Let's face the facts about rock and roll in the year 2009. Everybody sounds like somebody. The best bands sound like somebody, somebody and somebody else but always like themselves. The very idea of describing a band as "so-and-so meets whomever" or as being "somebody-esque" is insulting to the musicians (who usually work their fingers off [...]
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Paying Frommage to Rock and Roll's Pioneers 50 years ago today — that's right — 50 freakin' years ago, these were among the tunes that sat atop the Cashbox Top 100. The Platters - Smoke Gets In Your Eyes - The definitive rhythm and blues of 1959 pop, finally #1 on the chart after 3 straight weeks [...]
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Camel were a band of Brits who came together in 1972 and recorded 10 albums over 10 years under the eye of guitarist Andrew Latimer. Though they never achieved huge commercial success, they developed a cult that followed the band throughout their career, which began to dissolve as tastes changed in the early 1980's. Since [...]
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When Boz Scaggs came crashing into the Billboard Top 10 in August 1976 with his ultra-funky Lowdown (the second of eight consecutive Top 40 hits), he was an unknown to many who listened to the radio. The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits lists him as a "pop/rock singer"; for most of us, he was [...]
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It's time to give some propers to the wonderful Friends of Fusion 45 who have so kindly offered their support with links (and other good vibes). I've been too long gone when it comes to visiting them (what with making a living getting in the way of my fun). Any Major Dude has a new address [...]
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Back in December, I jumped into a world about which I know (Bo) Diddley by writing a post about a movie, specifically Brando and Streetcar Named Desire. It was fun to branch out to another topic and get some comments in return, some of which decidedly took me to task for my opinions. Last night, we [...]
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Over at My MOG, a brief post on Long John Baldry led to a conversation amongst some music heads about all variances of blues rock in the 1970's. From Baldry to Butterfield to Michael Bloomfield, of whom I have a small bit of knowledge. Somewhere in my collection, I have a compilation that Columbia released with [...]
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Imagine this:In the living room, the Trojan boxset is playing on the stereo while, in the next room over, an 8-year old is picking out the Theme From Rocky by ear. With a distinctly rhythmic bass line.Jamaica Jam - Sticky Fingers
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David Sanborn got the attention and Tower of Power got the ink, but Tom Scott And The L.A. Express were, at one time, as hot and nasty as any of them. Scott was seemingly born to be a musician. His father, Nathan Scott, was a band leader who composed the famed theme from Dragnet, so it's [...]
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We're in a bit of a jazz groove these days. Last night, I watched Buddy Rich on the DVD player, his 1979 set at the Northsea Jazz Festival in Holland. Has there ever been (or will there ever be) a drummer with the speed and control that he had? He had remarkable dynamics and he never [...]
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Today marks the 70th anniversary of Blue Note Records. Though I don't talk about jazz much here at Fusion 45, I've been a longtime fan. My Dad was obsessive about Dixieland and Big Bands (and Benny Goodman in particular), my brother introduced me to Chuck Mangione in the 1970's and my high school friends were into [...]
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I love to meet spirited people. I love to hear good music. When both those things happen at the same time, I've scored the "jackpot prize," as my kids would say. Back in June, I wrote about my good friend from Ypsilanti, Michigan, Rebecca Anderson. She's one remarkably talented singer and songwriter. She's also a really [...]
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I’m not much for posting video but this is too sweet. It’s those living room jam sessions that gave birth to rock and roll.
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I was thinking about how envious I am of people who do great graphic work for their own websites, along with writing about music, too. People like my blood sibling IB over at sIBlingshot on the bleachers. (You'll notice I've changed the color of the site for this post to GREEN, as in the color [...]
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The list is a long one: The Seldom Scene, Mary Chapin-Carpenter, the Kennedys, Doc Watson, Sweet Honey In The Rock, Shawn Colvin, Robin and Linda Williams, Bela Fleck and on and on. These are just a few of the artists who have laid down tracks at Bias Recording.The Bias, as it was known in the [...]
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Amigo Studios was opened on Compston Avenue in North Hollywood in the mid 1960's by legendary producer Snuff Garrett. He used the facility while working as the staff producer and head of A&R at Liberty Records (during which time he hired Phil Spector as a producer.) Garrett was the man behind a number of Bobby Vee's [...]
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After a few weeks of reports on snow and Christmas and new dogs, it's time to get back to business. Look for a new set in my ongoing Classic Recording Studios series over the next few days along with a new series on drummers. I'll be taking the Great Session Drummers series and expanding it [...]
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The economy and the weather got together and conspired to make this a very low-key Christmas for my family in the spending department. We're broke so it was really easy to decide to not spend a lot of money on Christmas presents for the kids. The weather of the past week, a couple of feet [...]
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A couple of feet of snow and counting. The view from my office window: And the view from inside my iPod: Cowboy Jack Clement - Gone Girl Kevin Ayers - Driving Me Backwards Paul McCartney And Wings - Let 'Em In Todd Rundgren - Long Flowing Robe Mickey Newbury - Sweet Memories Otis Redding - Respect Hmmm…a theme here? Happy Christmas!
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Like George Costanza in the Hamptons, you're suffering from shrinkage. Once again, your magazine has gotten smaller. So small, in fact, that as I was walking down the aisle of my favorite bookstore, I almost missed it entirely. Not only has it been shrunk to the same size as People and US Weekly, it looks like [...]
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