Rock Music

Mayday! Mayday! What happened to May Day?

~ Cave_Guy ~ 8 Comments

*Warning-no goggling was done to research this-this is all from my brain….and no animals were harmed in the making of this blog.

 May Day used to be a holiday and now it isn’t. 

This is like the Pluto thing which I learned was a planet and then all of a sudden-not so much.

Maybe I was just dreaming about dancing around a Maypole as a kid? I have a fuzzy memory of meeting in a village park somewhere in the English countryside and doing this-but it could have been some stale porridge or bad pork pie giving me a hallucination from childhood.

Maybe all the communist countries in the world got sick of parading all their new tanks and missiles down the street to prove they were powerful to all those waiting in line for bread and toilet paper. That used to happen,….right? I don’t know if they still do it.

May Day had something to do with medieval or pagan rites of spring. I also think it had something to do with workers’ rights.

But that was another era and it is all gone. The only time we use it now is when a ship is sinking or a plane is going down……or do we?….Mayday! Mayday! My holiday is missing.

Anyway the workers’ rights deal got me thinking about Woody Guthrie, which got me thinking about Pete Seeger and then Bruce Springsteen.

So here is Atlantic City for May Day.

This is a workers kind of song—Bruce is talking about being a working man and then having to “break bad” in order to make a go of it. He knows what he is doing and he knows it ain’t right—-but here we go baby. Bruce at his best, he sings of the common man in a desperate situation. All solid, salt of the earth, workingmen and women have wondered—if only for a moment—if honesty is the really the best policy- and if hard work alone will get them where they want to go.

The compromise of a workingman leads me to this song.

A sad song- get what you want but not want what you get. The authentic cowboy dressed up in rhinestones for the crowd and gaining the world by losing his soul. After a ton of work and compromise.

Yeah…I know….Glen Campbell-but I like this song.

Why not- another working song from Glen.

And finally kids- back to my alt rock roots for my favorite wasting time by working for the man tune.

R.E.M.Rockville

You may have a different interpretation and that is fine.

Music is subjective and everyone celebrates holidays in their own way.

Even recently demoted holidays.

 

 

Evolution-Growth-Adult Music

~ Cave_Guy ~ 12 Comments

This song took a while to grab me…I bought this record when it came out and really wanted to like it-I was OK with “Killing the Blues” and I knew the music was good but I just did not have a taste for it. It was not the music that needed to change-it was something about me that was missing it. This is not a crisis –there is no way a person can get everything on first or even 100th listen-music is the universal language but sometimes we just have trouble with dialects that are strange to us.

Then something changed about me.

I love beer-I love good beer-Beer is the tonic of the working man-Beer is what I almost started a blog about (and still might)-I do not trust people who do not drink beer-I do not like self righteous people that tell me beer is bad.  My hero, a Mr. C.S. Lewis, once drank beer down the pub with his buddy J.R.R Tolkien as they exchanged stories….yes bitches-beer was helping make “Lord of the Rings’! I love beer!

Then I stopped drinking beer and started going to the gym a few weeks ago. I am not going to list all the reasons this happened (I truly do need another blog or two of an anonymous nature to really crack this egg and make a web omelet)-lifestyle changes can be difficult and necessary-and often changing one thing leads to changing eight more things-

Let’s go forward.

I am on the elliptical working out and “Nothin” plays in my headphones…It was like liquid lightning fueling my brain….Wow!!!!….Crank this up-this is an amazing song-This is electric bluegrass-this is organic hard rock—-this is like the best Led Zeppelin song ever written for a grownup-this is talking to me!!! I can hear it now.  “I’m not using nothin’” tell my friends in the hall-I’m not using nothin’. I was blown away and blasted to bits—I get it now.

My level of addiction is not comparable to what destroyed the life of Townes Van Zandt who wrote this song. My stormy sea of troubles is nothing compared to some who have suffered much more. But the growth and evolution of my being is enough that this song slays the dragon of repressed emotion in me with every listen.

That is what great art can do if we understand the language which gives it meaning to us. And it does not have to be the exact meaning that the writer intended. “I’m not using nothin”

T-Rex and T-Rex and (what the hell) Photo Challenge and (double what the hell) an almost poem.

~ Cave_Guy ~ 5 Comments

T-rex-WP

On Top

Top of the food chain

Top of the heap

I was a big deal

I roared – I ate you up

Now- I am an exhibit

A quiet dry relic

Time goes fast

Grab you some before it’s gone

 

On vacation in the nation’s capital this week and took a ton of pictures (wish I took more). This one fits the photo challenge of “on top”. For someone like me that loves history, words and great images- D.C. is like crack cocaine flowing directly to my cerebral cortex. And coincidentally there are tons of great places to buy the aforementioned drug, if you choose, in the District of Columbia.

I was in awe at every turn- even in the biggest house of bones ever assembled known as the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.

I still have a blog about Rock n’Roll relics- here is Marc Bolan and the boys, Tyrannosaurus Rex with a classic. T-Rex may have started glam rock but this does not sound too dry and historical yet.

Enjoy and cheers from the cave!

Wax Tailor.How I Feel

~ Cave_Guy ~ 2 Comments

Wax Tailor.How I Feel

They call it trip hop and I call it old guy suave- this dude is almost 40 which is about 120 when you translate rock music to regular years —— it goes the opposite way in jazz —the older you get-the cooler you get. I like this music. It does not pound you in the head; it seeps in the brain like a rising tide of sophistication. Must be a French thing.

This is closer to bebop than hip hop-

Rock music is young people being inspired and all over by the time you hit 28 (or don’t hit it). That is largely true because even the geriatric rockers are still playing songs they wrote when they were young. The typical fan is yelling “play the good stuff—-from the first two records—-not that crap you guys did when you got older!!”—- O.K. they don’t exactly say it like that—-but that is what they mean.

Then you have this guy making good music and even new music that you want to hear even though he is not still a puppy. The paradigm has shifted in a cool way. Art should improve as you gain experience. It happens in folk music—–it used to happen in country music (Country music adopted the young and gun model from rock and added the “have to be good looking- no exceptions” clause to it for new country).

Wax Tailor and a really cool frozen

Disney is ubiquitous and that song about the cold never bothering a true princess bothers me a ton. It bothers me because it is and cookie cutter emotion. It takes kids and unsuspecting adults on a journey that makes them feel emotion just to feel emotion. There you felt something so you can say that you felt something. I love animation but I hated the few minutes that I was exposed to this “Frozen” movie—-That is OK because it is not for me-Wax Tailor is for me and when he does essentially the same thing as Disney and manufactures fake emotion in an alternative slightly edgy but mostly the  same cute way as Disney—I am eating it up—I am a little princess myself!

Wax tailor and the girl with the really bad henna dragon tattoo

I figured I would leave you in a jazzy strip club to finish up this post. It also has dragons in it which seems to be a new theme around the cave.

I am glad I found this dude and this type of music.

Music that old dogs can dance to without having to learn any new tricks.

Thank you Mr. Jean-Christophe Le Saoût.

 

 

Give me a double-it has been a rough day

~ Cave_Guy ~ 8 Comments

Straight ahead and pure rock with no artificial ingredients today kids.

There are some songs that always have to be played together or you will be left wanting more.

Like two stars in orbit around each other lighting up the rock n roll galaxy.

ZZ Top.Waitin for the bus/Jesus just left Chicago

Is it conflict and resolution?

Queen.We will rock you/We are the Champions

Is it one long intro and one song?

I don’t know why…part of it is they followed each other on the albums and they worked together like peanut butter and chocolate—-and in those L.P. days-if you tried to stop the record without playing the second song, someone would throw a beer bottle at you.

Led Zeppelin. Black dog/Living Loving Maid

OK you got me-not exactly Led Zep but a bunch of kids having fun. This school of rock phenomenon- I have mixed feeling on—on the one hand it is great that kids are keeping the music alive and are staying out of trouble by hanging out and staying off the streets.  And on the other hand- kids are  using rock to stay out of trouble and learn something—–using rock music as a thing that is learned instead of doing it because “what the hell you are angry and broke anyway”  so let’s go for it.

I am cool with that and Led Zeppelin is a good place to start—-and knowing that these two songs always go together because it is a rule of the rock n roll universe it an important lesson learned.

Cheers from the cave!

Why does KD Lang get no respect?

~ Cave_Guy ~ 22 Comments

KD Lang. Hallelujah

If you list the greatest singers of my generation-that list has no validation if her name is not at the top.

She gets no love and I never understood why.

I liked her as a country singer and as a pop singer.

She is more than that.

She is a pure voice with pure talent that should be strong enough to break through all the barriers that narrow minded genres and narrow minded people place in her way.

Because this Chick can flat out bring it. All the time- anytime.

Here she is with a song from fellow Canadian- Leonard Cohan

This version wrecks me every time.

If it does not hit you like a sledge hammer to the heart then I feel sorry for you-because great talent is a gift that should be felt by everyone.

 

 

 

Roxy Music- the edge of gay

~ Cave_Guy ~ 8 Comments

Roxy music is a straight band

Roxy music can be enjoyed by discerning heterosexuals all over the world.

It also has a few tags associated with it like Proto Punk? … Really?, Is this art history with you music critics? And sort of gay? – Which is what I will try and write about next-

I think it means if you play “Avalon” at 3 in the afternoon in a random gay bar somewhere in the world- they are not going to throw beer bottles at you.

As a proud straight man that likes women and loves one woman very much, I feel the need to write what nobody else will write. I have loved art and loved great music my entire life-and I have been suspected of being gay because of that for my entire life. This may be just my baby boomer generation that likes to pigeon hole everyone based on the few attributes that they see on the surface. I pray and hope that kids now can let other kids just follow their passions without making general assertions.

Like the stranger that rolls into town in an old west movie who everyone assumes is a gunfighter and wants to give him a try. “I am not pulling out my six shooter to go one on one with other dude —-I am not that cowboy!”

This is going to sound bad and it is going to sound a tad homophobic of me and I want to dispel that. I don’t have a problem with people loving who they want to love. I admit not understanding it completely, but that does not mean that I automatically hate and fear it. When we fear another group and give them a name to remove any connection to us as humans –bad things always happen. Bad things are happening.

It may be a good thing that I only have 10 nor 12 regular readers at the moment.

Music should always bring us together and not separate us-

Roxy music gets forgotten among the great bands of all time. Brian Eno and Brian Ferry have both achieved much success on their own. They are a pop band with clean sophistication. They don’t break up when they go on hiatus-they simply choose to arrange other things in their lives and then rejoin when it is agreeable for them to do so. They don’t try to put out re-heated weak new music, their catalog is good and Avalon is a good place to stop.

From an artistic point of view-this is also one killer album cover

Avalon_album_cover

This one is an old favorite:

I will end this post with a song that went the other way and ended up in the pop world.

There is cross-pollination among music all the time and that is a good thing.

Bronski Beat.Smalltown Boy.

And as always- Cheers from the cave!

Jimi

~ Cave_Guy ~ 8 Comments

fathers-day-2013-fb

This is a picture of me with my son on the site of the original Woodstock stage where Jimi once famously played the Star Spangled Banner. We were swept up in the moment. What better place for a jumping air guitar salute? “None more better place” is the answer.

Starting a series on icons of rock- I am starting with Jimi Hendrix.

There were guitars that screamed and guitars that jangled. And then came Jimi and the guitar would speak clearly of pain and of joy…..huh?….what?

Jimi and the guitar were one-he slept with his guitar because he was his guitar. When he had nothing as a small boy-he had a broom that he pretended was his guitar and it was his only friend.

Like Tom Hanks in Castaway with Wilson-unnatural bond of person to object.

And I forgot to mention-the best rock guitarist ever to walk the face of the earth. Period. No discussion needed.

[Since this is a blog –allow me to go on a bit more]

Especially for you kids that are new to rock music.

Rock is blues based.

This is a basic timeline.jimi-3

For purists only-this can sound a little rough as we cannot go back to the 1930’s and imagine how it would feel.  We can’t walk on those dusty roads and hitch a ride to the next town with 12 cents in our pocket.

Robert Johnson arrived and let the world know that something was going on in the delta. The best blues music is always someone going on a rant with their guitar about how things are in their world. You could say that about the best rock music, the best country music or the best hip hop music.

The truth thrown out there in a compelling way.

T-bone Walker added some fire to the guitar- he started doing things that no one else could.

“They call it stormy Monday, but Tuesday is just as bad.”

There are other songs that I should pick to show off the virtuoso in action—-but this is sooooo smooooooth.  It just dances and tickles the music palette before seeping gently into your soul.

Jimi ran all that energy and inspiration in one big liftoff that reached orbit. We got great guitar players now-we don’t have a name that I can place next .

Jack White is close if you make me force a choice. Close still does not fit. Like a giant stone used in the pyramids-it has to ease in there perfectly. I am still waiting.

And here is where we finish for now.

I am going for less fire and more heart in these tunes and want to end with one of the greats in that next group to follow. SVR spent his whole career chasing down Hendrix-he even carried one of the master’s wah wah pedals on this journey. I am not going to throw a link here-but I do write about a show where I was lucky to catch him with his boots on this pedal early in my blogging days.

Maybe lucky is not the right word- Let’s try blessed.

Gone Country

~ Cave_Guy ~ 5 Comments

Country music that makes me feel better

My last post was very emotional and it took my blog to places that I never take it- The traffic was overwhelming. I went from my usual 10 or 20 visits a day to 2,700 in an afternoon. This is bittersweet because I wrote it for my own sanity. I awoke at 2am, unable to sleep, and it was a post an hour or so later.  I thank those high school kids for lifting me up and giving me the courage to speak my mind.

But I want to get back to the music- I enjoy writing about music.

You have to deal with things – and I am learning you live the best way you can no matter what situation you are in. You have to start up that beat-up pickup truck  of life and just keep driving-a smile on your face and a song on the radio don’t hurt either.

This sounds like country music.

This rock guy will go out of genre  in order to find solace. If you limit music  because of prejudice; you are only hurting yourself. Worse than that-you are closing your mind and that is never a good thing.

Rosanne Cash. Seven Year Ache

I love Rosanne Cash because she is authentic- Authentic to me is a feeling that goes from the heart out into the world with no alteration. Like when you see a coyote on the side of the road just looking back at you with no fear. He is in his time and his place and he could give a damn what you think. And I got to say-he sure looks cool.

Rosanne Cash is an authentic cool heroine in her own right- this women just reeks of suave country sophistication.

Montgomery Gentry.Roll With Me

Maybe this is what would be considered light pop country with more than a splash of holy water gospel, but it makes me feel better. I am not going to search for music that makes me look better-I am going to give you songs that make me feel better!

And this is one.

Hank Williams Jr.Family Tradition

“I have loved some ladies and I have loved Jim Beam and both of them tried to kill me in 1973”

Maybe my favorite line in country music, it never ceases to bring a smile to my face

There is something satisfying about someone admitting that they have lived life with zest the wrong way. Maybe that is because we all make mistakes, so we can all relate. And if someone like  Bocephus can trump you and have fun joking about his-then it makes you feel better about any you have made. This has been going on since the middle ages with court jesters.

Rolling Stones.Memory Motel

This is straight ahead country. It has pickup trucks and drinking. It also has a cheap motel by the ocean and a lady with crooked teeth. What more do you need? I will give you one more…throw in Dave Matthews and make it a buddy song.

Concrete Blond.True

This is a country song trapped in a rock song’s  body.

Again with the pickup trucks-mixed with some cool west coast punk. Punk music and country music are closer than you think.

I feel better—I really do – this one has brought me home.

Thank you Johnette

Oh, what the hell- One more for the road

Bonnie Raitt – This is a “go to” classic. I am not writing-I am just enjoying at this point.

Cheers from the Cave.

And special thanks to http://peacelovegreatcountrymusic.com/2014/03/09/philosophy/  for helping to spur this post.

Spur* get it?

O.K, that was a cheap shot at the genre…:)

Alternative Rock- Winter games

~ Cave_Guy ~ 5 Comments

Alternative Rock- Winter games

This is how I think of Alternative music: mainstream you >transplanted. You feel the same but something edgy and slightly frightening is going on. You can see a world others can’t.

You are in a different club.

Maybe you start to dress with more swag and maybe you let your mouth form words that seem alien and leave a weird aftertaste.

But I am getting ahead of myself because it might not take.

There is more to being cool than finding a different band  or two, but coming to the Cave for a visit is always a good place to start!

Bronze:

Squeeze.Pulling Muscles from a shell.

I just love this happy song. In fact, I love the whole record.

I am way behind picking my 10 favorite records of all time. {Spoiler Alert} ArgyBargy is one of them.

You could classify this as pop, but wait minute—–pop stations did not and will not play this.

Pop radio did love it when Paul Carrack joined:

This is another great song- just in the other universe.

The Silver:

The Pixies.Where is my mind

They invented grunge as far as I am concerned. I will throw grunge in with alternative because it came from there and returned there after a little brush with mainstream.

The Gold:

New Order. Blue Monday

This one holds up well.

If I did this next week –this list would be different….Hell, if I did this again IN 15 MINUTES –this list would be different.

In fact I am changing the bronze right now.

In the words of Paul Westerberg when I saw him play this as a warm up band for a Tom Petty tour-

“Here’s one more, if anybody cares”

The Replacements.I’ll be you

Would anybody argue if I made this the gold?

And some of us do care Paul.