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Best Band Logo in Rock ‘n’ Roll

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     If you ask me, the best logo in rock ‘n’ roll is the Rolling Stones tongue logo, created by John Pasche , a 25-year-old student in his last year at the Royal College of Art in London in 1970. Pasche designed at least 90 percent of the logo, which was then finalized by a designer named Craig Braun.       Braun added more prominent white highlights on the tongue and raised the teeth enough to reveal a bit of black inside the mouth. At the same time, Braun was working with Andy Warhol to create one of the best album covers in rock, Sticky Fingers. The new logo was to be put on the album.      Why is this logo so effective? Its red color quickly catches your attention. It's simple. It also has sexual connotations. It's a rebellious symbol, like a kid sticking their tongue out at you. So rock ‘n’ roll. Anti-authority all the way.       According to Radio X , Mick Jagger formed the concept of the tongue from a newspaper clipping showing the Hindu Goddess Kali with her tongue sti
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My Opinion of Eric Clapton

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     This may or may not go over well. Eric Clapton is overrated. For me, he has no originality at all. Sure, he can play the blues and make it look harder than it is with his head tilted back and eyes closed, but he doesn't impress me. I know that he was one of Eddie Van Halen's heroes, and even though Eddie is one of my favorite guitarists, it still doesn't sway me.       I will admit I liked Clapton when he was in Cream, but that's it. I did like "Badge,""White Room," "Tales of Brave Ulysses," and "Sunshine of Your Love," but that was a great team effort. Except for the wah solo on "White Room," I just don't get what is so special about Clapton.     He's a good songwriter and singer, sure. But as a guitarist, I just don't get it. Compare him to SRV, and Stevie blows him out of the water. Stevie was channeling. I never felt that with Eric. It felt phony and pretentious.       How's that for an opinion? 
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Led Zeppelin II Album Cover Art

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     I like Led Zeppelin's "Brown Bomber" album cover for Led Zeppelin II. David Juniper created the artwork. The whole story is at Rock Pop Gallery, but let me summarize it. The artwork was created by taking an authentic 1917 World War I photo of German air force pilots (The Red Baron's crew) and replacing some pilots' heads with the Zeppelin members, famous celebs, and some Zeppelin crew.      Interestingly, the Red Baron didn't make it onto the Zep II cover. In the original photo, he is sitting in the plane's cockpit. Juniper airbrushed him out. Remember that this art was created before the ability to quickly Photoshop the replacement faces. It was all done by hand. It's not as big a deal to make this now, but it was back in 1969.      The blond woman was Glynis Johns, the mother of Mary Poppins. I might add that she looks pretty crazy in this! Glynis Johns was a play on the recording engineer's name who recorded their debut album, Glyn Johns.
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Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. His Witty Lyrics

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     Here is the thing about Steven Tyler, the lead singer of Aerosmith. He is excellent with wordplay and sexual innuendo in his lyrics. He's forever pulling off "Mustang Sally" type lines. Mack Rice, the lyricist of "Mustang Sally," never says it outright, but we all know Sally is loose and likes to ride! This type of lyricism was necessary during the beginning stages of rock and roll. It was the 50s, after all. It was an uptight, moralistic decade. So, lyricists had to be creative with their message. Today, you can say anything, but back then, oh no!      Take the lyrics in "Love In An Elevator," for instance. "Livin' it up when we're goin' down." Or, in "Walk This Way," from Toys in the Attic , "Singin' hey diddle diddle with your kitty in the middle."       Or the best one yet, "Lord of the Thighs" from Aerosmith's second album, my favorite, Get Your Wings . "I am the lord of your th
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Grand Funk, "I'm Your Captain/Closer to Home"

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     "I'm Your Captain," by Grand Funk, is on the 1970 album  Closer to Home . The song is among the best storytelling in rock. In it, the ship's captain finds himself in danger of mutiny at the hands of his crew. The boat is lost, and he pleads with his crew to return the ship to him. The captain asks god to help him overcome his plight.      But the song is more than just a great story. Musically, the intro draws me in with guitarist and lead singer Mark Farner's lone guitar, mostly a two-string hook that leads into a prominent and punchy kick drum snare groove by Don Brewer, the band's drummer. Farner's scarce alternating two-chord strums are all the more effective, allowing the groove to breathe. Farner only adds a wah pedal for emphasis.       Just a side note.  The length of an intro like this in a song would never be allowed in music production today!      I digress. At the end of the intro, we come to the  verse, and the music thins out to an inter
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Writing "Highway Star," Deep Purple

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     According to Rock Reflections , The song "Highway Star," by Deep Purple on 1972's  Machine Head, was written on a tour bus when a reporter asked Richie Blackmore how they wrote songs. Blackmore grabbed a guitar and started riffing in the key of G. Ian Gillan, the lead singer, started making up lyrics on the spot.     Impressively, Deep Purple played the song that night at their gig! What a killer Bach-like guitar solo. It's one of the greatest guitar solos in rock. Great music to drive fast to! Apparently, that was Blackmore's vision of the song. Speeding in a car on a highway with the tune blasting. Check it out on Spotify.
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Grand Funk, "We're An American Band," Story

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It's 1973, and  Grand Funk is in financial ruin because of a costly legal battle with their producer/manager, Terry Knight. Grand Funk fired Knight because of poor management, and apparently, he wasn't handling their money well either. Knight responded by suing them for breach of contract.      Also , at that time, radio and the record industry were changing from album-focused play to hit song formats. Grand Funk was an underground album-focused FM radio band. Because of the substantial legal costs of fighting Knight, they knew they had to write a "hit" single to stay afloat.     Grand Funk was touring, flying from city to city at the time.  As they were flying into a city, Don Brewer, the drummer in the band, looked out of the plane window, and the line "We're coming to your town, we'll help you party down" came into his head. Brewer wrote the song on guitar around that one inspiring line. He knew about 4 guitar chords. He used them all. Brewer was
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