My Music Collection #3: The Ventures Christmas Album by The Ventures

 

The Venture's Christmas Album hit the stores on November 1, 1965 in time for the Christmas shopping season. It's a collection of instrumental Christmas classics with snippets of guitar riffs blended in from their own hit songs or from other artists like the Beatles and Searchers. Throw in The Venture's distinct guitar sound makes this Christmas album special. There is a green pressing but I've got the standard black release with (presumably) the original Christmas $1.99 sale sticker on it. This was found last year at a used book sale at my local library. 

The Ventures (1965)

Don Wilson - Guitar

Bob Bogle - Bass Guitar

Nokie Edwards - Guitar

Mel Taylor - Drums

Billie Eilish - Getting Older (TIME ABC Performance 2021)

Metallica: Lux Æterna (Los Angeles, CA - December 16, 2022) (MetOnTour E...

My Music Collection #2: Bloodshot by The J. Geils Band

 

 

 Bloodshot was the third album by The J. Geils Band released on April 12.1973 by Atlantic Records. The band was first formed in 1967 in Worcester, Massachusetts.  This was the bands break-through album bolstered by the hit song "Give it to Me"(peaked at 30 on the singles chart) and rock radio staple "(Ain't Nothin' but a )House Party". Originally the album was pressed in red vinyl. It was produced by Bill Szymcyk(Eagles, Joe Walsh, James Gang, B.B. King, The Who, Bob Seger)

 

 

 

The J. Geils Band was:

Peter Wolf - Lead Vocal

J. Geils (1946-2017) - Guitar

Magic Dick - Harmonica

Seth Justman - Keyboards

Danny Klein - Bass

Stephen Jo Bladd - Drums

Rocks by Joe Perry

 

Rocks: My Life In and Out of Aerosmith by Joe Perry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An exciting look at one of the bad boys from Boston. I've listened to Aerosmith through the years but never dove that deeply into their history. As a native New Englander, the Aerosmith story is part of our rock and roll lore. Joe's memoir travels throughout the region even before the group hit worldwide star status. Even as I type this I'm just a few towns away from Joe's boyhood home of Hopedale.

Joe comes off as a dark brooding introvert whose main outlet is his electric guitar. He spends much of the early parts of the book pestering his parents for one. Then come the years since in small bands in Boston and the surrounding area. Eventually, the members of Aerosmith finally find each other and they ride the road to success. Along that road, they pick up drug habits, divorces, band breaking-up, falling off stages, addictions, therapists, success, non-stop touring, micromanaging manager, and all the while bitching about lead singer Steve Tyler. For as much as he whines about Steve, and he's no angel, they still stick together. They are the Boston version of Mick & Keith. Guess what Joe, if Steve hasn't changed by now he's not going to. No wonder they're all in therapy.

It's an entertaining book if you want to know more of Aerosmith's history there is no shortage of drama to go along with it.

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My Music Collection #1 : 99 Luftballons by Nena

 

99 Luftballons by Nena was a compilation  album of the groups first two albums following the international success of the single "99 Luftballons". It was released April 8, 1984 and enjoyed modest success. It also included an English version of the hit song "99 Red Balloons". 

I remember the song and the video being quite popular at the time. In the states, the English version was the one I heard the most but I think the original version sounds better and has more flow. Apparently, the translation wasn't a direct one so each version is a bit unique and the meaning behind it changes a little. Unfortunately, the group wasn't able to match the success and broke up a by the end of the 80's though the lead singer Nena(aka: Gabriele Kerner) still performs and makes music to this day. 

 

For More on Nena: New York Times 2016

Aerosmith Dream On Live Woodstock 94

John Winston Ono Lennon 10/9/1940-12/8/80

Nobody is Perfect

"One of the basic rules of the universe is that nothing is perfect." - Stephen Hawking

 

 We all make mistakes, even those in music. Andy Greene of Rolling Stone Magazine took a look at 50 of the worst decisions in music history. There are certainly more but these are the most egregious. Many are very interesting and I thought I'd pick some out and give some quick takes on them. Here we go:

44. Justin Timberlake exposes Janet Jacksons' breasts live at Superbowl halftime show in 2004. I wasn't watching the game but was online around the time and remember it going viral. Of course much of the initial reaction was ,to the effect of "Did I see what I just saw?" followed up by "Where can I find a clip of it?". It's still a mystery of how or why it happened. Andy Greene also points out another mystery Justin's career went like nothing happened and Janet's went down the tubes even though it was Justin the exposed her. Gee... not much sexist double standard going there. 

38. Roger Waters dares Pink Floyd to go on without him(1985). So they did, quite well selling out stadiums(I saw them in 1988) and putting out some decent albums despite Roger's absence. They've reconciled a little but not much. 

29. Guns N' Roses Begin Work on 'Chinese Democracy" (1994) They finished? Apparently, they did....in 2008. 

28. Van Halen hires Gary Cherone from Extreme.(1996) I still can't name one song from the album they made. I loved Gary in Extreme but I still can't picture him with Van Halen. 

17. The Bee Gees and Peter Frampton Make 'Sgt. Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band" film (1979) - As a kid i only remember the soundtrack album being in all the stores and then suddenly, it wasn't. I later saw the film as a video rental and saw why. Cheesy and soulless. A bright spot was Aerosmith covering "Come Together" which fit their image (sort of dark and evil) in the film more so than Frampton and the Gibb brothers. A film so bad it was noticeably absent from any mention (at least I missed it) recent Bee Gees Netflix documentary. 

14. The Beatles 'We're Bigger than Jesus" (1966). This was published in early 1966 by Maureen Cleave in England much of the reaction was like "Eh". Of course, when the American Bible belt heard this later when published in a teen magazine it went viral(at least the 1966 version of it). Protests and record-burning events were staged. The group was already weary of touring. Not only couldn't they be heard they were getting cool receptions not just in the American south but also in the Philippines and Japan and they couldn't play much if any of their newer music live anyway. The Jesus comment just added to the decision to stop touring.

12. Everyone in CCR who wasn't John Fogerty wanted to write and sing too (1972) Creedence had a phenomenal run of hits in the late 60's and the beginning of the 70's. In large part due to John Fogerty's songwriting and production. It seems the rest of the band were a bit jealous of his attention and felt they weren't getting any respect. Perhaps out of weariness John relented and let everyone else contribute in what would be their last album called Mardi Gras.It was so bad John Fogerty doesn't even want to count it as a Creedence album. After recently listening to it I tend to agree it was awful compared to their past albums. It reminds me of after the album Abbey Road The Beatles considered doing something similar with everyone had an allotment of songs per album and the idea was rejected. It seems they knew something the disgruntled CCR members didn't.

10. Billy Squier does cheesy video and disappears(1984) In the early 80's Billy had great success as a hard-rocking guitarist. Then came along MTV and suddenly everyone needed promo videos. For whatever reason when doing something for his song Rock Me Tonight they had him prancing around a bedroom in a pink shirt and grinding away on a bed that looked like it should have been in a Duran Duran video. I didn't think it was that bed but have to admit it didn't quite fit his image up until then which was a grittier look. In hindsight, I think he'd a been better with a more traditional band performance video. He faded afterward, unfortunately.

9. U2 Gives away an album on iTunes, whether you liked them or not. (2014) I remember when the "Songs of Innocence" album suddenly appeared on my iPhone at the time and I was pleasantly surprised and didn't mind much. I've been a fan of theirs for years but as U2 found out not everyone else is. 

4. Eric Clapton goes anti-vax (2020). Eric turns into a wanker. I have great admiration for Eric and his music. His turning coming out as an anti-vax whiner during a pandemic though was extremely disappointing. 

3. Decca says no thanks to The Beatles (1962) In Decca's defense they were still a bit rough around the edges then and who knows how they would have developed without the guidance of producer George Martin at Parlaphone. We'll never know. 

2. Jerry Lee Lewis marries his cousin(1958). Not just a cousin but a 13-year-old cousin. That should be enough said.

1. Rolling Stones hired Hell's Angel's as security at Altamont (1969) It has always baffled me why anyone thought a motorcycle gang would be a great idea for security. Sure the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane were involved but the Stones were the headliners and signed off on it. The event was poorly planned and was marred by a gun-wielding audience member who was murdered, latter deemed self-defense, by a Hell's Angel's security member just 20 feet from the stage during The Rolling Stone's set. Coincidentally George Harrison of The Beatles had let the Hell's Angel's hang around Apple Corp headquarters until they started being a nuisance there. What were these rock stars thinking in the late 60'

 

 

Happy Birthday Jimi Hendrix

 Jimi Hendrix (named Johnny Allen Hendrix at birth) was born on this day in 1942 in Seattle, Washington. 

Revolver Remix 2022

 Before the  highly anticipated re-release of the remix and reissue Revolver by The Beatles became known to e I wasn't sure I was going to get it right away. I love The Beatles but as far as their albums go I've usually put this in the middle of the pack. I had it on cassette when I was a teen in the early 80's(U.S. version). I've seen many of unboxing videos of the Super Deluxe version (multiple Cd or Vinyl) which are pretty. I ended up with the 2 CD version which is an ideal choice for those on a budget like me.

This version contains two CD's. One is the Stereo mix of the original album and the second is a collection outtakes, demos and remixes of the singles "Rain" and Paperback Writer"(released around the same time but weren't on the album). 

The remixes clear and crisp. My two favorite are "Rain' and "Paperback Writer". I love the early takes of "Yellow Submarine" before sounds effects and "Got to Get You Into My Life" before horns(George Harrison apparently uses some type of fuzz box sound) are added. These are just a few examples. 

Also included is a nice booklet with a nice introduction by Sir Paul McCartney  and a bit of description of the song selections. I'm not an audiophile with the latest gear but I do thing Giles Martin and Sam Okell did a great job with the stereo remix. For the Beatles fan on a modest budget this is an excellent choice. 

Original album cover concept by Klaus Voorman

Foreword by Sir Paul

The Beatles - I'm Only Sleeping

The Late George Martin on The Beatles.

 

I don’t normally share anything personal but this my dad from a while back explaining to my daughter he signed the Beatles. Ordinary people do extraordinary things. Great decisions are made for the simplest reasons. “I figured if I like them this much other people might too” ❤️ pic.twitter.com/j4bf96b4zS

— Giles Martin (@mashupmartin) January 19, 2022