Janis Ian might have remained a most remarkable one-hit wonder had she not taken up other controversial issues – as related by Wikipedia, "adolescent cruelty, the illusion of popularity, and teenage angst" – with her biggest hit song "At Seventeen" (1975).
* * *
Sleater-Kinney is not a "lesbian band", nor is Bikini Kill, L7, Heavens to Betsy, Excuse 17, or most of the other riot grrrl bands I know of. Excuse 17 is actually classified as a "queercore" band by Wikipedia, a more overtly gay/lesbian offshoot of punk rock that emerged alongside riot grrrl, and in many of the same places.
* * *
Boyskout had a successful appearance in 2006 at South by Southwest (SXSW); Wikipedia describes the event as "a set of film, interactive, and music festivals and conferences that take place every spring (usually in March) in Austin, Texas".
(January 2014)
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Being the man behind the legendary psychedelic rock album by the Deviants, Ptooff! would be enough to put Mick Farren among the giants of rock music; the thing is, he did so much more besides. Allmusic lists 10 albums in the discography of the Deviants alone; Wikipedia has 11.
As related in Wikipedia, Mick Farren has stated that the Deviants were originally a community band which "did things every now and then – it was a total assault thing with a great deal of inter-relation and interdependence". Musically, Farren described their sound as "teeth-grinding, psychedelic rock" somewhere between the Stooges and the Mothers of Invention.
The murky beginnings of the Pink Fairies – a more guitar-driven psychedelic rock band that eschewed the political stances of the Deviants – are hard to untangle; stories vary, and I don't have any of the books that have been written on and by the bandmembers. According to the liner notes on an early retrospective album by the band, Pink Fairies, the original Pink Fairies were Mick Farren (vocals), Steve Peregrin Took (guitar) and Twink (drums). Together with Twink's girlfriend Sally "Silver Darling" Meltzer (keyboards), Wikipedia reports that they "hooked up in October 1969 for one shambolic gig at Manchester University, billed as the Pink Fairies". The three men later worked together on Mona – The Carnivorous Circus.
After Twink left the band, the remaining trio in the Pink Fairies recorded What a Bunch of Sweeties which includes another song on my All-Time Top Ten, "Marilyn". This album was at the top of my Want List for decades before I finally mail-ordered a copy – just in time for Hurricane Katrina. The album also includes covers of two familiar 1960's tracks: the Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There" and the instrumental "Walk, Don't Run" (originally by the Ventures). As described by Wikipedia: "The sleeve came in a gatefold cover by Edward Barker, the front showing a box full of goodies mostly taken from roadie David "Boss" Goodman's personal collection of underground badges etc." The album is mostly a sonic assault that also includes the playful song "Pigs of Uranus" – but even that song ends with a fabulous electric guitar solo.
Several Wikipedia articles indicate that Mick Farren also co-founded Shagrat, but I don't believe that; the information that I have establishes that Shagrat started as a collaboration of Twink and Steve Peregrin Took.
About this time, Suzy Shaw had discovered the Wikipedia articles that I had been writing, and I was delighted to see that she had started using some of the copy from them in advertising albums for sale on the Bomp! mailorder website. When I pointed that out, she told me that she was wondering who had written all of that. Suzy even mentioned that Mick Farren had commented to her how good it was – and what could my response be to that except, "I'm not worthy . . . I'm not worthy!" The autograph by Suzy Shaw on my copy of the Bomp! book reads: "Thanks for the brilliant work! Suzy Shaw '08".
(March 2014/1)
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The plan was always to move directly from the Mick Farren tribute to a description of the Fairies as the Under-Appreciated Rock Band of the Month; Twink was in that band in 1964-1965.
Unfortunately, in November 2013, someone wrote a Wikipedia article on the Fairies, so I can't do that now. Fortunately, it is a really good article, so check it out: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairies_(British_band) .
* * *
What I have found about most Internet music sites is that they are mostly geared toward modern music and don't help me very much. Even Rolling Stone only goes back to 1967; the Rolling Stone Record Guide that I had pre-Katrina covered only albums in print except for the biggest artists. Allmusic truly tries to cover everything, though some of the UARB's and UARA's don't show up in their database. Generally speaking, Allmusic has more bands and artists than Wikipedia, though some bands with a big write-up in Wikipedia have almost nothing in Allmusic.
* * *
Pete Sears briefly played keyboards for the British freakbeat band Les Fleur de Lys; according to Wikipedia, his sole recording with the band was the "A" side of their second single, "Circles" (written by Pete Townshend).
(March 2014/2)
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The Cactus brand of American-style blues rock has been cited as an influence on many bands that followed; Wikipedia lists Aerosmith, Van Halen, .38 Special, Anvil, the Black Crowes, Montrose, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and the Black Keys. Cactus has been through a succession of line-ups over the years and is still active as of 2012.
* * *
Galen Niles, one of the bandmembers in this month's Under-Appreciated Rock Band, HOMER was previously in a legendary garage rock band called the Outcasts and was later in a previous UARB, Ultra. I wrote a Wikipedia article on the Outcasts several years ago and talked quite a bit about Homer already in the Ultra post.
(April 2014)
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As reported in Wikipedia, during their days at the Crawdaddy Club: "They [the Yardbirds] drew their repertoire from the Chicago blues of Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Sonny Boy Williamson II, and Elmore James, including 'Smokestack Lightning', 'Good Morning Little School Girl', 'Boom Boom', 'I Wish You Would', 'Rollin' and Tumblin''' and 'I'm a Man'."
* * *
Shortly after Blind Faith broke up, Eric Clapton began playing as a sideman with a completely different group, Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, a rock/soul collaboration of Delaney Bramlett and his wife Bonnie Bramlett with a whole parade of musicians: Besides Clapton, Wikipedia lists Duane Allman, Gregg Allman, George Harrison, Leon Russell, Bobby Whitlock, Dave Mason, Rita Coolidge, and King Curtis.
* * *
Regarding the Derek and the Dominos album, Layla and Other Love Songs (1970), and as reported in Wikipedia: "Many critics would later notice that [Eric] Clapton played best when in a band composed of dual guitars; working with another guitarist kept him from getting 'sloppy and lazy and this was undeniably the case with Duane Allman'."
* * *
Meanwhile, Ginger Baker was putting together a supergroup and a double album of his own. Ginger Baker's Air Force – described in Wikipedia as a rock-jazz fusion band – was organized from the ashes of Blind Faith.
* * *
On September 18, 1964 and again on September 21, the Soul Agents backed blues legend Little Walter, a fearsome blues harmonica ("blues harp") player who was once a part of Muddy Waters' band. Wikipedia notes that his "revolutionary approach to the harmonica earned him comparisons to Charlie Parker and Jimi Hendrix, for innovation and impact on succeeding generations".
(May 2014)
YouTube has a music video for "Fire with Fire" by Wild Blue at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGpO-2gr6PU . The person who posted the video said that this was included in the soundtrack for a 1986 film, Fire with Fire. Wikipedia has an article on the film, whose cast include Virginia Madsen.
(June 2014)
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"Jefferson airplane" is slang for a split paper match that is used to hold a marijuana cigarette when it has burned down too far to be easily held. Many people think that this was the origin of the name of Jefferson Airplane, but (as I suspected years ago) the reverse is apparently the case. Bandmember Jorma Kaukonen has the real story about the band's name; as quoted from a 2007 press release in Wikipedia: "I had this friend [Steve Talbot] in Berkeley who came up with funny names for people. His name for me was Blind Thomas Jefferson Airplane (for blues pioneer Blind Lemon Jefferson). When the guys were looking for band names and nobody could come up with something, I remember saying, 'You want a silly band name? I got a silly band name for you!'"
* * *
Jefferson Airplane had other old-fashioned touches in their work as well. As reported in the Wikipedia article on the band's first retrospective album, The Worst of Jefferson Airplane: "Original pressings had a 1918 vintage Victor Talking Machine Company inner sleeve and bore late 1920s vintage Victor record labels."
* * *
The best-known and probably best album by Manfred Mann's Earth Band is The Roaring Silence (1976); the Wikipedia article comments: "Like other Earth Band albums, this includes material by other composers. 'Blinded by the Light', which reached Number One in Billboard's Hot 100, is a cover version of a track by Bruce Springsteen; 'Questions' is based on the main theme of Franz Schubert's Impromptu in G Flat Major; [and] 'Starbird' takes its theme from Igor Stravinsky's ballet The Firebird."
* * *
Another important British Invasion band, Fleetwood Mac evolved into a best-selling pop-rock band. Their 1977 album, Rumours became the sixth biggest selling album of all time; Wikipedia reports worldwide sales of 40 million copies, with certified sales of 26.8 million.
The new direction for Fleetwood Mac was not limited to personnel changes or new musical experimentation; this has been common in bands long before rock and roll came along. Fleetwood Mac relocated to Los Angeles in the mid-1970's; also, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks were Americans. Thus, it is difficult to know even how to define the band. Wikipedia calls them "a British-American rock band formed in 1967 in London", but more than a few comments in the Wikipedia "Talk" section grumble about even calling their latter-day music "rock".
* * *
Wikipedia has a brief mention of the Richmond Sluts in the article on their drummer Brad Artley, who also performed from 1995 to 1996 with a fairly prominent neo-psychedelic outfit called the Brian Jonestown Massacre. Brad Artley is also featured in a documentary on the Brian Jonestown Massacre and another band, the Dandy Warhols called DiG!. That gives you some idea of what does get into Wikipedia and what does not.
* * *
Once again, I mentioned the Flashback band, Wild Blue in the write-up of the current UARB; this sure has happened a lot. YouTube has a music video for "Fire with Fire" at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGpO-2gr6PU . The person who posted the video said that this was included in the soundtrack for a 1986 film, Fire with Fire. The video intersperses color clips from the film with both color and black-and-white shots of the band in performance. Wikipedia has an article on the film, whose cast include Virginia Madsen. Based upon a comment that was posted with the video, bandmembers Renee Varo and Joe Zanona married and raised a family.
Originally "Jesus music" or "Jesus rock" was not recorded but only sung among people at a gathering. Wikipedia mentions Larry Norman as a pioneer of CCM with his 1969 debut solo album Upon this Rock. Norman had previously been the lead singer and chief songwriter for a band called People! who had a 1968 hit with the Zombies song "I Love You". A second album listed by Wikipedia is the 1970 release, Mylon – We Believe by Mylon LeFevre and Broken Heart; Joe South appears as a guest musician.
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After the death of his mother from injuries in an auto accident, Phil Keaggy became a Christian; although he remained in Glass Harp, Keaggy began introducing Christian witness into their recordings. About the band's second album, Synergy, Phil Keaggy is quoted in Wikipedia as having said: "That album was a real experience because I was able to sing 'The Answer', a song I wrote right after my conversion to Christ. And with . . . producers and an engineer that didn't care about Jesus, I was surprised that out of 15 songs, one of the 10 that got on the album was 'The Answer'. I praise Jesus for that work, because it's just a simple song of testimony."
Ted Nugent was quoted in 1989 in Wikipedia as saying: "I don't know what happened to that Phil Keaggy. He could have saved the world with his guitar."
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After Rick Wakeman left Strawbs, bandleader Dave Cousins consulted the I Ching to see what was next for the band. Quoting Wikipedia: "The answer from the coins, 'Humble must he constant be, where the paths of wisdom lead, distant is the shadow of the setting sun', forms part of the first two lines of the lyrics of the song ['Benedictus']."
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The unusual charting history of "Why Me" is related by Wikipedia: "'Why Me' was [Kris] Kristofferson's lone major country hit as a solo recording artist, reaching No. 1 of Billboard magazine's Hot Country Singles chart in July 1973. The song, despite peaking only at No. 16 of the Billboard Hot 100, had, to that time, one of the longer runs (19 weeks) in the top 40 and the most chart reversals (6) in one run on the Hot 100. As a result, ironically, the song managed to be ranked as the second most popular Hot 100 single of 1973."
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Among African-Americans, Wikipedia notes Andraé Crouch as a founding presence in CCM. Crouch's beginnings in music are related in Wikipedia this way: "His father, Benjamin Crouch, also had a street ministry and ministered in hospitals and in prison. When [Andraé] Crouch was 11, his father was invited to preach at a small church in a farming community. The church didn't have a regular pastor so the bishop asked Benjamin to fill the post. The first Sunday, Benjamin asked his son to come up front and asked, 'Andraé, if God gave you the gift of music to play and sing for Him, would you do it for His glory all your life?' Crouch said, 'Yeah, Daddy.' Weeks later, Benjamin summoned his son again as the congregation sang, with: 'If you're gonna play, play.' Crouch found the key and started to play the piano. He soon began to write songs and lead a choir."
* * *
The songwriter, Curtis Mayfield is quoted in Wikipedia as saying of "People Get Ready": "That was taken from my church or from the upbringing of messages from the church. Like there's no hiding place and get on board, and images of that sort. I must have been in a very deep mood of that type of religious inspiration when I wrote that song."
* * *
The song itself has an unexpected source of inspiration; as quoted in Wikipedia, Norman Greenbaum said in an interview: "If you ask me what I based 'Spirit in the Sky' on . . . what did we grow up watching? Westerns! These mean and nasty varmints get shot and they wanted to die with their boots on. So to me that was spiritual, they wanted to die with their boots on. . . . It wasn’t like a Christian song of praise, it was just a simple song. I had to use Christianity because I had to use something. But more important it wasn’t the Jesus part, it was the spirit in the sky."
(July 2014)
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Wikipedia says that "Infidels is seen as [Bob Dylan's] return to secular music, following a conversion to Christianity, three evangelical gospel records, and a subsequent return to a secular, culturally Jewish lifestyle" (whatever that is supposed to mean).
* * *
In Wikipedia, Dylan is quoted in 1984 as distancing himself from the "born again" label: "I've never said I'm born again. That's just a media term. I don't think I've been an agnostic. I've always thought there's a superior power, that this is not the real world and that there's a world to come."
Wikipedia highlights another Bob Dylan quote from 1997: "Here's the thing with me and the religious thing. This is the flat-out truth: I find the religiosity and philosophy in the music. I don't find it anywhere else. Songs like 'Let Me Rest on a Peaceful Mountain' or 'I Saw the Light' — that's my religion. I don't adhere to rabbis, preachers, evangelists, all of that. I've learned more from the songs than I've learned from any of this kind of entity. The songs are my lexicon. I believe the songs."
* * *
Bob Dylan has also released a Christmas album, Christmas in the Heart. Wikipedia mentions a 2009 interview with Bill Flanagan when he was promoting the album: "Flanagan commented on the 'heroic performance' Dylan gave of 'O Little Town of Bethlehem' and that he 'delivered the song like a true believer'. Dylan replied: 'Well, I am a true believer.'"
* * *
One clue to what was happening with Bob Dylan occurred about six months before Slow Train Coming was released in November 1979; as reported by Wikipedia: "Before the album was completed, Patty Valentine had brought a defamation-of-character suit against Dylan, regarding the song 'Hurricane' from Desire; on May 22, [1979,] while giving a pre-trial deposition in his defense, Dylan was asked about his wealth. 'You mean my treasure on earth?' replied Dylan. He was asked about the identity of the 'fool' in 'Hurricane'. Dylan said the 'fool' was 'whoever Satan gave power to . . . whoever was blind to the truth and was living by his own truth.' Five days later, Dylan's pre-trial statement was reported in the Washington Post, which also interviewed Kenn Gulliksen, who revealed to the paper that Dylan had joined the Vineyard Christian Fellowship."
Wikipedia mentions that the organization now known as the Association of Vineyard Churches (which was founded by Gulliksen) was formed in part by Christian contemporary music pioneers that I mentioned in my last post: "The first local church started when Kenn Gulliksen brought together two Bible studies, both meeting at the houses of singer/songwriters: Larry Norman and Chuck Girard [a founder of early CCM band Love Song]. In early 1975, thirteen groups met at the Beverly Hills Women's Club. These Bible studies, and others like them, were attended by many popular actors/actresses and musicians including Bob Dylan." Dylan also attended the Calvary Chapel discipleship courses in Southern California.
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Bob Dylan himself reports that someone threw a silver cross on the stage during a concert in San Diego in November 1978, leading directly to his conversion to Christ. It was much more dramatic than I had ever imagined. Again from Wikipedia, Dylan recalls in a 1979 interview: "'Towards the end of the show someone out in the crowd . . . knew I wasn't feeling too well. I think they could see that. And they threw a silver cross on the stage. Now usually I don't pick things up in front of the stage. Once in a while I do. Sometimes I don't. But I looked down at that cross. I said, "I gotta pick that up." So I picked up the cross and I put it in my pocket. . . . And I brought it backstage and I brought it with me to the next town, which was out in Arizona. . . . I was feeling even worse than I'd felt when I was in San Diego. I said, "Well, I need something tonight." I didn't know what it was. I was used to all kinds of things. I said, "I need something tonight that I didn't have before." And I looked in my pocket and I had this cross.'
"Dylan believed he had experienced a vision of Christ in his Tucson hotel room. 'Jesus did appear to me as King of Kings, and Lord of Lords,' he'd later say. 'There was a presence in the room that couldn't have been anybody butJesus. . . . Jesus put his hand on me. It was a physical thing. I felt it. I felt it all over me. I felt my whole body tremble. The glory of the Lord knocked me down and picked me up.'
"[Clinton] Heylin writes that 'his state of mind may well have made him susceptible to such an experience. Lacking a sense of purpose in his personal life since the collapse of his marriage, he came to believe that, when Jesus revealed Himself, He quite literally rescued him from an early grave.'
"'[Dylan's] conversion wasn't one of those things that happens when an alcoholic goes to Alcoholics Anonymous,' David Mansfield, one of Dylan's band members and fellow born-again Christian, would later say. 'The simplest explanation is that he had a very profound experience which answered certain lifelong issues for him.' . . .
"Dylan wasn't alone in his religious awakening. Band members Steven Soles and David Mansfield had already joined the Vineyard [Christian] Fellowship, a Christian organization introduced to them by T-Bone Burnett. Helena Springs, one of the singers in the band, was brought up Christian and still practiced her faith. Dylan was also romantically linked with Mary Alice Artes; raised as a Christian, she had strayed from her faith only to return to it after joining the Vineyard Fellowship (without the influence of Burnett, Soles, or Mansfield)."
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Wikipedia also reports that for the past 20 years, Bob Dylan has been a supporter of Chabad Lubavitch movement, a prominent Orthodox Jewish group that I remember well from my days in New York in the early 1990's for their subway ads reminding riders of upcoming Jewish holidays and festivals. Dylan has also participated in the Bar Mitzvahs of his sons and attended other Jewish services over the years.
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Another time (from Wikipedia), Bob Dylan connected up some of his early songs with the Second Coming: "You know we're living in the end times. . . . The scriptures say, 'In the last days, perilous times shall be at hand. Men shall become lovers of their own selves. Blasphemous, heavy and highminded.' . . . Take a look at the Middle East. We're heading for a war. . . . I told you 'The Times They Are A-Changin'' and they did. I said the answer was 'Blowin' in the Wind', and it was. I'm telling you now Jesus is coming back, and He is! And there is no other way of salvation. . . . Jesus is coming back to set up His Kingdom in Jerusalem for a thousand years."
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Some of the criticism of Dylan's Christian albums is quite harsh. Wikipedia mentions: "Critic Charles Shaar Murray wrote, 'Bob Dylan has never seemed more perfect and more impressive than on this album. He has also never seemed more unpleasant and hate-filled.' Greil Marcus wrote, 'Dylan's received truths never threaten the unbeliever, they only chill the soul' and accused Dylan of 'sell[ing] a prepackaged doctrine he's received from someone else'."
The Wikipedia article on Slow Train Coming also states (with no footnotes), in apparent violation of their NPOV (neutral point of view) policy: "In a year when Van Morrison and Patti Smith released their own spiritual works in Into the Music and Wave, respectively, Dylan's album seemed vitriolic and bitter in comparison." Neither album is particularly Christian, from what I can tell; the title track of the Patti Smith album "Wave" is dedicated to the nearly forgotten Pope John Paul I, but evidently only because it was recorded during his brief papacy. Also, Patti Smith's previous album Easter, as might be expected from the title, has more Christian imagery; and Smith opened her acclaimed debut album Horses with a spoken-word introduction that could easily be described as "vitriolic and bitter": "Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine".
* * *
Why did Bob Dylan quit recording Christian albums if he retains his Christian beliefs? One factor is likely that all of this criticism directed at Bob Dylan stung – he is not as above it all as it might appear. A quotation from Wikipedia that I read some months ago that is no longer in the article on Infidels states: "It has been reported that reviews like these of Dylan’s religious works depressed the musician profoundly, inspiring Dylan’s comment at one concert that he was only referred to as a 'prophet' when he was a 'secular prophet' (paraphrased)."
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Only Dennis Blair has remained in show business apparently. Blair is a stand-up comedian who was mentored by Rodney Dangerfield and was a featured actor in two of his HBO specials; he also appears in Dangerfield's 1983 film, Easy Money. Blair opened for George Carlin for 18 years and wrote a book about these experiences called Me First. He has a website, www.dennisblair.com as well as a short Wikipedia article; the Holy Ghost Reception Committee #9 is mentioned in passing on the website.
(August 2014)
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The Beatles embarked on what would become their final American tour in August 1966; the animosity toward the band on that tour as a result of the "we're more popular than Jesus now" contributed to the decision by the Beatles to quit touring and become strictly a studio rock band. From Wikipedia: "According to [John] Lennon's wife, Cynthia [Lennon], he was nervous and upset that he had made people angry simply by expressing his opinion." Their manager Brian Epstein first attempted to smooth things over by holding a press conference in New York City at the start of the tour, to no avail.
Again, from Wikipedia: "The Beatles attended a press conference in Chicago, Illinois; Lennon did not want to apologize but was advised by [Brian] Epstein and [Beatles press officer Tony] Barrow that he should. [John] Lennon quipped that 'if I had said television was more popular than Jesus, I might have got away with it' but stressed that he was simply remarking on how other people viewed and popularized the band."
As reported in Wikipedia: "In 1963, the Anglican Bishop of Woolwich, John A. T. Robinson, published a controversial but popular book, Honest to God, urging the nation to reject traditional church teachings on morality and the concept of God as an 'old man in the sky', and instead embrace a universal ethic of love." John Lennon quoted this book in his Chicago press conference.
Also gaining currency in the 1960's was the notion of loving Jesus Christ and what He stood for, but not wanting to become involved in the Christian Church. John Lennon echoed these sentiments when he was asked to look back on the controversy in an interview in Canada in 1969 (from Wikipedia): "He repeated his opinion that the Beatles were more influential on young people than Christ, adding that some ministers had agreed with him. He called the protesters in the US 'fascist Christians', saying he was 'very big on Christ. I've always fancied him. He was right.'" Also in 1969: "In a BBC interview . . . [John] Lennon called himself 'One of Christ's biggest fans', talked about the Church of England, his vision of heaven, and unhappiness over being unable to marry Yoko Ono in [the] church."
In a 2005 reminiscence by Maureen Cleave, called "The John Lennon I Knew" (published in The Daily Telegraph), she recalls a 1978 interview (as reported in Wikipedia) where Lennon said: "If I hadn't said [that] and upset the very Christian Ku Klux Klan, well, Lord, I might still be up there with all the other performing fleas! God bless America. Thank you, Jesus."
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Paul McCartney has said that the origin of "Mother Mary" is not Mary the Mother of Jesus, but rather his own mother, Mary Mohin McCartney, who had died of cancer when he was 14. McCartney had a dream about his mother during the tumultuous period when the double-LP The Beatles – a/k/a the White Album – was being recorded; he recalled (as quoted in Wikipedia): "'It was great to visit with her again. I felt very blessed to have that dream. So that got me writing "Let it Be".' He also said in a later interview about the dream that his mother had told him, 'It will be all right, just let it be.' When asked if the song referred to the Virgin Mary, however, McCartney has typically answered the question by assuring his fans that they can interpret the song however they would like."
In addition to "Mother Mary" – a term frequently used by believers to refer to Mary – Wikipedia notes that "let it be" is also a part of the response by Mary to the Annunciation by the Angel Gabriel: “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).
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George Harrison was the most spiritual of the Beatles. Along with the other Beatles, the Beach Boys, and many other celebrities, George Harrison spent time in 1968 with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi; but his interest in Hinduism predated that experience by several years. Wikipedia mentions several earlier encounters: "During the filming of Help! in the Bahamas [in 1965], [the Beatles] met the founder of Sivananda Yoga,Swami Vishnu-Devananda, who gave each of them a signed copy of his book, The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga."
Also from Wikipedia: "[George] Harrison became a vegetarian in the late 1960s, and a devotee of the Indian mystic Paramahansa Yogananda, a guru who proselytised Kriya yoga, after he was given Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi by Ravi Shankar. (Yogananda and three other major figures from Kriya yoga, Sri Mahavatar Babaji, Sri Yukteswar Giri, and Sri Lahiri Mahasaya appear on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.)"
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(September 2014)
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Again as quoted in Wikipedia, Tony Asher says of this song: "This is the one [song] that I thought would be a hit record because it was so incredibly beautiful. I was concerned that maybe the lyrics weren't up to the same level as the music; how many love songs start off with the line, "I may not always love you"? I liked that twist, and fought to start the song that way. Working with Brian [Wilson], I didn't have a whole lot of fighting to do, but I was certainly willing to fight to the end for that. . . . 'God Only Knows' is, to me, one of the great songs of our time. I mean the great songs. Not because I wrote the lyrics, but because it is an amazing piece of music that we were able to write a very compelling lyric to. It's the simplicity — the inference that 'I am who I am because of you' — that makes it very personal and tender."
Paul McCartney has remarked on many occasions that "God Only Knows" is one of his very favorite songs; in a 1990 interview (from Wikipedia), he said of this song: "It's a really, really great song – it's a big favorite of mine. I was asked recently to give my top ten favorite songs for a Japanese radio station. . . . I didn't think long and hard on it, but I popped that ["God Only Knows"] on the top of my list. [Thinks for a moment] It's very deep. [Quotes the lyrics to "God Only Knows"] Very emotional, always a bit of a choker for me, that one. There are certain songs that just hit home with me, and they're the strangest collection of songs . . . but that is high on the list, I must say."
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Judas Priest sounds like another band name with Satanic tinges, but actually, the phrase is sometimes used as a euphemism for the oath "Jesus Christ". The popular English heavy metal band formed in 1969 and is still going strong. They are generally regarded as being one of the best in the business, with MTV ranking Judas Priest second on their list of "best metal bands". Wikipedia says of the band: "Their influence, while mainly Rob Halford's operatic vocal style (widely considered as one of the most unique vocalists in the genre) and the twin guitar sound of K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton, has been adopted by many bands."
Rob Halford is the first hard rock musician to come out as a gay man that I can recall, during an interview on MTV News in 1998.
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The Jesus and Mary Chain formed in Scotland in 1983 and was a highly influential alternative rock/indie band that, like their major influence the Velvet Underground, suffered from low record sales. According to Wikipedia, their tacky name might have been taken from a similarly tacky offering of a gold-colored religious chain on a breakfast cereal box.
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Sadly, I had more to say about rock and religion than I had appropriate UARB's to talk about; I was sure that the Red Tyger Church would qualify, but there is an Wikipedia article on the band, though their "notability" has been questioned for the past five years. (Note: As of January 2017, the Wikipedia article on the Red Tyger Church has been deleted, so they have entered the realm of the future UARB's).
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Mötochrist was formed in 1998 in Los Angeles by Danny Nordahl (bass guitar and lead vocals) and Marc Diamond (lead guitar); other bandmembers include Ricky Vodka (guitar and backing vocals) and Chad Stewart (drums).
Danny Nordahl, Marc Diamond and Chad Stewart each have Wikipedia articles actually, all mentioning Mötochrist; and all three have been in numerous rock bands over the years.
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Three of the four bandmembers in his month's UARB had their own Wikipedia articles; but Trillion had even more connections – I found Wikipedia articles on more than 50 musicians and bands that are directly related to Trillion. It still amazes me that there is no Wikipedia article on this progressive rock band yet.
(October 2014)
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Like Cliff Richard, his backing band the Shadows has a fairly low profile in this country; but they have considerable renown in their own right as an instrumental rock band besides the recordings that they made with Cliff Richard. The Shadows were the first band to record the well-known "Apache" for instance. And this instrumental standard has had a major impact elsewhere as well; quoting from Wikipedia: "A 1973 version [of 'Apache'] by the Incredible Bongo Band has been called 'hip-hop’s national anthem'. Although this version was not a hit on release, the long percussion break in the middle has been sampled countless times on hip-hop, rap and dance tracks since the 1980's."
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"Move It" was an original song by bandmember Ian "Sammy" Samwell and was first released as the "B" side, with the "A" side being a cover of a song by American artist Bobby Helms called "Schoolboy Crush". "Move It" went to #2 on the UK charts in 1958 and is widely regarded as the first authentic British rock and roll song. John Lennon has been quoted as saying (from Wikipedia): "Before Cliff [Richard] and the Shadows, there had been nothing worth listening to in British music." Cliff Richard is the third top-selling singles artist in British history, behind only the Beatles and Elvis Presley.
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As Wikipedia notes: "Over a career spanning more than 50 years, [Cliff] Richard has become a fixture of the British entertainment world, amassing many gold and platinum discs and awards, including three Brit Awards and two Ivor Novello Awards. He has had more than 130 singles, albums and EPs make the UK Top 20, more than any other artist, and holds the record (with Elvis Presley) as the only act to make the UK singles charts in all of its first six decades (1950's – 2000's). He has achieved 14 UK No. 1 singles (or 18, depending on the counting methodology) and is the only singer to have had a No. 1 single in the UK in 5 consecutive decades: the 1950's through to the 1990's."
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Judy Collins' lovely rendition of "Amazing Grace" was an unexpected hit song, staying on the charts for 15 weeks and peaking at #15. The interesting history behind her recording is recounted below, as taken from Wikipedia.
"[Judy] Collins decided to record it in the late 1960's amid an atmosphere of counterculture introspection; she was part of an encounter group that ended a contentious meeting by singing 'Amazing Grace' as it was the only song to which all the members knew the words. Her producer was present and suggested she include a version of it on her 1970 album Whales & Nightingales. Collins, who had a history of alcohol abuse, claimed that the song was able to 'pull her through' to recovery. It was recorded in St. Paul's, the chapel at Columbia University, chosen for the acoustics. She chose an a cappella arrangement that was close to Edwin Othello Excell's, accompanied by a chorus of amateur singers who were friends of hers.
"Collins connected it to the Vietnam War, to which she objected: 'I didn't know what else to do about the war in Vietnam. I had marched, I had voted, I had gone to jail on political actions and worked for the candidates I believed in. The war was still raging. There was nothing left to do, I thought . . . but sing "Amazing Grace".'"
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I can hardly improve on the following two paragraphs that open the Wikipedia article on "Amazing Grace". I remember a PBS special that ran many years ago that told the remarkable story behind this one song.
"'Amazing Grace' is a Christian hymn with words written by the English poet and clergyman John Newton (1725–1807), published in 1779. With the message that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of sins committed, and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the mercy of God, 'Amazing Grace' is one of the most recognizable songs in the English-speaking world.
"Newton wrote the words from personal experience. He grew up without any particular religious conviction, but his life's path was formed by a variety of twists and coincidences that were often put into motion by his recalcitrant insubordination. He was pressed (i.e., forced into service involuntarily) into the Royal Navy, and after leaving the service, he became involved in the Atlantic slave trade. In 1748, a violent storm battered his vessel so severely that he called out to God for mercy, a moment that marked his spiritual conversion. However, he continued his slave trading career until 1754 or 1755, when he ended his seafaring altogether and began studying Christian theology."
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Anyway, for their part, the members of Led Zeppelin say that the song doesn't have a special meaning at all. Jimmy Page was quoted in Wikipedia as saying of the song: "The wonderful thing about 'Stairway [to Heaven]' is the fact that just about everybody has got their own individual interpretation to it, and actually what it meant to them at their point of life. And that's what's so great about it. Over the passage of years people come to me with all manner of stories about what it meant to them at certain points of their lives. About how it's got them through some really tragic circumstances. . . . Because it's an extremely positive song, it's such a positive energy, and, you know, people have got married to [the song]."
To this day, "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin is ranked among the greatest rock songs of all time. Wikipedia notes: "As of 2000, the song had been broadcast on radio over three million times. . . . It is also the biggest-selling single piece of sheet music in rock history, clocking up an average of 15,000 copies yearly. In total, over one million copies have been sold."
In an interesting take on the legacy of this song, Wikipedia adds: "Erik Davis, a social historian and cultural critic, commented on the song's massive success, subsequent backlash and enduring legendary status: '"Stairway to Heaven" isn't the greatest rock song of the 1970's; it is the greatest spell of the 1970's. Think about it: We are all sick of the thing, but in some primordial way it is still number one. Everyone knows it. . . . Even our dislike and mockery is ritualistic. The dumb parodies; the Wayne's World-inspired folklore about guitar shops demanding customers not play it; even Robert Plant's public disavowal of the song — all of these just prove the rule. "Stairway to Heaven" is not just number one. It is The One, the quintessence, the closest AOR [album-oriented rock] will ever get you to the absolute."
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After Wendy Bagwell's death, Kevin Williams joined the Gaither Homecoming Tour and has become their band director. Gospel music impresario Bill Gaither had completed an album in 1991 called Homecoming that featured a host of other prominent gospel musicians, and that has led to a series of albums, videos, television performances, and other events under this umbrella that continue to the present day. Wikipedia lists nearly 100 items in their Videography alone.
(November 2014)
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According to Wikipedia: "'Hot Rod Lincoln' and 'Hot Rod Race' are defining anthems of the hot rod community."
The album, Pebbles, Volume 4 LP was the first time I had heard of Bruce & Terry, two LA studio whiz kids, Bruce Johnston, now a member of the Beach Boys, and Terry Melcher to be specific. (The surf scene seemed to have people like that by the carload – others include Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys and Jan Berry of Jan & Dean). When I looked up the Rip Chords in Wikipedia before starting my post on the UARB, I was redirected to their entry on Bruce & Terry.
Returning to the surf world, "Pipeline" is another top instrumental rock track that was recorded by a surf rock band called the Chantays. From Wikipedia: "Their music combines electronic keyboards and surf guitar, creating a unique ghostly sound."
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Wikipedia reports: "The song ["Wipe Out"] – both the Surfaris' version as well as cover versions – has been featured in over 20 films and television series since 1964, appearing at least once a decade. First heard in Kenneth Anger's short Scorpio Rising [1963], its most recent appearance was in Dominic Sena's 2009 thriller, Whiteout."
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The soundtrack for the Roger Corman film The Wild Angels (1966) was a breakthrough for Davie Allan and the Arrows and yielded their biggest hit song, "Blues' Theme". From Wikipedia: "The song from the film's opening, 'Blues' Theme' (sometimes listed as 'Blue's Theme'), an aggressive, repetitive and very catchy instrumental showcasing [Davie] Allan's new fuzzed-out (heavily distorted) guitar sound became their biggest hit (it was also one of the first songs Eddie Van Halen learned to play on brother Alex [Van Halen]'s guitar). The song stayed on the Billboard charts for 17 weeks (it peaked at #37); the single, backed with 'Bongo Party', and the soundtrack album [The Wild Angels] both sold well. Rumors have stated that the melody in 'Blues' Theme' was stolen from the Monkees' guitar lick in 'Last Train to Clarksville'; but 'Last Train to Clarksville' was recorded on July 25th, 1966, and The Wild Angels debuted in the theaters on July 20th, 1966."
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In 1986, Mick Collins was a founding member of the seminal garage/punk band the Gories; the group had a female drummer, Peggy O'Neill plus a second guitarist Dan Kroha (all were from metro Detroit). In other words, the group had two guitarists but no bassist, like the Cramps and Sleater-Kinney. Of the Gories, Wikipedia notes: "They were among the first 1980's garage rock bands to incorporate overt blues influences." Alexandra Zorn writing for Allmusic states in the article on the band: "The emergence of the Gories heralded a new Golden Age of Detroit rock beginning in the late '80s; a renaissance of noise and rust-belt rock that lasts through to today."
After the Gories broke up in 1993, Mick Collins was in what Wikipedia calls a "basic garage rock band" called Blacktop from 1994 to 1996. His next band, the Dirtbombs was founded in 1995 and is still active; they started out as a more eclectic side project while he was in Blacktop. Wikipedia says that the Dirtbombs are "notable for blending diverse influences such as punk rock and soul while featuring a dual bass guitar, dual drum, and guitar lineup" – in contrast to the Gories who didn't have any bass guitarists. The Dirtbombs have featured a variety of Detroit area musicians over the years; they include Jim Diamond, who played bass guitar for the band and appears as a guest musician on the Silencers album Cyclerific Sounds.
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At long last, my UARB posts are beginning to come up at high positions on Google searches. A few days ago, I looked for Schattenfreiheit and their album Nachgedanken – they are not officially a UARB, though I talked about them in the post for past UARB Queen Anne's Lace – and I was thrilled to see my UARB post show up second in the search. Of course, there were only 10 results today for that search (and just 4 the other day). However, just now a Google search for "the Invisible Eyes band" (with no quote marks) generated 17,600,000 results; and my original Facebook post for the band was #2 on that search also. That is truly thrilling for me; Wikipedia entries come up high on a Google search more or less automatically, so I missed seeing high placement on Google for my work.
