Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Classic Rock Videos

THREE DOG NIGHT sings "EASY TO BE HARD"

Music News & Notes

Doghouse Records To Re-Release The Definitive Chamberlain


Doghouse Records is proud to announce the re-release of Chamberlain's definitive 1996album, "Fate's Got a Driver," in an expanded LP featuring rare and previously unreleased bonus songs, content, and artwork on April 21st. The LP is available for pre-order on limited edition (to 500 copies) white vinyl and includes five previously unreleased and rare tracks along with the original eight tracks. A download code will also be included with MP3s of the entire album plus additional MP3 B-Sides and bonus video content.

For those unfamiliar, Chamberlain were one of the most important and influential bands in the underground Midwest music scene. Originally the Indianapolis hardcore band, Split Lip (under whose name the record was intially released), the outfit later decided to change their name to Chamberlain as their sound grew more melodic and mature. Chamberlain has been cited by the likes of Taking Back Sunday, New Found Glory and Dashboard Confessional as a major influence. This is an absolute essential for any vinyl enthusiast or fan of 90s emo or melodic hardcore.

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Isis Prepares Latest Full Length For May 5th Release


LA stalwarts Isis are set to release their most cohesive and challenging work yet with Wavering Radiant, due out May 5th on Ipecac Recordings. Having been on the forefront of the progressive metal scene for over a decade now, the five-piece have managed to pump out landmark records like a well-oiled machine, each one more unique and daring then the last. Routinely changing the genre’s landscape, the group produced destructive, incendiary riffs on their debut, explored the sprawling, vast unknown via 2004’s Oceanic and discordant, rhythmic textures on "The Absence of Truth." Enter: "Wavering Radiant" on May 5th.

Isis will unleash both their most demanding and accessible album yet. A monster of epic proportions, its seven tracks clock in at a total of 54 minutes. The shortest number (also the album’s namesake) stays under two minutes, while its longest reaches 11 minutes. Less tracks then they are portions, they are better described as subsections to one massive piece. After just one listen, it’s clear that Radiant is the sum of years of experimentation, varying influences and the organic infusion of their multiple personalities (band members are featured in a slew of successful side-projects).

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Amid Record Store Closings- Some Good News For Cleveland!


While the City of Cleveland continues to pour resources into opportunity corridors, medical marts, and design districts with minimal returns, a small group of entrepreneurs are doing their part to transform Waterloo Road in the North Collinwood neighborhood into the vinyl district. Granted, record collectors won't spur our region's slagging economy like some of those other big ticket projects, but for the crate digging crowd, there will be no finer destination than Waterloo.

Already home to a unique collection of art galleries and boutiques, Waterloo is also the site of the area's premiere live music venue, The Beachland Ballroom and Tavern, (Who happen to have a choice selection of used vinyl in their basement vintage store, This Way Out) and one of the area's most personable and knowledgeable independent record stores in Music Saves. Now, Waterloo can boast of a third destination for music fans: Blue Arrow Records and Books.

Located just down the street from the Beachland Ballroom at 16001 Waterloo Road, Blue Arrow Records and Books, is the latest venture by Pete Guylas, one time co-owner of Renaissance Parlour in Coventry. While the floor of Blue Arrow Records, exquisitely lacquered with vintage album covers, will be a draw in of itself, it's the contents of this 1300 square foot space which will have vinyl freaks coming back for more -- quality used LPs, 45s, 78s from the '50s to present day, covering rock, soul, jazz, R&B, and country. And, should your shopping buddy be immune to the vinyl craze, Blue Arrow also stocks books, magazines, t-shirts, furniture, and other vintage wares.

If all this sounds too good to be true, and you're waiting for the catch, here it is -- Blue Arrow Records isn't open, yet. Their grand opening celebration is this Thursday, March 26th at 7 PM.

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New Dinosaur JR Music

Dinosaur Jr returned in 2007 with their fantastic comeback album 'Beyond' and now, the legendary collective have got another LP lined up for our audible pleasure.

Simply and rather strangely titled Farm, the new record is due for shelves June 23rd on their brand new label-home Jagjaguwar.

Frontman and chief songwriter of the band, Mascis has taken production duties for this one which increases our excitement ten fold. It's safe to expect some serious noise.

E1 Entertainment has announced plans to help with the re-launch of the legendary Death Row Records.

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Death Row Records Is Back, Re-Launch Set for April


The reemergence of Death Row will begin on April 18th, where it will release a new three-track exclusive sampler during Record Store Day. Songs will include “Hoodstar” from Crooked I, “Pay for the P***y” by Petey Pabo and “Do What You Do” by Danny Boy. According to reports, 90% of all music owned by Death Row has never been released.

E1 Entertainment, formerly known as Koch Records, has announced that it will be helping WIDEawake Entertainment Group with the re-launch of Death Row. The historic label was purchased by WIDEawake for $18million during a bankruptcy auction in January.

Death Row is one of the latest labels to be distributed by E1, which is known as the largest independent record label in the United States. Jim Jones, Fat Joe, Trick Trick Trick, Slim Thug and others are all artists who call E1 Home.

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The Breeders to release Fatal EP

After a six-year gap in the run-up to their fourth album, Mountain Battles, alt-rockers the Breeders are showing no signs of slowing down. Identical-twin sisters and Dayton, Ohio-natives Kim (Pixies bassist) and Kelley Deal have readied a four-track EP called Fate to Fatal, which is set for an April 21 release.

But, like most of the bands releasing limited-edition vinyl for the exclusive-release-happy Record Store Day, this EP will apparently be extremely scarce as well. In fact, the band is self-releasing the extended play and recruited an Ohio artist to do the artwork. Says Kim, "And it seems that now, more than at any other time in the past, we could put the music out ourselves—hand-screen some cool artwork ourselves, sell the EPs at our shows and on our website, as well as get them to traditional record stores and other online outlets. So, we're just going to press up a thousand twelve-inch vinyls."

The EP was recorded at three different places: a studio in England, Steve Albini's studio in Chicago and Kim's basement. The album apparently boasts a sonically diverse sound, and if that's not enough to convince you, Kim says the band "discovered the treble knob."

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SLAYER To Release 'Psychopathy Red' 7" Single As Part Of Third Annual 'Record Store Day'

"Psychopathy Red", the first new track from SLAYER since 2006's thrashterpiece "Christ Illusion", will be available as a seven-inch vinyl disc beginning Saturday, April 18, 2009 as part of the third annual Record Store Day. Only 5,000 of these limited edition discs will be manufactured worldwide, and will be available exclusively at participating independent record stores. Log on to www.recordstoreday.com for the list of participating stores.

The blood-red vinyl "Psychopathy Red" seven-inch collectors item will be packaged in a special Russian crime scene "evidence envelope" (see image below), as the song was inspired by the heinous Russian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo, a.k.a. the Rostov Ripper, who confessed to brutally murdering 56 children. The song was recorded by the band — guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, bassist/vocalist Tom Araya, and drummer Dave Lombardo — in a Los Angeles recording studio last October.

April 18 marks "Record Store Day," the annual day that celebrates the unique culture surrounding the more than 700 independently owned record stores across the U.S. and hundreds of similar stores internationally. The members of SLAYER chose to unleash "Psychopathy Red" on this day — and only through independent record stores — to acknowledge the support those outlets have offered to the band and to metal music over the years.

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Tortoise Get Set To Release New LP

Five long years has passed since Tortoises' last album 'Its All Around You' hit you in the face with its musical force and finally, news on a new LP has surfaced.

The bands latest studio length and sixth album to date has been titled Beacons Of Ancestorship and will hit you in the face with its musical force June 22nd of this very year on the Thrill Jockey label.

Descriptive words have been thrown furiously to-and-fro as to what the new record will sound like so we'll keep it simple and just say it's supposed to be "techno, punk, electro, lo-fi noise, cut-up beats, heavily processed synths, and mournful, elegiac dirges." We kind of like the sound of that...

The Thrill Jockey label are putting a compilation record out for Record Store Day on April 18th by the name of Records Toreism which includes the introductory track from Beacons Of Ancestorship titled High Class Slim Came Floatin' In.

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Green Day's 'Breakdown' Coming May 15

Green Day will release its eighth studio album, "21st Century Breakdown," on Friday, May 15, the group announced today. The long-awaited album, Green Day's first full length since 2004's "American Idiot," is produced by Butch Vig, known for his work with Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins and his own band Garbage.

Like its predecessor, "21st Century Breakdown" has a narrative structure, telling the story of a young couple, Christian and Gloria. The album is divided into three acts -- "Heroes and Cons," "Charlatans and Saints" and "Horseshoes and Handgrenades" -- and includes tracks like "21 Guns," "East Jesus Nowhere," "Before the Lobotomy," and "Restless Heart Syndrome."

The first single, "Know Your Enemy," will go on sale digitally in April.

Mr. Music

I am continuing our new feature: Ask "Mr. Music." Now in its 23rd year of syndication (1986-2008), Jerry Osborne's weekly Q&A feature will be a regular post every Wednesday from now on. Be sure to stop by Jerry's site (www.jerryosborne.com) for more Mr. Music archives, record price guides, anything Elvis, buy & sell collectibles, record appraisals and much more. I thank Jerry for allowing the reprints.

FOR THE WEEK OF MARCH 16, 2009

DEAR JERRY: In the late '60s (I think 1969) when the Ohio National Guard shot some student protesters at Kent State University, one of four killed is Allison Krause.

Since this name is not among the world's most common, I am wondering if Allison Krause, the Bluegrass singer-fiddler who rose to fame in the 1990s, was named after the deceased Kent State student.

If there is no connection then it seems like an extraordinary fluke.

—Bob Cox, Vincennes, Ind.

DEAR BOB: It is, as you suggest, a fluke.

Both of the names, Allison and Krause, are homophonic — pronounced the same but spelled differently.

Allison Krause is one of four students gunned down May 4, 1970, the others being Jeffrey Miller; Sandra Scheuer; and William Knox Schroeder.

In John Filo's haunting photo, in which a panic-stricken Mary Ann Vecchio kneels over a slain boy, the victim there is Jeffrey Miller.

Alison Krauss is the Bluegrass entertainer whose '90s hits include “Somewhere in Vicinity of the Heart”; “When You Say Nothing at All”; and “Buy Me a Rose” (with Kenny Rogers).


DEAR JERRY: Your recent column about the shortest hit songs, in particular all 35 seconds of “The Ladies' Bras,” prompted a search through my old 45s for a short one I remember.

By Kenny Price, the A-side is “Biloxi,” which was quite popular in the 1970s, but the B-side is “The Shortest Song in the World” (RCA 9869).

Running just 17 seconds, it is about half the length of “The Ladies' Bras.”

Might this truly be the shortest song in the world, at least at that time?
—Alana Bennigan, Jackson, Tenn.

DEAR ALANA: “Biloxi” made the Country Top 10 in the summer of 1970, which means a lot of people also have “The Shortest Song in the World.” So you are not the only one to inquire about this song, just the first.

Yes, 17 seconds is a mighty short song, but Kenny Price's brief tune is MUCH longer than the all-time quickie — without regard to sales or hit status.

That one came along in late '55 in conjunction with Les Paul and Mary Ford's “Amukiriki (The Lord Willing)” backed with “Magic Melody” (Capitol 3248).

Both sides charted though “Amukiriki” became the top side, eventually reaching the Top 40.

The ordinary release of “Magic Melody” runs 2:20, but as an attention getting gimmick, Capitol produced a special promotional single titled “Magic Melody Part 2” (PRO-234).

With just two guitar notes and a running time of only one second, this is truly the shortest recorded song in the world. At least until someone plays a one note tune, lasting only a half-second.


DEAR JERRY: A few years ago you told how “Songs from Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (1937) became the first soundtrack album.

It now seems logical to ask if the first Original Cast album came before or after the Disney release, and what is the show?
—Leroy Spurling, Milwaukee

DEAR LEROY: Logical indeed, though I doubt the answer will shock you. In 1943, Decca records released the first Original Cast album: “Selections from the Theatre Guild Musical Play Oklahoma! (Featuring Members of the Original New York Production)” (DA-359).

It contains 12 songs on six 78 rpms, by Alfred Drake; Joan Roberts; Howard Da Silva; Celeste Holm; and Lee Dixon.

IZ ZAT SO? We are so accustomed to Original Cast albums being recorded during a live performance that it's fascinating to realize the process didn't begin that way.

Not yet being set up to record live at the St. James Theatre in 1943, producer Jack Kapp arranged for the full cast and orchestra to record the show's music in Decca's New York studio.

Thus “Oklahoma!” has the distinction of being both an Original Cast and a Studio Cast recording.

This Date In Music History- March 25

Birthdays:

Aretha Franklin (1942)

Elton John (1947)

Nick Lowe (1949)

Bonnie Guitar is 85.

Anita Bryant ("Paper Roses") turns 69.

Cathy Dennis, singer, songwriter (1969)


They Are Missed:

Blind guitarist Jeff Healey was born in 1966. Healey died of cancer on March 2, 2008.

Born on this day in 1934, singer Johnny Burnette. He was killed in a boating accident on Clear Lake, California on August 1, 1964 (age 30).

Hoyt Axton, who wrote Steppenwolf's "The Pusher" and Three Dog Night's "Joy to the World," was born in Duncan, Oklahoma in 1938. Axton died of a heart attack on October 10, 1999 (age 61).

Country legend Buck Owens died in 2006 (age 76). His songs were covered by The Beatles and he hosted Hee-Haw for several years.

Bill Kenny, lead singer of The Ink Spots died in 1978.


History:

In 1956, Alan Freed’s 3-day Rock ‘n’ Roll Show in Hartford, Connecticut, concluded after several arrests. Hartford Institute of Living psychiatrist Dr. Francis Braceland claimed “Rock ‘n’ Roll is a communicable disease… driving teenagers to do outlandish things. It’s cannibalistic and tribalistic.” Cannibalistic??

Roy Orbison recorded "Only the Lonely” in 1960.

Ray Charles recorded his signature song "Georgia on My Mind" in 1960.

The Who played their first American show at New York's RKO Radio Theater in 1967.

Elvis Presley performed on the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in 1961. It was to be his last concert appearance for eight years.

In 1964, the Beatles made their first appearance on Britain's Top of the Pops, singing "Can't Buy Me Love."

The last episode of The Monkees television show aired in 1968. The idea of following the hi-jinks of a rock band's life was taken from the Beatles' A Hard Day's Night film.

Today in 1967, the song "Happy Together" by the Turtles topped the charts and stayed there for 3 weeks.

Van Halen release Van Halen II in 1979.

In 1966, at a photo session with Bob Whitaker’s studio in London, The Beatles posed in white coats using sides of meat with mutilated and butchered dolls for the cover of their next American album, ‘Yesterday and Today’. After a public outcry, the L.P. was pulled from stores and re-issued with a new cover.

Today in 1972, the song "A Horse with No Name" by America topped the charts and stayed there for 3 weeks.

In 1995, Pearl Jam front man Eddie Vedder was rescued after a riptide carried him 250 feet offshore in New Zealand.

John and Yoko started their week long 'bed-in' in the presidential suite at The Amsterdam Hilton Hotel in 1969. The couple invited the world's press into their hotel room every day, to talk about promoting world peace.

Motley Crue's Tommy Lee was arrested in 1990 for mooning at the audience during a gig in Augusta. Lee was charged with indecent exposure.

In 1983, Motown Records celebrated its 25 anniversary with a concert in Pasadena, featuring; The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Martha Reeves, Jr. Walker, The Commodores, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and The Jackson 5.

In 2008, the B-52s issued “Funplex,” their first album of original material in 16 years. 2008