The Rolling Stones

I have wanted to post about The Rolling Stones for months but there were difficulties.

What is the best approach to writing about one of the greatest bands in rock music history? 

I thought about listing my 20 favorite Rolling Stones songs but that seemed a bit much, especially since I was going to have to write about each song.  Interest and attention could fade on the reader’s part and they may not scroll down to find out which close off the list. 

The list of 20 was going to be narrowed down to my 10 favorite Rolling Stones songs with 5 representing their 1960s output and the other half would comprise 1970s singles.  That also proved difficult because I had a hard time choosing which ballad out of Angie, Fool to Cry and Wild Horses was my favorite.  I knew about and imitated Jagger’s singing of Angie since I was a boy.  Fool to Cry entered my consciousness after the other too and if I were pushed I might choose it as my favorite of the three. 

For the last few days, there have been posts about rock groups and specific albums of theirs.  Originally, I was planning my answer to Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 Best Albums list by listing what I thought were 10 essential rock albums for hip hop heads to hear.  I could not choose which album of The Rolling Stones was the one I felt best represented the group.  I am not entirely familiar with their discography because as I have stated several times on this blog, I have been geared towards greatest hits packages more than individual albums.  The only Rolling Stones album I know inside out is Hot Rocks, their classic compilation of 1964-1969 singles.  For The Rolling Stones to be represented by a compilation would rob albums like Beggar’s Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers or Some Girls of their glory.

I decided to just write about the group and put aside any strategy or clever campaign I could concoct.

Some 15 years ago, I was in a Montreal metro station and a man approached me with records that he wanted to sell. I almost thought it was a joke or Just for Laughs gag but I took the fact he had Hot Rocks on his person very seriously.  That was the Rolling Stones album I mentioned earlier as knowing it inside out and the first of their albums I would own. 

Another near-crazy instance of my finding a Rolling Stones record was when I was walking on the street of my first apartment and in a box on the curb lay Let It Bleed among a Led Zeppelin 2 and Black Sabbath’s Master of Reality.  Had it not been for that discovery day, I probably still would not have heard Let It Bleed.  

I leaped at the chance to buy the CD years later along with Big Hits & Green Grass, Through The past Darkly and 40 Licks. 

I may not have been able to choose a Rolling Stones album as their best but I can state with all certainty that I choose Rolling Stones over The Beatles any day. Between the two groups, I bought Rolling Stones’ music first when I was able to buy my own music.  I have been a Rolling Stones fan since childhood as I stated a few paragraphs prior.  Memorabilia from the 1960s mesmerized me and that included classic footage of Rolling Stones performances, photographs and albums.  I very much believed time was on my side until I learned the truth in my early 20s. 

Growing up in the 80s, I saw them as one of the only groups of the 1960s still recording and performing.  Mick Jagger and Keith Richards had solo projects as well.  Today, The Rolling Stones are on par with U2, a band that emerged 20 years after, as headliners for major concert tours worldwide.  Part of me is amazed at how The Rolling Stones continue to pack arenas anytime they announce a tour nowadays.  Another part of me wonders when they will stop altogether. 

The saying a rolling stone gathers no moss truly applies to the band.  They show no signs of slowing down any time soon.  I can only hope to have the career longevity and energy of the band members when I reach retirement age. 

  

1) Midnight Rambler (Live)



2) Paint It Black



3) (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction



4) Get Off of My Cloud



5) Sympathy For The Devil



6) Gimme Shelter



7) Let's Spend The Night Together



8) Under My Thumb



9) Time Is On My Side



10) Street Fighting Man




1) Beast of Burden



2) Tumbling Dice



3) It's Only Rock & Roll


Video Rolling Stones - It's Only Rock Roll by spirano

4) Respectable



5) Bitch



6) Miss You


Watch Rolling Stones - Miss You in Music View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com 7) Brown Sugar Rolling Stones - Brown Sugar (Top Of The Pops... by fifou95rr 8) Wild Horses 9) Fool To Cry 10) Angie

Bobbie Gentry - Ode to Billy Joe

The photo above represents my third contact with Bobbie Gentry’s Ode to Billy Joe album for the year. Had I not already purchased it twice prior, I very well may have bought that one on that day. The second purchase was something of a mistake but proves that I very much wanted to own the album when I thought I didn’t.

I have always known Ode to Billy Joe was written and sung by Bobbie Gentry. For me to know that nugget of information regarding a country song says a lot.

I first found her Ode to Billy Joe album around the same time I discovered one of her tracks was on Light in the Attic’s Country Funk 1969-1975 compilation. While digging in the crates, I came across the Ode album and only at that moment had an interest towards country music beyond Johnny Cash or Buck Owens. 

but the Ode to Billy Joe album took my focus. Perhaps it was the naturalistic album cover of Gentry in a simple white t-shirt and shorts with a guitar that grabbed me. Her being a brunette didn’t hurt either. 

The inspiration to write about Bobbie Gentry had always been there for most of the summer. It was after seeing her appear on yet another compilation in 2012 that I decided to post this earlier rather than later. I played Mississippi Delta on CKUT’s The Goods when I was fill-in host.  I also played two Gentry cuts on The Suite Delight. 

The inspiration to write about Bobbie Gentry had always been there for most of the summer. It was after seeing her appear on yet another compilation in 2012 that I decided to post this earlier rather than later. I played Mississippi Delta on CKUT’s The Goods when I was fill-in host.  I also played two Gentry cuts on The Suite Delight. 

Check out the podcast below for more Gentry.

Playlist:
NRBQ - Rocket Number 9
Mongo Santamaria - Cloud Nine
Edwin Starr - Time
Junior Walker & The Allstars - Pucker Up Buttercup
Chairmen Of The Board - Pay To The Piper
The Freedom Sounds feat. Wayne Henderson - Respect
Boobie Knight & The Soulciety - Soul Ain't No New Thing
Eddie Kendricks - Date With The Rain
The Hitch-Hikers feat. The Mighty Pope - Mr. Fortune
Young-Holt Unlimited - Funky Is As Funky Does
Colosseum - Elegy
Joe Bataan - Chick A Boom
Johnnie Taylor - I Could Never Be President
The Spinners - My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me)
Hugh Masekela - Mago
Bob Dylan - Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)
Bobbie Gentry - Mississippi Delta
Wilson Pickett - Mercy, Mercy
Cannibal & The Headhunters - Land Of 1000 Dances
Eddie Floyd - Knock On Wood
Otis Redding - Don't Mess With Cupid
Mongo Santamaria - Spinning Wheel
Paul Anka - It Doesn't Matter Anymore
The Cougars - Right On
Titanic - Something On My Mind
Madeleine Chartrand - Ani-Kuni
Stevie Wonder - Don't Know Why I Love You
Nina Simone - To Love Somebody
The New Birth - Honeybee
Byron Lee & The Dragonaires - Sweet City Woman
Byron Lee & The Dragonaires - Groovy Situation
Dave & Ansil Collins - Double Barrel
Big Youth - Hit The Road Jack
Max Romeo - Seasons In The Sun

Sinead O’Connor

After getting over the fact Sinead O’Connor was a bald headed young lady singer, I had to get over the fact she ripped a photograph of Pope John Paul on Saturday Night Live. 

 

Nothing Compares 2 U is the song that brought O’Connor to prominence. The song was written by Prince.

I was fascinated that she and MC Lyte would record Put Your Hands On Me together.That was a tag team combination I didn’t see coming.DJ Frank BLVD’s blog has footage of MC Lyte and Milk Dee talking about their project with O’Connor.

Fast-forward to the 2000s and I am made to learn that Sinead O’Connor had been recording reggae music for the last few years.  While at Death Of Vinyl record store, I was slightly shocked to see her name connected to the vinyl blasting roots reggae from the store speakers. 

Let us fast-forward a bit further to where Sinead O’Connor could have been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.

Let us fast-forward even further to today where Sinead O’Connor is no longer among the living.  RIP.

K-Cut

I'm proud of Canadian artists that do well.

I probably have more respect for K-Cut than any other Canadian hip hop artist.

He produced classic hip hop within the era of classic hip hop.

He was part of a group that could probably have revolutionized hip hop to this day had they stayed together.

I long for those days of old school hip hop and K-Cut embodies that to me. That indeed says a lot about his status in hip hop.



K-Cut was busy producing for Maestro Fresh-Wes, Queen Latifah, Fu-Schnickens, MC Lyte and Ice-T among others between the years 1991 to 1994 post break-up of Main Source.

I was happy to have so many chances to hear his production but always missed the magic of Main Source music.

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In

They just don't make things like they used to.

We're in an age where ideas are being rehashed more and more as if we're none the wiser. However, if you're old and smart enough, you can know when someone is trying to pull the wool over your eyes or ears. I'll get back to wool pulling a bit later. For now, let's Laugh-In.

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I've heard of this show since I was a kid. It was cancelled before I was a kid. I never saw an episode but had a memory of the hosts and knew it launched Goldie Hawn & Lily Tomlin's careers. I also knew of the catchphrase Sock It To Me and that Richard Nixon saying it on the show may have won him the election. I hadn't thought of the show since a recent visit to Amazon.com reminded me about it.



The 1960s were an incredible, revolutionary time with a lot of barriers broken down. Laugh-In was all of those things in its time. The show had something of an irreverent humor that probably set the tone for shows like Saturday Night Live and MADTV that followed it.

Solid Gold

There were a lot of great variety shows on television when I was growing up. One of those great shows and inspirations for my own radio show is Solid Gold.

During its run in the 1980s, it was hosted by Dionne Warwick, the late Andy Gibb, Rex Smith, Rick Dees and my personal favorite Marilyn McCoo.


It was always a pleasure to watch the show with family and friends.  Again, it was another opportunity for me to learn about the newest artists and music of the time. 



Bob Dylan said The Times Are A Changin`and that applies to television shows as well.  Shows like American Idol and The Voice have replaced the traditional variety show format that I am accustomed to because they are more interactive.  Not like I would have complained but there was no calling or texting my vote as to who was going to be performing on the next Solid Gold. 

I miss the show and those days.  If I learn I can get Solid Gold on DVD, I will be able to relive them any time I want.