Pat Blythe – The Women of Rock Redux Part 4 – The Queen of Rock……and music

During the Rock era, there were many women who attempted to build a life in the music business. Few actually survived. Those who did…..faith, determination and a boatload of talent got them through. They were not without their struggles, putdowns and letdowns (both personal and professional). With international sold out performances and millions of albums sold worldwide, these ladies who did survive were front and centre….unforgettable, never taking no for an answer, believing in themselves and not putting up with the shit. If they didn’t tell you how they felt to your face, they told you through their music and performances.

Even though these “Women of Rock” columns are part of a former series, further updates and research have expanded them. I’m not much for leaving stones unturned. Next week, Ann and Nancy Wilson get their update and their column. This week, may I present the undisputed Queen of Rock….a force to be reckoned with!

Pat Blythe – Music’s a bitch……and music

I wrote this in 2015 when I was first writing for DBAWIS. I had originally called it The Women of Rock – Interlude, but it’s not really about the women of rock…..it’s more about the shit women have had to put up with in the misogynistic world we refer to as “the music business”.  I had already started a series called Women in Music, a sort of “where are they now” series. I decided to continue with a few more female-focused series…..Women in Rock and The Women of Blues followed. I kept getting sidetracked; following up on the various “tell-all tales” many well-known women of music were starting to share.

Segarini – The Dirt on the Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody of Motley Crue

Musicians acting up is old news if you know your history. The entire concept of excess and above-the-law behavior started long before some high school dropout teased his hair or refused to get some much-needed dental work.

If you want to go to the Grandaddy of excessive, over-the top, entitlement, look no further than Johann Strauss Jr. ….

Segarini on The Father of the Teen Age

I was originally going to call this column “The Father of Teenage America”, but Chuck Berry’s influence on and understanding of that awkward stretch of road between 12 and 20 not only heralded America’s shift from buttoned-down conformity to unbuttoned rebellion, spread far past the borders of his home and native land and spilled out across the globe on the wings of three chords and poetic genius.

Fueled by unbridled energy, and embraced by a post war population of disenfranchised kids with No Particular Place to Go, Chuck Berry’s legacy continues unabated 50 years later.

GARY PIG GOLD SEZ “JOHN ENTWISTLE: TOO LATE THE HERO”

“What I feel inside I can’t explain. That John Entwistle should die in his late fifties is totally unthinkable. He was the indestructible one. He was the rock. He was the island. He was the fulcrum on which it all hinged.” – Mick Farren

“John was the best. He made “My Generation,” along with the other lads, one of the greatest records of all time.” – Peter Noone

“I think John was the pivotal member of the most exciting rock band to emerge on the British music scene in the Sixties.” – Brian Auger

GARY PIG GOLD ON BOB DYLAN, A YONGE STREET BAR BAND, AND THE DEATH, 50 YEARS AGO THIS MONTH, OF ROCK AND ROLL

As most pretty-pointedly shown throughout Martin Scorsese’s remarkable No Direction Home, the ’66-model Bob Dylan was an American idol at the indisputable peak of his powers as the [insert your own convenient pigeonhole here] Poet/Laureate of a Generation, Crown Prince of the (Thinking Man’s) Hit Parade, or – my personal favorite – Snot-headed, Venom-spewing Anti-Rockstar of All Time.

Gary Pig Gold Most Fondly Remembers Our Pal Joey

 

Late one night in very late 1976, a singer acquaintance of mine burst into the (condemned) house I was then sharing with the neighbourhood bar band, shouting “You will never believe what I just saw in Toronto tonight! These four guys with Brian Jones haircuts wearing drainpipe Levis, singing all these really fast, short songs. Lots of ’em, too! And the best part? NO GUITAR SOLOS!”

JAIMIE VERNON – DEAD GENRE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD

It’s confession time. Some of my devoted readers are not going to like it. It’s related to my disdain for certain genres of music so if you’ve got a strong constitutional defense for the music you love you may want to read the ‘New Yorker’ in your smoking jacket instead. Or track down re-re-re-runs of the Grand Ol’ Opry on TVland. I’m a dyed-in-the-wool music snob. I have no patience or interest in Jazz, The Blues or Country music.

Gary Pig Gold Meets The Beatles…only Somewhere Else

Being a most wide-eared eight years old in the suburban Toronto of 1963, I was at the perfect age – and in the perfect place – to, yes, Meet the Beatles. Because by the time “those four youngsters from Liverpool” hit The Ed Sullivan Show on 2/9/64, my friends and I had already spent the past several months familiarizing ourselves with John, Paul, George and Ringo’s initial A-sides via mighty 1050 CHUM-AM.

GARY PIG GOLD GETS UNDER KEITH RICHARDS

I love Keith. You love Keith. We ALL love Keith Richards. In fact, very personally speaking, if it wasn’t for my first encountering the hallowed words “Chuck” and “Berry” on some extremely early Rolling Stones record, and then seeking out “No Particular Place To Go” in particular, I probably never would have ventured past the second fret up my own childhood guitar.