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Give me your music, your art, your huddled masses of words and rhythms, yearning to breathe free.
Give me your music, your art, your huddled masses of words and rhythms, yearning to breathe free.
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Give me your music, your art, your huddled masses of words and rhythms, yearning to breathe free.
Bass players are the Rodney Dangerfields of the rock world, it seems. I tell ya, they just don't get no respect. And no wonder! On the day after God created rock stars (sometime around 4 am on a gin-soaked Saturday night in Memphis), he created groupies. And he commanded them: "Thou shalt honor thy singer and thy lead guitarist and have no false rock Gods before thee."
"Like Mick Jagger in exact reverse." That's the way Keith Richards has described Mick Taylor, the straight-faced guitarist who was sucked into the carnal vortex of the Rolling Stones at the tender age of 20. He did more than just replace guitarist and founding member Brian Jones, he added a whole new dimension to the Stones' dirty white-boy sound. His bluesy, melodic playing and ability to read a song were crucial to the success of the band's three masterpiece albums: "Let it Bleed," "Sticky Fingers," and "Exile on Main Street." He turns 67 tomorrow.
In 1976 the U.S.A. was having a big birthday - its 200th. In the Land of the Free, American rock fans could have their cake and eat it, too. New flavors were popping out of the oven daily, from Punk Pecan to Disco Devil's Food to bland ol' Styx-Style White Cake. But the all-time favorite, Arena Deluxe, was still in big demand. Yes, The Ramones, Kansas, and The Bee Gees were poised to explode, but the electric guitar titans weren't going away any time soon. And Peter Frampton was living proof of that. By the middle of that festive bicentennial summer, nearly every rock fan I knew had a copy of "Frampton Comes Alive," the two-record set released by the very pretty British singer/guitarist/songwriter. It reached the #1 spot on the U.S. charts on April 10, 1976, and ended up being the biggest LP of the year, selling over 6 million copies and remaining on the American charts for 97 weeks!
One of the most unusual and innovative new performers of the day chooses you for his band, insists you wear eyeliner, satin, and 6-inch platform boots, and then proceeds to engage in deviate sexual activity with your guitar while you stand on stage churning out searing licks. Sound demanding? Well, it's all in a day's work when your name is…
"I want to do biological research [to find a cure for] cancer, if it isn't discovered by then." So said future Led Zeppelin guitar great Jimmy Page to a TV program host who asked him his future plans, following the lad's performance on a BBC talent show in 1957. So, should we be disappointed that the 13-year-old didn't follow through with that lofty goal? Uh, no. Page is considered one of the world's greatest musicians, primarily known for his 12 years with the hard-rocking, eardrum-shattering Zeppelin. But long before joining up with Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham in 1968, he was considered a hot commodity -- not only as a key member of seminal electric blues band The Yardbirds, but also as a highly sought-after session guitarist. His work can be heard on recordings by some of the most popular artists of the 1960s. Here's a look at some of them.