did it all in the days prior to achieving eternal superstardom as the greatest rock guitarist of all time. He played for years in backup bands for such American artists as Little Richard, Sam Cooke, the … Read more