What is Rock and Roll?

The nominating committee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame just told us that all of the following are Rock and Roll artists:

Beck, Pat Benatar, Kate Bush, Devo, Duran Duran, Eminem, Eurythmics, Judas Priest, Fela Kuti, MC5, New York Dolls, Dolly Parton, Rage Against the Machine, Lionel Richie, Carly Simon, A Tribe Called Quest, and Dionne Warwick.
 
Uh, what?  A lot of those are very successful music acts, yeah.   But rock and roll?   Come on!   Only a handful ever rocked.   I thought we were done worrying about the Rock Hall, but really?

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Let Me In sweet mama!

Derringer just played two shows in Atlanta.

If you're reading this, you likely know Rick Derringer beyond his single solo mainstream success, Rock and Roll Hoochie Coo. You likely also know Hang On Sloopy from when he fronted the McCoys in the Sixties. You likely also know Free Ride and other numbers from his work with Edgar Winter. Last week at Eddie's Attic, we got those songs and a lot more.

Rick was back on tour with his longtime band to showcase his musical life in a Storytellers setting. Playing only an acoustic guitar, Rick took us through his early days in Ohio with the McCoys and some of their single hits. We got stories of opening for The Rolling Stones throughout their 1966 US tour. We got his story of talking with Ringo Starr about how Hang On Sloopy briefly kept Yesterday from reaching number 1. Ringo's classic reply: "I don't care. I didn't play on either of them!" Peace and Love.

We got stories of the McCoys breaking free of the bubblegum scene and heading to NYC to play clubs including a residency at The Scene, and meeting such stars as Jimi Hendrix. We got stories of being the "And" in Johnny Winter And. We got an updated Still Alive and Well, with some additional faith based lyrics to remind us of his current world.

Read more about that here:

http://www.rickderringer.com/testimony.html
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By the early seventies, Derringer was a sought after hired guitar gun hot shot, playing on such great albums as Alice Cooper's Killer, Todd Rundgren's Something Anything, and most of Steely Dan's albums. He enjoyed moderate success throughout the seventies, never breaking big, but steadily rocking. We first found him on Derringer Live, which remains his best work.

We got stories of his work with The Edgar Winter Group (but didn't play Frankenstein) and Dan Hartman.

Success was more elusive after that, but the centerpiece of the evening was a series of stories about meeting Cyndi Lauper, her introduction for him to the world of wrestling, and his writing of Real American, co-opted since by everyone from Hulk Hogan to Barrack Obama.

Before and after the show, Rick and his wife Jenda hung out, signed autographs, and talked with everyone.

Thank you Rick Derringer.

His next trip through town was less fun: http://www.11alive.com/mb/news/local/musician-rick-derringer-caught-carrying-gun-at-atlanta-airport/385101999
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We started off so audaciously. With the bootleg responses of Live at Leeds and Ya-Yas, we were lulled and duped into thinking that capturing a great live performance and hoping a record company would release it on vinyl would be easy. Not so fast my friend. Some of the greatest live rock acts have never adequately captured the live experience on vinyl (think Bowie or the Dead)

What are the greatest live albums of all time? A few rules first.

Only one title per artist, made more difficult for artists such as The Rolling Stones with multiple quality official live releases.

It must be an official release, not a bootleg. Although so many former classic bootlegs are now receiving archival release, that line constantly moves.

It can be a bonus disc or discs in a reissue or anthology. And then there are monumental live sets like Bob Dylan's 36 disc The 1966 Live Recordings or The Grateful Dead's 73 disc Europe '72: The Complete Recordings or Pearl Jam and other artists releasing soundboard recordings of entire tours. In those cases we'll limit ourselves to a single show.

It must consist of all live performances in front of an audience, even if some studio clean up was performed later. Yes, that's you Kiss and Thin Lizzy. But that means no Let It Be, Wheels of Fire or Goodbye, Fandango, or Cheap Thrills. It also means no Live at the BBC or Peel Sessions titles.

We also recognize that the mid-seventies was the heyday of the live album, often acting as a de facto greatest hits set for many artists without a lot of hits. We're also a little light on the Grand Funk Wishbone Ash type sets as well as the poppier side like Neil Diamond and Elton John.

We love these greatest of all time lists not to justify our already-existing opinions, but to find great music we may have missed. And to let the debate begin. Not a single person reading this list will agree on every entry here. Therein lies a beauty and truth of music. It is art and speaks to each of us differently.

So, yes, I have very likely considered the album you were hoping I had listed but didn't ("this list has no credibility if Live Bullet and Tokyo Tapes are both missing!"), and I might simply not like it as much as you do. Yet maybe you'll find a title or five that you may not have listened to and will come to enjoy.

And then there were twelve. The Dirty Dozen

Rolling Stones - The Brussels Affair
Pink Floyd – Live At Wembley Stadium 1974 (Dark Side of the Moon bonus disc)
Nirvana – MTV Unplugged
James Brown – Live and Lowdown at the Apollo
Bob Dylan – The Bootleg Series Volume 4 “Royal Albert Hall”
The Who - Live at Leeds
Elvis Presley - A Golden Celebration - 1956 Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show in Tupelo
U2 - Zoo TV Live
Bob Marley and the Wailers Live!
Jimi Hendrix – Jimi Plays Monterey
Velvet Underground - 1969 Live
Joy Division – Amsterdam (from Refractured box set)

This is a much harder task than anticipated. So many really monumental live performances to choose from. To pare down to 50. Then to rank em.

Let's start with our unranked honorable mentions, alphabetically. Each of these titles is a great live album.

AC/DC - If You Want Blood
Cheap Trick - at Budokan
​Delaney and Bonnie and Friends - On Tour with Eric Clapton
Dr. Feelgood - Stupidity
Peter Frampton - Comes Alive!
Humble Pie - Performance Rockin The Fillmore
J. Geils Band - "Live" Full House
My Morning Jacket - Okonokos
Tom Petty - Live Anthology

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WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM LIVE

Is how Fee Waybill and The Fabulous Spooner once challenged us. What do you want? What David J wants is to share his music directly with his fans. Through his website (http://www.davidjonline.com/living-room-shows.html), the legendary musician is playing in living rooms across the country, self-funding and self-promoting.

​For our Atlanta show (Sunday June 12, 2016), our host was the lovely Lisa King at Electron Garden Studio in Avondale Estates, a perfect setting for a surreally perfect evening. We were told the event sold out. As the crowd of 40 or so devotees assembled in advance of the promised 8pm show time, Lisa's group, The Hot Place (http://www.thehotplaceband.com/) entertained us with a few of their original songs, performed as an acoustic trio. Introducing their last number, Lisa reminded us that we've lost too many icons, too many heroes already this year, before launching into an acoustic Ace of Spades.

​The Hot Space gathered up their gear, Lisa walked toward the microphone as David fucking J nearly ran to the same microphone, a few minutes before 8. And he was off with no fanfare. Just a beautiful bright yellow shirt that Tim had noticed as we arrived, an old acoustic guitar, and his iconic glasses and haircut, looking much the same now as he approaches 60 as he did in 1979 as Bauhaus 1919 began.

Although most of the evening was simply David, acoustic guitar (wilting in the June Atlanta heat), and his adoring audience, he brought his friend Sasha Vallely to help with harmony vocals for a handful of songs.

​http://www.shortandsweetnyc.com/2012/05/spindrifts-sasha-vallely-discusses-their-new-album-spaghetti-westerns-and-more/

​SOMEONE SHOT NOSTALGIA IN THE BACK

Anyone expecting a Beach Boys or Rolling Stones style oldies jukebox show wandered on this set by mistake. David J has claim to one of the coolest back catalogs in music, being able to draw from Bauhaus, Love and Rockets, and now over 30 years of solo and other collaborative material, yet eschews laurel resting for connecting with his audience. His song titles betray a lighter more humorous man than the iconic bassist who would face away from the audience during his spotlight sets with Love and Rockets. One stretch of four consecutive songs Sunday night were: Goth Girls In Southern California; Almost A Menage a Trois; Hot Sheet Hotel (replete with sing along chorus); and Where The Bloodline Ends (the vasectomy song).

There were no Bauhaus songs, not those he wrote (Bela) nor sang (Mr. Moonlight), and only two from Love and Rockets (No New Tale To Tell and Waiting For the Flood). There were three covers, and beautiful choices all. First up was Little Red Corvette, with no apparent irony. After a lengthy first set, his abbreviated second set started with a rocking rollicking What's So Funny Bout Peace Love & Understanding.

For his final number, David re-emerged looking all Captain Sensible in a black and white polka-dot dress and extreme white shades for a great cover of Queen Bitch, ostensibly in support of North Carolinians being able to use the public restroom of their choice.

After the show, David J stuck around to speak with any and everyone who wished to, signing merchandise, old records and concert tshirts, and taking pictures. We even got a quick smile from him. Mine has lasted days.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_J

Please visit David's site for more information and to purchase his music and book:  ​http://www.davidjonline.com/music.html

Is November 11, 2016 the greatest day in archival release history?

Ronald Koal and the Trillionaires.

Remember when David Bowie fronted an Ohio surf punk band in the 80s? If you were there at The Agora on High Street or at Stache's, or maybe Zachariah's Red Eye Salloon, then you caught it and danced the night away. Surf rolled drums, raging sax skronk, and agit guitar frenzy fronted by kool. Or Koal. Ronald Koal and the Trillionaires were the best band in the Midwest in the early 1980s, at least until the Mats squirted out Let It Be. The Trillionaires released exactly one album and two singles, although I once owned a tattered cassette tape marked only "13th floor" with studio recordings of unreleased classics like Beach Bum, alongside alternate takes of the album trax. That tape is long lost, and I regularly rue its demise. Ronald himself graced the Monthly Planet cover in garish green relief. Legend sez that Zappa told Ronald that he made Bowie look like a fake.

They had the goods and their sole album is a Lost Classic.

Further reading here:

http://andywhitman.blogspot.com/2009/02/ronald-koal.html

https://www.facebook.com/Destinationzeromovie/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywefgUhjg44