Classic Rock  Forever

Top 10 Greatest Acoustic Songs by Electric Classic Rock Bands & Artists

by Jim Esposito

Rock ’n Roll is dominated by loud electric guitars. And we love ’em. Still, we appreciate when our favorite artists record softer, acoustic songs. Over the decades many of these have risen to the most Classic of Classic Rock.

As for paraments, this Top 10 looks at acoustic songs from electric artists. The likes of...

A Momentous Encounter Leads to The Formation of Monumental Hard Rock Band

History of Deep Purple: Ritchie Blackmore Meets Jon Lord

by Jim Esposito

“I don’t call that progressive. I just call it heavily rehearsed.”
– Ritchie Blackmore

Circa 1967 an undiscovered British guitarist named Ritchie Blackmore was living in Hamburg, Germany, when a drummer who liked his playing phoned him. He was getting a band together.

“I’ve got a guy on organ here, and various other people. I want you to be the guitar player.”

Ritchie knew this drummer was a bit mad, but he hopped a flight to England, headed for the guy’s flat in Kensington, which at the time was the real hippie-type section of London.

The drummer never locked his door. Open day and night, anyone who wanted to come in would come in. Consequently it had become a crash pad for the dregs of the world. People were high on everything, including canary seeds. Others were shooting up.

Arriving, Ritchie knocked on the door. No answer. So Ritchie tried to open it. The door fell off its hinges, crashes to the floor. BLAM!

Looking through the doorway, to Ritchie’s surprise the flat didn’t...

Louie Louie by The Kingsmen Tops The FCC's 10 Most Wanted

by Jim Esposito

The first real sex record happened in 1964 when The Kingsmen recorded “Louie Louie” on Wand Records. There is still controversy surrounding this song.

Florence Greenberg, president of Scepter Records, which owned Wand, bought the master of “Louie Louie” from a bunch of kids from Seattle. “Louie Louie” is an old Cajun folksong about the shrimp boats. A sailor goes out to sea and thinks about his girl, who is waiting for him in Jamaica. Of course, you’d never know this unless you saw the lyric sheet because the vocals in the song were so mumbled, garbled and slurred you really couldn’t tell for sure just how the words went.

As the legend goes the secret of “Louie Louie” was discovered accidentally by some college kids in Michigan who put the record on a turntable. When played slow, “Louie Louie” seemed to contain direct sexual references and dirty four letter words.

In 24 hours, almost every kid in the country seemed to know. Kids were locking themselves in their bedrooms, playing the 45 at 33 rpm’s. It was all anybody seemed to talk about in school. And kids who knew what the words meant were suddenly just a little cooler. You couldn’t go to a dance where it wasn’t played four or five times. And all the bands always knew the dirty version, which they’d sing, loudly, while all the kids snickered because your parents never paid any attention to that “noise” anyway.

Meanwhile, in Washington D.C., the Federal Communications Commission started getting complaints about “Louie Louie” with copies of what were supposedly the lyrics. The FCC had not drawn up any policies or guidelines that would apply to the case at the time, but they took one look at these alleged lyrics and decided they had to hear it for themselves. So the FCC ran out and bought a copy of “Louie Louie.”

William B. Ray, Chief of Complaints and Compliance Division in the Broadcast Bureau of the FCC called “Louia Louie” The Commission’s “most famous case.”

Top 10 Perfect Classic Rock Record Albums

by Jim Esposito

My (G- G- G-) Generation was fortunate to grow up through the Era of The Record Album. Rock was everything to us. We busted out of school, got away from those fools, learned more from a three minute record than we ever learned in school. So says The Boss, and it was true. It was our Shangri-La where we sought refuge, our Forum where we debated philosophy, extolled politics, learned about love. And it was our church, where we rejoiced in blessings the (Rock) Gods bestowed upon us.

Our lives are landmarked by a succession of immortal musical documents, three-dimensional poetry. We remember where we were, what we were doing, who we were doing it with when we heard...

  Rock Anthropology  

 

The Immediate Sessions

 

Guitar Boogie &
White Boy Blues

Blues Jams

 

Eric Clapton, Lead Guitar
Produced by Jimmy Page
(Playing Rhythm)

 

Mick Jagger on Harp
Bill Wyman (Bass)
Charlie Watts (Drums)
Ian Stewart (Piano)

 

Special Appearances
Jeff Beck, John Mayall,
Nicky Hopkins

Some real Rock Anthropology here. In 1965 John Mayall and his band, The Blues Breakers, featuring guitarist Eric Clapton, who’d left the commercially successful Yardbirds because he wanted to play The Blues, got a deal with Immediate Records, which was owned by The Rolling Stones’ manager Andrew Oldham, to record a single: “I’m Your Witchdoctor” and “Telephone Blues.” They went into a studio session overseen by Immediate’s new in-house producer, Jimmy Page.

One Session, according to Jimmy’s website, was August 17th, another on the 22nd of September. This was the year preceding Mayall’s (and Clapton’s) seminal “Beano” album, which was recorded in May of 1966.

What makes this a historical confluence of karmic proportions: besides the session itself, Clapton and Page got together after hours in the home studio of Jimmy's house to have some fun, jam, recording loose 12 bar blues. An academic gold mine, you hear two monuments of rock guitar working on licks, getting their chops down.

We first got onto these recordings in the Seventies when we found an LP called White Boy Blues, though the most notable collection of this material was entitled Guitar Boogie.

Jimmy spoke about what happened to Pete Frame for his 1974 book: The Road to Rock: A ZigZag Book of Interviews:

“That (Blues Anthology Immediate LP) was a real tragedy for me. I got involved with Immediate, producing various things, including..."

An Absolutely Priceless Video

Jimmy Page Reunites with His Iconic "Dragon Telecaster"

Shot in 2019 to promote the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s “Play It Loud” Exhibit, Jimmy Page talks about his iconic guitars, amps and gear, among them his double-neck Gibson SG, the ’59 Les Paul Standard he got from Joe Walsh, and his use of the bow and theremin. The highlight, however, is the way Jimmy brightens when he picks up his “Dragon” Telecaster.

“I love this guitar,” says Page, beaming.

It is possibly the most personally revealing moment Jimmy Page has ever exhibited.

Perhaps the most legendary guitar in Classic Rock, used to record the first Led Zeppelin album, the Dragon Telecaster has a storied history...

Top 10 Greatest Guitar Riffs in Classic Rock History

by Jim Esposito

Saw an article on the Internet which claimed to cite the Top 10 Greatest Riffs in Classic Rock History. It was way, way off. Figured we’d publish the official list, compiled by someone who actually knows what they’re talking about.

It is important to note when we say “The Greatest” we mean The Best – not the most popular, riffs in the biggest songs. Riffs from Number Seven to Number One are pretty much nailed into place. You might argue some of these should be moved up or down a spot or two, but frankly we don’t see how you can possibly say any other riffs should be ranked higher.

Incidentally, for those doing those other lists –

Greatest Guitar Solos in Recorded Rock History

by Jim Esposito

A great guitar solo is a thing of beauty, a composition. Many guitarists jump into a break with loud, flashy scales played at a warp speed. Those guys are just filling space, showing off to get girls, not constructing a lyrically cohesive piece of music. Some players, however, have a way of composing while they improvise.

Whatever I list some people will agree, some will disagree. Others may be irate I left their hero, or the song that changed their life off my list. (“I was all messed up. Then I heard so-and-so playing such-and-such…”) There will be great guitar players who don’t appear on my list. This is not to denigrate their virtuosity. Some guitarists boast an incredible body of work, however you can’t point to one solo in one song that simply crystallizes their brilliance. Other guys are technical virtuosos, but don’t have the mentality to construct a fluid solo.

I realize songs and artists I list go back to the Golden Days of Classic Rock. Some may cite newer music. From the 80s or 90s perhaps. Artists and songs I list here are the originals. Eddie Van Halen did great work, but without Jimmy Page preceding he might’ve been flipping burgers. Popa Chubby, Jimmy Thackery and Joe Bonamassa have likewise play excellent guitar, but stood on the shoulders of Eric Clapton and Ritchie Blackmore.

Also, I differentiate here between a Solo and an Instrumental. A Solo is a dedicated interlude in a song. “Pipeline,” “Hideaway” or “Samba Pa Ti” are...

Classic Rock Record Review

 

Dave Mason
It's Like You Never Left

 

Released 1973
Columbia Records

 

by Jim Esposito

I hear guys like John Mayer and Ed Sheeran, to me they sound like Fourth Generation Dave Mason. A forgotten artist, English guitarist, singer-songwriter Dave Mason was a founding member of Traffic, played lead guitar on their early records. He wrote “Feelin’ Alright?” on their second album, the eponymous Traffic, came out in 1968. Released as a single it didn’t fare well, but Joe Cocker covered the song for his debut With a Little Help from My Friends, and his version hit the charts. “Feelin’ Alright?” was subsequently recorded by a number of artists, among them: Three Dog Night, Gladys Knight, the Jackson 5, Diana Ross, Isaac Hayes, Grand Funk Railroad, Little Milton and Craig Chaquico.

Mason was in and out of Traffic through the late Sixties into the early 70s. There’s a famous quote by Sam Goldwyn: “I was always an independent, even when...

Classic Rock Memoir

 

Bachman-Turner Overdrive
The Band That Laffs Last

 

Published October 24, 1974
Zoo World

 

by Jim Esposito

 

Currently Posted on

Rock's Backpages

 

(Click on Photo to Left
to Read Entire Article)

In September, 1974 I flew into San Antonio to meet up with Bachman-Turner Overdrive. I’d met the band before. Earlier that year they’d played at the University of Miami. I’d written a stock formula piece wrapped around an interview with Randy Bachman, with quotes from C.F. Turner and Robbie Bachman.

They were great guys. Canadians. Down to Earth. Randy and Fred were in their 30s, a bit older than most other bands of that era. In addition, BTO were Mormons: did not smoke, drink, do drugs or consort with loose women. A very business-like approach, they attacked the U.S. Music Market through a series of guerilla raids. Booking a string of dates through a region, Bachman-Turner flew in to play the first night. Next morning they’d hop in a rental car, drive to the next. They did 4-5 shows in a row, then flew home to Vancouver, spent a week with wives and families. The week after they’d fly out again, hit a string of dates through the Midwest, California, or the Northeast.

This swing through Texas was a perfect example. They’d played Dallas and Odessa. I met up with them in San Antonio. They had a show in Austin the next night, Houston the night after. The opening act on these gigs was REO Speedwagon.

It was like being on tour with the Marines. I was usually throwing stuff into my suitcase when the hotel room phone rang. Their Manager, Bruce Allen, asking where I was. The car was leaving in five minutes.

Booked at the same hotel I met up with the band and Manager Bruce Allen when they were leaving for the gig. Six of us piled into a car, headed for the San Antonio Municipal Auditorium.

As it happened I’d just read an article in Creem Magazine about Bachman-Turner touring Texas opening for REO Speedwagon. In those days you wrote a story, mailed it to the magazine. It hit the stands 3-4 months later. Riding from the hotel to the show I mentioned how interesting that was...

Like – DUH! Blues

Top 10 Best Blues Albums in Recorded History

by Jim Esposito

There are hundreds of excellent blues albums out there. They feature one or two great songs, two or three good tracks, a couple others you can listen to, one or two you don’t especially wanna sit through – but you do because you really like those two great songs.

In this article we’re not talking about the most significant, the most influential. We’re talking about the best. The most listenable. Robert Johnson was perhaps the single most influential person on Rock and Blues music in the last century. That doesn’t mean I play his records. It’s like archeology.

The Blues are elemental. Growing out of cotton fields down South, the genus was confined at first to the (quote, unquote) “Negro population.” Founding Blues pioneers like Charley Patton, Son House and Robert Johnson playing “The Devil’s Music” in weekend Juke Joints around plantations in the Mississippi Delta inspired the likes of Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Elmore James, who eked out a meager living in relative obscurity while white kids did the Mashed Potato at Sock Hops in High School Gyms to Ricky Nelson and The Four Freshmen.

A different story in England where a whole generation of budding guitar virtuosos freaked over American Blues. A big component of the fabled British Invasion was...

Classic Rock Record Review

 

Cat Mother
Cat Mother

 

Released 1972
Polydor Records

 

by Jim Esposito

Music, recording albums, is a mercurial and capricious enterprise. Sometimes the stars align. No other explanation for Cat Mother. It’s great. And that comes totally out of left field. These are guys you probably never heard of, who hadn’t done much before, never did anything afterward.

The band released two LPs prior to this, and they were (I’m being nice here) mediocre. Cat Mother & The All Night Newsboys first appeared in 1969 with a Top 40 hit called “Good Old Rock ‘n’ Roll” that peaked at #21 on the U.S. Charts. A medley of 50s and 60s rock ’n roll tunes by Chucky Berry, Little Richard, the Big Bopper and Jerry Lee Lewis, it came off their first album The Street Giveth and the Street Taketh Away, produced by (no lie) Jimi Hendrix...