In the late 1960s,different bands with different styles have all sprung in the Beatles' wake.Some were going on a bluesy direction like what the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds were doing.Some were doing a great degree of guitar virtuosity while paying tribute to the blues and at the same time creating a new and free-form sound[Cream,Deep Purple,Hendrix and Led Zeppelin].
Bands on both sides of the Atlantic were bidding for territory and this term "heavy metal" has been around since the earlier part of the decade.Countless guitarists were experimenting on a new sound as modern rock music started to flourish on this decade of flower power,Vietnam war and political turmoil.Eric Clapton was said to have been experimenting with feedback and distortion as far back as 1964 with his first band the Yardbirds.But the first song ever to feature a guitar feedback was that of the Beatles',with the song "I Feel Fine" released on that same year in 1964.
The first recorded use of the fuzz box by the way was in 1961 with the Ventures' instrumental piece "2000 Pound Bee".Various artists like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones have also used distortion on their respected songs namely "Paperback Writer" "Think For Yourself"[where Paul McCartney connected his bass on a fuzz box] and one famous song by the Stones called "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction".In the US,bands like Blue Cheer and Iron Butterfly were known to be the very first heavy metal groups.
Who invented heavy metal? Nobody knows,but as far as rock music's concern,theres one strange band from Birmingham,England who had put a rather scary theme on the genre.Who says you can find horror theme only in the cinemas? Rock music has it and it was presented first by this band who were variously called Rare Breed,Polka Tulk and Earth.They decided to put the name BLACK SABBATH on one of their finest songs and thus named the band afterwards.
Black Sabbath is composed of Frank a.k.a. "Tony" Iommi on guitar,Terence "Geezer" Butler on bass,Bill Ward on drums and John "Ozzy" Osbourne on vocals.The latter member,would later be known as one of the leading godfathers of heavy metal.Purely nasal,Sabbath's sound contains only one riff and as Geezer Butler had said,"you don't need a degree in music to learn our songs".If you have horror films in the cinema,the Sabs certainly is the horror sub-genre on what the kids were crazy about-rock n'roll.
The band at first was rejected by fifteen record companies until a label called Vertigo signed them up and the first Sabbath album escalated the charts.
The band's self-titled debut album was released in 1970 and was distributed in the US through Warner Bros Records.The debut was an instant smash hit.Sabbath was considered the first band to ever put a horror theme to their music,though many of their contemporaries were also in that genre like the Doors and the late sixties-era Rolling Stones.
The noise of Sabbath onstage is primarily initiated by their lead singer Ozzy Osbourne,purely nasal and annoying,he would pretend to be out of his mind--singing about war,damnation,evil and darkness-He would pretend as if he was the devil talking to his audience.
The Sabs--as people in the western world had swiftly called them,as if by nickname,rivaled both the Stones and Led Zeppelin on their 1972 US tour and appealed so much to most American teens.And of course,like any other rock band--indulged with most of the drugs and entertained hordes of groupies they met along the way.
Black Sabbath's second album Paranoid,spawned a hit single that won the band several appearances on Britain's Top Of The Pops.The story goes that the album should've been named War Pigs from one of their best known songs from the same album,but the record label decided against it fearing controversies that may arise from the ongoing Vietnam War at the time.
Though "War Pigs" was later on admitted by the band as anti-war song,the band decided to move ahead and name the second album Paranoid.
Black Sabbath released more albums to the damning reactions of the rock music press who couldn't see any difference from both their new and previous efforts.The band had their first flop in 1976 with Technical Ecstasy and problems started to rise between band members particularly that of Osbourne and Iommi.
Though the band made a comeback in 1977 with the album Never Say Die,which spawned a hit single with its title name,the band seemed to be drifting apart that Osbourne checked into a mental hospital afterwards.Drugs,management pressure and personal problems with the band seemed to take its toll on Osbourne that a year later he was sacked from the band and was replaced by American singer Ronnie James Dio.
After his firing,Ozzy Osbourne made a successful solo comeback in 1980 with the album Blizzard Of Ozz and established himself as one of heavy metal's godfathers.Ozzy had a remarkable and successful solo career while his former band Black Sabbath struggled through the eighties and nineties,in which the band had considered the darkest time of their entire career.
After two decades of refusing to reunite with his former bandmates,Osbourne finally joined Black Sabbath on their reunion tour in 1997 and made a live double album.Though Osbourne continued to make solo albums he still tours with Black Sabbath and his bandmates who astonishingly toured with Ronnie James Dio who replaced him in 1978,renamed the group Heaven And Hell as to not confuse the band with Osbourne as Black Sabbath,though they continued to tour with Osbourne on the latter name.Confusing eh?
Ronnie James Dio died in 2010 and Ozzy Osbourne was heard to be having thoughts of retiring after several more albums.Ozzy and the rest of the band may had been contented and earned a lot of money from their wild past as rock stars,but Black Sabbath has indeed left a mark on what would be the gloomiest and darkest genre of rock music.
A lot of rock bands from the 1960s were known for their uniqueness as each of them were experimenting and improvising different styles and approach to their music.As Danny Fields mentioned on his book,there was no rock music at the time coz it was still waiting to be invented and every month there was an album that you've never heard before,an album that will change your life forever.
Awesomely led by the Beatles,the sixties was a decade of cultural revolution not only in music but in fashion,lifestyle and the way people think.Modern rock music has started and the way people listen and see its stars perform has never been the same.Thus,music has changed forever and it remains the pattern which rock bands still use today.There was a friendly competition between bands on both sides of the Atlantic as they answer each other off If not trying to top one another.
One such band with such uniqueness and known for its toughness and longevity is CHICAGO-the seven piece rock group from the Windy City.The band is now almost five decades of performing though the hits had stopped with 1989's Chicago 19.
The band had started in 1967 when saxophonist Walter Parazaider assembled a rock band with fellow DePaul University classmates Lee Loughnane and James Pankow.Walt was said to have been inspired after listening to the Beatles' "Got To Get You Into My Life" that he had the idea of fusing rock with horns.
The lineup was soon added by guitar virtuoso Terry Kath,pianist Robert Lamm,drummer Danny Seraphine and bass player Peter Cetera.They initially called themselves The Big Thing
The band was soon managed and produced by James William Guercio who also produced and managed The Buckinghams and Blood Sweat And Tears.The band has now changed its name to Chicago Transit Authority and released a self titled debut album in 1969.A single prior to the album's release was "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is" was issued in 1968.The band shortened its name to Chicago when the real CTA threatened to file suit.The real CTA was,after all, a government-ran transport system.
The band's songs and albums would chart extremely well as they rule the seventies with a brass fist.Having multiple vocalists as the Beatles' did,Chicago spawned hit single after hit single and they took pride in mammoth album sales."Colour My World" Saturday In The Park" "Feeling Stronger Everyday" were a few of the band's biggest hits in the early seventies.
ELECTRA GLIDE IN BLUE
Chicago's lead singer Peter Cetera and the rest of the band would star in the 1973 movie Electra Glide In Blue opposite Robert Blake.Cetera played the role of the villain Bob Zemko while the rest of the band members played hippies the cops were so eager to beat up and drag along.Though Chicago never sung on the film the movie's soundtrack[mostly background music] was performed by the band.
My favorite line on the film by the way was that of Lee Loughnane's when confronted by Robert Blake and another cop he sneered at them saying "You're stepping on pig shit".The film as they say was a box office disappointment.
CHICAGO X
The band was known for their albums wherein they would put numbers on,and Chicago X(ten) would be one of the big albums of the 1970s.Released in 1976,its carrier single "If You Leave Me Now" won a grammy award for Best Accompanying vocalists and Best Pop Vocal by a Duo Group or Chorus.The song went on to become one of the band's signature songs and one of their most enduring ever.
FIRST NUMBERLESS ALBUM AND DEATH OF TERRY KATH
1978 proved to be a traumatic year for the rest of the band as their guitarist Terry Kath died with self inflicted gun shot wound.Their 12th album,ironically not named Chicago XII became their first numberless album and instead was named Hot Streets-this is the first album of the band without Kath who was replaced by Donnie Dacus.
It was rumoured back then that the band was in the process of dissolution as Peter Cetera was reportedly unhappy with the group's musical direction.Earlier in the seventies,a full jazz album was proposed by Parazaider which both Cetera their producer James William Guercio and Kath had disagreed with,pointing it could mean a commercial disaster for the group.Instead,it was made into a double album to include both the jazz and rock sections.The album was conceived as Chicago VII and was released in 1974.It was rumoured that Peter Cetera wanted to leave the group as far back as 1978,as he knew that Kath's death might have an impact on the band that it will dissolve itself naturally.He was wrong about that,Chicago would then be a hit maker in the following decade which is the 1980s.
TRANSFORMATION
Chicago parted ways with Guercio in 1977 following the release of Chicago XI.On their 1980 album Chicago XIV the band hired producer Phil Ramone and recorded what would be their last album with a roman numeral in it.It was a commercial disaster as they say as the band was slowly moving into more adult contemporary.But it was a hit outside the US particularly "Song For You" one of Cetera's finest songs.
1982 saw the band collaborating with producer David Foster and the band skyrocketed back into the charts with the album Chicago 16--this is the first album by the way not to feature a roman numeral.The band's song "Hard To Say Im Sorry" written by Peter Cetera and David Foster was the band's biggest hit in that same year.
1984 was also a good year for the band with the album Chicago 17.Both their 16 and 17 albums would go platinum which is virtually unheard of for an act of such longevity,for the band's career is now over 20 years old.The 17 album sadly,is also the last album ever to feature bassist and vocalist Peter Cetera.He left the group in 1985 to pursue an impressively successful solo career.
Cetera was replaced by bassist Jason Scheff and the band would go on and record Chicago 18 in 1986.The latter would be the last Chicago album to be produced by David Foster and did very well in the charts.
The last album hitmaker for the band was 1989's Chicago 19 produced by Chas Sanford.After that all the hits stopped though the band continued touring and releasing more albums.Original drummer Danny Seraphine was fired in 1990 after several disagreements with the band.Chicago had replaced various musicians as the years went on.
What comes to everyone's minds when they hear the name Mick Jagger? Some will say its the skinny man who prances,twitches his lips and pouts all the time as he sings maybe a danceable or perhaps a rocking tune.
Its been almost 50 years since the Rolling Stones first rocked the world.And the pouting and prancing Sir Mick Jagger is still on the top of rock n'roll mainstream,right alongside fellow knighthoods Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Elton John.
Mick's awesome style and charisma has gone down through generations and his influences can be seen on younger rockers such as Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses and Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes.
It may sound biased but as a writer myself I gotta tell you guys on how I've been influenced by the Stones that I'll never say any bad words against them nor Mick Jagger's,though Mick once scared my daughter Heather in which Im gonna tell you guys later on.
My avid fascination with the Rolling Stones can be traced back to my childhood,I was in grade school and every saturday my dad and I would listen to all these classic rock songs pumping on the radio and he would tell me each band on who sang this and who sang that plus a little trivia about the band and so forth.The Rolling Stones along witht the Beatles got my attention and not only because I hear my dad was listening to it,but because they're really good--theres something about their songs ,I dont know,it seems like its coming from an unknown part of the universe infinitely cooler than our own.At a very young age of 11 I found myself buying all the Beatles albums(I have them all) and then I started having albums by the Rolling Stones as well,and then there was all these other great bands during my teens:Guns N' Roses,the Black Crowes and I remember saving up from my allowance to buy their respective albums..anyway,GN'R was another band and I think we shouldn't go into that.
Anyway,back to the Rolling Stones,I didn't have all the Stones albums like I had with the Beatles in which I have all their great CD albums,but Im pretty sure I have all the best Stones compilation albums and songs that were,should I say,one of the greatest music ever recorded.While Brian Jones was the leader and founder of the Rolling Stones,Mick Jagger is somewhat the spokesman/the lead singer and main writer together with childhood buddy,fellow Stone and guitarist Keith Richards.One would argue and say "Satisfaction" was the best Stones song,though I personally prefer "Under My Thumb" as the strongest and indeed was my favorite song from the band.
Mick,like any other artist from the influential sixties has endured decades and their songs outgrew the newer ones and as Linda McCartney had said on one of her interviews "the main reason the sixties keep coming back is that theres nothing better in the interim".The styles had already been set,and the standard rules for a modern rock band has been written and sealed by the Beatles-who after all,lead the British Invasion of the United States.
Mick with the Stones is a strong force that came along with that of the Beatles'.My,what a life he had,the superstar status,the drug problems and the booze and most of all the women in his life.
We all know that Mick Jagger had several wives and like any other rock star,entertained hordes of groupies.He was once tried and sentenced to prison in 1967 along with fellow Stone Keith Richards after a bust in Richards' house wherein he allowed people to smoke hashish in his country home,two other rock stars avoided the said raid:George Harrison and Brian Jones who would later have a bust of their own.Mick reportedly bursts into tears when he got a three month sentence inside the slammer.Other trials in life came to him such as the 1969 Altamont tragedy,in which he dismissed later on.He was living a rock star's life and he went through it all,unphased and without any regrets.He was a rock star after all,living up all the royalties.
One funny moment I had was when my daughter Heather, who was then one year old and saw Mick singing "Shattered" on youtube,perhaps Mick's prancing and epileptic-like dance plus the pouting and twitching scared her and made her cry.She's even scared of looking at my Ned Kelly DVD wherein Mick was on the cover[This was Mick's first starring role in a film]. But not for long,a year later,we were dancing around to the music when I saw her grabbing my Forty Licks CD and asked me to play it,she started loving "Start Me Up" soon after that and wanted me to play that song over and over again.Whenever she wanted to hear some music I would ask her what CD would I play and she will smile and say "Rolling Stones!" And I thought,"Sir Mick! You gotta be hearing this,your music has just passed to another generation--my 2 1/2 year old daughter!"
Ah,the beautiful music that came from the Rolling Stones and other bands,so hard to figure out on how and why they had so much appeal plus on how their songs endured decades and appealed to newer generations of fans most of whom were not even born yet when the songs were first released.
Rock stars like Sir Mick,Sir Paul and the other guys from the sixties will surely continue to appeal to future generations ahead of us.But one things for sure,there will never ever be another MICK JAGGER.
James Douglas Morrison was born in Melbourne,Florida on December 8,1943.His father was a naval officer and right from the start during his childhood his genius in writing poetry was already noticed.
Jim's both life and death were shrouded with mystery.A hyperactive child,he is already doing verbal duels with his English teacher in high school quoting off from Joyce,Kerouac, and Nietzsche.His craving for the classics and obsession with such poetic symbols--intimacy and distance,fire,sex, and reptiles became his vehicle for being a tremendous and brilliant writer/lead singer for the Doors.Jim Morrison reportedly have an IQ of 149.
He claimed at four years old he could remember witnessing a family of American Indians being killed in a car accident in which he would later put references to his songs and poetry such as "Peace Frog" and "The Ghost Song".
THE DOORS
Morrison eventually studied cinematography at UCLA and there he met his three other bandmates.Fellow UCLA alumnus Ray Manzarek[who would later become the band's keyboardist] was reportedly impressed by Jim's lyrics on how he loved to play with words."Those were the most beautiful lyrics that I've ever heard" said Manzarek,referring to the song "Moonlight Drive" one of the first songs ever written by Morrison.With guitarist Robbie Krieger and drummer John Densmore,the Doors were formed in 1965 and it took them two years before releasing their debut album.
Playing extensively in deserted bars helped perfect their act,and in 1967,the band got a record deal with Elektra Records and released their first album with triumphant success-a new sound was born.
The band claimed not having any hesitations on their chosen career with such strong competition such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.Who was the competition anyway? The Beatles doing the Everly Brothers and the Rolling Stones doing Chicago blues,the band shrugged off their shoulders and went far ahead.The album's mighty success has put Morrison immediately into the spotlight and rock music has never been the same."Light My Fire" is the band's biggest hit by the way.
ROCK STAR
Jim Morrison,"The Lizard King" as he calls himself,changed the way rock music is presented onstage.As fame comes in,management and touring pressures took toll on him that he slowly turned into drugs and heavy drinking which would later affect his life.Taking large doses of LSD-a drug which has awesome hallucinogenic power which he claimed helped write more and more songs.Inspired by acid,the Doors released more albums with mighty success.
As the Doors became more popular,riots were already becoming a common act following their concerts as Morrison became more and more contempt of his audiences,provoking them to some kind of action.A new idea struck him that he would instigate a riot and stand back and observe the way things were happening.
It was in New Haven,Connecticut that Morrison first got himself arrested,an argument with a cop backstage resulted him being sprayed in the face with a can of mace.He eventually related the incident to his audience and was dragged off by cops after that.He was,for the record,the first rock star to be arrested onstage.
The Doors released more albums and more hits followed, bad publicity seemed to be common with Jim Morrison but nevertheless,rock fans must admit,the guy's a genius and his awesome style and sex appeal that lasted with new generation of Doors fans popping up every minute.
The worst is yet to happen when Jim Morrison once again caught the eyes of the media and authorities with the Miami incident,wherein it was alleged that he exposed his penis onstage.Fueled with booze and drugs,he was again arrested and was found guilty with profanity and indecent exposure.
MYSTERY
As I have previously said,Jim Morrison's life is shrouded with mystery as his death.It was said that nobody saw Jim Morrison's dead body apart from his on and off girlfriend Pamela Courson and the doctor who signed his death certificate.Even as early as 1969 there have been ill reports of his passing with wild rumours ranging from falling off a cliff,jumping on a tall building and diving on a dry pool out of being high on drugs,but Jim was always there to nullify them all.He even married a witch named Patricia Kennely in which they signed their names from their own blood.
Finally,Jim took a time off after recording what would be their last album LA Woman and fled with his on and off girlfriend Pamela to Paris.And then the rumours began spreading again,"was it true that Jim Morrison is dead?" Elektra's manager at the time received a phone call from Pamela and was told to come to Paris immediately.They found the couple's flat in Paris,and there was a sealed coffin and a death certificate attributing to the death of Jim Morrison,the coffin was said to have been interred the following day.Again,rumours that Jim Morrison faked his death once again surfaced,some say he relocated to the Amazon jungle coz he was too tired of being famous and being in the spotlight all the time.The only person who could once again straighten up those rumours is in no longer position to do so--Pamela died in 1974 and the French doctor who signed his death certificate was nowhere to be found.
Today,Parisian authorities believed that Jim died of a drug overdose.
Jim Morrison Dec 8,1943-July 3,1971
Jim,whether he faked his death or not,is unanimously one of rock music's greatest saints.Jim,you truly are THE LIZARD KING
The world of rock n' roll is enigmatic,entertaining and it cheers us up with the happy,fast and inspiring songs...
But there are times when rock isn't that much fun at all....
..it can be dangerous
..sometimes life threatening
...both to the artists
..and spectators alike.
Here are some of rock music's not so finest moments,in which several people including the rock stars themselves got in the line of danger.
1.THE BEATLES IN MANILA
July 4,1966 Rizal Memorial Football Stadium, Manila,Philippines
The Beatles had their biggest and yet most dangerous concert tour ever in 1966 as they flew, almost circling the entire globe.Earlier in the year John Lennon made a remark "We're more popular than Jesus" that had spark an anger between Christian sects around the world.But none could be frightening than their concert in Manila in the summer of the same year.The Beatles unintentionally snub a dinner party made for them by the First Lady Imelda Marcos in which unknown to the band Brian Epstein their manager had already declined.
The concert itself wasn't disastrous but what would come after it.The following day,the Beatles and their entourage were harassed and beaten on the airport as they were trying to get on the plane to go home.Neil Aspinall-the band's road manager was badly hit as the mob supporters of Marcos continue to attack them without any police protection from the presidential palace.Brian Epstein was called back and all the money the Beatles earned during their concert there was taken from him.
When the band arrived in England they got their revenge by calling the Filipino presidential palace a "nut house" and vowed never to return to the Philippines.As a consequence,the Philippines was left with a bad mark which continues to linger up to this day.
Wherever the Doors went there tends to be a lot of police-riots were common on every Doors concert. As Jim Morrison changed the course of rock music forever-the way it is presented onstage.During the New Haven concert-Jim Morrison was sprayed in the face with a can of mace in which the police didn't keen on him after he was caught making out with a groupie backstage prior to the concert.
Onstage,Morrison resorted to profanity and even belittling the New Haven cops in retaliation of what happened backstage.Morrison was dragged by cops and was the first rock star to be arrested onstage.
March 1,1969 Miami,Florida
At a 1969 concert in Miami it was said that Jim Morrison was drunk and fueled with heroin.He resorted as usual to what he does best -verbal abuse: "You are all a bunch of fucking idiots and your faces are pressed into the shit of the world! Take your fucking friend and love him..do you want to see my cock?" And it was allegedly said that he exposed his penis onstage shaking it doing the simulation of masturbation.
He was arrested the next day and was found guilty-to nobodys surprise-of profanity and indecent exposure.
3.THE ROLLING STONES IN ALTAMONT
December 6,1969 Altamont Speedway,Alameda County,California
This was considered a heavy blow to the peace and love generation of the sixties and was the bloodiest free fest concert ever to be written in the history of rock music.The Rolling Stones free fest in the winter of 1969,dubbed by many as Woodstock West ended in catastrophe when a man was killed near the stage by a member of the notorious Hell's Angels.
The concert was disastrous right from the start,as Jagger was attacked by a hippie and the bands who became the opener for the Stones were beaten up by these drug laden concert spectators.But the worse is yet to happen when Meredith Hunter,18,was stabbed to death by a member of the Hell's Angels Meredith brandished a gun in the air and was stabbed several times in the neck and at the back of the ear.
It was a night of destruction and fear,as the Hell's Angels lose their tempers over the freaks who kept on knocking their motorcycles off.As a consequence-kids exit the concert venue bleeding as others were beaten mercilessly behind them.
Mick Jagger,unaware of Hunter's injuries went on with the show...and was lambasted by the music press for not checking things out.
September 30,1993 Rizal Memorial Stadium Manila,Philippines
Ironically,when Bon Jovi first came to the Philippines in 1993,they held their concert at the very same venue where the Beatles held theirs 27 years earlier.An omen? Well,the difference about the Bon Jovi riot however, is that no Filipino politician was involved.
It was said that the concert grounds got so crowded that other spectators wasn't able to get in.During the main event as the band was playing,a group of spectators was said to be climbing on the structures where the spotlights were,to have a more clearer view of the band playing as the concert venue got so hot and overcrowded.Jon Bon Jovi was said to be pissed and irritated over these people climbing aboard the spotlights that after five songs he put the show to a stop and left the stage with the rest of the band behind him.The result was a pitch battle between the crowd and the police and the concert venue guards.Several chairs and the concert gates were destroyed by other spectators who couldn't get in.An unknown amount of equipment was destroyed and about a hundred people were injured and several were arrested.
Bon Jovi went back to the Philippines the following year in 1994,and held their concert at the Araneta Coliseum,this time everything went fine.
5.THE WHO
November 20,1973 Cow Palace Arena,Daly City,California
The Who is the very first rock band ever to destroy their own gear after each performances.Founded in the early sixties,and a contemporary of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones,the Who resorted to brute force and started the trend of smashing guitars and blowing up fireworks onstage.It happened accidentally when guitarist Pete Townshend banged his guitar on a low ceiling,in which their manager Kit Lambert proudly praised.From then on,the Who released their anger onstage with rebellious themes and comes the destruction of guitars and drum kits afterwards.
Composed of Roger Daltrey on vocals,Pete Townshend on guitar,John Entwistle on bass and Keith Moon on drums.Keith Moon is known to be one of the greatest drummers in the world and was also known for his eccentricity and wild behaviour.I guess drugs could attribute to all that.One night at a concert in Daly City,CA Moon was noticed playing half heartedly and apathetically ignoring the rhythm and timing of each song.Keith eventually collapsed and the Who sheepishly carried him offstage.This is not the first time Keith ever got himself into trouble,the legendary drummer was also notorious in blowing up hotel lavatories with cherry bombs whenever he gets pissed or simply having some fun.Hotels around New York City were reluctant on having the Who as their guests,and those who do demanded a hefty sum up front.
Backstage at Cow Palace,Moon was given oxygen and was showing signs of recovery.Meanwhile,people in the concert hall started rioting and was only averted when the Who retook the stage.The band played and one more song and Moon was once again down on his drum kit,this time the show seems to be over and Keith Moon was taken to the hospital.Pete,pitiful of leaving his audience behind asked "Is there anyone who can play drums here?-I mean somebody good?",a concert spectator by the name of Scott Halpin filled in for Moon and the show went on.
Back in the hospital,it was discovered when Keith Moon's stomach was pumped that he actually took tranquilizers in which the dosage could only fit for gorillas.
Actual video of Keith Moon collapsing at Cow Palace
6.GUNS N' ROSES
July 2,1991 Riverport Amphitheater[renamed Verizon Wireless Ampthitheater St Louis] St Louis,Missouri
Guns N' Roses were the biggest band of the late eighties and early nineties,influenced by the hard rock of the late sixties and early seventies,they drove the late eighties and early nineties into a frenzy with number one albums everywhere and getting more and more kids to pick up the guitar.It was like Beatlemania all over again with these fellows.
At a concert in St Louis,Missouri,while performing "Rocket Queen" Axl jumped into the audience and tackled a spectator for unofficially taking still pictures of the band onstage.Axl felt threatened and he kept on telling the guards to confiscate the camera but was continously ignored.After a while,Axl became upset and fed up with the security that he banged the mic onstage and said "Thanks for the lame ass security,Im going home!" With the mic sounding like a gunshot Slash said "He just slammed his mic on the floor we're outta here."The crowd began rioting afterwards and hundreds of people were injured plus the band's equipment destroyed by angry fans.
Axl was charged for instigating the riot but wasn't arrested until a year later,during the trial the judge found him not guilty for being fully responsible of the famous St Louis rioting.
Actual video of the St Louis riot
7.PAUL McCARTNEY AND WINGS
The Japanese fiasco
January 16,1980 Tokyo,Japan
Lets face it,every musician smokes grass and once in their life had in one time or another experienced taking drugs.Both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones had problems with the authorities in the late sixties regarding dope, a sign that the seventies and beyond will be more less lenient to them.
Paul McCartney is no exception,he had problems with drugs and authorities himself.The Beatles were already taking amphetamines and other uppers during their Hamburg and Liverpool days to stay awake at their night performances in clubs and bars.The hard stuff came later,as the Beatles were introduced to cannabis by Bob Dylan during the first American tour in 1964.Then the Beatles went on to experiment with other things while writing music and recording in the studio,hard drugs came and LSD which was popular in the mid sixties.Paul himself tried those things but soon saw the danger and just stucked to smoking cannabis ever since.
The Beatles broke up in 1970,and after two solo albums, Paul formed his own band Wings in 1971 and his problems with drugs and authorities continued as Wings achieved worldwide fame and more number one albums and singles on both sides of the Atlantic.
The Japanese incident wasn't the first the time Paul got himself into trouble because of drugs just like other rock stars do.In 1971,his farm in Scotland was raided by police and found two cannabis plants on his lawn.Another bust in London and Sweden followed,in which in 1975 made Wings difficult to enter Japan and prompted them to make a video saying sorry to their Japanese fans even singing "Bluebird" to them[with Denny Laine looking pissed in the video] and before saying goodbye made a promise that they will be seeing each other soon.
Five years later,Paul was cleared to go to Japan,where 11 big concerts were booked for January 1980.Paul eventually ruined it by bringing 8 bags of pot in his briefcase on top of his clothes.McCartney was immediately arrested and was in detention for nine days for questioning.Other members of Wings were also questioned but not detained.Linda McCartney told a horrible story about her and the kids in a Japanese hotel worrying what was happening to Paul and was thinking of him being tortured and all that.People with drug problems in Japan spent years in prison and Linda made sure she doesn't hear the word years.She even told the music press that she and Paul were never apart since they married.
After nine days in jail,Paul was finally released and was told to leave the country.The scheduled Wings concert in Japan was cancelled and his deportation ignited the band's demise.The release of a solo album McCartney II confirmed Wings' dissolution,and Paul didn't tour again until 9 years later in 1989.
Japanese newsfeed of Paul's arrest in Japan
8.LED ZEPPELIN
European Tour April 1973
The European tour of 1973 by Led Zeppelin were by the most violent and riotous so far in the band's career with two shows in France being cancelled because of riots by fans.At one part of the European tour Jimmy Page was said to have been hit by a bottle thrown by a fan in which the performance was immediately stopped by the band.
Led Zeppelin didn't invent hard rock but they took it to a more free art form.The band was formed in 1968 from the ashes of the Yardbirds.Jimmy Page was the only member of the Yardbirds left entitled to the name after singer Keith Relf left the band to pursue a more bluesy direction.Led Zeppelin included John Paul Jones on bass who was also a former session musician like Jimmy Page.Page,having played for other artists such as the Kinks,Donovan and the Rolling Stones,used his experience as a session musician,as a resume to fill in the Yardbirds-first as a bass player then later on,as a lead guitarist.
Led Zeppelin first toured Scandinavia as the New Yardbirds with singer Robert Plant and drummer John Bonham completing the band's lineup.They said they changed their name to Led Zeppelin after Keith Moon made a suggestion that the band would go down like a "Lead Zeppelin"--Lead was instantly changed to Led by Page to avoid mispronounciation.
The band released their debut album of the same title and it was an instant smash hit.
Led Zeppelin was warmly received by the public and thus began a non-stop concert tour for the band,with albums being recorded in between tour breaks and charting brilliantly on Billboard.One album,Led Zeppelin II reached the top spot of the charts and went head to head with the Beatles' Abbey Road on December 1969.
Jimmy Page is one of the greatest guitarist ever to come into existence.When I first heard Led Zeppelin,it was love at first sight and sound.
One could never explain the power and the mystery of Led Zeppelin.With 1971's Led Zeppelin IV(actually untitled) was ranked among one of the best hard rock albums of all time.For the latter,the band chose not to include any title,band credits, logos,and even catalogue and record labels.Before, Atlantic Records warned the band of a possible lawsuit,but later on it was revealed by Page that the main reason they stripped down Led Zeppelin IV coz they got sick of constant bad reviews and the statement of the music press saying that their fame came from hip and not from talent.Jimmy Page insisted of stripping down their fourth album and let the music do the talking.Well,it did more than just talk,coz the album spawned classic after classic hits-including "Black Dog","Misty Mountain Hop" and the mother of all FM radio rock ballads "Stairway To Heaven".
Rumours circulated at the time about Jimmy Page's use of the occult to enhance the band's popularity which was later on denied by Page himself.Though Page did bought Boleskine House formerly owned by English occultist Aleister Crowley.
Endless tours and more albums followed towards the seventies and the last one which unfortunately became their last number one album in the United States,was 1979's In Through The Outdoor.The album was described by Page as a soft one compared to their early albums and state that he wasn' t too keen on those particularly.Page told an interviewer from Guitar Magazine that he and John Bonham were planning a hard driven rock album after this one.The touring went ahead until the fall of 1980,unfortunately,John Bonham died of alcohol intoxication during the rehearsals and sessions of what would be their follow up album.
Led Zeppelin finally called it quits after Bonham's death,deciding they could not continue without him.Led Zeppelin appealed to newer generations of fans mostly to those who wasn't even born yet during the band's heyday(including myself).
The power and mystery of Led Zeppelin remains a question on how or why their music,style and charisma had so much appeal.Same thing with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.Few people regard occult as the main reason why these bands has endured time and space.I'd rather say not,its the extraordinary talent and songwriting capabilities that made these bands unique--just like any other band from the 1960s.
I dedicate this blog to the memory of the late great Brian Jones,leader and founder of the Rolling Stones,one of my favorite bands and one of the greatest besides the Beatles.One of the great musicians I admire and idolized. Brian Jones was born in Cheltenhamshire,England on February 28,1942.He founded the Rolling Stones,gave the band its name and direction in the sixties and was considered by critics to be the closest rival to the Beatles though there werent any competition,for both bands were very good friends.
Brian could actually play any instrument and it was very obvious right away that he is the most striking and most talented member of the group.He died at a very young age of 27 when his body was found on his swimming pool on July 3,1969.The cause of death was drowning due to drug related activities.Even after his death,the Rolling Stones carried on through the seventies,eighties,nineties and up to the present being billed as one of the greatest rock n’roll bands in the world.
Brian wherever you are,I want you to know that you have a very strong impact on me though you died years before I was born.I admire you a lot and you’re one of my idols,no musician today has ever equalled the talent and intelligence that you have.I started admiring you when I was a little boy by seeing the Under My Thumb video clip featuring you playing the marimba.You’re the epitome of cool.This page is for you,Brian.
