Remembering Jerry Garcia

Born to Ruth and Joe Garcia on Aug. 1, 1942, Jerry Garcia was able to conjure magic until the very end.

In fact, “Days Between” – a Garcia composition from the Grateful Dead‘s unfinished attempt at a final album – is as ghostly and moving as anything Jerry ever attempted.

“Achingly nostalgic, ‘Days Between’ evokes the past. The music climbs laboriously out of shadows, growing and peaking with each verse, only to fall back each time in hopeless resignation,” long-time Dead bandmate Phil Lesh wrote in his book Searching for the Sound. “I don’t know whether to weep with joy at the beauty of the vision or with sadness at the impassable chasm of time between the golden past and the often painful present.”

That painful present, in the years after Jerry Garcia’s sudden death on Aug. 9, 1995, is made a bit more bearable with the knowledge of what he accomplished along the way.

Called Jerome John Garcia as a kid in San Francisco, Jerry eventually filled many of the same ballrooms his father, a musician and bandleader, had performed in during Garcia’s youth. Joe Garcia drowned when the Dead legend was only a young boy, however, and his childhood was spent daydreaming, reading science fiction and drawing. His mother gave him an accordion for his birthday one year and Jerry threw an absolute fit until his mother agreed to trade the offending instrument for an acoustic guitar.

That was his ticket to a sweeping brand of pop-culture fame. Together with the Grateful Dead, he came to embody flowery ’60s idealism while blending in elements of the Beat Generation, rock and roll, the blues, jazz, American folklore, songs of drifters and dreamers, 17th century balladry and shamanic trance drumming. It was all there, wrapped up in a chaotic musical package. Some nights you got lucky, and it was the greatest show on Earth. Other nights, it was still pretty good.

A testament to that: Decades after his passing, Jerry Garcia’s music lives on. His former bandmates all continue to play with their own projects; others continue to cover Garcia’s music, applying his unique template to their own work. For a lot of musicians, Jerry’s music is akin to an instruction booklet – or at the very least, a great motivator.

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/jerry-garcia-career-highlights/

August 9th: This Day in Rock Music

1958, Britain's answer to Elvis, 17 year old Cliff Richard, signed a record deal with EMI records. Also on this day Cliff Richard started a four-week residency at Butlins Holiday Camp in Clacton-On-Sea, Essex as Cliff Richard and the Drifters.

1963, The first ever edition of 'Ready Steady Go! was shown on UK TV. Introduced by Keith Fordyce and 19 year-old Cathy McGowan. The first show featured The Searchers, Jet Harris, Pat Boone, Billy Fury and Brian Poole and The Tremeloes. The final show was in Dec 1966 after 175 episodes. Originally 30 minutes long, it expanded to 50 minutes the following year, and soon attracted the most popular artists, including The Beatles, The Lovin' Spoonful, The Rolling Stones, The Four Tops, The Kinks and many others.

1964, The Rolling Stones appeared at the New Elizabeth Ballroom in Belle Vue, Manchester. Two policemen fainted and another was taken to hospital with broken ribs after trying to control over 3,000 screaming teenagers.

1967, Scott McKenzie was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair).' The singers only UK Top 40 hit was written by John Philips of Mamas & Papas.

1967, The Small Faces entered the singles chart with 'Itchycoo Park', the single peaked at No.3 in the UK chart. The song was one of the first pop singles to use flanging, an effect that can be heard in the bridge section after each chorus. Most sources credit the use of the effect to Olympic Studios engineer George Chkiantz who showed it to the Small Faces regular engineer Glyn Johns.

1968, Deep Purple, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Ten Years After, The Nice, Ginger Baker, Traffic, John Mayall, Spencer Davis, Taste, Jerry Lee Lwis and Arthur Brown all appeared at the 3 day National Jazz & Blues Festival, Kempton Park Racecourse, Sunbury On Thames, England.

1968, After the other Beatles had gone home for the evening (2.00 am), Paul McCartney stayed behind and recorded 'Mother Nature's Son', taping 25 takes at Abbey Road studios. The song was included on the 'White Album.'

1969, During a North American tour Led Zeppelin appeared at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. Jethro Tull who opened for the band were at No.1 on the UK album chart with their second release 'Stand Up'.

1975, The Bee Gees started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Jive Talkin', the group's second US No.1 it made No.5 in the UK.

1975, Typically Tropical were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Barbados', the acts only hit making them One-hit Wonders.

1980, Abba scored their eighth UK No.1 single with 'The Winner Takes It All'. Taken from their 'Super Trouper' album. By this time, both couples were divorced.

1980, AC/DC scored their first UK No.1 album with 'Back In Black'. It was the first AC/DC album recorded without former lead singer Bon Scott, (who died on 19 February 1980 at the age of 33), and was dedicated to him. The album has sold an estimated 49 million copies worldwide to date, making it the second highest selling album of all time, and the best selling hard rock or heavy metal album, as well as the best selling album ever released by a band.

1980, Ten original Gerald Scarfe drawings for Pink Floyd's album 'The Wall' were stolen from the foyer of Earls Court, London, England where they were being exhibited.

1986, 250 Gary Numan fans picketed BBC Radio 1 in London, demanding more airtime for their favourite pop star.

1986, Queen ended their Magic European tour at Knebworth Park, Stevenage, England, with over 120,000 fans witnessing what would be Queen's last ever live performance. On this, their final tour, Queen played to legions of established fans, plus many new ones gained as a result of their show-stealing performance at Live Aid the previous year. The support acts were Belouis Some, Big Country and Status Quo.

1994, During an Oasis gig at The Riverside in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, guitarist Noel Gallagher was hit in the face by a man who had jumped on the stage. Noel refused to carry on playing and after leaving the stage a mob of over 300 people attacked the bands bus as they were leaving.

1995, Jerry Garcia guitarist and singer from The Grateful Dead died from a heart attack at the Serenity Knolls rehabilitation clinic in San Francisco aged 53. Garcia co-founded the New Riders of the Purple Sage and also released several solo albums. He was well known for his distinctive guitar playing and was ranked 13th in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Guitarist's of All Time"

2007, Jennifer Lopez won $545,000 (£267,257) in a case against her first husband, who planned to publish a book claiming she had several affairs. Lopez claimed Ojani Noa had violated a previous legal settlement preventing him from revealing private details about their relationship. The star claimed Mr Noa offered not to publish the book in return for $5 million (£2.4m).

2007, Baltimore's mayor Sheila Dixon proclaimed today as the city's official 'Frank Zappa Day' citing Zappa's musical accomplishments as well as his defense of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

BON JOVI ISSUE BLIND LOVE VIDEO

View lyric promo for track from “fan album” Burning Bridges

Bon Jovi have lanched a lyric video for their track Blind Love.

It appears on “fan album” Burning Bridges, to be released on August 21.

Frontman Jon Bon Jovi recently said: “This is a fan record to accompany a twelve-show international tour. It’s sort of a hint as to where we’re going musically – but the new album, the real new album, will be early next year.”

The band’s published dates start with a show in Indonesia on September 11 and end with one in Israel on October 3.

http://classicrock.teamrock.com/news/2015-08-08/bon-jovi-issue-blind-love-video

PHIL RUDD VOWS: ‘I’M THE MAN’ FOR AC/DC

Ex drummer opens up on the night he was arrested, his drug use - and his determination to get his job back

AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd has opened up about the mess he’s made of his career – and vowed to get it back on track.

He’s currently serving an eight-month home arrest sentence after being found guilty of drugs possession and making death threats.

The November incident and those surrounding it led to AC/DC replacing him with Chris Slade for their Rock Or Bust world tour.

Rudd, who’s appealing his sentence, tells New Zealand’s 3TV that he didn’t expect an angry confrontation after the launch party for solo album Head Job to be taken so seriously. “I was under a lot of stress. I got pissed,” he recalls. “I expected to get on a plane and get straight back to work.”

Since then he’s been working on his issues – and insists he’s “absolutely” in control of himself, adding: “I’m getting help from the country’s most prominent psychologist. I’m getting pychiatric help, medical help. I was suffering from anxiety, a lot of insecurity, depression and stuff.”

The drummer is cautious about discussing his drug use. Asked if it’s true he was using meth around the time of his arrest, he replies: “I’ve never had a drug test. You can’t prove it. I might have just been in a bad fucking mood.”

His close friend Trev Rogers says those around Rudd are proud of the way he’s bouncing back. “In the years I’ve known Phil he never sold drugs to anyone, he never harmed anyone, never assaulted anyone,” he says.

“In recent years he’s made some wrong choices, but that’s not the bloke we know.”

And local activist Tracey Ruddock reports: “He does a lot behind the scenes for the community that no one knows about. He’s a very generous man. Having a rock star living in the community is something we should be proud of.”

Rudd insists his next step is: “Get my job back, go back on the road and make a lot of money. That’s what I’m going to do. Chris Slade is a good drummer but I’ve got no idea what he’s doing up there. I’ve got nothing against Chris. He hasn’t got a permanent job – I hope. I’m the man.”

AC/DC return to New Zealand in December – but a band spokesman has said there’s no chance of Rudd playing with them. Asked if there’s any chance that might change, the drummer says: “I’m not sure. You don’t want to think something’s happening then look like a complete fucking dickhead when it doesn’t.”

And asked if it’s fun being Phil Rudd, he reponds: “Fuck yeah. Well, sometimes. Careful what you wish for.”

http://classicrock.teamrock.com/news/2015-08-09/ac-dc-phil-rudd-drugs-arrest-reunion-interview

Weapon Of Choice: Why The Stratocaster Survives

Quick: Name an American product that's had a worldwide impact, is more popular than ever, yet still looks the same as it did when it was introduced more than a half-century ago? Here's a hint: It might be the only musical instrument whose fame rivals that of the people who've played it.

The Fender Stratocaster turned 60 last year. When it came out of the factory in 1954, it didn't sound — or look — like any other guitar. Leo Fender's small company was looking to improve the Telecaster, its groundbreaking solid-body electric, first introduced three years earlier. But far more than a tweak here or there, Fender created an entirely new instrument that's become almost synonymous with the phrase "electric guitar."

An in-house diagram from 1980 shows how the Stratocaster is wired to switch between its three pickups.

Courtesy of Fender Musical Instruments

"If you were gonna draw an electric guitar from your mind's eye, most people would draw a Stratocaster as the shape," says Justin Norvell, Fender's Vice President of Marketing. "But the thing that connects people to that guitar and that shape is the music they grew up on."

The Stratocaster had a distinctive voice thanks in part to its three pickups, the wire-coiled magnets that transmit string vibrations to the amplifier. Most electric guitars at that time had one or two. Fender also designed a new vibrato — the metal arm at the end of the strings that allows player to vary their pitch.

With those features and that supersonic, solid body shape, you'd think the guitar would have flown out of music stores. But Richard Smith, an author and the curator of the Fender Collection at the Fullerton Museum Center in California, says it wasn't an easy sell.

"It was so radically different in so many ways," Smith says. "It's important to note that it wasn't really that popular initially."

Stratocasters hit stores in Spring 1954, but the first didn't sell until that summer. Leo Fender himself had given early models to country-western swing guitarists for their input. But something new was brewing across the country when the Stratocaster was introduced.

"When rock 'n' roll arrived, the tools for making it already existed," Smith says. "You didn't have to invent a guitar to play rock 'n' roll on, 'cause it already was there."

The Strat wasn't just for rock or country players, though. "We can't understate, I don't think, the versatility of an instrument that was adopted by the guitar players with both Lawrence Welk and Pink Floyd," says writer Tom Wheeler.

Wheeler is the author of The Fender Archives and several other books about the company and its products, and says the guitar caught on all over the musical map. One of keys to the Stratocaster's success was the way Fender advertised it.

"In other companies' catalogs you would see professional players, wearing a business suit and wingtip shoes or whatever, sitting on a stool in a studio, playing an expensive guitar," Wheeler says. Open a Fender catalog from the '60s, though, and you'd see "girls in bikinis and guys in board shorts, with surfboards in the background, sitting around a campfire."

Fender doesn't really know how many Strats have been produced since that first one sold in the summer of 1954, but the company does say the Stratocaster is the foundation of its business. Through six decades of musical, technological and cultural change, an innovative design in the hands of talented players has helped the Strat not only persevere, but rule. Think of the names: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and, of course, Jimi Hendrix.

"That's just probably the greatest 22 minutes, or whatever the hell that is, of Strat in history," says Nils Lofgren, talking about side 4 of the Hendrix album Electric Ladyland. Lofgren himself switched to a Strat early in his career. Today, he's Bruce Springsteen's longtime guitar player and a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

"You know, there's just so many great guitars," Lofgren says. "But for me, iconically and just practically, if somebody gave me one choice I'd pick up the Strat to walk out in front of any audience."

Now that's a birthday compliment any 60-year old would appreciate.

http://www.npr.org/2015/01/03/374573426/weapon-of-choice-why-the-stratocaster-survives

                                    Foreigner Announce 'Hits Unplugged and Live' Charity Album for 2016

Foreigner are going the acoustic route for their next release, a special benefit concert recording titled The Hits Unplugged and Live.

The band made the announcement on its official site, telling fans and followers that it will be heading to the Ford Motor Company Conference and Event Center in Dearborn, Mich., on Aug. 24, where they’ll record an acoustic best-of set preceded by “a strolling dinner that will feature select menu items curated by Foreigner frontman and celebrated foodie Kelly Hansen prior to the performance.” The Hits Unplugged and Live is scheduled to be released on CD in early 2016.

It’s all happening to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, one of frontman Mick Jones’ preferred charity organizations. “We are so pleased to be collaborating with JDRF for such a meaningful program,” says Jones in a press release. “Type 1 diabetes is a cause close to our heart, as our longtime tour manager’s daughter was diagnosed with T1D in 2003 when she was 4 years old. There is tremendous anticipation around our first ever live acoustic album, and we’re glad we could donate our performance fees and royalties to benefit such an important cause.”

Foreigner previously unplugged for 2011′s Acoustique project, which was bundled with the triple-disc Feels Like the First Time collection and presented the band’s biggest hits in an acoustic setting. The band has spent this summer on the road with Kid Rock, but those dates didn’t prevent singer Kelly Hansen from taping an episode of the Food Network’s Chopped series, during which he competed against a group of rocker chefs that also included Lita Ford.

                                                         Bryan Adams Teases Details of 'Rocking' New Album

Bryan Adams isn’t quite ready to reveal all the details of his new, Jeff Lynne-produced album, but he seems confident the results will be worth the wait.

ABC News Radio reports that Adams is readying an announcement regarding the new set for Aug. 10. In the meantime, he tells the network that this LP, which represents his first release of all-new material since 2008′s 11, is “one of the best records I’ve ever made, for sure.”

“Believe me, I’m so excited about this. I can’t wait for it to come out,” insisted Adams. “It’s up, it’s rocking, it sounds really retro … and I don’t care!”

Adams pointed to his busy touring schedule and home life as reasons for the lengthy layoff between collections of new songs, as well as his busy side career as a photographer. Perhaps more importantly, he says he prefers to take a “quality over quantity” approach to releasing records.

“It’s a lot of work to put a record together and it’s a lot of work to promote it,” said Adams. “So, I’d rather just really focus — even if I did one album this whole decade, that’s okay with me. I’m just really sort of happy making it as good as it can be.”

Adams’ enthusiasm for the Lynne-produced project was evident when he spoke with Ultimate Classic Rock last year. Saying he’d been a fan of the Electric Light Orchestra leader for years, he recounted his eagerness to join up in the studio — and suggested, even though they were only partway through at the time, that it would hold up against his best work.

“At the rate that I’m working with Jeff, this record we’re making together is going to be the best record I’ve ever made,” Adams told UCR. “I say that with great trepidation, because I know it’s not done yet. But so far, the six tracks that we’ve done, they’re just blinding!”

                                                Yes' Cruise to the Edge Will Pay Tribute to Chris Squire

Yes‘ third annual Cruise to the Edge will see an all-star tribute to founding bassist and sole constant member Chris Squire, who passed away in June after a bout with acute erythroid leukemia. The group made the announcement via press release today (Aug. 6).

Mike Portnoy, the former drummer for Dream Theater, will serve as the “official music director” for the concert, which will see Squire’s friends provide what they’re calling a “musical farewell.” In addition to Portnoy, Neal Morse Band and Haken were added to the lineup, which includes Marillion, Martin Barre of Jethro Tull, Caravan and Allan Holdsworth.

This is the third year for the Cruise to the Edge, which will depart from Miami on Nov. 15 and stop at Key West and Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas, and return on Nov. 19. It will feature more than 25 bands, with most artists playing at least two sets, and special interactive events with the musicians, such as “Storytellers” and Q&A sessions.

It will all take place aboard the NCL Pearl, which contains 18 dining options, 13 bars and lounges, a casino, a gym and facilities for basketball, volleyball and bowling. You can learn more at the cruise’s website.

Tomorrow, Yes begin a co-headlining tour of North America with Toto that will run through Sept. 12.  Billy Sherwood, who worked with Yes throughout the ’90s, will play bass.

                   32 Years Ago: Black Sabbath Release Their Only Album With Ian Gillan, 'Born Again' 

In August 1983, Black Sabbath released Born Again, their 11th album and the only one to feature former Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan. But this intriguing rock ‘n’ roll match-up was not fated to last. There was certainly every reason for excitement, given Sabbath’s glorious resurrection behind Ozzy Osbourne‘s first replacement, Ronnie James Dio. Gillan’s career was more impressive than Dio’s, as were his album sales and, in its equally spectacular way, his voice.

Still, the demons that had been consuming Black Sabbath over the past few years loomed heavily over guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward like the grim reaper. Whether you want to blame the baggage or just incompatibility with Gillan, the bottom line: Born Again was no Heaven and Hell.

Some fans found things to like about the pile-driving opening number “Trashed” or the cleverly worded “Disturbing the Priest,” but others took issue with everything else — from the clunky songwriting drudgery of “Zero the Hero” and “Keep It Warm” to the LP’s wind-tunnel production and its famously heinous cover art.

Others simply couldn’t get their heads around Gillan’s tongue-in-cheek, frequently double-entendre lyrics, which — when wedded to one of the most serious bands on the planet (they were the lords of doom and gloom, don’t forget) — birthed a true Frankenstein of an album. So no matter which faction you align yourself with, you’ll probably agree that Born Again remains one of Sabbath’s most divisive records.

When dismal sales, Ward’s deteriorating health and Spinal Tap-inspiring tour debacles (namely, the infamous Stonehenge stage set) expedited Gillan’s return to a newly reformed Deep Purple, this new version of Black Sabbath never even had a chance to hone their chemistry into something special on a follow-up album. Instead, Born Again gave way to the most confused and uncertain phase of the band’s long career.

 

Rush guitarist Alex says arthritis isn’t preventing him from playing - and “final” tour is “not the end of the band”

Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson has played down the effects of his arthritis, saying it isn’t preventing him from playing.

Frontman Geddy Lee said in May that he feared his colleague’s pain would be the main factor in ending their live career, saying: “It kind of hurts me to see him when he’s having a bad day, physically.”

But Lifeson tells That Metal Show: “You have to be careful what you say these days – I almost regret ever mentioning it in the past.

“Everyone thinks, ‘Oh, his hands. He’s got arthritis. That’s it, he can’t play.’

He adds: “I feel it, just like we all do as we get older, aches and all of that stuff – but it doesn’t impede my playing.

“It makes it a little more difficult, a little more challenging to do the fast stuff, and there’s a little bit of feedback that I get from it the next day. But it’s nothing that really stands in the way.”

Rush just completed a North American tour that’s likely to be their last large-scale run of shows. It’s thought unlikely they’ll go out again as drummer Neil Peart wants to focus more on family commitments.

Lifeson says: “It’s a three-hour show. We can’t get away from it. We were supposed to cut back on this tour. We can’t.

“I think in my gut this is the last major tour. I like to think we’ll do speciality gigs – maybe a week in New York, something like that – but we haven’t even discussed that.

“We want to to get through this and see where we’re at. We want to discuss whether we’re going to make another record. A lot of things.

”

He emphasises: “Whatever this tour is, it’s not the end of the band.”