Rock and Roll Flashpoints

[YankeeFan]

I believe I've read where the Dead first wrote and performed Touch of Grey in 1982. I know I heard them perform West LA Fadeaway (also on that album) in the Fall of '82. I don't think the band themselves did much to make the song a hit, but they were on Arista at the time, and I think someone there heard the polished studio version, thought it could be a hit, and pushed the label's promotion department into gear behind it. Once that happened, they talked the band into producing some videos, which they got into in a big way. IMO, the video for heck In A Bucket is a real hoot.

That sounds about right, since if had been six years or so between albums.

Their last album was such a dog, and they were always known more for touring than studio albums, but it was just such a shock for the Dead to have a hit song, especially considering it was 5 years old.

 

[Steak Snabler]

Oct. 20, 1977. There was this plane crash in Mississippi. It was carrying a band. Truly the day the music died.

That band's still together, isn't it?

Yes it is, and I fully enjoyed seeing 'em play last summer. BUT, GRIP Ronnie.

That was a joke (hence the blue font). To me, when the singer and principal songwriter dies, it's no longer the same band. The Skynyrd touring today is Gary Rossington and a bunch of guys.

 

[Shoeless Joe]

I knew it was a joke, just saying the shows aren't bad. In the last year or so I have seen Skynyrd, The Outlaws, and Molly Hatchet. All have one member from the 70s and the rest are new guys. Does that still really make them the group? The jury is out. It's pretty much the same as seeing a really good cover band.

 

[DanOregon]

Madonna has to be in the discussion. Whatever you think of the music, the way shows were presented changed with her. More BS, costume changes etc. We have her to blame for the plague of backup dancer.
Van Halen's "Jump" took them from metal to mainstream.

 

[YankeeFan]

Madonna has to be in the discussion. Whatever you think of the music, the way shows were presented changed with her. More BS, costume changes etc. We have her to blame for the plague of backup dancer.

I don't know about the backup dancers, but Diana Ross and others were doing multiple costume changes well before Madonna hit it big.

 

[Machine Head]

 

[Huggy]

Was thinking the same thing. They probably would have imploded eventually but who knows what they could have accomplished if Duane hadn't dumped his bike.

 

[Shoeless Joe]

Clapton was trying to steal Duane away at the time of the crash. forking truck. I got off the interstate to go visit his grave once, and decided really fast to get my butt back on the road. I figured Duane wasn't going anywhere, but it didn't seem like the kind o neighborhood I needed to be in at the time.

As opposed to the other groups I mentioned earlier, when I saw the Allmans, Gregg, Dickey, Butch, and Jaimoe were all still there. So it really was the group.

 

[buckweaver]

Not sure if it's a flashpoint or not, but probably a good place to post this.

About two months ago, I watched a fantastic "American Masters" episode on someone I'd never heard of before: Sister Rosetta Tharpe, known as the "godmother of rock 'n' roll." She was Johnny Cash's favorite singer when he was a kid and a huge influence on Elvis Presley (and you can easily hear why, with the elements of gospel and rock in her music.)

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/sister-rosetta-tharpe-got-rock-rolling-long-before-elvis/

It's mind-blowing to hear the type of guitar solos she was creating in the 1940s (this performance is from later in her life, but she recorded it in 1944 and the song is now preserved by the Library of Congress):

http://youtu.be/4xzr_GBa8qk?t=1m28s

Here's another (whole song is great, and the guitar solo comes around 1:25):



I mean, listen to that. Again, the YouTube performance is later but she was playing that way 10 years before anyone heard of Chuck Berry, 20 years before anyone heard of Jimi Hendrix. That's as much rock 'n' roll as anything I've ever heard. She should have been in the RRHOF a heck of a lot earlier than forking Rush.

It reminds me of the Marty McFly guitar solo in "Back to the Future." "I guess you guys aren't ready for that. But your kids are gonna love it." shirt, she was already doing that in real life.

Maybe she's more famous than I realize, but I'm blown away that I'd never even heard of her name before.

 

[93Devil]

George Harrison -- When Here Comes The Sun and Something were hits off of Abbey Road. It posited Harrison as an equal of Lennon-McCartney at a key time as he could then launch from the break-up into a solo career.

There are no equals to Lennon-McCartney.

You need to listen to The Rolling Stones more.

 

[dixiehack]

Here's another (whole song is great, and the guitar solo comes around 1:25):



I mean, listen to that. Again, the YouTube performance is later but she was playing that way 10 years before anyone heard of Chuck Berry, 20 years before anyone heard of Jimi Hendrix. That's as much rock 'n' roll as anything I've ever heard.

Holy shirt. You can say that again.

 

[Football_Bat]

U2 were awesome before, but "With Or Without You" took them from alt-rock curiosity to arena-rock stardom in 1987.