There are many online guitar courses. This one is the most Simple on the Web. Covers acoustic and electric guitar. Affiliates' page with tools, graphics and a Free Gift so you can build your own list. http://guitarsimple.com/Affiliates
Check it out!
Friday, July 15, 2011
This Day in Music: July 14th
This Day in Music: July 14th
Brought to you by ThisDayinMusic.com.
Born on this day:
1912, Woody Guthrie, folk singer
1952, Bob Casale, guitar, Devo
1960, Kyle Gass, guitar, Tenacious D
1966, Tanya Donnelly, guitar, vocals, Throwing Muses, Belly
1971, Nick McCabe, guitar, The Verve
1975, Taboo, rapper, Black Eyed Peas
1975, Jamey Johnson, country singer
1964, The Rolling Stones were at #1 on the U.K. singles chart with “It’s All Over Now,” the group’s first of eight U.K. #1s. It hit #26 in the U.S. For more on this story, see today’s This Day in Music Spotlight.
1967, The Who began their first full North American tour at the Memorial Coliseum, Portland, Oregon, appearing as support band to Herman’s Hermits on 55 dates.
1973, A drunk driver killed Clarence White of The Byrds while he was loading equipment after a gig in Palmdale, California.
1973, During a concert at the John Wayne Theatre in Hollywood, California, Phil Everly smashed his guitar and stormed off stage. Don finished the set by himself and announced that The Everly Brothers had split.
1977, Elvis Costello and The Attractions made their live debut supporting Wayne County at The Garden, Penzance, Cornwall, England.
1982, Pink Floyd’s The Wall had its movie premiere in London, England.
1984, Phillippe Wynne, lead singer with The Spinners, died of a heart attack while performing at Ivey’s nightclub in Oakland, California, at age 43. With The Spinners, he sang the 1980 U.K. #1 and U.S. #2 single “Working My Way Back to You.”
1988, Michael Jackson gave himself a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for setting a new attendance record, when he played the first of seven nights at Wembley Stadium in London. The seven shows on his Bad World Tour were attended by a total of 504,000 fans, beating the record previously held by Genesis, with four sold-out nights.
2003, Plans for Sting to write an official anthem for Tuscany came under fire by locals who insisted the job should go to an Italian and not a foreigner. The British pop star owned a house in Tuscany and had been nominated to compose the anthem by Franco Banchi, who lived nearby.
2007, A pair of glasses worn by former Beatle John Lennon sparked a bidding war after being offered for sale online. The circular sunglasses were worn by Lennon during The Beatles’ 1966 tour of Japan, where the band played some of their last-ever live dates. Anonymous rival bidders had pushed the price as high as ?750,000 at online auction house 991.com.
Mötley Crüe’s Vince Neil Calls ’90s Bands Depressing
Motley Crue are celebrating their 30th anniversary this summer with a North American tour alongside Poison and New York Dolls, and one thing is evident when it comes to this combination: Boring, it is not. After all, these guys are long known for their larger-than-life, amped-up live shows. It’s wild and free hair metal with a bad-boy, rabble-rousing reputation.
Singer Vince Neil couldn’t agree more that the Crue are all about a killer stage production.
“Most bands forget that this is entertainment, and you’ve got to put a show on,” he told Ultimate Classic Rock. “Most of these bands are content to wear jeans and a t-shirt, and just stand there and play their music. Which is kind of missing the point.”
He added that shows are supposed to be fun: “That’s why all those ’90s bands disappeared – they were … depressing people.”
Neil also went onto reveal that Motley Crue plan to release a new record in the “next year or so.” Moreover, after taking this summer off, Neil promises Crue Fest 3 will be back next summer.
“I like putting out new music. I don’t think we’d ever not put out new music,” he said. “Right now, we’re just focused on touring. Once this tour starts slowing down, then we’ll start putting some stuff together and put a record out...”
Mountain’s Leslie West Glad They Didn’t Amputate His Arm
Guitar great Leslie West is showing a positive attitude to his recent leg amputation. Talking to Billboard.com, he said it was “a good thing it wasn’t one of my arms. Then I’d be really [expletive].”
Having a concert tour and album lined up has been good for his recovery, he thinks. West worked on Unusual Suspects with Slash, Zakk Wylde and ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons.
“I’m glad the album was all done before [the leg amputation] happened, because... there’s no way I would even care about doing an album if it wasn’t,” he said. “But I’m glad it’s all done and it came out great and I’m really proud of it. Everybody on there is a top-flight guitar player. Each guy was an experience in itself... It was only up to me to [expletive] it up!”
Dates have been announced for the tour, and West plans on being ready in the fall. “I’m hoping I’ll have my prosthetic by then,” West said, “but we’ll see. Even with Mountain shows I did, I would stand and sit for the ballads and so on and so forth. But I could [stand] up. Now I have no idea what it’s like because I haven’t gotten that far yet. So we’ll see what happens and just hope for the best.”
Solo Jazz Guitar
Joe Pass is one of jazz guitar's all-time masters. He demonstrates legendary techniques that will be of value to rock guitarists as well as jazz purists. Joe covers chord melody, chord substitutions, leading tones, chromatic chords, voice movements, and many more special excercises, all with the unique Joe Pass twist. A chance to study with a jazz guitar legend!Price: $24.95
This Day in Music Spotlight: The Rolling Stones Play Chess
Special thanks to ThisDayinMusic.com.
By the summer of 1964, The Rolling Stones were just finding their footing. Barely two years old, the band were still in their infancy, best-known for their cover versions of American blues and rock and roll songs. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards had yet to really explore what would be a legendary songwriting partnership and their early British hits were all penned by others – Chuck Berry (“Come On”), Buddy Holly (“Not Fade Away”) and John Lennon and Paul McCartney (“I Wanna Be Your Man”).
After The Beatles had conquered America earlier in the year, the Stones embarked on their first U.S. tour in June of 1964. Bassist Bill Wyman would later remember the trek as a “disaster,” because the band had yet to score a big hit in the States. The band got mocked by Dean Martin for their performance and appearance on The Hollywood Palace – it was miles away from what the Fab Four had experienced on The Ed Sullivan Show.
Yet, the tour proved quite fruitful in other areas. During the Stones’ time as guests on Murray the K’s WINS Swinging Soiree radio show in New York, the influential DJ played them a new R&B recording credited to The Valentinos, called “It’s All Over Now.” The boys loved the song, saying that it was exactly the type of American music they were into. “It’s All Over Now” was actually co-written and sung by future soul legend Bobby Womack – The Valentinos were really The Womacks, a vocal group consisting of Bobby and his brothers. The single, which had just been released, was produced by Sam Cooke.
While on tour, the Stones were being pressured by their label to record and release new material to capitalize on their rising profile on both sides of the Atlantic. “It’s All Over Now” quickly became a contender to be the band’s next cover. Nine days after first hearing it on Murray the K’s radio show, the boys recorded their version at a very special place.
“We cut that in Chess Studios the first time in Chicago,” Richards later remembered. “The year before we were playing bars in England, you know. And then we’re walking into Chess Studios which was where all of these records that had been made that were so important to us. Now and again in life you get this feeling that you’ve died and gone to heaven. Luckily, neither was true.”
The Stones got to meet heroes such as Muddy Waters, and make their first American recordings in the same place as Chuck Berry and Willie Dixon. Richards felt the experience brought a rawness to the recording.
“The way you’d get a sound in an American studio in those days was the difference between day and night, compared to working in England or Europe,” he said. “I mean these cats, in America, they’d done it already. So to work in Chess was our first taste of American record.”
The Stones would record both “The Last Time” and “It’s All Over Now” (both destined to be hits) during their visit to Chess – although it was deemed that the latter would be released first. Just to keep things straight: on June 1, the band first heard the song; on June 10, they recorded their cover; on June 26, it was released as their newest single in England.
But Womack was not happy with the situation and told his manager that Jagger “should get his own song.” He probably was less than thrilled that his group’s version now had to compete with the one done by these British invaders. Of course, his attitude changed when the Stones’ “It’s All Over Now” became a monster hit. When Womack got the royalty check in late ’64, he let his manager know that the band could record any song of his that they wanted. Decades later, Womack would even appear on a Stones album – 1986’s Dirty Work.
Bobby had plenty of reason to change his tune. The third Stones single ever put out in America, “It’s All Over Now” gained a lot of airplay and rose to a respectable #26 on the charts. Although Lennon criticized Richards’ guitar playing on the song as sloppy, a young man in New Jersey named Bruce Springsteen was taken by the tune’s rough energy. It was the first song he learned on guitar.
“It’s All Over Now” performed even better in Britain. On this day in 1964, the single became the band’s first song to hit #1 on the U.K. charts. It certainly wouldn’t be the Stones’ last. That other song they recorded at Chess, the Jagger/Richards original “The Last Time,” would hit #1 in the fall (and rise to #9 in the States). For the rest of the ’60s, absolutely every Stones single release in the U.K. would hit the Top 10, with another five topping the charts. They would score five #1s in the States, too.
“It’s All Over Now” proved The Rolling Stones were just getting started.
Slash Doesn’t Understand the ‘Hysteria’ around GN’R
In an interview with Heineken Music, guitar god Slash said that he’s baffled over the continuing excitement regarding Guns N’ Roses . He talked about following up GN’R and Velvet Revolver with his solo career.
“I don’t really like to spend time talking about them, but the interesting thing is the strong legacy about each band. The level of hysteria around the band – or should I say the name Guns N’ Roses – has continued. I don’t totally understand that.
“Velvet Revolver happened because Duff [McKagan] and I got together with Matt Sorum and Scott Weiland, and it was so good and intense we decided to carry it on. So trying to follow in Guns N’ Roses’ footsteps wasn’t an issue for us at all, because it’s been so long since Duff and myself had been in the band.”
Slash also discussed his continuing aspiration to be the best guitarist in the world.
“That’s the thing that drives me,” he said. “And I’m so far from it, which means I’ve got a lot of work to do. That’s my constant focus.”
Ronnie Earl: Blues Guitar With Soul
This is a lesson with a true blues master, and is not to be missed by anyone who's really serious about their blues guitar. Ronnie Earl is known for being a soulful player, and on this video he doesn't hold back! You'll learn the special chords used by Little Walter, T Bone Walker, Magic Sam, Robert Jr. Lockwood, the style of B.B. King, the fingerpicking of Albert King, Country Blues styles, question and answer phrasing, bending and shaking, turnarounds, and how to get maximum feeling out of minimum notes the key to blues guitar. If it's blues you're looking for, they don't come much better than this. Includes booklet with tablature. Languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish.Price: $24.95
This Day in Music: July 13th
Brought to you by ThisDayinMusic.com.
Born on this day:
1942, Roger McGuinn, singer-songwriter, guitar, The Byrds
1962, Rhonda Vincent, country-bluegrass singer-songwriter, mandolin
1969, Barney Greenway, singer, Napalm Death
1965, Paul McCartney was presented with five Ivor Novello awards at a lunch party at The Savoy in London. John Lennon refused to attend. Paul was 40 minutes late after he had forgotten about the engagement.
1968, Black Sabbath played their first gig at a small backstreet blues club in Birmingham, England.
1976, the first issue of U.K. punk fanzine Sniffin' Glue was published. It carried features on The Stranglers, The Ramones and Blue Oyster Cult. Former bank clerk Mark Perry edited the fanzine.
1978, the BBC announced a ban on The Sex Pistols' latest single “No One Is Innocent,” which featured vocals by Ronnie Biggs, the British criminal notorious for his part in the Great Train Robbery of 1963. At the time of the recording, Biggs was living in Brazil and was wanted by the British authorities, but he was immune from extradition.
1985, at 12:01 p.m. Status Quo kicked off the Live Aid extravaganza, which was held between London’s Wembley Stadium and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. The cream of the rock and roll world took part in the global charity event. TV pictures beamed Live Aid to over 1.5 billion people in 160 countries, making it the biggest live broadcast in history. Artists who appeared included Paul McCartney, Phil Collins, The Who, U2, David Bowie and Mick Jagger, Queen, Tina Turner, The Cars, Neil Young, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Bryan Adams, Hall and Oates, Lionel Richie and 
Led Zeppelin.
1991, Bryan Adams went to #1 on the U.K. singles chart with “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You),” which featured on the soundtrack for the film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. It stayed at #1 for a record-breaking 16 weeks in the U.K., as well as seven weeks at #1 in the States. In 1992 the song took home the Grammy for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture.
1996, over 2,000 guitar players, including Chet Atkins and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, set a new world record for the largest jam session ever when they played “Heartbreak Hotel” for 75 minutes at Nashville's Riverfront Park.
Thin Lizzy to Play High Voltage Festival, Sponsor Sweepstakes
Thin Lizzy are one of the many legendary hard rock and metal bands playing this year’s High Voltage Festival in London’s Victoria Park. Scott Gorham and pals will be joining Judas Priest, Dream Theater and Black Country Communion at the two-day event, taking place July 23-24.
As part of a special promotion, the band have teamed up with Gibson Guitar and Classic Rock to give one contest winner a weekend of the rock-star treatment. Visit ThinLizzyBand.com(www.thinlizzyband.com) to enter the competition, in which the winner will receive two VIP passes to High Voltage, get to meet Thin Lizzy guitarist Gorham and win a Gibson guitar signed by Gorham. The guitar was donated by Luthman Scandinavia with Gibson USA.
In other Thin Lizzy news, the band recently released expanded editions of the albums Chinatown, Black Rose and Bad Reputation. All albums have been remastered and feature bonus tracks (Chinatown and Black Rose are two-disc deluxe editions with rare and unreleased material, Bad Reputation is a single disc with unreleased BBC recordings).
Music Master Pro - Guitar, Bass, Drums, Piano and Violin Video Lessons
With 5 Instruments, this site Converts! Affiliates Are Loving The Money This Site Is Bringing Them!Target Guitar, Bass and Drums all on 1 site!
Check it out!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Slide Guitar 101: Choosing the Right Slide
Diving into slide guitar playing might seem like a daunting endeavor to the non-slider, and even more so to six-stringers who work only in standard tuning. There are dozens of effective tuning possibilities, guitar mechanics, scale constructions and tonal considerations to evaluate. But like any new task, breaking the process down makes it easier to tackle. And a good place to start is with slides themselves.
Oddly, since slide guitar is all about sliding on strings, the slide itself is often the part of the equation that gets the least consideration. Unless you don’t particularly care about how you sound or about playing at your best, any old slide will not do. In fact, guitarists who choose a slide that gives them the maximum potential for the approach are rare.
Most slides that are commercially available limit your ability to play. Unless a slide fits snugly enough on your finger to allow you to keep it stable without using a second finger to keep the slide from wagging loosely, you can’t use your slide for fretting, hammering and other extended slide technique moves without tying up another finger that you could be using for pinning notes or creating chords. In short, the ideal slide requires only one finger to use. Blues legend Johnny Winter, who toted a hellion-toned Gibson Firebird into all his classic, career-defining sessions, is a good example of a player who uses a tight-fitting, optimal slide for his dizzying solos and blazing single note lines. Another is modern county blues giant Paul Rishell, who applies a thin-shelled, tight-fitting pinkie slide to his resonator models to create some of the deepest acoustic music now being made in the genre.
Walk into most music stores and you’ll be hard-pressed to find such a slide, although a Johnny Winter signature model is currently in production. That’s one reason why most players settle for a wobbly piece of pipe or an “authentic” bottleneck instead of the best option. Heretic as it may seem, even Duane Allman’s beloved coricidin bottles do not entirely cut the slide mustard. Even the Winter model has the drawback of being too long to let most people bend their slide pinkie at the knuckle — which may not be a problem for the seemingly spider-pawed Mr. Winter.
Leaping past the consideration of optimum playability, there is a vast amount of slide materials to consider. And each material and its density will inform your tone and physical approach. The most popular is steel. Think of the shrieking – in a very, very good way – sound of Elmore James or, once again, Winter. Steel is bright and cutting, and, if you’re looking for something that’s less weighty than Paul Barrere’s wrench sockets, is a good choice and widely available at music stores. The sounds of a steel slide on steel strings immediately barks “blues” like nothing else, but is also highly serviceable for rock or jazz. Sonny Sharrock, the king of slide guitar jazz, applied a flat-topped lap- or pedal-steel bar slide to his Gibson Les Paul Custom’s strings, but he’s an elegant exception to the rule. For the most part, unless playing lap steel, pedal steel, bluegrass or Hawaiian style, where the guitar neck is played parallel to terra firma, we’re talking about round, pipe-shaped devices when we discuss slides.
Old-school bluesman Louisiana Red is an inveterate explorer of slide types and has tried virtually every metal, from aluminum to zinc. But the second-most-popular is bronze. Bronze will provide a marginally darker and louder tone than steel, and is heavier as well. And that brings up the issue of weight. A heavy slide will move along the strings with less resistance, although if too heavy it will require more than one finger and possibly be a chore to steady above the frets on your guitar. Conversely, thinner, lighter slides must be pushed down harder against the strings to get good sounds.
Players of metal slides often carry their slides with them in their pockets along with coins and keys, so the metal will get scars that add character when applied to guitar strings. Some even leave their slides outdoors in all types of weather to achieve a worn patina they believe will increase the friction and make for a grittier tone in their slide attack.
Parenthetically, it’s worth mentioning that slide notes should be sounded with the slide directly above the fret of the note you want to produce, verses in front of that fret, where your finger would normally land if playing conventionally.
Back on topic, heavy slides encounter less resistance when propelled along the fretboard. It’s the old principle of weight plus force generating momentum. And the other aspect to consider in slide weight besides material is the thickness of the slide’s walls. Even a slide made of glass or ceramic material will register a heavier weight if they are fat-walled. Of course, using a fat-walled slide means your slide finger is further from the strings and has less control, but every variable in slide is a trade-off, depending on what sound and approach you’re reaching toward.
Glass is the most popular of the non-metal slides, and they come in many variations: thin walled and long enough to cover all six strings; thick and stubby enough for only three strings; bottlenecks; faux coricidin bottles and even near-relative Pyrex, which is less breakable than glass. Tonally, glass is smoother and warmer. Even when used with a distorted guitar sound, there’s a certain sweetness to glass that can be heard in the playing of Gibson SG hero Duane Allman and his torchbearers Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes – all users of the coricidin bottle. Glass, especially thin-walled glass, is susceptible to breaking, which can be a danger for the more effusive guitarist. With its generally warm, buttery tonal properties, glass is especially good for acoustic guitar and sweet melodies versus Elmore James-like wailing. And thicker glass tends to bring out richer, darker, more charming tones than lightweight slides, of course.
Traditionalists may find the notion of using an actual bottleneck appealing. After all, early country bluesmen who played slide often used the top of a wine bottle sliced off with a white-hot wire or a hacksaw. But bottlenecks are uneven and often have seams, so unless you’re looking for a gritty sound (which the seam produces when it grinds on the strings) or prepared to be super vigilant of how your slide is positioned, bottlenecks may be too much bother. The next step in de-evolution is animal bones, like pork ribs and t-bones. The fabulous bluesman Mississippi Fred McDowell made an album called Steakbone Slide Guitar, named after one of his favorite slide implements. Another old school favorite is the knife blade. Maybe a knife is a little dangerous to wield on stage, but that’s what W.C. Handy – the first composer to copyright blues – heard when he was inspired to jot down the first written blues melody by an itinerant guitarist swiping a blade across his strings at a railroad stop in Tutwiler, Mississippi, in 1903.
Ceramic slides have many of the same characteristics as glass slides, including, when they carry some heft, the ability to glide smoothly across the strings and make a warm-toned sound. But thin ceramic slides are even less likely to survive a slight fall than glass. One advantage of ceramic slides is that since they are formed and baked in a kiln, they can have hybrid properties that most other slides lack. Doc Sigmier of Rocky Mountain Slides in Colorado is an expert at making tone-altering ceramic slides by adding gritty material to his raw ceramic mix to induce more slide-on-strings grinding, and he can selectively rough- or smooth-finish slides or even various parts of the same slide. This is pretty rad stuff for players who like to experiment.
With the qualities of these materials in mind, listen to some of the slide players you’d like to emulate – from Son House to the Edge – and try to imagine which material would create the sounds they make that entrance you. Better yet, check out YouTube and other websites to see what kinds of slides they use, and then get to a good music store with your guitar and try some slides until you start dialing in the tones you desire.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Def Leppard Return to Rock Roots in 2012?
Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell recently shared his band’s ideal future plans in an interview with Radio Metal. After the release of the live album, Mirrorball, this year, Campbell said he’s looking forward to getting back in the studio in 2012.
“It’s our intention in 2012 to make another studio album and hopefully we’ll lean a little bit toward the rock side of the spectrum.”
Campbell then addressed the idea that some fans would like Leppard to make an album akin to High ’n’ Dry.
“I mean it’s our intention to try and get back some of the flavor, but I think it would be wrong to try and make an album that sounds exactly like High ’n’ Dry,” he said. “What was really good about High ’n’ Dry was that it really showcased the influences of rock. But that's only part of the influences of Def Leppard.
“The band is also very melodic in terms of our influences and many people would say that the real Def Leppard sound was from Pyromania and onward. There was a fusion of [these] rock elements and the pop sensibilities. That’s always been what we tried to achieve when we write songs and go to the studio, to balance these two elements. There’s a percentage of our fans that really want us to just get back to the rock thing and we’re very aware of that, but I don’t think that's the majority of the Def Leppard fans.”
Yet, Campbell did suggest that he would like to go into the studio with the “influence” of High ’n’ Dry in mind.
“I do think that that’s a good influence or target for us collectively to look at when we think about our next studio record, and I think that there’s a couple of guys in the band who share that opinion.”
Kid's Guitar Course 1 (DVD)
###############################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################Price: $12.95
Aerosmith Back in the Studio
Aerosmith have announced that they've gone into the studio to record a new album of original material. Drummer Joey Kramer tweeted about the first day, calling it "inspiring." He also wrote: "No words can describe how inspired I'm feeling in the studio right now. It's a beautiful thing."
Kramer tweeted a picture of him working with Jack Douglas, who will produce the band's 14th studio album. In a video update on Aerosmith's official site(Aerosmith.com), bass player Tom Hamilton talked about the collaboration with Douglas.
"For those of you who don't know who Jack is, he's the guy who we worked with, producing our best albums of the '70s – Get Your Wings, Toys in the Attic and Rocks. And it's really gonna be cool, because there's no one that knows more about the soul of this band and the creative part of this band [than] Jack. We worked with him on [2004's covers CD] Honkin' on Bobo, but that wasn't all original material… This time it's gonna be all-new Aerosmith songs."
The as-yet-untitled album will be the band's first of new material since 2001's Just Push Play.
Kid Rock: Marriage to Pamela Anderson the ‘Most Fun I've Ever Had'
Interviewed by Piers Morgan for CNN, Kid Rock said that his 2006 marriage to Pamela Anderson was a "blast." According to U.K. newspaper The Daily Express, he said: "It was a blast... The discussions of her have been covered throughout the years, it's over. But I will tell you this one if you've not heard me say it yet, getting married [was] some of the most fun I've ever had in my life... we loved it so much... It was that much fun."
After an off-and-on romance, the rock star and the Baywatch actress married in 2006 but the union only lasted five months. Despite that, Kid Rock said it's possible he could marry again.
"Right now I'd say no [to marrying again], but I've learned to never say no," he said.
Slash, Zakk Wylde Guest on Leslie West’s New Album
Guitarist Leslie West will release his new album, Unusual Suspects, in September. Despite the Mountain legend’s recent life-saving surgery (a leg was amputated above the knee), West is committed to the release of the record.
According to Tunes.BroadwayWorld.com, the album sees West joined by all-star guests, including Slash, Joe Bonamassa, Zakk Wylde, ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons and Toto’s Steve Lukather.
“These guys don’t just show up to play on everybody’s albums,” said West. “They’re all stars in their own right, and fantastic players – everyone with their own sound and style, about as far from the usual suspects as it gets.”
Leslie West, Unusual Suspects tracklist:
1. “One More Drink for the Road” (with Steve Lukather)
2. “Mudflap Mama” (with Slash)
3. “To the Moon”
4. “Standing on a Higher Ground” (with Billy Gibbons)
5. “Third Degree” (with Joe Bonamassa)
6. “Legend”
7. “Nothing’s Changed” (with Zakk Wylde)
8. “I Feel Fine”
9. “Love You Forever”
10. “You & Me”
11. “Turn Out the Lights” (with Slash and Zakk Wylde)
12. “Beetle ‘I Don’t Know’”
Guitar Scale Patterns - Play Like a Pro
Guitar scales explained and demonstrated! Tons of positive customer feedback, excellent companion to complete guitar courses. Great for beginners and intermediate players. Strong conversion rate, excellent PPC earner. Salespage tested & tweaked constantly
Check it out!
You Don’t Know Jack: 10 Essential Performances from Jack White
Jack White is popular music’s most powerful riffsman of the past two decades, with a gift for writing, co-writing, arranging and producing songs that sink their hooks in, thanks to potent guitar parts that churn or roar even when he’s on the drum seat in his latest band, The Dead Weather. That quality won him the #13 spot in Gibson.com’s Top 50 Guitarists of All Time list.
This Saturday, July 9, White celebrates his 36th birthday, and to mark the occasion, here’s a list of 10 essential recorded White performances that map out the terrain of his remarkable artistry:
10. “Seven Nation Army”
This number is proof of White’s riff-making magic and his way with sonics. The tune from 2003’s Elephant by The White Stripes rocks like a pachyderm thanks to the climbing and descending chord sequence that underpins it, plus a unique octave hopping tone created by White’s use of the DigiTech Whammy pedal. Of course, White’s signature braying rock vocal also makes “Seven Nation Army” unforgettable.
9. “Icky Thump”
The title track from The White Stripes’ 2007 album is a play on a phrase that means, essentially, “Oh God,” as in “good grief,” from the Northern England dialect. What makes the song stick is its snaggled stumbling riff and White’s guitar interjections. He solos with his Whammy pedal again, making his strings whine like a jet engine beginning to fail. The song was a huge success and was the first track the Stripes put in the American Top 40.
8. “Wayfaring Stranger”
Although White’s mostly known for his electric guitar wizardry, this tune from the soundtrack for Cold Mountain, a Civil War film in which White plays a lost-soul soldier, gets to the heart of his love of roots music and shows how it extends beyond the country blues of his more publicly heralded idols like Son House. The song is a traditional British ballad that made it to the Appalachians with the region’s early English settlers. White plays his Gibson F-4 mandolin on this track and with fiddle accompaniment, turns back the clock by a century-and-a-half. Although it is absent on this track, White’s other acoustic instrument of choice is his Gibson Hummingbird guitar, which appears elsewhere on the Cold Mountain soundtrack.
7. “Fell in Love with a Girl”
Going back to 2001’s White Blood Cells, this White Stripes track is straight-out-of-the-garage Detroit rock. The grinding chords are direct descendents of the MC5 and Iggy and the Stooges, with a little bit of pop sugar added via White’s “ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah” chorus tag.
6. “Blue Orchid”
White’s on the Whammy pedal again as well as a vintage Electro-Harmonix Polyphonic Octave Generator for this tune, which is the most direct Led Zeppelin tribute The White Stripes ever cut. It’s not just the grind of White’s axe that recalls Pagey’s more brittle tone settings but his voice as well, which emulates Plant’s wailing range.
5. “I’m Finding it Harder to be a Gentleman”
Perhaps one of the most complex love songs in The White Stripes’ cannon, this number appears on White Blood Cells and puzzles through disconnection and mixed perceptions among couples. The riff, which swells and ebbs like a tide, is perfect for White’s uncertain storyline as well as his singing, which is one of the least mannered of his studio vocal performances.
4. “Catch Hell Blues”
White’s country blues influence rides shotgun on this tune from Icky Thump, quivering and sliding in the tune’s intro and leaping off to more experimental ground from there. For a rich taste of White’s slide playing, this is the place to start since his articulation is better than on renditions of the oft-circulated White Stripes’ performances of “Death Letter” and many of the group’s other slide-based tunes. And with only a handful of lyrics, his playing truly comes to the fore.
3. “Steady, As She Goes”
This debut single from the Raconteurs’ first album, 2006’s Broken Boy Soldiers, kicks in with a chiming single note riff and then reels into cawing chords that give way to a flood of guitar. It’s a good example of what White can do when teamed with other formidable musicians.
2. “Hustle and Cuss”
Ultimately, The Dead Weather may prove to be the best proof of White’s potent production abilities since his sonic exploration, arranging talents and nose for riffs seems to blend most seamlessly in this band. The irony, of course, is that White plays drums in The Dead Weather. But he does so extraordinarily well, and this song from the group’s 2010 album, Sea of Cowards, flat-out rocks like an avalanche.
1. “The Big Three Killed My Baby”
A rare protest song in The White Stripes catalog, this 1999 single was included in reissues of the band’s debut album. White’s guitar speaks with locomotive force as he spins a yarn inspired by a series of brutal strikes against the “Big Three” automakers in his native Detroit in the 1950s.
New Mastodon Album Cover Revealed
Heavy metal band Mastodon have revealed the artwork for their new album, The Hunter. According to DailyBlam.com the band, who usually use artist Paul Romano for their album covers, changed things for this record by commissioning their set designer, A.J. Fosik.
As for the music, drummer Brann Dailor says: “It’s sort all over the place – a lot of different sounds. Some straight-up classic-rock-sounding songs, straight-up death metal-sounding songs and some completely bizarre, weirdo rock songs that we're not really sure what they are, but we love them.”
Mastodon, The Hunter tracklist:
“Blasteroids”
“The Octopus Has No Friends”
“Stargasm”
“Curl of the Burl”
“All the Heavy Lifting”
“The Sparrow”
“The Ruiner”
Death Cab to do Orchestral Tour?
Death Cab for Cutie are mulling over the idea of touring with a string section. Billboard.com talked to guitarist/producer Chris Walla about adding some other instruments to the live mix.
“The idea is still on the table,” Walla said. “It would be really fun to take Magik*Magik Orchestra out. But unfortunately, it is kind of nightmare to try and figure it out.”
Magik*Magik Orchestra contributed heavily to the band’s latest album, Codes and Keys. They also helped the band perform material from the album on VH1 Storytellers.
“It’s sort of turned into the Polyphonic Spree dilemma,” Walla joked. “You can make a living or you can play with an orchestra. They’re totally mutually exclusive – you almost can’t do one and the other. But, I do think that we’ll be able to do some shows with Magik*Magik somewhere at some point, even if it’s not a full tour.”
Death Cab will be hitting the road to begin the second leg of their current tour on July 27 in Columbus, Ohio. The trek will end about a month later in Chicago.
Elton John, Robert Plant and Paul Weller Join Up for <em>Whistle Test</em> Comeback
“Whispering” Bob Harris is back with The Old Grey Whistle Test. A new BBC Radio 2 series will mark the 40th anniversary of the influential and long-running BBC TV rock music series.
According to The Independent, Sir Elton John, Robert Plant, Paul Weller, Roger Daltrey and Mark Knopfler will take part in the series.
Presenter Harris called the series “a massive reunion, featuring superstars of British and American music.”
The 16-part radio series, Old Grey Whistle Test 40, will be broadcast in August and feature interviews and new performances from artists who appeared on the original TV series.
Bossa Nova Guitar Licksamples
Romero Lubambo, the world's most in-demand bossa nova guitarist, shows you 33 essential bossa nova guitar patterns - direct from Brazil! This DVD features one-on-one instruction plus lots of performance footage that allows you to see up-close how these bossa nova patterns are used by a master. Includes complete transcriptions with tab reference sheet. 60 minutes.Price: $19.95
Inside Story: The Lost Rory Gallagher Album
When Rory Gallagher left us in 1995, he also left behind a rich body of work. From hard-hitting blues to tender acoustic music to R&B to Celtic influences, Gallagher was an engaging performer and an astonishingly gifted guitarist. His discography includes well over a dozen albums, between power trio Taste (beginning in 1969) and his solo works (from 1971’s self-titled album to 1990’s Fresh Evidence), but hardcore fans have long known about a mysterious lost record, an album which was recorded in the late ’70s but never released. That album has now seen the light of day as Notes from San Francisco via Eagle Rock Entertainment.
Gallagher said in 1992 that he would be happy to release the material some day, provided it was remixed, but it took until this year for Rory’s brother (and tour manager) Donal Gallagher to let the recording out into the world.
“Rory had always harbored the ambition to make an album in the States,” Donal says. “Through the early part of the ’70s with Polydor that dream hadn’t come to fruition, so when he switched labels in ’75 to Chrysalis, he had two albums that were a strong success but weren’t what you’d call chart breakthroughs.”
Rory had worked with a producer for the first time on Calling Card – Roger Glover of Deep Purple, in fact – but wasn’t entirely happy with the mix of that record, so the idea of tracking the follow-up in America was flown up the pole. Chrysalis had been working with producer Elliot Mazer (Neil Young, Janis Joplin, Frank Sinatra) on a few other acts, and it just so happened that Mazer and Rory had hit it off during the final Taste tour a few years earlier.
“In the course of that tour, Rory wasn’t talking to too many people,” Donal says. “The band had already split up, and were doing a farewell tour. So Rory spent his time with Elliot.”
Musically, Rory was very into American music, from Muscle Shoals to the blues, so he and Mazer had a lot to talk about.
Finally, in 1977, it was proposed that Rory would record an album with Mazer in San Francisco. So at the end of a year-long world tour, and without so much as a couple of days off in between, Gallagher and his solo band arrived at Mazer’s studio in San Francisco to begin work on the album which he hoped would capture some of the American musical spirit that he so admired.
“Parallel to this, Rory was experimenting a lot more with his guitars,” Donal says. “Replacement pickups were really coming to the fore in that period, and adjacent to Elliot’s studio was a guitar store called Star’s Guitars – I think they even shared a front door. So Rory was using a variety of guitars – more than he would use on previous albums. He was using a Gibson SG, for instance, so I think there’s probably a fatter pickup sound that gives it an edge.”
The album was due to be completed by Christmas ’77, but once the mixing started, the project had run into glitches and trouble.
“Rory wasn’t really happy with where the album was going,” Donal says. “After Christmas, Rory and I returned to San Francisco to do another set of mixes. But remix after remix, there was something radically wrong, in Rory’s view. He just wasn’t happy. So by mid-January, he decided he wasn’t going to go through with it.”
Donal says it’s hard to pin down exactly why Rory wasn’t happy with the work – after all, the performances and engineering certainly sound great today.
“Frankly, to my ears it sounded terrific,” Donal says. “Hindsight is a great thing, but I think the fundamental issue is that after that he split the band up. I don’t think it was because of their ability to musically play on the album, but I think that in Rory’s heart of hearts, the idea of doing an American album would be to work with American musicians.”
But non-stop touring had made Gallagher’s band a well-oiled machine that was firing on all cylinders and was socially well-integrated, so it was considered prudent (and probably cost-effective) to get the band into the studio straight away. And anyway, Donal believes Rory wouldn’t have had the courage to tell the band he wasn’t going to use them on the album.
“For every album that I remember him involved in, Rory would have post-natal depression,” Donal says. “So there was always an element of the mix not coming up to scratch for him, or things irritating him, but Rory was a workaholic. And the deadlines and pressure in those days always seemed to be so great. You had to have it recorded by this date, mixed by that date, pressed by this date and then you had to be out on tour by this date. And when you have your youth it just doesn’t seem like it, but when you stand back after all those years, it was absolutely nuts, going on the way it was!”
The album has now undergone the remix that Rory wanted, and has been bundled with a live album taken from four December nights in 1979 at San Francisco’s The Old Waldorf.
“Rory educated us to look after tapes,” Donal says. “We had the tapes baked a couple of times to make sure there was no moisture over the years, because I’d heard some horror stories, like one case where Elvis Costello had put all his tapes into a professional storage facility and they had deteriorated, so we knew that certain types of tapes were inclined to break up and shatter. So where we felt it necessary, we duplicated to a different source.”
Donal allowed his son Daniel to begin the process of mixing it with his engineer.
“People are going to say: if Rory’s not involved in this, then what am I doing?” he says. “But when I heard it after remixing, it sounded a lot better than I’d remembered it. Initially the mixes they were doing were very much ‘the guitar mix,’ because with Rory in the studio the guitar was in front of everything else – that’s just what you got! But I felt that with this album it was much more of a band album, because the keyboards and extra instruments were layered on, so I felt that maybe the way to go was to not worry too much about it being a guitar album – you don’t need to sell Rory as a guitarist to anybody – so let’s open the thing up, let the keyboards breathe, get what you can out of it, and let it all broaden out. Because, in effect, people are going to want to hear the produced album, at the end of the day.”
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Builds Better Beatles Exhibit
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, has put together “the most comprehensive, artifact-driven Beatles exhibit in the world,” according to what Jim Henke, vice president of exhibitions, told Billboard.com.
Henke said that the organization has developed relationships with George Harrison’s widow, Olivia, and Ringo Starr’s representatives to bring more original items into the museum. He said the Rock Hall already had a good relationship with Yoko Ono, who ensured John Lennon was well-represented.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has expanded the section on The Beatles, which now includes a striped suit worn by Harrison on a 1966 tour and Ringo’s red jacket from the “Strawberry Fields Forever” video. The exhibit also includes instruments the boys played, including Ringo’s Beatles drumhead from the band’s appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show and a guitar played by Lennon and Harrison. Paul McCartney is represented, too, by his Help! jacket and handwritten “Birthday” arrangement.
The expanded exhibit coincides with a major update of the museum, including features that draw on the latest technology.
“We wanted to upgrade all the audio and video and interactive elements,” Henke said. “We always had pretty much the entire story of rock ’n’ roll, roots up to the present, but never in any particular order. Now we’re telling the story a little more chronologically, which I think people appreciate.”
Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood Wins More Radio Awards
Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood now has a flourishing broadcasting career. On Wednesday, Wood received two prestigious radio awards in London.
Last year, Wood began broadcasting his own show on the Absolute Classic Rock radio station and picked up the Music Radio Personality of the Year honor at the Sony Radio Academy Awards. He now can add to that award, the Specialist Programme of the Year and Newcomer of the Year honors from London's Arqiva Commercial Radio awards.
Legendary DJ, David "Kid" Jensen was given the Lifetime Achievement Award. Jensen, alongside his good friend John Peel, was hugely influential in breaking indie music in the U.K. in the '70s and '80s.
Chili Peppers’ Anthony Kiedis Reveals Genesis of <em>I’m With You</em>
When it came to naming what is likely the most anticipated rock album of the year, why did Red Hot Chili Peppers pick the simple moniker, I’m With You? As frontman Anthony Kiedis explains, the epiphany came after dreaming up and ditching a long list of possible titles.
“As an experiment, I started making lists of titles, and all of them, in retrospect, were quite lame, and none of them really captured the spirit of this record, which we had all very much fallen in love with,” Kiedis told MTV News.
Then, new lead guitarist Josh Klinghoffer had a moment of genius.
“Josh showed up one day, maybe a day before there was some sort of deadline for a title, and he wrote [I’m With You] on a piece of paper,” he said, “And very subtly scooched it [in front of me], and I was like, ‘What’s that?’”
Band members glanced at the name “at the same time and went: ‘That is the title of our record.’”
Klinghoffer said the name seemed sublime. It represents where the Peppers are at this point in their careers.
“It seems pretty open, pretty apropos to where the band is, what the band’s doing, how the record wants to be related to, or related with,” Klinghoffer said.
I’m With You hits stores and online retailers on August 30.
Jimmy Page to Launch New Website
Jimmy Page is set to launch his official website on July 14. Visitors to JimmyPage.com will see a countdown (in Roman numerals), along with sand passing through an hourglass and a link to register with the website.
“I think that will bring a few surprises to how thing[s] normally are,” Page said last month, according to Ultimate Classic Rock. “Once that’s done, then I’m going to start working on some new music.”
It’s unclear exactly what kind of musical project Page will begin working on – whether it will be a collaboration or a solo effort. The Led Zeppelin legend’s last solo album was 1988’s Outrider.
Gene Simmons Talks Battle of the Sexes
KISS bassist and rock legend Gene Simmons recently shared his thoughts on the differences between men and women. He talked to Parade magazine about how “most men are really just 12-year-old kids.”
“Men are not reflective. What happened yesterday happened yesterday. We’re in the here and the now,” he said. “Women are wiser. Women have a 30,000-foot viewpoint. They see the bigger picture, which is why they want to have kids and men don’t. Women want to get married and no man I ever met actually wants to.
“We want to be left alone to do whatever we want to do whenever we want to do it without asking anybody. So the hair on our backs rise when the female species says, ‘Where have you been?’ That’s all part of being a kid and immature.”
Simmons also spoke about his currently rocky relationship with Shannon Tweed, his partner for 28 years.
“Well, when you have a cut on your hand, it doesn’t heal overnight,” he said. “It takes time, and if you don’t take care of it, it gets inflamed. We’re working on it. It’s not easy on the kids, Shannon, or myself.”
This Day in Music: July 8th
Born on this day:
1944, Jai Johanny Johnson, drums, Allman Brothers Band
1945, Ricky Wolf, The Flowerpot Men
1948, Raffi, children’s singer
1957, Carlos Cavazo, guitar, Quiet Riot, Ratt
1961, Andrew Fletcher, bass, synthesizer, Depeche Mode
1970, Beck, singer, songwriter, guitarist
1976, David Kennedy, guitar, Angels and Airwaves
1985, Jamie Cook, guitar, Arctic Monkeys
1954, Producer Sam Phillips took an acetate recording of Elvis Presley singing “That’s All Right” to Memphis radio station WHBQ DJ Dewey Phillips. He played the song just after 9:30 that evening; the phone lines lit up asking the DJ to play the song again.
1967, The Monkees began a 29-date tour with The Jimi Hendrix Experience as a support act. Hendrix and The Monkees parted ways after only a handful of dates, after it was evident his band’s performances weren’t meshing with the teenybopper audience. For more on this story see today’s This Day in Music Spotlight.
1971, A minor riot occurred during a Mott the Hoople gig at the Royal Albert Hall, London, England. Some fans were injured and two boxes were damaged causing a temporary ban on rock gigs at the venue. The group paid ?1,467 for damages to property.
1978, Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon from The Clash were arrested for being drunk and disorderly after a gig at the Apollo in Glasgow; both were fined.
1995, TLC started a seven-week run at #1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Waterfalls,” the group's second U.S. #1, a #4 hit in the U.K.
1999, Take That’s former manager Nigel Martin Smith started a new business, as an undertaker. It was reported that he was unhappy with a service he had used so he decided to buy a local funeral firm in Manchester.
2004, Mark Purseglove, known as the world’s “biggest bootlegger,” was sentenced to 3 years, 6 months in jail by Blackfriars Crown Court. Purseglove had built up a ?15 million pirate CD empire by bootlegging live concerts of some of the world’s biggest stars including The Beatles, David Bowie and Pink Floyd.
2007, Prince was forced off stage by police halfway through his set at the First Avenue nightclub during a late-night gig in his home town of Minneapolis. The club was only allowed to stay open until 3 a.m. but Prince took to the stage at 2:45 a.m. Prince had already played two concerts in Minneapolis before his late-night club appearance; His first performance was at a department store, where he promoted his new cologne with a nine-song, 45-minute set.
Text Message Urges People to Pray Against Incubus Show
A text message aimed at American alternative rock band Incubus is circulating in advance of the group’s July 28 concert at the Araneta Coliseum in the Philippines.
The anxious text message states: “PRAYER ALERT !! A rock band called INCUBUS s comin 2perform at d Araneta Coliseum on July 28. We mUST pRAY this group dUZnt even step on2 Philippine soil so that they dONT impart their spirits in2 our youth!!” according to ABS-CBN News.
The message then describes the word “incubus,” stating the word is a “male demon believed to lie on sleeping persons…,” a “situation resembling a terrifying dream” or “someone who depresses or worries others.”
The text also states “incubus” is another word for “nightmare.”
Incubus’ July 28 concert is part of their If Not Now, When? world tour. This would be the rockers’ third visit the country; they played Manila in 2008 and 2004.
In an interview posted in March 2009 on YouTube, Incubus frontman Brandon Boyd and lead guitarist Mike Einziger explained the reason they named their band “Incubus.”
“Because it’s a silly sounding word,” Einziger said.
Boyd added, “And we were 15 [years old] and we had to think of a name quickly because we got to play at a party in someone’s backyard.”
Both band members thought the word was “pretty harmless.”
Friday, July 8, 2011
Learn Guitar In 21 Minutes
Awesome New Learn Guitar Site - Hot Seller! Converting like Crazy. Earn 75% on $47.00 Standard Sale! Earn 75% on $97.00 Upgrade Sale! Very High Conversions. Tons of Affiliate resources.
Check it out!
This Day in Music Spotlight: Jimi Hendrix Opens for The Monkees
Special thanks to ThisDayinMusic.com.
It had to be one of the strangest pairings in rock and roll history. On this day in 1967, The Jimi Hendrix Experience began a tour as the opening act for… The Monkees. Yes, the cherished guitar god and his group had agreed to support the “Pre-Fab Four” on their American trek. It’s no surprise that the situation didn’t end well – although it had 
little to do with the relationship between the musicians.
What’s easy to forget is, in the middle of ’67, Hendrix wasn’t yet a rock star in America. Earlier in the year, he’d begun to accumulate a following (especially among rock’s elite) and he’d set his guitar (and the music world) on fire during his appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival. But, the Experience hadn’t scored a mainstream hit in the U.S. yet and they were looking to expand their audience.
Being part of the musical community, the guys in The Monkees were already fans of Hendrix’s music and performances. Micky Dolenz recalled seeing him in New York, while Mike Nesmith was introduced to him through a Beatle.
“I was in London visiting John Lennon, and I was having dinner with him, [Paul] McCartney and [Eric] Clapton,” Nesmith remembered. “And John was late. When he came in he said, ‘I’m sorry I’m late but I’ve got something I want to play you guys.’ He had a handheld tape recorder and he played ‘Hey Joe.’ Everybody’s mouth just dropped open. He said, ‘Isn’t this wonderful?’ So I made a mental note of Jimi Hendrix because Lennon had introduced me to his playing.”
Dolenz and Peter Tork met Hendrix at Monterey Pop, where the seeds were planted for a tour together. Dolenz later said that he viewed both acts as theatrical and that they could be “a perfect union.” The Monkees proposed that the tour promoters contact Hendrix about opening for the band’s summer tour.
Although Hendrix had publicly insulted The Monkees a few months earlier (calling them “dishwater”), he accepted the offer from promoter Dick Clark, presumably because of the huge exposure he would get from the tour. Hendrix and the Experience joined The Monkees on tour on this day in Jacksonville, Florida. While The Monkees were thrilled to have the band on the bill (with members showing up early just to catch Hendrix’s set), Monkees fans were another story.
“Nobody thought, ‘This is screaming, scaring-the-balls-off-your-daddy music compared with The Monkees,’ you know?” Tork said. “It didn’t cross anybody’s mind that it wasn’t gonna fly. And there’s poor Jimi, and the kids go, ‘We want The Monkees, We want The Monkees.’”
Dolenz and Nesmith also recall being embarrassed by their young fans, who would drown out the Experience’s set with cries of “Davy!” (for Monkee heartthrob Davy Jones). Hendrix would stick with the tour for seven dates, before the situation got to him. During a performance at New York’s Forest Hills Stadium, he flipped the crowd his middle finger and walked off stage.
By that point, Hendrix was starting to get traction in America, with “Purple Haze” earning more airplay and making noise on the charts. Wanting to play for people who actually wanted to see and hear him, he asked to be let out of the tour contract – and the Experience and The Monkees parted company amicably. Within the year, Hendrix was one of the biggest rock stars on the planet.
Of course, there is an urban legend that Hendrix didn’t ask to leave the tour; he was kicked out. That rumor (according to Snopes.com) began with music critic Lillian Roxon, who was traveling with the tour. She and a friend came up with a silly press release that claimed the Daughters of the American Revolution had demanded Hendrix’s firing, because his act was “corrupting the morals of America’s youth.” The release was mistaken for the truth, and was reported as fact in many publications, in turn becoming rock and roll legend.
Paul McCartney Doesn’t Like ‘Chicken Pot Pie’
Longtime vegetarian and animal rights activist Paul McCartney turned down a song parody request from “Weird Al” Yankovic.
According to the Daily Express, the musical comedian wanted to parody McCartney’s “Live and Let Die” as “Chicken Pot Pie” but McCartney refused permission for the Wings track to be used.
The musical comedian told ESPN’s The B.S. Report, “He didn’t want a song used in any context that would be supposedly promoting the consumption of animal flesh... It’s a valid reason and I get it. And I hate it when people put him on the list of humorless guys, because that wasn’t the case at all. In fact, he said, ‘Think of any other subject and I’m happy to O.K. it’.”
Rage Against the Machine Played ‘Competitive Gigs’ with Tool
Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello is posting a series of “Guerrilla Videos” leading up to the band’s July 30 show at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. In the latest video, he talks about the humble genesis of Rage Against the Machine 20 years ago in a “hot and grubby” rehearsal space that was “about 110 degrees” in San 
Fernando Valley, in August 1991.
He went on to talk about playing “very competitive gigs early on with Tool.”
“When we got that first batch of 15 songs, everything changed,” he said. “We started playing gigs opening for Tool, who was a local band at the time who had been the subject of a bidding war, and they were good friends of ours, and so we played some very competitive gigs early on with Tool, which were pretty exciting. I think it sharpened both bands’ edges.”
When it came to making the first Rage record, grunge and rap of the ’90s were at the forefront of band members’ minds.
“I remember the jams that were coming out of Zack [de la Rocha]’s truck at the time and my band at the time were Nirvana’s first record; Soundgarden, Badmotorfinger; the first Cypress Hill record,” he said.
“And then I remember very clearly having the conversation and we were talking about what we wanted the first Rage record to sound like sonically, in terms of other bands, and we were looking for somewhere between Nirvana’s Bleach and Ice Cube’s most murderous track… [Laughs] I think we got pretty close to that.”
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
<em>Australian Idol</em> Judge Found Dead
Jay Dee Springbett, a former judge on Australian Idol, was found dead Thursday in his Sydney home, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. He was 36 years old.
Police arrived on the scene after being contacted by “concerned acquaintances,” who reported that they were unable to contact him. Springbett was dead when the police arrived.
Springbett was a Sony Music A&R executive who joined the hit show in 2009, replacing the departing Kyle Sandilands. A spokesman for the show’s producers said, “The Australian Idol family is deeply saddened by the passing of Jay Dee. Our thoughts are with his family and all at Sony Music.”
Patti Smith to Release Career-Spanning Compilation
Punk poet and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Patti Smith has announced she will release her first single-disc, career-spanning retrospective this summer. Outside Society will include highlights of Smith’s recordings from 1975 to 2007.
The collection, due on August 23, will feature material from both her tenure with Arista and Columbia. Selections include “Gloria” from 1975’s Horses, “Because the Night” from 1978’s Easter, “Dancing Barefoot” from 1979’s Wave, “People Have the Power” from 1988’s Dream of Life and “Glitter in Their Eyes” from 2000’s Gung Ho. The collection also includes her radically different version of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” from 2007.
The album booklet will include track-by-track notes from Smith. Her recollection of “Because the Night” (via a press release): “Bruce Springsteen gave me a great gift in allowing me to lend verses to his beautifully constructed anthem. My contribution was written for my future husband, Fred ‘Sonic’ Smith. Though we have performed it hundreds of times, the strong response it draws always makes it fresh and exciting to sing.”
Patti Smith, Outside Society tracklist:
1. “Gloria”
2. “Free Money”
3. “Ain’t it Strange”
4. “Pissing in a River”
5. “Because the Night”
6. “Rock N Roll Nigger”
7. “Dancing Barefoot”
8. “Frederick”
9. “So You Want to Be a Rock N Roll Star”
10. “People Have the Power”
11. “Up There Down There”
12. “Beneath the Southern Cross”
13. “Summer Cannibals”
14. “1959”
15. “Glitter in Their Eyes”
16. “Lo and Beholden” (radio edit)
17. “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
18. “Trampin’”
Eric Clapton: Crossroads Guitar Festival
In June 2004, some of the greatest living guitar players and their bands gathered at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, for a three-day festival to benefit the Crossroads Centre in Antigua. It was the ultimate concert for any music lover, featuring one legend after the other: Eric Clapton, BB King, Buddy Guy, Eric Johnson, James Taylor, Jimmie Vaughan, Joe Walsh, John Mayer, Robert Cray, Robert Randolph, Santana, ZZ Top, and many more. This 2-DVD set beautifully documents the event and contains over 4 hours of content. Planned extras include in-depth artist interviews, a mini-documentary, photo gallery, alternate angle, and more. Royalties from the DVD sales will benefit the Crossroads Center.Price: $29.98
Paul Simon ‘Wouldn’t Change Anything’
Paul Simon recently talked about his career and his new album, So Beautiful or So What, with PBS’ NewsHour. One of the songs on that album is titled “Rewrite,” and involves a man who goes back and rewrites his life story to make it end happier. Given the chance, it’s not something Simon said he would want to do.
“I wouldn’t rewrite. I wouldn’t change anything, even the mistakes, because you never know what you are changing,” he said. “And change it for what? You know, things turned out pretty well. I mean, I really can’t complain about much.”
Simon said that, through music, he has remained the person that wanted to be a musician when he was a kid.
“I’m very lucky that I really like, really enjoy [music], always,” he said. “You know, it was what I wanted to be when I was 12. And I have remained that person, in a lot of ways.”
The music legend also shared that a lot of his newer songs were written very simply, with just a guitar – like many of his ’60s hits.
“Simon & Garfunkel songs, they were all written just with a guitar,” he said. “But they weren’t as rhythmic. A couple of them were. I mean, ‘Mrs. Robinson’ was off that lick.”
A Perfect Circle Road-Test New Song
A Perfect Circle have made good on their promise to perform new material on their current American tour.
The band performed a new song, believed to be titled “By and Down,” at a tour stop in Portland, Oregon, last week. Band founder Billy Howerdel had previously indicated that the band would be road-testing new material, although there is no word on how that material might ultimately make its way into the recorded world. Howerdel told The Pulse of Radio that while he would like to make a new album, he is hesitant to do so while audiences seem disinterested in the album format.
Aside from Howerdel, who is also the main man for Ashes Divide and has worked as a guitar tech for Nine Inch Nails, the current lineup of A Perfect Circle consists of Maynard James Keenan (Tool), former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha, bass player Matt McJunkins and drummer Josh Freese. Freese has a resume a mile long: aside from his permanent gigs in Devo and the Vandals, he has also played with Dweezi Zappa, Guns N’ Roses, Nine Inch Nails, Weezer, Paramore, Infectious Grooves, Chris Cornell, Orianthi, Filter… and the list goes on.
Beatles Fan Boosts Paul McCartney’s Lamborghini
A Lamborghini sports car once owned by The Beatles’ Paul McCartney sold at auction for ?122,500 ($197,000) on Thursday. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the winning phone bid for the 400GT 2+2 was purchased by a Beatles fan in the 19th annual Bonhams sale at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in Sussex.
According to three histories of the Italian carmaker, McCartney was the first owner of the 400GT. The auctioned sportster, built in 1967, was originally orange and was owned by Macca for three years.
In October, RM Auctions sold a 1972 Lamborghini Miura SV once owned by Rod Stewart for $1.1 million.
Mark Tremonti Spills More Details on New Van Halen Album
As previously reported on Gibson.com, Alter Bridge/Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti recently spent some time at Van Halen’s 5150 studio listening to material from the band’s forthcoming album. The as-yet-untitled CD will be the group’s first with singer David Lee Roth since 1984’s…err, 1984.
Tremonti appeared recently on Colorado’s 94.3 KILO Radio and divulged more details on his visit.
“What makes it so great,” he told host Ross Ford, “is that they took what they could from all their old demos back in the ’80s and pretty much did what they could to create songs out of old ideas. So it sounds like vintage Van Halen. Musically, it sounds in the era. I didn’t hear any vocals — David [Lee Roth] was not there. It was just [Eddie, Alex and Wolfgang Van Halen] and the music sounded like very authentic, old-school Van Halen.”
Tremonti said he nearly stepped into hot water when he complimented his pal, Wolfgang.
“I remember commenting on Wolfgang’s bass parts. I said, ‘Man, that was a great chordal thing you did at the end there.’ And then Eddie looked at me and said, ‘How was my part?’ [I said], ‘Dude, you’re Eddie Van Halen. Your part is incredible every single time!’ He was very, very nice. I couldn’t have had a better experience.”
<em>Mean Streets</em> Singer Dead at 85
Italian-American crooner Jimmy Roselli, whose song “Mala Femmena” was featured in the soundtrack of Martin Scorsese’s 1973 classic, Mean Streets, has died. He was 85 years old.
According to NME.com, Roselli passed away at his home in Venice Beach, Florida yesterday. The Hoboken, New Jersey native had retired from music in 2004, ending a 69-year career that included the hits, “There Must Be Another Way” and “When Your Old Wedding Ring was New.”
Roselli is survived by his wife Donna, his daughter Anne and his grandson Michael. His funeral will take place next week.
Dethklok Return to the Stage
Dethklok will emerge from the Mordhaus this coming weekend to headline the Mayhem Festival in San Bernadino, California.
As bass player Bryan Beller says in an e-mail update, “It’s the only Dethklok show this year. If the whole audience dies somehow, then it will be just like the television show. (Yeah, it’s an in-joke, I know. Sue me.) We go on dead last, 11 p.m., after Godsmack, Distubred, and 34,926 other bands. Maybe the audience will be dead before we go on. Either way, we’re playing for somewhere around 30,000 people, so we thought it would be a good idea to rehearse this week so we don’t suck or get killed ourselves.”
The Dethklok live band also features Metalocalypse creator and Gibson signature artist Brendon Small on guitars and vocals, Mike Keneally (solo, Frank Zappa, Steve Vai) on guitar, and Gene Hoglan (Strapping Young Lad, Fear Factory) on drums.
Beller and Keneally will also be performing – separately – as members of Steve Vai and Joe Satriani’s respective bands at a benefit concert for Cliff Cultreri at the House of Blues in West Hollywood on Sunday night. The event will be streamed on Steve Vai’s GuitarTV.com website.
Vinnie Vincent to Re-Record 1988 Album
Former KISS guitarist Vinnie Vincent is planning to re-record the second Vinnie Vincent Invasion album, All Systems Go, with the band’s original singer, who was ousted in favor of future star Mark Slaughter.
The self-titled debut Vinnie Vincent Invasion album of 1986 featured one-time Journey singer Robert Fleischman on vocals, with Dana Strum on bass and Bobby Rock on drums. Released in 1988, follow-up All Systems Go featured Slaughter on vocals. After the band fell apart amid contract renegotiations with record label Chrysalis, Strum and Slaughter went on to form the multi-platinum band Slaughter, while Vincent re-teamed with KISS to co-write a few tracks from that band’s 1992 album Revenge, including lead track “Unholy.”
In a statement, Vincent said he planned to re-team with Fleischman to recapture the feel of his original demos and the first VVI album. Of All Systems Go, Vincent said: “Once the recording sessions were underway, it became painfully evident the production, sound and lead vocals were simply poor, lackluster and pale in comparison to Vinnie’s first Vinnie Vincent Invasion.”
The statement went on to say that Vincent planned to re-record All Systems Go, “the way it should have been recorded with the Vincent production, inclusive of all guitars, bass and vocals which would bring back the ferocious, over-the-top sound of the first Vinnie Vincent Invasion album, with Robert Fleishman on vocals.”
Public Image Ltd. Working on First Album Since ’92
The guys in Public Image Ltd. have confirmed that they are writing and recording their first album in nearly 20 years, according to the Quietus. The reunited band’s last studio release was 1992’s That What is Not.
Frontman John Lydon (a.k.a. Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols) said that PiL are in a studio that is “in the outskirts of nowhere.”
The post-punkers reunited in 2009 and toured extensively in 2010. Lydon did advertisements for Country Life Butter in order to fund the band’s recent tours and studio time.
Bruce Springsteen Inspires ‘Nugent-esque’ Tom Morello
Former Audioslave and erstwhile Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello has re-donned the guise of his alter-ego, The Nightwatchman, for a new CD. Set for release on August 30, 
World Wide Rebel Songs once again finds the guitarist sharpening his lyrical blades for social injustice. As opposed to his earlier Woody Guthrie-style acoustic efforts, though, Morello has embraced his inner guitar hero on the new album—a move largely inspired by a recent collaboration with Bruce Springsteen.
“On this record,” Morello told MusicRadar.com, “I felt much more comfortable melding the worlds of Tom Morello, 'electric guitar hero,' and Nightwatchman, 'brooding folk singer.’ [laughs] Where that evolution first happened was when I played the electric version of “The Ghost of Tom Joad” with Bruce Springsteen. That was the first time I ever sang on stage with an electric guitar. At first, I wanted The Nightwatchman material to stand in very stark contrast to Rage and Audioslave. But I've mellowed a bit on that now. I enjoy playing big riffs and guitar solos. That's who I am as an artist. So I finally got to a point where I could put it all together. There's plenty of grim folk tales of retribution on this record, but there's also big, 'Nugent-esque' guitar solos all over it.” [laughs]
He continued, "It wasn't so much that I needed confidence; it just never really occurred to me that I really could blend those worlds. I love the idea of the lone, guerilla-style acoustic singer…but playing with Bruce was kind of an epiphany moment for me. I'm going to do it both ways now: some nights will be the big rock band with the Freedom Fighter Orchestra, and other nights will be solo acoustic nights."
Beastie Boys Making New Video with Spike Jonze
The Beastie Boys have announced that their re-teaming with their “esteemed colleague” Spike Jonze for a new video. The band posted the news on their website that Jonze will direct the clip for their Santigold collaboration, “Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win.”
“It is an explicit action adventure spectacular,” according to the Beasties. “It features action figures of us… and yes, they are ACTION figures, NOT dolls!”
Apparently Jonze is working on both “short and epic length” versions of the video. Of course, MCA, Ad-Rock and Mike D have done previous work with Jonze, who directed their “Sure Shot” and “Sabotage” videos.
Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins Says Getting on Stage is ‘Do or Die’
Foo Fighters are continuing their world takeover with a headline slot at next week’s T in the Park festival in Kinross, Scotland. Drummer Taylor Hawkins, for one, can’t wait.
“It's been a while since we last did T in the Park — 2005,” he noted to the Daily Record. “And I think we did it in 2002, as well. The Scots are definitely some of the wildest crowds around, there's no question about that. The dudes are real dudes — it's great. And I love Scotland, it's beautiful."
For Hawkins, playing to wild festival crowds is what it’s all about:
"It's always scary, but always fun. Every time I get on stage, it's do or die — that's the way I am."
The blond basher also reminisced about being asked to join Dave Grohl’s outfit back in 1997.
"I knew I liked the music and I wanted to be a part of it. I was going from band to band and doing whatever I could, at that point, just to keep working. And one of my favorite bands in the world was Foo Fighters. When I joined, I didn't know how long it was going to last. I was just like, 'All right, I'll join Foo Fighters, maybe just for this record and that would be it.’”
Guitar PDF Toolkit theGuitarSuite.com Complete Learning System
Incredible Guitar iBook! 325 information packed pages. A complete system for growing as a guitarists and musician. Great for all levels and styles of guitar playing. Theguitarsuite.com is an award winning site that hundreds of visitors flock to every day.
Check it out!
Poptopia! The 10 Greatest-Ever Power Pop Bands
Infectious melodies, airtight arrangements, soaring vocal harmonies and—perhaps most importantly—unforgettable guitar riffs: these are the essential ingredients of great power pop. Coined by Pete Townshend in a 1967 interview, the phrase captures perfectly a style of music that blends early Beatles-like fare with an amped-up, six-string wallop that smacks like a sonic boom. Power pop has had its ups and downs through the years, but invariably, whenever it hits a lull, a great band comes along to pick up the torch. Below are 10 of the genre’s greatest-ever practitioners.
10. The Sweet
Few bands navigated the line between Archies-style bubblegum pop and Who-like rock bluster as effectively as The Sweet. Grabbing a teen niche just this side of Queen, T.Rex and Slade, the band struck pay dirt with near-novelty tunes such as “Little Willy” and “Ballroom Blitz,” but beneath the surface lay a serious riff-rock foundation. Virtually every pop metal band of the ‘80s owes a stylistic debt to The Sweet.
9. Badfinger
If ever a band was destined to carry The Beatles’ torch, it was Badfinger. Signed to Apple Records in 1968, the group kickstarted their career with the Paul McCartney-penned hit, “Come and Get It,” and then set about crafting memorable riffs and sparkling melodies of their own. Using SG Standards, guitarists/vocalists Pete Ham and Tom Evans put six-string muscle into such radio-ready material as “No Matter What,” “Day After Day” and “Baby Blue.”
8. The Posies
By combining the enchanting vocal harmonies of The Hollies with the sophisticated pop style of Big Star, The Posies helped keep power pop alive in the ‘90s. Often sporting ES-335s, main Posies Jonathan Auer and Ken Stringfellow brought a grunge-y component to the genre, which earned them favor with the Nirvana/Pearl Jam crowd. Fittingly, beginning in 1993, the two pop maestros teamed occasionally with the late Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens in a re-tooled incarnation of Big Star.
7. Fountains of Wayne
Wry humor has been a mainstay of a certain segment of power pop, and no one incorporates that component better than Fountains of Wayne. On the classic “Stacy’s Mom,” the songwriting duo of Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger forged a style that brought to mind the smartly-rendered songs of The Cars and early 10cc. Collingwood favors an ES-335 to achieve a clarion pop radiance, while lead guitarist Jody Porter punctuates Fountain of Wayne's choruses with wall-of-sound chords played on a Les Paul Custom.
6. Slade
As evidenced on such classics as “Cum on Feel the Noize” and “Gudbuy T’ Jane,” Slade had few equals when it came to fusing glam rock and power pop. The band failed to gain a foothold in America, but their influence was immense. Kiss, Cheap Trick and Quiet Riot are among the many bands who’ve cited Slade’s impact. In his book, Kiss and Make-Up, Gene Simmons wrote: “We liked the way [Slade] connected with the crowd, and the way they wrote anthems. We wanted that same energy, that same irresistible simplicity, but we wanted it American-style."
5. The Raspberries
Sporting unfashionably short hair and matching suits, The Raspberries were dismissed by many as a teen-pop gimmick when they burst on the scene in 1972. Today, however, the Cleveland-based band is rightly regarded as one of power pop’s all-time great ensembles. Centered on the twin-guitar tangle of main songwriter Eric Carmen and lead guitarist Wally Bryson—who often played his hook-laden riffs on a Flying V or an SG Standard—Raspberries’ songs like “Go All the Way,” “Let’s Pretend” and “Overnight Sensation” are rightly regarded as classics.
4. Teenage Fanclub
Few bands have assimilated their influences as cleverly as Teenage Fanclub. Formed in 1989, the Scottish group released a masterpiece in 1991 with Bandwagonesque, an album that couched broken-glass lyrics in pristinely crafted songs that evoked the likes of Big Star and The Hollies. The group’s subsequent albums have been similarly dazzling. Alternating between a Les Paul Custom and an Epiphone Casino, guitarist-singer Norman Blake often applies molten distortion to sunshine-y riffs, giving a sonic modernity to the band's throwback harmonies and hooks.
3. Big Star
No group had a bigger impact on the best of the ’80s post-punk bands than Big Star. Alternating between an ES-335 and a Les Paul Goldtop, main songwriters Alex Chilton and Chris Bell flavored British Invasion-style pop fare with wildly infectious guitar riffs that foreshadowed the likes of The Replacements and R.E.M. Big Star’s pristine arrangements—as showcased on songs like “September Gurls,” “In The Street” and “Back of a Car”—were out of step with the early ‘70s post-hippie times, but today, the group’s influence is legendary.
2. The Who
The Who didn’t just invent power pop; during the ‘60s, they were the genre’s greatest practitioners. With his ever-present SG slung low, Pete Townshend unleashed power chords the likes of which rock fans had never before seen. The band’s early singles—“My Generation,” “I Can’t Explain” and “Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere,” to name three—encased soaring melodies and an explosive surge in tidy three-minute packages. “I Can See for Miles,” from The Who Sell Out, may well be power pop’s greatest-ever anthem.
1. Cheap Trick
It’s hardly surprising that the Japanese press often refers to Cheap Trick as the “American Beatles.” Centered on Rick Nielsen’s soaring riffs, the band’s best songs – “Surrender,” “Dream Police” and “I Want You to Want Me,” to name three – combine sharp melodies with a hard-edged sonic sound inspired by The Who, ’70s punk rock and even (occasionally) heavy metal. The Los Angeles Times rightly noted that Cheap Trick carved out their unique style “by twisting the Beatles-esque into something shinier, harder and more American.”