Jimi Hendrix, Johnny B. Goode

Posted in Jimi Hendrix, Youtube Favs on November 10th, 2011 by Willie

And here it is, the ultimate rock and roll guitar song played by the ultimate guitar rock god.  We have Jimi Hendrix, taking the Chuck Berry classic “Johnny B. Goode,” to a place no one thought imaginable.  His guitar sounds like a galloping steed from Hell, riding headlong into a firestorm, conquering everything in its path.  I mean, what are we listening to here really?  It’s kind of like that scene from “Back to the Future,” where Marty McFly takes you through the history of rock and roll with the song.  The one difference being that Jimi just plays the song at the end of the history.  He takes the song to the limit of rock and roll, almost breaking it forever.  It’s remarkably spellbinding and should be studied by musicologists.  So, until then, it’ll just be up to us try our best and take in what’s presented below, enjoy.

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Jimi Hendrix, Hear My Train A Comin'

Posted in Jimi Hendrix, Youtube Favs on November 10th, 2011 by Willie

You’d suspect on a site like mine, there would be no shortage of Jimi Hendrix material to peruse through, but alas, this is the first one I’ve got.  It’s not for lack of love for the man, as in fact, I possess great quantities of the emotion for the guy.  I sit firmly in the camp of considering him the greatest rock and roll guitarist ever, a controversial position I know, (wink) and one that requires a bit of elucidation.  When Chuck Berry laid down his signature riff for Johnny B. Goode, he showed the world how electric guitar was all that was really needed for rock and roll.  No offense to Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard’s patented piano lead attack, but the sound and image of the electric guitar would define the genre of music, truly giving the style its rock more than anything else.  Jimi proved this thesis by taking the electric guitar to its logical end point through his experimental rocking.  It’s not like Jimi was technically the best guitar player ever, he was simply the most innovative, and the most in tune with its possibilities.  His insights transformed him into something the world had never seen before, a sort of improvisational Mozart, creating manic symphonies on the spot, all with just one instrument.  Now, with all that said about Jimi changing the world of music with his electric guitar, I present to you quiet acoustic Jimi on 12 string acoustic…Hah!  Don’t worry, electric monster Jimi is coming tomorrow, but no proper introduction of the man would be complete without a thorough discussion on his pioneering efforts in the field of electricity.  This performance of his original, “Hear My Train A Comin,'” is an awesome stunning and intimate look at the man just playing his guitar in a white room, singing the blues.  It’s among the best moments in music history, and luckily its here for all of us to enjoy, so please do.

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Greatest Rock Vocalists #5, Janis Joplin, Piece of My Heart, To Love Somebody

Posted in Greatest Rock Vocalists, Janis Joplin, Youtube Favs on October 3rd, 2011 by Willie

Did you know “Piece of my Heart” was originally recorded by Aretha Franklin’s older sister Erma?  I didn’t even know Erma existed and had a music career.  Thanks Wikipedia.  Well, we all know Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company’s classic version.  The video I have below is the most hard rocking and punkiest take I’ve ever seen.  Janis and the boys deliver this one with some extra kick and funk, blasting it out for hard core blues addicts.  The tempo is super-charged, and the atmosphere is damned manic, I’ve never seen a Janis performance like this.  The next bonus song, “To Love Somebody,” is taken from the Dick Cavett Show in 1969.  This one is just a pure showcases for Janis’s unbelievable talent and energy.  It reminds you that Janis was, and remains, the greatest female rock vocalist, and in the overall top 5 of greatest rock vocalists ever.  I have her as #5.  I came out about this number extremely scientifically, having gone through the long process of spontaneously coming up with the concept as I’m writing this sentence.  This is bound to be fun, so stay tuned tomorrow and watch me pull #4 out of my ass.

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Spencer Davis Group, Gimmie Some Lovin', I'm a Man (Live)

Posted in Spencer Davis Group, Youtube Favs on October 2nd, 2011 by Willie

Emerging like the God of blue-eyed soul in the first video below, 16 year Steve Winwood delivers one of the best rock vocal performances of all time in the seminal hit, “Gimmie Some Lovin.'”  In 1965, rock and roll’s first ever teenage prodigy churned out a series of hits with the Spencer Davis Group before departing for equally famous endeavors like Traffic and Blind Faith.  The idea that a 16 year old boy could come up with “Gimmie Some Lovin,’ sounding like Moses returning with God’s Commandments from Mount Sinai, is a rock and roll miracle beyond the describing of it, which is why playing the song over and over is a must.  Yes I know the video has an audio sync problem, but its the only version available on youtube, so, sadly you’ll just have to imagine the group lipsyncing correctly.  Anyway to help make up for that small error, I’ve included their 1967 smash, “I’m a Man,” one of the coolest blues rock of the 60s.  This version is live, and the audio is synced up, so its extra crispy, (Hackers reference.)  Enjoy.

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The Blues Brothers, Ray Charles, Twist it (Shake Your Tail Feather)

Posted in Ray Charles, The Blues Brothers, Youtube Favs on July 27th, 2011 by Willie

How about that keyboard reflecting in Ray Charles’s sunglasses?  That’s rock and roll, or more specifically, the blues.  This legendary scene, from the “Blues Brothers” movie, is and irreplaceable document of blues rock awesomeness.  The Blues Brothers were a group formed by Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, two SNL geniuses who loved the blues and came up with this brilliant concept for a Chicago based blues group.  The dark suits, hats, and shades are icons of TV and movie magic.  It’s just another example of the insane role that the likes of Aykroyd and Belushi were on in the late 70s/early 80s when it came to dominating the coolest ideas of global comedy.  The original Blues Brothers band consists mostly of the first SNL band, and they really cook.  It’s a reminder of how huge SNL was in the late 70s that even the band members got starring roles in a blockbuster feature film.  The movie, directed by hot 80s director John Landis, is a crazy car crashing romp of great music and fantastic dance sequences, evidenced below.  Check it out.

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AC/DC Week, Hells Bells

Posted in AC/DC, Youtube Favs on July 16th, 2011 by Willie

And thus the bell tolls for the end of AC/DC week, and what better way to close it out then with “Hells Bells” from Back in Black. A lot of my fellow baseball fans know this song mainly from all time saves leader Trevor Hoffman, who used the song whenever he entered a game for the San Diego Padres.  Other people might recognize the song from their astral dream journeys to Hell…hah!  Did you know that bell that starts the song off chimes exactly 13 times?  Freaky right?  This song, like the “Back in Black” song itself, is another tribute to Bon Scott, funny because all his tribute songs are the darkest nastiest jokes about him being some evil ghost or him burning in eternal hellfire.  Maybe they were happy he got “dragged to Hell.”  Probably not, they loved him, but the song is amazing piece of exciting heavy metal drama, and the perfect cap for what has been a memorable week of AC/DC ass kickery.  To all the AC/DC fans around the world, and all fans of hilariously to the point rock and roll, this is Willie Simpson signing off, and I’ll see you down the road…(i.e. tomorrow.)

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AC/DC Week, Shoot to Thrill

Posted in AC/DC, Youtube Favs on July 15th, 2011 by Willie

AC/DC is really good live.  For this installment of AC/DC Week, I have them live in Houston, Texas in 1983 performing “Shoot to Thrill” from Back in Black. It blows my mind that Brian Johnson can sing the way he can for hours.  There are rumors that now, in 2011, he is finally considering retirement.  I’m surprised he didn’t retire after his first show.  I don’t have much to contribute to this blog post other than a recommendation to check out this utterly hard rocking exercise in kicking ass.

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AC/DC Week, Back in Black

Posted in AC/DC, Youtube Favs on July 14th, 2011 by Willie

So Bon Scott died and in comes English native and Geordie lead singer Brian Johnson.  Johnson never would match Bon’s rock star charisma, but he would out sing him in every demonic capacity.  Scott had a high raspy McCartney/Plant like voice, not nearly as good as those guys, but similar.  Johnson had something altogether different; a screeching high octave voice of dark power.  The vocal gymnastics this guy was able to achieve is mind-blowing, continuously topping his highest notes while never going into a falsetto while always maintaining his vaunted rock and roll roar.  It was pure cartoon attitude, not only a perfect fit for the likes of AC/DC, but a voice that was able to elevate them to a higher level of abstract universalism.  A match made in rock and roll heaven.  Teaming with famed 80s rock producer Mutt Lange, the boys put together their Back in Black album, which was their first true world wide smash.  The song that carries the album’s name was a tribute to Bon Scott, a crazy celebration of his nutty life all wrapped up in a hilarious dark banner of victory.  Check it out.

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AC/DC Week, It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)

Posted in AC/DC, Youtube Favs on July 11th, 2011 by Willie

AC/DC week rocks on with their 1975 hit “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock n’ Roll) from High Voltage. Great title, great lyrics, great song.  The entire song is a musical orgasm of rock and roll simplicity topped off with an excellent bagpipe solo from Bon Scott himself.  This is probably my favorite AC/DC anthem because of the universal truth of the words.  Indeed, it’s near impossible to climb to the top of the rock and roll world without getting your soul scooped out and your body killed.  As we would learn, once Bon reached the top, it did end up killing him.  Too sad because this guy was one in a million.  Rock and roll heaven to follow with a mouse click on that play button below.

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The Doors, Break On Through (To The Other Side)

Posted in The Doors, Youtube Favs on June 17th, 2011 by Willie

Part 92 of my youtube countdown tears you into another dimension with the Doors, “Break On Through (To the Other Side).”  This is one of the greatest psychedelic pop singles you’ll ever hear.  It’s got an iconic pulsing keyboard bass intro played by the genius Ray Manzarek, propulsive drumming by John Densmore, stunning pickless riffs by Robby Krieger, and perfect dark lyrics and singing by the immortal Jim Morrison.  This version is actually a special remix featuring the original, “She Gets (high)” lyric that was censored for over 30 years until the 1990s.  The Doors are one of the coolest bands that ever existed for a bunch of reasons.  #1.  The name- In 2011, all amazing rock band names have been taken, and the Doors grabbed that special piece of real-estate all the way back in 1965, bastards.  #2., #3, #4, Manzarek, Densmore, and Krieger-  These 3 were all geniuses of rock and roll.  Manzarek is the greatest psychedelic keyboard player of all time.  Krieger could hold his own with anybody on guitar in the 60s, which says a lot.  Oh, he also wrote “Light My Fire.”  Densmore was a fantastic and exciting drummer who contributed a lot to the bands overall sound.  #5. Jim Morrison-  One of the greatest lead singers of all time.  To me, he is better than all the 70s hard rock bands he inspired, and that includes Led Zepplin’s Robert Plant.  He was an outrageous real rocker with no inhibitions who blazed a comet of artistic unstopability!  One last rock and roll fun fact before I go.  My dad was at the infamous Miami concert when Jim Morrison supposedly pulled his cock out and got himself arrested for indecent exposure.  Well according to my then 19 year old father, Morrison NEVER did it.  He said the cops were on the stage, and he threatened them that he would pull dick out, but he didn’t.  He said the cops just jumped him and dragged him off stage!  Of course we all know what happened next.  Morrison escaped to France to avoid prosecution, and soon died of a heroin overdose in his bathtub at age 27…Seems unfair in light of what really happened, no?  Luckily we have “Break On Through” so Jim can live on.  Enjoy.

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