The Posies recent tribute to Big Star

by Jack Brummet

The Posies were recruited by Alex Chilton when he reformed his band Big Star.  They toured and recorded with Big Star until Alex Chilton's death a few years ago.

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The real Rock and Roll High School

By Jack Brummet

This is kind of a mindf***er. Staples high school in Westport, Connecticut, in the early days of US touring rock, had concerts over two years by:

• Sky and The Family Stone
• Cream
• The Doors
• The Animals
• The Yardbirds
• The Rascals

A documentary is on the way:

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Thank you Chuck Berry

By Jack Brummet, American Music History Ed.

Thanks for the music, and rock and roll in general, Chuck.

I wonder what people at the other end of the line will think if they are able to play that record on the Voyager?

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Vikingo Video in Todos Santos

By Jack Brummet, North American Travel Ed.

At Vikingo Video,  three guys play rock non-stop.  They have, at most, a couple hundred DVDs in the tiny store.  I don't know how you'd rent a video, since they never stop playing and to browse you need to step over amps, cables, and cymbal stands. Maybe you wait for a set break.

What they might lack in chops, they more than make up for with enthusiasm and quantity.  I love these guys.

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A study in contrast: Miles Davis photos with Kenny G and Carlos Santana

By Jack Brummet, Jazz Ed.

Miles Davis with a) Carlos Santana and b) Kenny G. I'd had the Miles/Kenny G photo for a long time, but just bumped into the Santana photo and it reminded me of the other one...

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Joan Baez with Jimi Hendrix

By Jack Brummet, Rock Ed.


Joan Baez with Jimi Hendrix. I originally saw the bong version, which is probably someone's Photoshop. A version that Corbis licenses is smokeless, and seems to be the original. But who really knows these days?

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Happy 73rd birthday to John Lennon (Woulda, coulda, shoulda)

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Rock music + frozen vegetables=marketing synergy

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It's A Family Affair by Sly & The Family Stone (and happy 70th birthday to Sly)

By Jack Brummet, Music Ed.

Happy 70th birthday to Sly Stone a/k/a Sylvester Stewart later this week... [listen in, but ignore the strange marina footage...what did that have to do with anything?].  We forget now, but Sly changed music with one of the first interracial rock/funk/soul bands with women and men, white and black. And he turned music on its ear, adding funk and rock, guitars, and women into the mix. He did this in 1968, and we still haven't caught up. Motown and Volt/Stax never really recovered.

BT Dubs...this is one of my favorite songs to sing at karaoke.  The best version was at a family function with Keelin and my sisters in law on the chorus and me on those rough-edged vocals.

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Lefty Wilbury a/k/a Roy Orbison & The Traveling Wilbury's perform "Not Alone Anymore"

By Jack Brummet, Rock Editor

Roy had one of the great voices in music. In the last couple years of his life, had an amazing resurgence/comeback, in part by hooking up with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty, and the great performer and producer Jeff Lynne (whom Roy called his best producer ever). This song, recorded in his last year on earth (age 52), is one of his best ever. He transcended devastating tragedies in his personal life and soldiered on to make some of his best music ever. I still miss this guy.




While we're here, here is a video of Handle Me With Care, which is a great song in itself, but all the more memorable to see all these legends making serious music together.

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Shots from the Seattle Furthur show at the WaMu Theater

Shots from the Furthur show at WaMu Theater (a decidedly strange venue) and pre-func tailgater in the shadow of the Pinoeer Square sports stadiums.  It was a good show, with the band playing for 3+ hours. . .

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New(ish?) Mark Knopfler song - Seattle

I've heard this is only available on a two CD import set from Europe.   /jack

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nothing can hurt me: the Big Star story (trailer)

A trailer from a forthcoming documentary on the legendary band Big Star. The trailer itself has some great footage of the survivors talking about Big Star and Alex Chilton. . . /jack

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Ten covers of Waterloo Sunset - one of The Kinks' greatest songs, #42 in Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time with videos/covers by Peter Gabriel, Ray Davies, Elliott Smith, Def Leppard, Jackson Brown, and lyrics

By Jack Brummet
Pop Music Editor

Waterloo Bridge on the Thames River in London - click to enlarge

A London FM radio poll in 2004 named Waterloo Sunset the "Greatest Song About London", and Time Out named it the "Anthem of London." 

Waterloo Sunset is  #42 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.  Paul Weller and Damon Albarn, and many other musicians, cite the song as their favourite of all-time. Even the sometimes cranky Pitchfork Media named it the 29th best song of the 1960s.  It's probably in my top fifty.

The notoriously cranky, but often brilliant,  journalist Robert Christgau called the song "the most beautiful song in the English language."   Pete Townshend of The Who has called it "divine" and "a masterpiece".  Allmusic senior editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine said it is "possibly the most beautiful song of the rock and roll era."

Ray Davies performs the song at Glastonbury in 2010.  This is a wonderful cover of his own song with a choir. 



The Kinks perform Waterloo Sunset at the time of its release:



Billy Bragg's cover, performed right next to Waterloo Bridge in London:



Peter Gabriel's gorgeous and heartbreaking version with strings:



The late, great Elliott Smith, who performed the song frequently at shows:



Def Leppard!:



David Bowie:



A guy named Steve on YouTube:



Another [piano-centric] cover by Ray Davies in NYC by Ray Davies with a choral octet:



Ray Davies and Jackson Brown:



Waterloo Sunset
By Ray Davies

Dirty old river, must you keep rolling
Flowing into the night
People so busy, makes me feel dizzy
Taxi light shines so bright
But I don't need no friends
As long as I gaze on Waterloo sunset
I am in paradise

Every day I look at the world from my window
But chilly, chilly is evening time
Waterloo sunset's fine

Terry meets Julie, Waterloo Station
Every Friday night
But I am so lazy, don't want to wander
I stay at home at night
But I don't feel afraid
As long as I gaze on Waterloo sunset
I am in paradise

Every day I look at the world from my window
But chilly, chilly is evening time
Waterloo sunset's fine

Millions of people swarming like flies 'round Waterloo underground
But Terry and Julie cross over the river
Where they feel safe and sound
And they don't need no friends
As long as they gaze on Waterloo sunset
They are in paradise

Waterloo sunset's fine

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Buddy Holly on the Arthur Murray Dance Party 12/29/57

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Frank Zappa sets the record straight on the ca-ca rumors

By Mona Goldwater, Rock & Roll Correspondent

Frank Zappa once wrote, in response to persistent rumors that he defecated on stage (or ate s*** in a gross out contest):

"For the record, folks; I never took a s*** on stage and the closest I ever came to eating s*** anywhere was at a Holiday Inn buffet in Fayetteville, North Carolina, in 1973."

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John Roderick performs "Not Moving To Portland"

John Roderick of The Long Winters performs Not Moving To Portland at The Triple Door in Seattle last summer.  In between songs, he is probably the funniest performer I have ever seen. 

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The best wah-wah music, ever: Frank Zappa, Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix

By Jack Brummet
Rock & Roll Editor

There were three masters of the wah-wah pedal (I am missing the wah-wah tonight): Seattle's own Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton (I loved the Cream reunion, but missed both Clapton's Les Paul and the wah-wah), and Frank Zappa. Voodoo Child may be the best wah-wah tune, ever.

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The Furthur Show at Marymoor Park 9/18/2010 is now available for download

...and the soundboard MP3s are just fantastic.  The show sounds even better on this recording that it did live.  It was the greatest latter day incarnation of the Grateful Dead yet (sorry Mickey and Billy)...

Furthur 9/18/10 Concerts at Marymoor, Redmond, WA Click below to preview tracks from this show DOWNLOAD THIS SHOW

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Dean, ready to rock