Recently Van Halen reformed with original lead singer David Lee Roth, wrote, recorded and released a new album “A Different Kind of Truth” The new song is called “Tattoo”.  I have only heard it a couple of times and I have watched the video a couple of times.  Here are my thoughts.

1. It’s different but then again DLR and VH are different after all it was more than 28 years ago they last released and album.
2. It’s a catchy tune. It’s definitely ear candy.
3. I wish they would make up with Michael Anthony as he is the harmonizer and background of the Van Halen sound.
4. Eddie does show that he can still play.

What do you think?

Right after I posted this a friend of mine sent me this link….

New Van Halen Song Based on 35-Year-Old Demo?

I listened to Shot Down in Flames and Tattoo and there are some serious similarities.  Interesting.

For years I have used YouTube to power my musical tastes, from searching out classic music like Van Halen Unchained to listening to new groups I have never heard of.   YouTube made it easy for me to access different versions of music including covers, unpublished and rare cuts.

Enter Tubalr

Cody Stewart created a small piece of software called Tubalr that allows you to search for music on YouTube and it will cue up the videos so that you don’t have to stop and search for more.  This means that your music will stream and not be interrupted.

Simply Brilliant!

It was 40 years ago today that Led Zeppelin dropped their 4th and untitled album on the public.

IV was Led Zeppelin’s biggest album, selling over 32 million units since its release. It is the third biggest selling album ever in the USA behind Eagles’ Their Greatest Hits and Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

The album contained what has been declared as the anthem of Rock and Roll, Stairway to Heaven.

Lead singer Robert Plant described it as “a song of hope”.

Guitar World ranked it as “the greatest guitar solos of all time.”

To me it still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

There’s a lady who’s sure all that glitters is gold
And she’s buying a stairway to heaven.
When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for.
Ooh, ooh, and she’s buying a stairway to heaven.

There’s a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure
‘Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings.
In a tree by the brook, there’s a songbird who sings,
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it makes me wonder.

There’s a feeling I get when I look to the west,
And my spirit is crying for leaving.
In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees,
And the voices of those who standing looking.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it really makes me wonder.

And it’s whispered that soon if we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason.
And a new day will dawn for those who stand long
And the forests will echo with laughter.

If there’s a bustle in your hedgerow, don’t be alarmed now,
It’s just a spring clean for the May queen.
Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run
There’s still time to change the road you’re on.
And it makes me wonder.

Your head is humming and it won’t go, in case you don’t know,
The piper’s calling you to join him,
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind.

And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul.
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold.
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last.
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll.

And she’s buying a stairway to heaven

Last year I blogged about those who the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame have snubbed. I think this year they may be trying to make it up to me. They have released the nominees. And several of those listed have been nominated. The one I think who is deserving is The Cure.

The Cure are an English rock band that formed in Crawley, Sussex in 1976. The band have endured on despite several lineup changes. With their iconic frontman, guitarist and main songwriter Robert Smith—known for his iconic wild hair, pale complexion, smudged lipstick and frequently gloomy and introspective lyrics—being the only constant member.

Like usual here are My Picks from The Cure.

Just Like Heaven

The group wrote most of the song during recording sessions in southern France in 1987. The lyrics were written by the band’s frontman Robert Smith, who drew inspiration from a past trip to the sea shore with his future wife. Before Smith had completed the lyrics, an instrumental version of the song was used as the theme for the French television show Les Enfants du Rock.

“Just Like Heaven” was the third single released from the band’s 1987 album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, while Smith’s memories of the trip formed the basis for the song’s accompanying music video. The song became The Cure’s first American hit and in 1988 reached number 40 on the Billboard charts.

In Between Days

The song was released as the first single from the band’s 1985 album The Head on the Door.

Boys Don’t Cry

“Boys Don’t Cry” was the second single to be released by The Cure, released in June 1979. It was released in the UK as a stand-alone single, and was included as the title track on Boys Don’t Cry, the American equivalent to Three Imaginary Boys.

Pictures Of You

“Pictures of You” is the fourth and final single from the 1989 album Disintegration. According to interviews, the inspiration of the song came when a fire broke loose in Robert Smith’s home. After that day, Robert was going through the remains and came across his wallet which had pictures of his wife, Mary. The cover of the single is one of the pictures.

Friday I’m in Love

It is the second single taken from the album Wish (1992), and is among the band’s most well-known songs. It was nominated for a Grammy Award and won the award for European Viewer’s Choice for Best Music Video at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards.

Love Song

This is the third single from their eighth studio album Disintegration in 1989. The song saw considerable success in the United States, where it was the band’s only top ten pop hit.

Wrong Number

The single was the new song on the Galore (1997) singles compilation 1987-1997.

Close to Me

Released in 1985 on The Head on the Door. The song was used as the theme music for the BBC sitcom The Smoking Room, for the BBC food programme A Taste of My Life presented by Nigel Slater.

Why Can’t I Be You?

1987 single from their album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me.

Hot Hot Hot!!!

Also from 1987′s Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me.

The End Of The World

2004 album The Cure

In the 1970′s and 1980′s one of the biggest rock and roll groups was Queen. The band has released a total of 18 number one albums, 18 number one singles, and 10 number one DVDs, and have sold over 150 million albums, with some estimates in excess of 300 million albums world-wide, making them one of the world’s best-selling music artists. They have been honoured with seven Ivor Novello awards and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001¹.

Sadly the band ended witht the death of its flamboyant front man Freddie Mercury from AIDS in 1991.

It’s been 40 years since Queen formed and in celebration Queen’s Roger Taylor is launching a North American talent search that will offer vocalists and musicians the opportunity to star in the Queen Extravaganza.

The Queen Extravaganza is a live touring show celebrating and paying tribute to the songs, style and vision of one of the World’s biggest bands, Queen.

Ok… That sounds cool but who is going to win.

I had no idea until I heard Marc Martel.

Who the hell is Marc Martel?

Unless you are into Christian rock and/or from Canada you probably haven’t ever heard of him because Martel is the front man for Canadian Christian Rock Band Downhere.

This is his audition tape, a cover of Queen’s Somebody to Love.

The second clip is Queen’s Famous Bohemian Rhapsody. Bohemian Rhapsody is one of the most complex rock and roll songs ever.

Brian May, Freddie Mercury, and Roger Taylor reportedly sang their vocal parts continually for ten to twelve hours a day. The entire piece took three weeks to record, and in some sections featured 180 separate overdubs. Since the studios of the time only offered 24-track analogue tape, it was necessary for the three to overdub themselves many times and “bounce” these down to successive sub-mixes. In the end, eighth-generation tapes were used. The various sections of tape containing the desired submixes had to be spliced (cut with razor blades and assembled in the correct sequence using adhesive tape). May recalled placing a tape in front of the light and being able to see through it, as they had been recording so intensely. It was the most expensive single ever made and remains one of the most elaborate recordings in popular music history.²

A Canadian Christian rocker is wowing the world with his pipes and his similarities to one of the most flamboyant front men ever.

Original Queen Version

If none of this impresses you… There is always, The Muppets Cover Queen’s mega-hit Bohemian Rhapsody.

I wish I knew where I picked up some of the music I love.  It must be from my parents although judging by their tastes in music you would never know it. Or maybe it was being a child of the 1970′s and you were just exposed to popular music.  Jim Croce is one of those singer/songwriters who has been stuck in my head singing since as long as I have memories.

Today marks the 38 anniversary of his death. Jim Croce  and his guitarist Maury Muehleisen (an awesome guitarist) and four others died in a plane crash on September 20, 1973,

Jim had a very short career but he produced a large catalog of blue collar blues, pop music.

From the incredible ballads of Time in a Bottle (written after finding out his wife was pregnant) to Bad, Bad Leroy Brown.

I miss the songs he could have written if his time wasn’t cut short.

Here are a few of my favorite of Jim’s tunes. I have also included my favorite lyrics.

Time in a Bottle

If I had a box just for wishes
And dreams that had never come true
The box would be empty
Except for the memory
Of how they were answered by you

Bad Bad Leroy Brown

Roller Derby Queen

Jim tells the story of how he was inspired to write this song.

She were five foot six and two fifteen
A bleached-blonde mama
With a streak of mean
She knew how to knuckle
And she knew how to scuffle and fight

These Dreams

What came between us?
Maybe we were just too young to know
But now and then
I feel the same,
And sometimes at night I think
I hear you calling my name
Mmm-hmm-mmm these dreams
They keep me going these days

One Less Set of Footsteps

And we’ve been hidin’ from somethin’
That should have never gone this far
But after all it’s what we’ve done
That makes us what we are

And you been talkin’ in silence
But if it’s silence you adore
There’ll be one less set of footsteps
On your floor in the mornin’

Workin’ At The Car Wash Blues

(This just might be my biographical song)

Tried to find me
an executive position
but no matter how smooth I talk
They wouldn’t listen to the fact
that I was a genius
the man said we got
all that we can use

Now I got them steadily depressin’
low-down mind-messin’
workin’ at the carwash blues

Speedball Tucker

One day i looked into my rear view mirror
And a-comin’ up from behind
There was a georgia state policeman
And a hundred dollar fine

Well he looked me in the eye as he was writin’ me up
And said “driver you’ve been flyin’
And ninety five was the route you were on
It was not the speed limit sign”

Box #10

Hello Mamma and Dad I had to call collect
‘Cause I ain’t got a cent to my name
Well I’m sleepin’ in the hotel doorway
And tonight they say it’s gonna rain
And if you’d only send me some money
I’ll be back on my feet again
Send it in care of the Sunday Mission
Box number ten

Walking Back to Georgia

But she’s the girl who said she loved me
On that hot dusty Macon road
And if she’s still around
I’m gonna settle down
With that hard lovin’ Georgia girl

I’m walkin’ back to Georgia
She’s the only one who knows
How it feels when you lose a dream
And how it feels when you dream alone

Rapid Roy

Oh Rapid Roy that stock car boy
He too much too believe
You know he always got an extra pack of cigarettes
Rolled up in his T-shirt sleeve
He got a tattoo on his arm that say “Baby”
He got another one that just say “Hey”
But every Sunday afternoon he is a dirt track demon
In a ’57 Chevrolet

Operator (Some of his best playing)

Operator, well could you help me place this call?
See, the number on the matchbook is old and faded
She’s living in L. A. with my best old ex-friend Ray
A guy she said she knew well and sometimes hated

Hello darkness, my old friend
I’ve come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

I intentionally didn’t post for 9-11. The emotion is still too raw. Nothing I could post would mean as much as I feel. I was afraid that a rant would all that would come out. Thank goodness that Mr. Paul Simon had something to say. Paul Simon began working on the song sometime after the Kennedy assassination^[1].

A friend of mine is the lead singer for a local rock band Hour 13.  This is their brand new video for “Frailty”.

HOUR13 unofficially formed in 2006. That year, band members Nick Brown and Matt Melton began playing acoustic music together in a century old farm house. The two would meet once a week to have a few drinks, relax and write.

After creating their first two songs, Matt contacted an old friend named Daren Johnson. Daren heard the music and purchased a drum set the very next day. A short time later the group added James Ortega (bass) and the lineup remains unaltered today.

Hour13 staged a backyard BBQ show for a group of 35 friends in 2008. This gave them the confidence necessary to impress on stage.

Since its humble beginnings, Hour13 has shared stages with Red Line Chemistry, Royal Bliss, Evans Blue, Saving Abel and has recently been selected to open for Ed Kowalczyk (formerly of Live) and Fuel at Viva Salt lake 2011.

“A Condescending Lullaby” was released in February of 2011. Over 400 people attended the CD release show held in a Salt Lake City Bar named “Liquid Joes”. Every single copy of their cd sold that night. The 8 song LP can be found on ITunes and Amazon.

Hour13 is supported, kept alive, and nourished by its friends and fans. Thank you for the support!

Hour 13 is Nick Brown, Daren Johnson, Mat Melton, and James Ortega

Hour 13 MySpace Page

I must admit that in my teens I may have been musically naïve.  I loved music but I was unknowingly stuck in the 80’s new wave scene. The candy pop by usually British groups filled my collection of albums. That all changed in the fall of 1989 when I was formally introduced to Led Zeppelin.  I thought I was aware of Zeppelin and music but I was sadly mistaken.   I find it ironic now that my Zeppelin education began in the same place that Led Zeppelin chose their name, Denmark.

The Yardbirds were falling apart but were still committed to tour Scandinavia.  Jimmy Page wanted to create a super group with Jeff Beck and The Who’s bassist John Entiwhistle and drummer Keith Moon and Steve Winwood (Blind Faith, Traffic) .   Legend has it that Moon and Entiwhistle thought that the super group would go down like a lead balloon. Band manager Peter Grant changed lead to Led because he thought that Americans would mispronounce it.

In the end Page hired John Paul Jones who was a session bassist and had recorded with Yardbirds.   After both Steve Winwood and Terry Reid declined offers the front man job was offered to Robert Plant (Band of Joy).  Plant recommended John Bohnam for drums.  Led Zeppelin I was based upon this tours live set of songs.  Countess Eva Von Zeppelin, even once threatened to sue Led Zeppelin for illegal use of their family name while performing in Copenhagen.

It’s no wonder these guys pushed me towards playing guitar… Here are a few of the songs that hooked me forever.

Over the Hills and Far Away

Album: Houses of the Holy

Hey Hey What Can I Do

Non-Album Track: B-Side of Immigrant Song.

Going to California

Album: Untitled Album known as Led Zeppelin IV

Living Loving Maid

Album: Led Zeppelin II

Ramble On

Album: Led Zeppelin II

The Battle of Evermore

Album: Untitled Album known as Led Zeppelin IV

Check out the Hurdy-Girdy

Tangerine

Album: Led Zeppelin III

The whole reason I own a 12 string guitar.

Bron-Y-Aur Stomp, Album Led Zeppelin III

White Summer/Black Mountain

Side Boxed Set 1990

Is there any doubt Jimmy Page can play?

Fool in the Rain

Album In Through the Out Door

Stairway to Heaven

Album: Untitled known as Led Zeppelin IV

I know that this song is cliché but after 40 years this song still holds it own. This clip is from the Led Zeppelin Movie “ The Song Remains the Same“.This version is by far my favorite and shows off the magic of the band.

Les Paul’s Google Doodle was so popular its become an internet meme.

Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin

Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles

Paparazzi- Lady Gaga

Pachelbel – Canon

Billie Jean by Michael Jackson