JIMI HENDRIX:Keeping the flame burning!

It was 1967 at the Monterey Pop Festival and the Jimi Hendrix Experience just made their US debut in which they defined the event as ebullient,loud and colourful.Hendrix has just finished playing their own rendition of "Wild Thing" (originally by the Troggs)  and much to everyone's surprise,Jimi knelt down before the sacred instrument,poured some lighter fluid and set fire on it.He by then,destroyed the guitar afterwards.

It took a while for Jimi Hendrix to convince the American people that he was indeed one of them and not some English eccentric that has been bombarding the country since 1964 when the Beatles first stepped on US soil thus highlighting the rise of Beatlemania and the beginning of what would be a long term British Invasion of the United States.

James Marshall Hendrix was born in Seattle,Washington on November 27,1942,long before the city became one of rock music's sacred places.As a child,his left handedness was already noticed that he had to put the guitar upside down to be able to play it.After a brief spell in the army as a paratrooper where he was discharged because of a certain back injury,he drifted off from club to club and from one band to another,playing guitar on who will ever notice him.

One particular band was called Jimmy James and The Blue Flames,they had played several gigs  in the Club au Go Go,where bands like the Rascals and the Doors have also hung out later on.Hendrix was then discovered by Chas Chandler,who is a former bass player for the Animals.Upon seeing Hendrix play,Chas thought that Hendrix's gifts would somewhat be appreciated in a smaller pond.He by then took him to London and got in touch with two English musicians: bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell,and thus the Jimi Hendrix Experience was soon formed.

Upon arriving in London in 1966,everyone was in awe with Jimi's guitar style that made the locals look pretty humble with their so-called craft.The band soon released their debut album Are You Experienced? in 1967 and was considered to be  one of the greatest hard rock albums ever produced even up to this day.

Songs like "Hey Joe","Purple Haze" swiftly became Hendrix's signature songs,hence,became the yardstick on how rock music is measured by its heaviness and thus became a prerequisite to every guitar school that taught advance skills on the instrument.

Hendrix became notorious in his live performances and for a while became the Who's rival on destroying these expensive hardware when he opened for the band in mid-1967.Pete Townshend was heard to be saying "he[Hendrix]totally blew us away".When the Beatles released Sgt Pepper in the summer of that same year,he opened his set at the Marquee with a version of the album's title track.Paul McCartney was said to be pleased with the tribute calling it "the most beautiful tribute he has ever heard of".McCartney,while we're on the subject,is actually the man responsible for having Jimi on the bill at the Monterey Pop Festival mentioned here before.It is a matter of question whether Linda Eastman[who later on became Mrs McCartney] had talked to Paul directly about Jimi as Hendrix was already friends with her [as she was a known rock photographer] even before she and McCartney met.

Following their successful US debut,the Jimi Hendrix Experience was booked to be an opening act for the Monkees' concert tour.The tandem however,was disastrous for the group as Monkees fans expressed their dislike over the band with parents even complaining that Hendrix's stage acts were vulgar.Nevertheless,the tour has gained publicity for Redding,Mitchell and Hendrix himself,igniting further curiosity and later on huge album sales for the band.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience

The band by then released their second album Axis:Bold As Love with its tracks remaining as  staples for budding rock guitarists of today.The album's engineer was Eddie Kramer who would also work later on with Led Zeppelin on their second album in 1969.

The third album however,would put Jimi and his group to the top of the charts and thus,into much controversy:the third album by the way was called Electric Ladyland where the music was far more adventurous,not to mention its lurid cover.The gatefold sleeve covering the original vinyl release is composed of several naked women of almost all races.The album went straight to number one in the charts in 1968,and an alternate cover however, was released in the US.45 years after its release,the album remains one of the most influential in rock music as it went to number one on the gatefold sleeves list on ultimate classic rock .

The original gatefold sleeve of Electric Ladyland

Problems with the group however started to rise regarding member rankings.Well,the Experience have always sounded to everyone as  a Jimi Hendrix solo with backing musicians,and yes,the truth is Redding and Mitchell never got any control over the material the band was playing.In the band's albums,Hendrix had always written and sung the songs and on Electric Ladyland,Hendrix was given an additional credit for "direction".Noel Redding,on the other hand,feeling more of a tea boy status,rebelled and the result was the breakup of the band-much to the disappointment of their fans.

Hendrix went on to form another band which he called Band Of Gypsies with  Billy Cox on bass and Buddy Miles on drums.The band performed only two concerts in which the second was stopped in the midway by the man himself.

Jimi Hendrix (photo:ABC News)

Even with a band or not,Hendrix has proven his prowess as a guitar god that would make him the smash hit of Woodstock in 1969.The three day event in which he highlighted his performance by playing a guitar rendition of America's sacred song-The Star Spangled Banner.It was rumored however that the applause that can be heard on the film was edited right in after Hendrix's performance of the national anthem.It was said that after Jimi had finished playing,the audience was stunned in catatonic silence,shocked on Hendrix's butchery of the song.As a writer who wasn't born yet during that time,I guess I will need to clear that rumor out especially from those people who were actually there.Were the people really shocked at Jimi's guitar rendition of the Star Spangled Banner? Or were they(the gossip writers at that time) just cashing in on some rumors that didn't even occur?


Its still a matter of an open verdict whether Jimi took his own life or not,but it was painfully clear that when he died in the early hours of September 18,1970,he took several tablets of sleeping pills contrary to the usual recommended dose of one half.Hendrix died in his sleep after inhaling his own vomit.Close friend Eric Burdon who was also the lead singer for the rock group the Animals was said to have got hold of a poem written by Hendrix days before he died which bore traces of a suicide note.

For a man with awesome prowess and unique guitar style,one can clearly say that no one has ever gone near to what Jimi Hendrix had achieved.Playing guitar with his teeth,on top of his shoulders and between his legs became the signature of the man who would later be crowned as one of the greatest guitar virtousos in the entire history of rock music.

Jimi's remains were flown back to Seattle where a funeral was held  and he was laid to rest at Greenwood Memorial Park in Renton,Washington-about 11 miles southeast of Seattle.Among his pallbearers were his former bandmates in the Experience Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell,jazz musician Miles Davis,and notable blues musicians John Hammond and Johnny Winter.He was buried in a small family plot and in 1999 was later transferred to a memorial built by his dad Al where his grandmother Nora and stepmother Ayako was also buried.His mother Lucille,who died in 1958 was buried not far from the memorial.A sad thing happened that the elder Hendrix never got to see the completion of the memorial he envisioned as far back as 1970,Al died in 2002 at the age of 82.

Jimi Hendrix Memorial Greenwood Memorial Park,Renton,WA

An estimated number of 14,000 people visit Hendrix's memorial every year most notably during Jimi's birthday November 27 and during christmastime according to his website.At the time of his death,Hendrix only managed to record and release four studio albums.A number of posthumous Hendrix projects have surfaced years after he passed away--with some of the recordings merely half finished and was either remixed or polished in the studio.

Several compilation albums also flooded the music market with Jimi's family keeping a tight grip on  his back catalogue after his dad Al spent years of court battle to gain control of his management and finances.While his former bandmates in the Experience were upset on how things went along with the copyright war-->a year before he passed way,Noel Redding mentioned in an interview of not having the slightest percentage he and Mitchell thinks they deserve on the copyright royalties and how sad they were that they weren't given the credits they think they deserve as Jimi's dad Al took full control of his late son's estate.

Sadly,both his bandmates in the Experience has joined up with him in the afterlife as well.Noel Redding died in 2003 of complications from cirrhosis of the liver while drummer Mitch Mitchell passed away in 2008.

However,the latest effort of Jimi from beyond the grave was People,Hell And Angels released on May 5,2013--making Hendrix far from being obsolete.The album contains unreleased tracks Jimi has planned to release after the much success of Electric Ladyland.

People,Hell And Angels peaked at number two on the charts and has earned new generations of young Hendrix fans from all over.

Hendrix's posthumous 2013 album People Hell And Angels

Most of the bands and artists from the 1960s have brilliantly left their mark on rock music as their style and unique interpretation of their finest craft continues to amaze people even those who weren't born yet during this much noted cultural revolution in the entire history of rock genre.

As Jimi's guitar burns in that very stage of  the Monterey Pop Festival,his flame as virtuoso continues to burn as well.


(c) Keith Vernon Adagio

REMEMBERING RAY.....

The music industry is currently mourning the loss of one of its gems.Ray Manzarek,keyboardist and founding member of the Doors has just passed away at age 74.

Ray Manzarek,aside from lead singer Jim Morrison, is considered to be the "soul" of the band.His keyboard playing were pretty hypnotic and way ahead of his time-alas,he made his signature riff and will always be remembered as one of the unique sounds of psychedelic rock.

Ray met his future bandmate and lead singer Jim Morrison  
while studying cinematography in UCLA,they both ran each other off after they had graduated and Ray took time to listen to Jim's poems in which he described as the greatest lyrics he has ever heard.

With the addition of Robbie Krieger on guitar and John Densmore on drums--the Doors went ahead.With a record contract signed with Elektra Records,the Doors released their debut album with much success.

The Doors l-r:Manzarek,Densmore,Morrison and Krieger

One would argue that Manzarek's signature riff on "Light My Fire" is one of the greatest keyboard riffs in rock music and is hailed as one of the great classic rock hits ever to come out in the last fifty years.

The Doors became notorious in the mid sixties as their concerts and lyrics became more and more adventurous,riots became common in most of the band's live performances.With Morrison,who slowly transformed from being a guy- next-door type to a pudgy drunk,he became noted for raising hell onstage,as the few mindless and drugged out kids were provoked to "roll up! roll up! come and see the freaks" dilemma.

The band released more albums with equal success as their concerts become more and more dangerous that urged several city officials to ban them from doing further live shows.

Ray Manzarek and Jim Morrison

When Jim died of a drug overdose in Paris,Manzarek continued to be active in the music industry releasing several unreleased and unheard Doors material in which most were taken from their previous sessions when Jim Morrison was alive but never saw the light of the day.


Manzarek also released several solo albums like The Golden Scarab released in 1973 that was to be followed by 1974's  The Whole Thing Started With Rock & Roll Now Its Out of Control.

 The Doors were inducted to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1993, Manzarek along with Krieger and Densmore happily received their statuettes.

In 2001,Manzarek and former Doors guitarist Robbie Krieger decided to reunite and tour once again as the Doors minus drummer John Densmore-who turned out to have feuded with the two of them for years.The band was christened The Doors of the 21st Century: filling in for the late Jim Morrison is Ian Astbury of the Cult,with Stewart Copeland (former member of the Police) on drums and Angelo Barbera on bass.The Doors in the 1960s never had a bass player-they always had to rely on Manzarek's keyboard and foot pump to fill in for the bass part,so the addition of a bass player for this group has been a surprise for most of the Doors' fans.

The band toured for a while but not for long,former bandmate John Densmore filed a lawsuit against Manzarek and Krieger for using the Doors name and thus declared himself entitled for that name as well.The result was that the band had changed its name to Riders Of The Storm taking it from one signature song recorded by them.They changed their name again to Manzarek-Krieger hereby forming a duo with a backing band.

Manzarek was portrayed by actor Kyle McLachlan in the 1991 biopic "The Doors" written and directed by Oliver Stone.

 Manzarek died on May 20,2013 after a long battle with bile duct cancer.

Ray Manzarek may be gone but his legacy lives on,that haunting sound on "Light My Fire" and "Hello I Love You" will always remain in the hearts of anyone who'll put in a Doors CD and furthermore to every kid curious enough to explore the power and mystery of rock music.

Ray Manzarek playing keyboard with the Doors 1967

(c) Keith Vernon Adagio

Mick Taylor re-joins the Stones

Mick Taylor did joined his former bandmates onstage that started as early as December 2012 in Atlantic City,NJ appearing as a guest guitarist on "Midnight Rambler".Taylor played more gigs with the Stones on their 2013 US tour,appearing along  with other guests like Gwen Stefani in Los Angeles and Tom Waits and the San Jose State University Choralle in Oakland.

The Rolling Stones were currently on their 50 And Counting Tour with dates on US and Canada.

Video of  Mick Taylor performing "Midnight Rambler" with the Rolling Stones

(c) Keith Vernon Adagio

DEAR OZZY.......

In the crazy world of rock music,no other character exists like Ozzy Osbourne.He was the man who had put the flare vocals to Black Sabbath and became a millionaire through his nasal singing voice.

Ozzy is known to be THE MAN WHO EATS WHATEVER YOU CARE TO THROW AT HIM.Eversince "the bat incident" kids were  carrying huge chunks of raw meat and other dead animals at his concerts that got the nerves of most of the ladies at the PMRC.The incident,while we're on the subject,happened in 1982,when one teenage fellow threw the bat onstage and Ozzy,thinking it was only a rubber bat,sank his teeth right into it.As a result,he had to be treated with various rabies shots after the show.

His wild antics were legendary.It was said that he was banned for a while when he bit the head of a dove during a meeting with CBS Records executives.Highly intoxicated,the doves were originally intended to be set free as a sign of peace.

Even before he became "Ozzy" as we all know him today,he already had the proficiency of separating animals from their heads--thanks to a brief stint at the abattoir where he spent some time perfecting his act.

And then there was The Osbournes,a reality tv show featuring the domestic life of  heavy metal's finest godfather.Though not merely considered as a wholesome sitcom,it was one of the most viewed programs on MTV who produced it along with Sharon Osbourne--who is both Ozzy's wife and manager.

The Osbournes,photo courtesy of  MTV

The show highlights its main characters,Ozzy and Sharon along with their kids Jack and Kelly,with an older daughter Aimee refusing to participate.With the family constantly swearing and cursing,the bleeps used to censor it became the show's trademark as it turned out to be more of a comical sitcom rather than adult-oriented.Though some airings overseas were presented "as is" without any censorship from their respective networks as for MTV Canada,UK and Australia.

Funny enough,Ozzy himself looked more like a parkinson's patient rather than a rock star during the reality show's four season run.Perhaps his constant doping during the sixties and seventies has fried most of his brain's meninges which resulted to his slurred speech.

Though the show garnered a cult following,many critics expressed their disgust,with some people getting offended with the show's nature highlighting Ozzy's kids cursing their own parents.The final episode was aired in 2005 and it catapulted Ozzy's kids to stardom with Kelly Osbourne launching her own singing career.Sharon,on the other hand,had her own talk show with a theme similar to that of Sally Jesse Raphael's.

I first got to hear Ozzy Osbourne through my dad with those old Black Sabbath albums when I was a child back in the late 80s and early 90s without even knowing that he was the man behind that strange voice.The time I was also first getting into the Beatles and rock music.

I get to know more about him in the 90s upon listening to one tribute album for the Sabs.Not to mention his solo albums No More Tears and Ozzmosis which at the time were smash hits.And looking back to one awesome blast from the past,his debut solo album Blizzard Of Ozz.

Ozzy's connection with the fab four wasn't a secret and he has mentioned several times on books and interviews that he is,in fact,a huge Beatles fan.And even remembering the day hearing "She Loves You"  for the first time prompted him to get into the music scene.

He even made a tribute to John Lennon in 2010 by covering the song "How?" with a beautiful music video showing his sweet side,far from the bat biting he became notorious for decades earlier.

His publicity stunts were almost mythical and his cancer awareness proved that he was more than just a heavy metal hero,but a philantropist who screams for a good cause[His wife Sharon was a noted cancer survivor].Caught urinating in the Alamo by an outraged local,he was banned from the sacred Texan landmark for a while and caused him a few thousand dollars fine plus community service.

Sharon Osbourne/photo E! online

Ozzy has always mentioned that he can never be thankful enough for his wife Sharon,whom he had always referred to as the person who saved his life.She was the daughter of gargantuan producer Don Arden,whose label Roadrunner Records gave him a chance to audition during the difficult time that he was booted out of Black Sabbath.As a result,his solo career was enormous and his success came instantly with huge album sales.

The death of his guitarist and friend Randy Rhoads has caused Osbourne to spiral downwards once again as he painfully remembers that day seeing his friend's plane explode into smithereens.On one interview,he said that he never got over the death of his friend Randy and will always cherish his memories of him for as long as he live.

Ozzy's nightmare wasn't over yet when the parents of John McCollum sued him for being responsible over their son's apparent death.It was said that the teenage boy took his own life after listening repeatedly to one of Ozzy's songs called "Suicide Solution".The case was dismissed with the judge and jury all siding in Ozzy's favor.

Randy Rhoads/Starpulse

Ozzy may have been  a menace to other people but believe it or not,the prince of f**ckin' darkness definitely has a gentle side.He found another friend and ally-a Japanese boy by the name of Yuto Miyazawa,who at the age of 10 can eventually pull off the guitar riffs of both Randy Rhoads and Zakk Wylde combined.He met the boy at Ellen Degeneres' show and has been playing with most of his gigs since.Miyazawa,was a youtube sensation and has been playing huge guitar riffs by Black Sabbath even before he met Ozzy.

Ozzy Osbourne with Japanese guitar prodigy Yuto Miyazawa

Japanese boy wonder Yuto Miyazawa

2012 saw Ozzy Osbourne announcing that he is retiring from the music business after two more albums.With the life he had and the fame and richest he earned from it,his life is almost content.Perhaps he wanted to do something on his own as he face the dawn of his life or not at all as he might still change his mind and continue rocking with us.Well,lets face it,everybody gets old and Ozzy's got one hell of a past and I guess he just wants to leave something for himself-the scrapbook of his life,one can quickly dub as the Diary Of A Madman,taken from one of his solo albums.

Music is not an easy thing to give up,but in the meantime,pack your stuff and off we go to the Ozzfest!

(c) Keith Vernon Adagio

MICK TAYLOR:ONCE A STONE

 (updated:May 6,2013;see update at the bottom of the article)

 We all knew that Brian Jones had founded the Stones,given its name and direction in the sixties.When he was booted from the band he himself had formed,many were considering him as the adamant fella who would soon form another band after feuding with Jagger and Richards for ages.But tragedy struck by then,he was found dead in his swimming pool,he was only 27.

1969 seems to be an odd year that most of these great bands were in their breakup phase--sort of.The Beatles had their own breakup phase due to business problems and personal conflicts between John,Paul,George and Ringo in which Paul would make it official a year later.The Monkees were finished by then and Davy Jones is enjoying his solo career.Even the Bee Gees had their breakup phase during this period of time,with Robin Gibb going solo after his much publicized rift with his own brothers Barry and Maurice.And some other bands like Lovin Spoonful with John Sebastian making his first solo appearance in Woodstock.

Many people would say and agree that Brian Jones is indeed irreplaceable but the Stones had other plans in this difficult time of their career.A new decade was coming and its time to switch gears.One cannot imagine what Mick Jagger and Keith Richards might have done or accomplished if the Stones decided to breakup at the end of the sixties like their contemporaries did.But again,they didn't,instead they replaced Brian with somewhat a guitarist with awesome blues riffing and impeccable style that guided the band's sound from 1969 to the first half of the 1970s.

A GUY NAMED "MICK"

 Mick Taylor isn't to be confused with Mick Jagger,though both of them share the same names,Michael Kevin Taylor was born January 17,1949   in Hertfordshire,England and was six years junior compared to Mick Jagger's(whose real name is Michael Philip Jagger) age.Taylor learned to play the guitar at the age of nine and was active in school bands during his teens.He met John Mayall at age 16 and joined the Bluesbreakers onstage during Eric Clapton's absence in 1965.Mayall,who was heavily impressed by Taylor,later invited him to join the band as an official member after Peter Green(who would later form Fleetwood Mac) had left.

John Mayall's Bluesbreakers became a nursery for Taylor,musically.Like his predecessors before him,Eric Clapton and Peter Green.He got better and better,playing with the group for three consecutive years,from 1966 to 1969.

In 1969,when Brian Jones was booted from the Stones,Mick Taylor was recommended to Jagger by Mayall himself.With Mick and Keith impressed by Taylor's riffs,they immediately put him to work during the Let It Bleed sessions,with some unfinished tracks Jones had left behind,Taylor laid down these beautiful licks on songs such as "Country Honk" and "Live With Me". One of his memorable riffs was the Stones' 1969 single "Honky Tonk Women" where he played a beautiful blues melody alongside Keith Richards,giving a new musical direction and style to the late sixties-era Rolling Stones.

Though Let It Bleed is considered to be the Stones' album during its transitional phase,it wasn't until July 5 of that year that Taylor would make his first public appearance with the band.The Hyde Park concert was considered to be the Stones' concert for Brian.Brian Jones,who died two days earlier,drowned in his swimming pool.The event was a farewell tribute to the man who founded the Rolling Stones,given its name and direction.Jagger was noted at the time for his white transvestite outfit,he took time to tell the audience to cool off for a minute as he reads the lines of a poem giving tribute to their departed leader and founder.

ON WITH THE STONES

The Rolling Stones toured to great acclaim with Mick Taylor on guitar and was hailed by many as one of the great times the band has ever had on their 50 year career.

 Taylor played on four other Rolling Stones albums:Sticky Fingers(1971);Exile On Main St.(1972);Goats Head Soup(1973); and Its Only Rock N' Roll(1974). He defined the Stones' sound of the early 1970s,playing those cool riffs inspired by both jazz and blues.

(photos:left:Honky Tonk Women single sleeve;below right:Sticky Fingers album cover;below left:Exile On Main St album cover)

PROBLEMS WITH THE BAND

Mick Taylor's departure in 1974 was shrouded with mystery as to what might have been his reason why he suddenly left the group.

One reason being pointed out was the songwriting credits Taylor was claiming to have written with Mick Jagger in which the latter never gave him.Second was the group's bad influence on him which took toll in 1974.It was said that Mick Taylor didn't even smoke before he met the Stones,and he became a heroin addict after joining the band.Years later,it was said that he sneered on John Phillips when the latter invited him to play as a session musician on his solo album.It was said that he first snubbed and declined Phillips' offer as he was still battling his drug addiction that he didn't touch his guitar for about a year.Though Taylor played later on with John Phillips alongside his former bandmates in the Stones,but the album wasn't released until 2001.

Another reason being cited was Taylor's feud with none other than Keith Richards himself.Richards was later said to be yelling at Taylor in the studio in which any person wont take kindly.In one of his recent interviews made in 2009,he admitted that the Stones nearly broke up and that he was arguing with them all the time with him pointing out to Keith Richards' massive addiction in 1972 and 1973.Perhaps Keith was jealous at Mick Taylor and feeling he was kinda overshadowed by his presence.

(photo:The Rolling Stones with Mick Taylor,second from left)

RUMORED POLITICS BEHIND TAYLOR'S DEPARTURE

Another rumor at the time was pointing to the fact that both Mick Jagger and Keith Richards did forced Mick Taylor out of the band so that they could get their friend Ron Wood into the group as the Faces were in their breakup phase during that period of time.Though nobody has actually proven this accusation with Mick and Keith strongly denying this saying that they were upset about Taylor leaving,it remains one of the many speculations on what would have been the reason of Mick Taylor quitting the Rolling Stones.

His replacement Ron Wood,however,was less of an acclaimed guitarist compared to his accomplishments with the group.

GOING SOLO

Mick Taylor had indeed left the band in 1974,he was to pursue a solo career.One album,self-titled Mick Taylor was released in 1979.Though the LP has been praised by the music press and blues fans alike,it didn't fare well commercially perhaps due to the advent of disco music at the time.

Mick Taylor later went bankrupt,playing in small bars and touring with a group of musician friends in a small van.He was said to have refused playing songs by the Stones.One spectator later noted that Taylor would put his show to a halt everytime somebody from the audience would request a Rolling Stones song.He would walk off and wont finish his set.Perhaps the wounds of his past was still fresh that he chose not to live with it.

Taylor later collaborated with other artists such as Bob Dylan and his former Stones bandmates,playing on Keith Richards solo album in 1988.He also played and toured with Bill Wyman who also left the band in 1993.

In 2009,a British newspaper revealed Taylor's condition wherein he was broke as a joke and admitted he was no longer receiving royalties from the Stones.Taylor later pointed out his former band's change of recording contract as the reason the payments had stopped.He even mentioned his drug problems as the main reason he was flat broke as he was financing his addiction when the money was still in his hands.He would go on tour with a group of friends playing gigs at small bars to be able to pay his electric and water bills.

LEGACY

With the Rolling Stones 50th anniversary it was rumored that Taylor would take part on this important occasion.Joining his former band would be one of the best things that would ever happen in the history of rock music.

Mick Taylor's career with the band might have been short.But listening to songs like "Honky Tonk Women","Bitch" and "Brown Sugar" will make a kid  pick up a guitar today and form his own band.

Mick Taylor was never a showman and will be remembered as the guy who played those awesome riffs from our generation to the next.With hopeful fans crossing their fingers of seeing him joining his band once again perhaps for the last time.The guy with the colossal riffs but with a quiet,humble and down to-earth persona,Mick Taylor,the man who was once a Stone.

Update: Mick Taylor joins his former bandmates in the Rolling Stones see link here

KEITH RICHARDS:The riffing guv'nor

The Rolling Stones were rocking since 1962,and with the band's longevity,spanning five decades of  blues and rock,the Stones hasn't seen by fans any sign that they would ever stop.Touring to great acclaim over the last 50 years,they showed their fans that they wont ever slow down,not this time.

But  didn't you know that the Stones had nearly cease to exist? Back in 1977,their backbone Keith Richards was about to be convicted in Toronto for smuggling a couple ounces of smack,and other band members like bass player Bill Wyman was muttering about leaving."Could this be the last time?" published one newspaper,but luckily for Keith,he was set free,but not so fast,he had to do a charity concert for the blind.

Keith Richards or "Keef" as many Stones fans called him was one of the founding members of the Rolling Stones-as they proclaim themselves the greatest rock n' roll band in the world.While their friends and contemporary the Beatles had broken up in 1970,the Rolling Stones got meaner and meaner and was playing under the fiery wings of "Bitch","Sympathy For The Devil" and "Honky Tonk Women" with the latter song having been hailed as one of the finest riffs by Richards along with their guitarist at the time Mick Taylor,who replaced Brian Jones in 1969.

Richards was born in Dartford,Kent on December 18,1943 and was already friends with Mick Jagger since their childhood.They later met a chap called Brian Jones who was then forming a band and eventually named it the Rolling Stones after one Muddy Waters song "Rollin' Stone Blues".And the rest as they say it,is history.Having started to get their own gig in 1962,the Stones were known for its longevity releasing new albums and writing new materials since then,though the band had started performing blues covers before starting to write their own material.But as I mentioned before,the Stones had their own ups and downs as the band nearly as I say cease to exist.Aside from the late seventies fiasco of Richards,there was an early eighties fallout between him and his songwriting partner/bandmate--lead singer Mick Jagger.There was  a heavy vibe at the time that the Rolling Stones would disband after nearly twenty years of touring and recording as Richards and Jagger went their own separate ways and started making their own solo albums.Jagger and Richards eventually made up and the Stones continued to release new albums in the late eighties,the nineties and beyond.

The Jagger and Richards partnership was considered to be Lennon and McCartney's counterpart in the Rolling Stones.Both bands have been rumored about their so-called "rivalry" though both groups were very good friends and has remained respectful of each others achievements.Encouraged by their manager,Andrew Loog Oldham in the sixties to write their own material,the Stones back then were doing blues covers,Mick and Keith considered of having their childhood friendship rekindled and thus produced a couple of songs that were considered to be the earliest Rolling Stones signature in the 1960s.They even used the pseudonym The Glimmer Twins in producing a number of catalogues under the Stones' name.

Keith Richards alone wasn't spared by controversy and was still making headlines just as recently.In 2007,he claimed he snorted his father's ashes in which a few rock fans didn't took kindly.As a result,a spokesman from his management was forced to apologize in his behalf saying that Keith was only joking about snorting his dad's cremated remains.

(photo:Keith Richards at Oakland Coliseum,1978)


Keith Richards' drug taking wasn't a secret,his was uniquely advanced that a few lesser mortals were prematurely extinguished,like Gram Parsons,for instance,who was a close friend and would often hang out with Richards' at his home in the early seventies before he died of a drug overdose a year later.Parsons,who became a member the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers,was a heavy doper like Keith himself.On the other hand,Richards who started off with the Stones in the early sixties with a cherubic face and then gradually,as drugs puts it,his cheek became hollow and as the Stones got meaner,was applying mascara and eye shadows with Jagger perhaps to maximize the band's appeal in the seventies.

With the main man's heavy doping,smoking and drinking,one would describe his face nowadays as to somewhat a rough painting on canvass.Other publications would describe the latter day Richards as the Stones' cadaverous guitarist.But a heavy doper he may be,he outlived them all,and he has never admitted having a problem with drugs--only with authorities.Rumor has it,that he never sleeps and that he couldn't remember the seventies,any of it.Well we always hear the words "If you can remember the sixties,then you were not there."Perhaps Richards had so many busts from the late sixties up to the next decade wherein authorities were less lenient to the so-called bad boys of rock.

 (photo:Keith Richards and Anita Pallenberg)

Keith Richards,who was describe by fellow guitarist and contemporary Jeff Beck as the "guv'nor"(governor) of guitar riffs perhaps,he played the opening riff on "Start Me Up" with the first string missing.Discovered by accident,he is the only guitar player known to play the riff in absolute perfection using only five strings with the first one taken off.

(photo left:Anita Pallenberg)

Like other rock stars,Keith Richards has also entertained hordes of groupies along with Jagger.Groupies-girls whose prime goal was to have sex with their idols.He was also famous for stealing the girlfriend of his friend/bandmate Brian Jones.Anita Pallenberg,is a German model,she and the Stones had crossed paths and admitted to have been attracted to Jones coz he was the only one who ever talked to her when she first met the band.Brian Jones can even speak a little German,her native lingo.Jones and Pallenberg became lovers and were living together until Richards came in between them.Thus the rift between Jones and the Jagger-Richards axis took for the worst which led to the departure of Brian in early 1969.Brian Jones-who is the leader and founder of the Rolling Stones,died in July 3 of that year when he drowned in his home pool,he was only 27 years old.

Jones' former girlfriend,Anita Pallenberg,has set a home with Richards and has claimed of sleeping with all the members of the band.Rumored as a witch,she had a wild fling with Mick Jagger as well.It was alleged that actor James Fox who co-starred with both Jagger and Pallenberg in the film Performance was shocked to find them making love in the film's dressing room.Pallenberg was the girl who other people have described that "rolled from Stone to Stone".She became Keith's partner,as well as a partner in crime sharing with his own wicked ways.

Keith Richards and Anita Pallenberg's romance slowly turned sour as Anita was flirting with other men even while she was still with Keith.Their union was finished when one of Anita's young lovers,a teenage boy by the name of Scott Cantrell shot himself in the head at the New York home she shared with Richards.

 The public first got a glimpse of Richards' voice with "Something Happened To Me Yesterday" in which he shared vocal duties with Mick Jagger.Though Keith had actually sang backing vocals for Mick in the past Stones albums.Another track was "Honky Tonk Women" in which Keith also sang backing vocals but he didn't do the lead vocal duties until "You Got The Silver"--from the album Let It Bleed.Though he was well known for singing lead on "Happy"--a track from the Stones' 1972 double album Exile On Main St.

One says that theres no one could ever play good Chuck Berry than  Richards himself. Berry,on the other hand,has continued to tour and mesmerize crowds even at the age of 85.And it wasn't on a few occasions that Keith and Berry had crossed paths.One occasion in which Richards was punched in the mouth by Chuck Berry and the former's involvement in the Berry tribute film would be one of the most heroic efforts in rock music history.


Some people might kid around asking when Keith Richards would ever stop performing.He'll probably be rocking until he's 150 or something.Rumor also has it that with his advance drug taking he might fell off and die onstage while performing.He once fell asleep while playing "Fool To Cry" and everybody thought "that was it"..but the man's still here.Like what was mentioned here before,he never admitted having problems with drugs--only with the authorities.He even claimed with his drug intake he never had a cold or flu in years.Though it certainly 'fried' him off.Several news had him recently quitting drinking and fighting to save his liver.

Rocking for five decades,the Rolling Stones doesn't have any signs that they ever wanna stop. Certainly,this won't be the last time we will ever hear from him.

Keith Richards,then and now

(c) Keith Vernon Adagio

THE RISE AND FALL OF PAUL KOSSOFF

It was said that behind every beautiful song written is either inspired by relationship or at most times by a breakup or rejection.It was also said that the most beautiful songs ever written were mostly inspired by a brokenheart.

Well one man literally had a broken heart,tired of excess fame and management pressure,he turned into drugs.His name is Paul Kossoff.

It is always said that blues music is without a doubt, a black man's form.It was in Britain in the sixties where there had been a huge blues revival with late saturday night jammings at London's Marquee and eventually one group John Mayall's Bluesbreakers became a nursery of  the most popular British rock guitarists in the names of Peter Green,Jimmy Page,Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton.A real life School Of Rock,the blues scene at that time was massive in Britain compared to the US in which Jeff Beck made a remarkable comment,wherein he states that it must've been because  the music wasn't as stigmatized in America compared to the UK.

Paul Kossoff is the son of British actor David Kossoff,who at a young age had an admiration to the guitar.Born in 1950,his obsession to the guitar and blues music made him a professional musician during his teens in the 1960s.Kossoff's first band included Black Cat Bones which failed to sway the heart of the masses and was at the time commercially forgettable.Though he was considered a professional musician at age 15,it wasn't until he got in touch with Alexis Korner that had him get in touch with two other musicians--singer Paul Rodgers and bass player Andy Fraser in which the latter was known to have been thrown from John Mayall's Bluesbreakers also for being only 15.With former bandmate Simon Kirke on drums,Free was formed and they released two albums in 1968 and 1969 which is nothing more but commercially disastrous.But in 1970,Free gained international fame with the release of their third album Fire And Water.With the ultimate success of its single "All Right Now",Kossoff and the rest of Free catapulted to huge rock stardom.

(Photo: Free clockwise L-R Paul Kossoff,Paul Rodgers,Simon Kirke and Andy Fraser)

But this sudden amount of fame took toll on Paul Kossoff that he didn't know what to do about it,perhaps how to handle it.It is always said that one musician's worst enemy is his own self on how he'll be able to top his achievement.And when a follow-up single "The Stealer" failed to follow the huge success of "All Right Now",Kossoff turned into drugs probably crushed due to fame and management pressure.Worst of all, Free broke up in acrimony when Andy Fraser left the band which made Kossoff retreat to drugs even more.In this point of time, the only reality Kossoff ever wanted is oblivion as he took more and more dubious amounts of dope which would eventually take his life later on.

After a brief amount of hiatus,Fraser was replaced by Japanese bass player Tetsu Yamauchi in which their management thought that it will make things a lot better for Kossoff if they bring Free back together again.Perhaps due to the various amounts of drugs he has ingested,it didn't work for him as he retreated further more into drugs and declared himself unavailable to tour Japan.

(photo left:Tetsu Yamauchi became an official member of Free in 1972,replacing Andy Fraser on bass)

With the unreliability on behalf of Kossoff's,Free broke up once more and this time for good after the release of an album ominously called Heartbreaker in which he hardly participated on.

What Paul Kossoff did however,was to release a solo album called Back Street Crawler which was highly praised by some rock critics but commercially ignored.And its back to his little Notting Hill flat again to stay in bed and do drugs.It was said that it was the pain over Free breaking up that crushed Paul Kossoff and made him to retreat further into drugs,but nevertheless,he was a very much courted session musician.

The following year,Kossoff was said to have snapped out of it,probably stoned out of his mind,that in 1975 he formed a band and named it Back Street Crawler after his eponymous debut album.A tour of the UK was set,but it only suggest that Free had been a good band and was at the time a tough act to follow.Considering that Kossoff was never a songwriter,aside from the fact that he only had a few co-credits on those classic Free albums,he never wrote a song himself.And the BSC material was out of his hands too.

(photo above:Paul Kossoff's eponymous debut album Back Street Crawler,1973)


In September 1975,he had a massive heart attack,probably due to the cause of his frequent drug taking.It was said that he was clinically dead for about 35 seconds and luckily enough,the doctors managed to revive him.Against all medical advice,he launched into touring with BSC and sadly at Glasgow's Apollo he ended up staggering onstage playing out of tune.Eventually he fell off,most people say it was due to his condition,and it was back in the hospital again for him this time to be treated for the injuries he got when he fell offstage.

1976 seemed to have good news at last for Paul,he traveled to the United States to discuss with the execs at Atlantic Records.Tragically,he died in his sleep while on a flight from Los Angeles to New York,it was a recurrence of his previous heart attack last September,he was only 25 years old.

His father made a tribute to him by doing a one man tour of his stage performances on what supposed to be a way of saying thank you for his life being spared in September,but the tour went ahead anyway.

Drugs have destroyed lives of people and our idols in the music scene were no exception,Jimi Hendrix,Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison even took inspiration from acid and wrote songs about it.But they all ended up falling to its evil spell with their lives prematurely extinguished.Though they became "legends" and "saints" nonetheless.


                                                                 ...And sadly,Paul Kossoff died a broken man.

Free with their biggest hit "All Right Now"



  (c) Keith Vernon Adagio