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Stevie Ray Vaughn Is No Imitator

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      For years, I considered Stevie Ray Vaughn a Hendrix imitator. I dismissed him and wouldn't even listen to him. Some of my friends felt the same way back in the 80s. I have never been a Blues aficionado, but there have been a few players who have really made an impression on me. Eventually, I came around to giving credit where credit is due regarding Stevie Ray.     So what brought me to this conclusion? I saw a video of SRV on TV one day. It was a video of him playing Austin City Limits. I saw the video years after the performance. Seeing him playing made a huge difference because there was no way he was posing or acting the part. He was channeling. He wasn't present with the audience. He was in his own world. There was never any indication of forethought on a single note or phrase he played. His hands were moving so fluidly. He was a technical master who didn't need to pay attention to himself. He weaved every influence he ever had into unique and masterf...
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The Beatles (I just didn't get it)

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     People went on and on about how great the Beatles were. Even the high school music teachers were incorporating them into their lessons. I thought they were just trying to get the kids to behave and like them. I was into Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith, mostly Zeppelin. I had missed the boat, time-wise, on the whole Beatles phenomenon. I was only 3 when the Beatles came to America. I was 9 when the Beatles broke up. I did have older brothers, and inevitably, they were bringing home their albums. That was my first introduction.     I have  listened to various music, except traditional folk and opera. I was and am very open. I have even delved into hardcore heavy metal, nu-metal, death metal, and hip hop. The years went by, and I scoffed at the continued reverence of the Beatles.     This morning, however, I watched several YouTube videos with reaction videos—reactions to the Beatles' Abbey Road, Revolver, Magical Mystery Tour, and Rubber Soul. Young...
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Kodak "Psychedelic" Film on Album Covers

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Why am I talking about film? It played a role in "psychedelic" album art in the 1960s, and its use spilled into the early 1970s. It helped push the hippie movement and married visual art to music in a way that hasn't occurred since. It became synonymous with the hippie movement. Aerochrome Film, Infrared film, was developed (no pun intended) by the military for reconnaissance missions so they could see details that couldn't be seen with regular film. It is characterized by bright colors and colors that turn into different colors. I have included some album art from the '60s and early '70s that exemplifies this.  What a great way for artists to use film and make an artistic and cultural statement. According to my buddy Google AI assistant , one of the pioneers of its use in music art was Karl Ferris at Kolari Vision. Others followed suit.  See some covers below. Note Ferris using the bulging Fish-Eye camera lens effect on the Hendrix cover. Notice too the tree ...
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Why Jimi Hendrix Was A Star

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Jimi Hendrix wasn't just a star because of his technical ability. There were other contributing factors. 1. He took rock 'n' roll guitar to the next level in its evolution by incorporating rock with electric blues, following but expounding on pioneers like Chuck Berry and legions of great black American blues players before him. 2. After Elvis and many white musicians, promoters, producers, and record execs stole the rock 'n' roll movement's commercial potential from pioneering black musicians in the 50s by financing and marketing "acceptable" white musicians for capital gain, Hendrix found a way to reclaim the title from white musicians in the 60s. A  black musician's contribution to civil rights was made peacefully. 3. He was an outrageous, flashy performer. There was more going on than the Chuck Berry duck walk. Pete Townshend smashed his guitar onstage in 1965 because he hit the guitar neck on the venue's ceiling. In frustration, Townshend ...
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Elvis is Not The King

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     It's bothered me for years. I don't believe Elvis Presley is the King of rock 'n' roll. So you say, who is? Little Richard and Chuck Berry. Chuck Berry invented the classic rock 'n' roll shuffle and guitar licks used by almost every rock guitarist there ever was and will be. Little Richard did the same thing with piano, his incredible showmanship and songwriting talents. They both deserve the title of kings of rock 'n' roll. They didn't have anyone to imitate; they were pioneers.     Elvis was an imitator and capitalized on black Americans' talent with the help of Sam Phillips of Sun Records. Phillips knew that Elvis, being white, would make black music more acceptable to white kids. It worked. If Little Richard were white, he would have been the King. If Chuck Berry were white, he would have been co-king.  Of course, rock 'n' roll exploded due to a white audience. There, I said it. I think anyone who knows music knows that Elvis is ...
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The Police, Ghost in the Machine, Album Cover

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     The "Ghost in the Machine" is a cryptic and plain image. The album cover borders on boring. Actually, it's boring, but it's symbolic of the times. In 1981, when Ghost was released, it was the beginning of dot matrix displays in alarm clocks and appliances. So, in that vein, the cover is apropos. It isn't just a haphazard digital inspired artwork though. The artwork depicts the three band members and when I think of it that way, it's pretty inventive.  Artist Mike Haggerty came up with the artwork after the band was unable to decide on a cover. I'll give you a guess which image is Sting. That's an easy one. Cover by Mike Haggery and Jeff Ayeroff, 1981
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Green Eyed Lady Organ Solo

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    Somehow, like many other things, I missed the brilliance of the "Green Eyed Lady" organ solo. It's like the Eddie Van Halen of organ solos.  Here's the thing: I am not into organ at all. Save for Jon Lord of Deep Purple, who gets a pass because he played through a distorted Marshall guitar amp to get his sound. That's just cool.     The band was Sugarloaf, and the tune "Green Eyed Lady" was released in 1970 on their debut album. I was nine at the time. The song has a killer bass hook with a menacing quality, made more prominent at times by the organ stabs and guitar playing the same notes at precisely the same time as the bass line. It's very effective.       The lyrics also hook you right in. The frontman and keyboardist who played the solo was Jerry Corbetta, and he was one of the song's three writers. Corbetta writes about his girlfriend at the time, who had green eyes. This, according to songfacts.com .     Anyway, the organ...
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