Elizabeth, that's a classic shot of Hank! His little sleep-smile, and the way he's got one paw tucked under the other. Too cute! He's turning into a great subject for you, and I bet he's a cool guy to hang out with also. Our three kitties would like him. He could join the Lunch Club at Pearl's house, though he'd certainly be The Kid of the group.
I hope all is well with you and that you're hangin' in there as we get closer to the finish line of both the Trump Era and The Worst Year In Recent Memory. We're still doing the Hundred Degree Thing here in The Valley; today was 102 and soupy, down from 106 yesterday. Even I - the Heat King - am growing a little weary of it, though I suppose it beats the alternative.......The Dreaded L.A. Cold. That will be upon us soon enough (omg!), so for now, let it roast. :)
I haven't much to write about, so let's stick with lists for now. The world is so crazy, we need something boring. Lists fill the bill in that regard, but they're also kinda fun, in a disposable way. Besides, I'm trying to keep the blog going, so Lists It Is, at least for now.
Tonight. let's do The Greatest Live Albums of All Time. I came up with the idea this afternoon, while listening to "Playing The Fool" by Gentle Giant. It's the band's very own official live album, 77 minutes in length on CD, which means that when it was released in 1977 it must have been a double album. (and I wonder if 77 was a symbolic factor?) At any rate, it's freakin' phenomenal. It's funny to consider GG a high energy live band, but they certainly were, as their concert videos attest, and "Playing The Fool" takes the already stellar musicianship from their studio albums to another level, like out into the stratosphere. I'm at the point with Gentle Giant where I'm almost ready to declare them the greatest band of rock instrumentalists there ever was. Of course, it's hard to flat out say that, because Yes and King Crimson and especially ELP get in the way, but holy smokes......just listen to the ensemble playing of these guys on this record. Who could ever conceive of such music, let alone play it live?
Ray Schulman and Kerry Minnear are musical geniuses. They are the bass player and keyboard player respectively, but each guy plays other instruments and plays them at a top level. Ray Schulman, besides being - in my recently formed opinion - one of the very, very greatest bassists in the history of rock (just listen to him and see), also plays violin and guitar, both expertly. Kerry Minnear, besides being a totally original keyboardist, also shreds on xylophone and plays the freakin' cello. Between the two of them, they write almost all of GG's music, but then they are lucky to have Gary Green on guitar, a guy who could give Robert Fripp a run for his money. Listen and see. It's a crime he is not as equally renowned.
But the thing is, it's good music. Really good. And it rocks. And it's not just complicated for the sake of being complicated. It's extremely musical, and catchy, and that's what you notice while you're tapping your feet.
I didn't mean to turn this into a Gentle Giant tirade, but every time I listen to them now, I think : "man, how did they escape me all these years"?
Well anyhow, with no further ado, let's do some All Time Great Live Albums. For me, there is a Holy Trinity, one or more of which many fans would agree with. They are :
"Made In Japan" by Deep Purple
"Strangers In The Night" by UFO
"Live Dates" by Wishbone Ash
To me, those are the three greatest live albums of all time. The only question is : which is Number One? If I was forced to choose, I'd pick "Made In Japan", simply because it captures the raw, loud and incredibly powerful sound of Deep Purple in all their improvisational glory, with no added overdubs in the studio or anything to patch it up. Almost no live albums that came afterward were unadulterated. If you wanna hear what a DP concert experience was like, this is it, including Ritchie Blackmore's patented Strat sound, played through boosted Marshall amps, without a doubt the most electrifying live guitar sound ever produced. Now mind you, this was DP in the Ian Gillan years (which most fans think was the ultimate incarnation of the band), but I saw them at California Jam on the "Burn" tour, with the Coverdale/Hughes lineup, and that version, at that concert, smoked even the "Made In Japan" recording. Watch the Deep Purple California Jam performance in full, if you ever have the time. It took place only 3 1/2 years after Jimi Hendrix died. Ritchie was the true successor to Hendrix as a live performer and innovator, and really, because of his advanced guitar technique, he was poised to pave the way into the future of hard rock.
After that it's a toss up between "Live Dates" and "Strangers", two entirely different sounding records. Wishbone Ash were a unique band, who combined one of the first uses of twin lead guitars with almost folk music lead vocals, backed by a driving rhythm section that provided steady backup for the extended harmonic excursions of Andy Powell and Ted Turner. How to classify Wishbone Ash? Blues rock? Check. English Folk? Check. The founders of shredding Twin Leads (before Judas Priest or Iron Maiden)? Check.
They never sounded like anyone else, and that is true of almost any band you care to name from that time.
The same is true of UFO, and in the case of "Strangers In The Night", the hard rock energy jumps out of the speakers at you and never lets up from start to finish. Straightforward hard rock was an interesting genre - there weren't many bands pursuing it, and most that did sounded generic. Not so UFO, who had songcraft to spare, and who also had the genius of Michael Schenker and his precisely written guitar riffs. They had in addition an underrated vocalist and lyricist, Phil Mogg, without whom all their great songs would never have had the same effect. I had the pleasure to see them live several times, including on the "Lights Out" tour during which this album was recorded. I've just finished reading Pete Way's autobiography (which I highly recommend), and he describes this period in the band's history in great detail. For me, Michael Schenker was the guitarist who bridged the gap between Ritchie Blackmore and Edward Van Halen, which is not to say he was a marker or a stop gap. He was incredible, but he kind of got lost in the shuffle, because then EVH came along and redefined the game. But if you watch the UFO concert videos available from 1978, Michael Schenker is absolutely shredding beyond any reasonable doubt, and his musicality was up in the handful of great lead players. Being musical is all important, and he was that in spades. And the band, and their songs, were killer. Even more than that, they are songs you can hum and remember to this day, note for note. And the energy, the songs, and the musicality on "Strangers In The Night" is unmatched for a hard rock live album. For many fans, it's #1.
We'll do some more live albums soon. Another one that I'd mention for now would be "Unleashed In The East" by Judas Priest. That album will flatten you. Just listen to the opening track, "Exciter", for proof. If you recall the old Maxell ad, with the guy's hair being blown back as he listens on headphones, that's "Unleashed". The only thing that must be mentioned is that - supposedly - there were quite a few overdubs made in the studio afterwards. But even if true, it's a small deduction, because this is an accurate representation of Priest at the time : an unstoppable musical force that left the audience in awe.
That's all for tonight. See you in the morning. I love you. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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