Frank Gutch Jr: Classic Rock— Not As Classic As You Might Think; Plus, In Keeping With the Theme, Notes of a Classic Nature

 

I would love to gather all of the music directors of so-called Classic Rock radio stations in the Roman Coliseum and turn the lions loose.  I was around long before the term Classic Rock was even phrased and as big a fan of rock radio as there was and I learned to hate everything radio tried to do after big money came in with all of their ideas to make radio “better.”  I suffered through a number of formats from the time of “Boss” radio to the present, the only one being worth a shit (to my mind) being Underground.  Ah, the days of underground.  I remember returning from the Army to Eugene and radio station KZEL and being floored with evening sets by The Wasted Potato (I think his name was Gary Parmentier) like War/Four Cornered Room, The Temptations/Masterpiece, and Funkadelic/Maggot Brain, back-to-back-to-back.

Roxanne Tellier – Ain’t Gonna Play Sun City

Bruce Springsteen’s refusal to play North Carolina because of new, drastic LGBT laws might have shocked some people, but it didn’t surprise me at all.

Doug Thompson: ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE MISSES THE MARK…..AGAIN!

Rolling Stone Magazine recently released their latest ‘list’, “The 100 Greatest Songwriters” rollingstone.com).  Let me repeat that title, “The 100 Greatest Songwriters”.  Their descriptive line states “From Brill Building tunesmiths to Punk poets, from Woody Guthrie to Max Martin, the visionaries who defined music history.”

Frank Gutch Jr: Behind the Sweet Relief III Album with Sheldon Gomberg; Janie Jones (It’s a Movie), Eef Barzelay, and Gemma Hayes; It’s A Beautiful Day, Today

I have written about Sheldon Gomberg and his support of Sweet Relief before.  For those who don’t know, Sweet Relief is a charity organization dedicated to helping musicians in need.  It was founded by musician Victoria Williams to help her meet the financial challenges of a serious illness and gained a life of its own shortly thereafter, the funds going to a wider expanse and eventually going to all musicians, if they qualify.  Yes, it is a business (though nonprofit) and has to have guidelines to exist and survive.

Frank Gutch Jr: SWEET RELIEF MUSICIANS FUND— Giving Back While Paying Forward, Some Thumbnail Reviews, Plus Notes That, If Repeated, Can Make You Sound Intelligent, Even If You’re Not…..

This is important.  Please read carefully.

It’s coming!  It’s almost here and you probably don’t even know it.  Like that stealthy Sequestering thing the good ol’ boys slipped into the budget bill without anyone noticing, Sweet Relief is readying their third compilation album— on the sly, as it were.  Don’t know anything about it?  I’m not surprised.  Producer/Engineer (and sometimes musician) Sheldon Gomberg has held the information close to his vest and the people at Sweet Relief (and Vanguard Records) are only on the cusp of letting the dogs out.  But it’s coming.  July 9^th.

Segarini: Frazier Mohawk – Send in the Clown Part Two

Part One can be found here.

Paxton Lodge was a remote mountain retreat that became a famed legendary gathering place and recording studio for some about-to-be well known musicians of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, including Jackson Browne. Frazier Mohawk (Barry Friedman), with support from Elektra boss Jac Holzman, was the moving force behind the lodge. At times the lodge began to take on the quality of a commune, with musicians and visitors constantly moving in and out for brief and longer stays.