And After All, You’re My Wonder Brawl

Everyone loves a good scrap! Especially a public one with public figures

 

Rivalry, friction and music have gone hand in hand over the last century! If it wasn’t Mick and Keith falling out over Mick’s tiny todger or Kanye West trying his best to make a cunt out of Beck on stage during some pathetic award ceremony a few years ago (by the way, if I were Beck, id have seriously knocked that dickhead right on his arse that night), it’s always been present – just have a watch of the film ‘Dig’ courtesy of the remarkable fall out between The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre! It’s a fascinating film!

 

Even my brief flirtation with music and fame (ahem) had its fair share of skirmishes with fellow band mates, promoters and other ‘associates’. It just goes with the territory. Sometimes it can be funny and sometimes it can be a bit uncomfortable

 

But the best fights in music have always been the ones involving sibling rivalry! For example - the latest round of hand bags courtesy of the Brothers Gallagher has made captivating viewing! ... Or has it?

 

I know some of this spat has been funny, especially Liam’s quote about the girl in Noel’s band ‘playing’ the scissors and getting someone in his audience to peel a potato (which some funny bastard actually did), but you can’t help feel that some of this has been a bit smoke and mirrors!

 

Now I’m not particularly arsed about Oasis! What they’ve done is in the past and what they both do in the future really doesn’t bother me! But what does bother me is the fact that Liam and Noel always claim to be ‘real’ rock stars! Real northerners! Real people! But I’m sorry to say that this ‘spat’ just isn’t real and resembles something you see on Jeremy Kyle’s show!  

 

In the red corner – young Liam. Often seen as the Man of the People, I do have a lot of time for Liam as you can tell he absolulety LOVES being a rock star and no one is ever gonna take that away from him! He’s got balls, bravado and guts to back it all up! If there is one singer from any band in history who you don’t fuck with – it’s Liam! If you do try to fuck with him, he’ll almost certainly put you right on your arse with the prospect of a good kicking to follow! There should be more Liam Gallaghers in the world of music.

 

In the blue corner – slightly older Noel. Often seen a mouthy, cock sure bastard who could take on anyone in a verbal mud-slinging contest who would almost definitely come out on top! And, I’ll be brutally honest here – not my cup of tea and don’t really have much time for him as I see him as the school shit house who will start a scrap and then hide behind his mates (or his brother) and watch everything unfold from a safe distance! But hey – that’s my opinion! Also i wasn’t very impressed with Noel’s recent comments about Jeremy Corbyn! Seems he has well and truly lost fact of where he came from and is too busy fucking around on the grounds of his mansion with Bono and other celebrity Sycophants who blow way too much smoke up his arse

 

Everyone knows Liam and Noel have had a relationship fraught with flashpoints and controversy! The film released last year, Supersonic, shown this to be true. But this new found venom does seem very different! There’s more needle! But, and this is the but here, this seems to be taking place via the media and social media!

 

I know both brothers are a lot older now, but if this took place 20 years ago when Oasis started, it would have been settled in true Mancunian fashion resulting in a few split lips and black eyes!

 

And that’s my point – why the sudden ‘softness’? There was once a time when the brothers Gallagher would lash out and spark someone and lash a bottle of lager over their head! Now they take to Twitter or sit on a leather couch pouring their hearts out to Graham fucking Norton while drinking tea or expensive bottled water!!

 

So, Liam, Noel (if by the faintest chance you are actually reading this) – pick a date, time and venue, bring your boxing gloves, leave the media behind and sort it out ... like true Manc rock stars you claim to be!

 

 

Mol

Children of the Revolution?, Nah, they love the easy life!

 

 

I got a text last week from a mate. They are usually quite thought provoking and inquisitive, I’m sure he’ll agree! But this one struck a bit of a nerve.
 
The said text asked me “Eddie Vedder ... the most influential political figure in music over the last few decades?”
 
An interesting and somewhat controversial subject, I’m sure you will agree. But, there is meaning and a certain degree of substance here! Eddie Vedder - solo artist and lead singer of extremely superb 90’s grunge band Pearl Jam (sorry for using the word ‘grunge, as I fucking hate the word) is one of the very few musicians to walk the earth who actually has morals, integrity and, above all – respect for the industry and fans he represents

Now I’ve actually been thinking/working on this blog for a while, but, you could say, the afore mentioned text kind of got me thinking – where are the thinkers, thought provocateurs,  intelligent and damn right awkward scoundrels in music now a days? But, above all – where are the protest singers?

Now, politics and music, I’m sure you are all thinking – here we go again with another left wing political rant (see my Face book for more details). But, as proud as I am of my left wing roots and keen interest in all things popular culture, I have to say – they have both been missing a certain intimacy between the sheets over the last decade or so

But, back to Vedder – he is, without doubt, VERY political. I loved the fact that Pearl Jam stood up to the likes of Ticketmaster for ripping fans off and refused to participate in any promotions/gigs that involved them. Seriously good on them for that

But, ARE they political and WHAT does being a political artist, or indeed, making a political statement undertake?

Well, we certainly live in an age when everyone has a political opinion (ahem). Strange days indeed!

But, you get the feeling these days it is ‘trendy’ to be political – especially within the music arena

An example being Beyonce’s performance at last year’s Super bowl (or, Superbowel as I like to cal it). In case you never seen it, she, rather superbly, made a point about standing up for the Black Lives Matters movement. Good on her! But, without sounding disrespectful here, was she really standing up for black lives, or was she using her status, and stage, to promote her own persona?

Maybe she was and I’m reading into it too much, but with such uber-mega stars (yup – I hate using that reference as well), you have to question her integrity here! Black, and standing up for fellow black people, yes she is, I have no problem with that! But political, to the point of actually caring and giving a true shit about her fellow black brethren, I have doubts about that.

Doubts – the reason being as she really doesn’t have anything to lose! She could walk on stage with a dildo shoved up here arse and still be seen as a champion of women’s right! She could walk on stage holding a gun to a 3 year old kid’s head and be seen a champion of the NRA. She could.... you get the picture  

But, how, and when, is being political truly being honest? The answer is – unless you are a truly establishes, mega star, like Beyonce, you will never be given the chance to be!

The reason you will never be given the chance to be a political musician (apart from being signed to a label that will let you express your true thoughts politically) is that, quite simply, you make too much money to keep your fucking mouth shut!

 

Record labels do not want some Billy Bragg-type ‘Leftie’ spouting off about cuts to the NHS, austerity, bankers bonuses, paedophile politicians and a bent justice system, they want nice songs about, love, clouds, children playing, girls, boys, holding hands, laughing, drinking,

The labels also don’t want to hear about people taking drugs! Why? Because they are in cahoots with drinks manufacturers! For a singer/band to promote the use of recreation drugs instead of a nice, ice cold can of Budweiser, would be sacrilege (and will piss the promoter off no end!!)  

But, this is my point; singers/bands are paid too much to BE quiet! They are paid far too much money as in the level of what certain (decent) footy players are paid! They have it good! Why fuck it up just for standing up for the man in the street? The over worked nurse in the A&E ward? The under paid factory worker on a zero hours contact on a Sports Direct warehouse?

 
True political activist artists are sadly the established ones that no one listens to anymore! And that pisses me off!

As I’ve mentioned above, everyone is too scared to open their mouths these days! There are no more ‘thinkers’ anymore! There are no more ‘narks’ anymore! There are no more people willing to ‘upset the applecart’. But, as someone once said – we live in strange days!

So! To any ‘Protest Singers’ out there, we are currently living in an age when your rights are being abused and taken away from you! You are living in an age of a sexist, racist megalomaniac being in control of the largest haul of nuclear weapons in history! You are living in an age of crazy dictators pointing weapons at countries just because he didn’t get a blow job from an A List celebrity this morning! You are living in an age of your country leaving a union that has peacefully existed for more than 50 years both socially and economically because of the words of the knuckle dragging Murdoch reading Edge heads who believe the words of arseholes like Farage and Johnson! You are living in an age of when it’s ok to slag off the poor and under privileged, but turn a blind eye to banker’s bonuses and establishment figures that shag kids and stick their cocks into the heads of dead animals! You are living in an age of where you think you are winning ...... but the bad guy is always one step ahead of you ... and you think: “fuck it! Can’t be arsed!”

 

But, that’s the problem – “can’t be arsed”. “Cant be arsed” standing up to the bankers! “Cant be arsed” standing up to the paedophile politicians! “Can't be arsed” supporting an MP who has moral scruples because the right wing media says he supports terrorists!

 
... That’s gotta be food for thought!

... Go and get a pen and a guitar and I’ll give you a listen (and a thought)

 

 

Mol

Where have all the Bell Ends Gone?

 

Have you noticed music is very nice these days? When I say nice, I mean nice! Fluffy! Friendly! Cuddly! Cosy! Uncontroversial! Clean!

 

While over in Liverpool a few weeks ago I was chatting to a mate of mine about the roguish brothers Gallagher of Oasis. We weren’t talking about their music, per say, as in my opinion, I’ve always considered it pretty bland. But we were talking about their attitude and their presence as rough arse working class lads who had the ability to not just upset the applecart, but to rob the apples, beat up the fella running it and set fire to it! They did this.... and more!

 

But, my point here is the brothers Gallagher (and the rest of the band along with a good handful of bands of the mid to late nineties, might I add) were so unlike the current crop of pop and rock stars of today’s music scene, it really does seem far too long since anyone was willing to speak up, stand out, and basically put two fingers up to the world without really giving a shit!

 

My reasoning behind this new found conformity and gentrification in music is obviously money. But, money is brought about by influence and the influence is brought about by sponsorship of tours and endorsement of products that will obviously pay more than the miserly record companies pay for services and music rendered!

 

So, artists sign more than record contracts these days – they sign sponsorship deals and other lucrative endorsements that quite simply make them rich! And how do they maintain this vast river of wealth flowing into the bank accounts? Yup – they toe the company line, say “yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir” and basically SHUT THE FUCK UP when asked anything tricky!

 

Anything controversial, political, or even, heaven forbid, slanderous will result in a lawsuit (due to new slander laws introduced by the UK’s totalitarian government) that is followed by a media witch hunt, which in turn results in career over and an empty bank account (cue: old blues record .... “ooooh, I woke up this mornin’....”)

 

This new found obsession with capitalism and celebrity in music is a far cry from a bye gone era that produced so many care free characters, individuality and, more important, better music!!

 

But, an example of where certain musicians used to be able to fuck up and get off their tits without receiving some of  the above ‘abuse’ are without doubt the once hilarious Brit Awards of the nineties! (Before it became so corporate) Some of these ‘spectacles’ were truly hilarious!

 

Look at Dave Rowntree scribbling ‘Dave’ on his face as a piss take towards Prince (who in turn was actually protesting about his record label) who had ‘Slave’ scribbled on his dial. Of course, you’d never see Dave doing this now as, rather bizarrely, he’s an MP!

 

Also, what about the heroic actions of Jarvis Cocker towards the rather creepy antics of Jacko surrounded by loads of kids on stage? (in case you didn’t know, Jarvis ran on stage in protest of Jacko’s ‘antics’ with certain children and started wiggling his scrawny arse at the camera!!) – Absolutely hilarious stuff!!

 

And what about Chumbawumba throwing a bucket of ice water over John Prescott in protest of the way New Labour were running the country! Good job ‘Prezzer’ wasn’t on stage as someone would have probably ended up with a left hook!!

 

Finally – we can’t mention The Brit awards without mentioning Sam Fox & Mick Fleetwood – words can’t not describe how much I laughed my balls off when watching this!! It was like an episode of The Day Today!!! Brilliant stuff

 

All of the above, if done these days, would no doubt result in an arrest and facing possible terrorism charges and, as is the point of this blog, the cessation of all contracts currently making the wonga flow freely and their career over

 

So, my point here is this – as with footballers, bankers and pretty much all politicians – how much money do you need and are you going to spend it all in your lifetime???

 

Also, as the late great Bill Hicks once pointed out: “Do a commercial and you are off the artistic roll call! You are Satan’s little helper and you are sucking his cock! ... Send MC Hammer in!”

 

Also, I’m not promoting the use of it or, indeed dismissing it, but there seems to be a lack of drug taking/users in music these days (without counting Pete Doherty, of course) . No one is busted in night club toilets anymore with half a pound of Columbia’s finest up their hooter!!

 

Rock stars all drink herbal tea along with their vegan diets and yoga style healthy works outs while out walking their dog or their ridiculously named spoilt brat kids!!!! BORING!!!

 

So, if any would be rock stars are reading this – do us a favour? Next time you are on stage or on telly, flash the V’s at the camera, have a piss on stage or smack some poncey arsed presenter on the chin – you’ll win more friends and hopefully, bring back a bit of much missed attitude and swagger to the music industry!!

 

 

Mol

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Importance of led Zeppelin

The importance of Led Zeppelin

 

Not for the first time in my life, I’m currently reading the marvellous ‘Hammer of the Gods’ by Stephen Davis. In case you’ve never read it or heard of it (shame on you if you haven’t) it’s an authorised biography about Led Zeppelin ... and it’s absolutely brilliant!!

 

So, with this being Mols Sound Words, I thought I’d reminisce a little about my continuing lifelong love affair with all things Zeppelin – the notoriety, the black magic, the tragedy, the fame, the fortune, the controversy, but, above all for me, the music!

 

Every now and then, when you get to my age, you tend to go through phases when you‘re-discover’ a band that played a big part in your life! The memories that comes with it (and there’s many of them) and the great times you had in your youth!

 

But, as the whole point of this blog is – we sometimes take Led Zeppelin for granted and completely misunderstand where music would be without them! I know music today is pretty shite, granted, we all know that, but during the time most of us grew up – the late 80’s, mid 90’s and the early 00’s, Led Zeppelin were absolute gods and nothing really has changed! Hence the word ‘importance’ in the title of this

 

I saw a posting on Facebook a few weeks ago. It was a rather amusing graph that depicted the topics of Led Zeppelin songs. 50% was about sex, 49% was about mystic goblins, sorcery and Lord of the Rings and 1% was about citrus!* Made me laugh that!! But, it kind of was posted in a half serious manner because if you really do look at the topics led Zeppelin wrote about, these three subjects pretty much narrows it down perfectly

 

 *and yes – I do know The Lemon Song is about sex!!

 

But, the whole joy and pure brilliance about Led Zeppelin is not just the subjects and lyrics of their songs! To truly understand how they ‘ticked’, you have to listen to the production side of each and every one of their albums!

 

In ten short years Jimmy Page and Peter Grant (with the odd contribution from John Paul Jones), Led Zeppelin took the production of music to boundaries never before heard. Granted, when Page ‘assumed control’ of The Yardbirds, he did change their production style from standard R&B (this is proper R&B by the way, not the shite you hear booming from pimp mobiles with black out windows in every city centre around the world) to cosmic, space-age freak out rock! But his work with Led Zeppelin surpassed everything he did with The Yardbirds by a country mile! Even the simple affect of quickly changing the vocals from one speaker to another during the end of Ramble On from Led Zep 2, to the awesome drum sounds of Led Zep 4, Led Zeppelin were the true pioneers and innovators of modern twentieth century heavy rock!! We truly do have a lot to thank them for not just for the inspiration their music gave, but for the way music is produced today.

 

Led Zeppelin was more than just a band – they were absolute phenomena in all aspects of the music industry. They were the first band to secure a royalties deal (courtesy of their manager Peter Grant – more on him later) that equalled four times of what The Beatles earned. They were the first band to sell out stadium after stadium in the US with releasing less than 5 singles! They were the first band to secure a deal with music promoters in America that gave the band a 90/10 split! They were the first band to be paid a million dollars for a small tour of America! They were the first band to turn American blues from artists like Howling Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson and the much revered Robert Johnson into heavy rock! – THAT was new

 

The players

 

Robert Plant

 

When Plant joined Led Zeppelin, he was a shy, young boy who suffered from homesickness and had to hide behind the amps because he was too shit scared to face the crowd! But, he grew into it fairly quickly and become one the finest singers the world of music has ever seen. There’s a great story in the book I’m reading about him and Bonham cowering and crying in the back of a van that was about to break down in severe snow! Bonham & Plant were very close as they were both from the same area of the midlands and Plant’s rea2ction to Bonham’s death was the main reason Led Zeppelin never continued. You can’t blame him really as Bonham really was a damn fine drummer!

 

Plant also had this aura about him! You could say some sort of mystic, god-like spirit. Men wanted to be him and women simply worshipped him. Rumour has it that he once stood on the balcony of the LA Riot House and announced to his worshipping hoards gathered beneath him: “I am a golden god!” – In a way, you kind of agree with him!

 

John Paul Jones

 

Like Jimmy Page, JPJ was a stalwart of the hired session musician scene. Jones could pick up any instrument by the time he was 13 years old and pretty much master it! He also, unknown to many, possessed the great ability to arrange music for some of the best artists around at the time such as Aretha Franklin and Wilson Picket.

 

Jones was the ‘quiet’ member of the band who never messed around with groupies and hardly ever did drugs. He was also rumoured to be the only member of the band who didn’t ‘sell their souls to the devil’ in return for instant fame and fortune. Hence the reason he never encountered personal sadness or disaster like Page, Plant and ultimately Bonham! But, JPJ’s experience and expertise was vital to Led Zeppelin’s outstanding musical arrangements and style! Without JPJ – there simply would not be a Led Zeppelin! 100% professional to the core!   

 

John Bonham

 

He was very much a simple man with simple needs and taste! His drumming style though was far from simple! Bonham changed the way drumming way played throughout rock music! This was mainly down to the size of his drum sticks – tree trunks, as they become known. He also developed a recording style helped by Jimmy Page where he placed tin foil around the inside of his bass drum that gave the impression of it sounding like two drums! Maybe that’s why his drums sounded SO loud.

 

Before Bonham, rock drumming was very much in the background of music and recorded, rather daftly, in mono by bands like Cream, the Kinks & the Beatles recorded the drums as a mere afterthought and background music. Have a listen to their recordings and you’ll realise it sounds pretty lame and thin compared to Bonham’s banging and boisterous pounding! An example of this drumming would be the intro to When the Levee Breaks off Led Zep IV – stunning playing and even better production that jumps up and gives you full on kick in the bollocks!

 

Bonham, though, fell foul to the lifestyle that sadly took his life at the age of 31 – drink, drugs and an all-round dark ability to be seriously un-liked and nasty – which he was when he was drunk! He was nick-named The Beast by everyone associated with the band (who often hid from him during after show parties). Groupies feared him as did other bands including his own! It’s sad to say, but he was such an immense drummer, but, when drunk, a dreadfully horrible person too! But, rock drumming would not be where it is today if it weren’t for Bonham - Dave Grohl, Phil Rudd, Steven Adler, Stewart Copeland, Phil Selway, even other drummers of that era have a lot to thank him for.   

 

Jimmy Page

 

Jimmy Page – in my opinion the best guitarist ever! Forget Clapton, Beck & Hendrix, Page was a master! A sorcerer! A wizard! A shaman! He could hold an entire audience spellbound for hours with his magic show and his attack towards his guitar! He was the first guitarist to use a thermion in tandem with his guitar playing, hypnotising the crowd with sci-fi sounds and the strange, alien noises it created! He was the first guitarist to experiment using a bow! He was the first guitarist to use two microphones when recording his guitar in a studio – one directly in front of his speakers, and another 10 feet behind so the microphone picked up the residual sound! He was the first guitarist to mix and produce his band’s music! He was simply a genius.

 

I remember reading some throw away comment about Jimmy Page on Facebook a few months back about him not moving on and being continually stuck in the past with his re-issuing and re-mastering of Led Zeppelin recordings – so what! Personally Led Zeppelin’s music will NEVER be stuck in the past! It’s as relevant, important and crisp today as it was over 40 years ago when it was recorded! For me, that is something to hold onto, cherish and be thoroughly proud of! – Page is responsible for all of this!

 

Peter Grant & Richard Cole

 

Behind every successful venture, be it in business or music is a mastermind! Behind every mastermind is hired muscle! These two were Grant & Cole. Cole started out being a roadie for many bands working for Grant before taking on the job of ‘looking after’ Led Zeppelin after persuading Grant to give him the job full time. Cole was a true hard bastard who took absolutely no shit from anyone who came within an inch of upsetting the band. His usual solution was to break someone’s nose or give them a good kicking backstage! God forbid any bootleggers in the crowd recoding a Led Zeppelin show as well as he was known to drag them out by their hair and smash their equipment! He did this once thinking it was a bootlegger, it turned out to be an under-cover police officer monitoring the sound levels!

 

Many things were written about Led Zeppelin. Many were true, many were made up! But one rule was absolute - you really didn’t fuck with or even try to fuck over Peter Grant! Period! There are plenty of stories about Grant’s notorious violent streak! One such story was how he escorted two rednecks from the backstage area by their waists after they pulled a gun on him in a dispute over money!! But the greatest and most poignant achievement in Grant’s time with Led Zeppelin was without doubt the record deal he secured for the band with Atlantic Records! The deal he agreed on would see the band receive 4 times more of what The Beatles received in their contract and has never been matched to this day! That is something you simply have to take your hat off to.

 

The band, after Bonham’s death, split turned out to be pretty messy and lawsuits were filed in a haze of cocaine and tragedy! But Led Zeppelin remains to this day one of the highest grossing and successful bands the world has ever seen! This is all down to Peter Grant! Like him, love him or sue him, if you were in a tight spot – you’d want him on your side any day of the week!

 

My two favourite albums

 

Led Zep 4

 

Many rock critics and music observers over the years have said there are two great rock albums that sits at the top of the pile. Many say AC/DC’s ‘Back in Black’ and many say Led Zeppelin’s 4^th album (or ‘The Druids Album’, ‘Four Symbols’, ‘ZOSO’ or ‘Led Zep 4’ – as it has been known over the years). Personally, I think Back in Black IS a great album, but Led Zep 4 IS the greatest!

 

The intro to Black Dog is by far the most recognisable opening track in rock music! The wah wah wah wah wakka wakka wakka fade in of Page’s guitar really is quite splendid! Then Plant’s “hey hey mama ...” – brilliant!

 

This album was the first time Led Zeppelin adopted a recording technique on truly high tech equipment, by recording it at an old house owned by Jimmy Page called Hedley Grange. It’s also quite hard to believe that the whole of the drums were recorded on one microphone on the landing of the house! Once again, Bonham’s ability to pound the drums like no other drummer in the world was partially the result why the drums sound so mighty and loud!! Page turned the knobs to make it sound crisp! How he did this on one microphone though is truly outstanding!

 

But Led Zep 4 wasn’t all balderdash and balls out – it had a softer, tender side to it with songs like ‘Going to California’ and ‘The Battle of Evermore’. You could even count the intro to ‘Stairway to Heaven’ too! I felt this was Plant’s influence on the band due to his personal and stage persona of the peaceful, free loving hippy (take a look at his personal film on the film they did called The Song remains the Same – its utterly brilliant)

 

Led Zep 4 also had a degree of mysticism around it with the actual album having no record label insignia or writing except for the lyrics to Stairway to Heaven and four symbols that decorated the inside sleeve. The symbols (allegedly) represented each member of the band as chosen by themselves. The album cover itself lived up to Led Zeppelin’s trade mark strange ability to create the obscure

 

Many say they did this just to piss off the record label, but the truth was that they did it to wind the press up! The press (especially in America) seen them as arrogant rock star royalty and hated them for it! In a way, they were right! But led Zeppelin retaliated (as Grant would have them do) in a fashion that baffled the press by giving their first three album titles numbers instead of names, not releasing singles and, the straw that broke the camel’s back, releasing Led Zep 4, as i’ve stated, with no markings! Personally I think this was a stroke of genius! If there’s one thing that will get kids rushing to the shops to buy a new album – it’s the unknown! Especially when it’s the biggest band on the planet doing it! You only have to look at how many copies this album sold to realise how big it actually was!

 

THAT was what made Led Zep 4 so big and so brilliant! The press hated them, the labels hated them (because of the deal they had), but the kids LOVED them!!! You could say they really were a band of the people instead of these arrogant rock gods as they were labelled by the American press!!  

 

But, finally, when the dust settles and the sands of time (sic) find themselves back at square one and Mother Nature finally runs out of gas and air, Led Zep 4 will be sat there, on a misty mountain side, waiting, looking at its watch saying “I’m still here! Has anyone done anything better than me yet?”

 

Led Zep 2

 

Led Zep 2 was the first sign of Led Zeppelin beginning to experiment with different recording techniques as, and this is not a criticism here, but Led Zep 1 did sound slightly rushed (historically/allegedly it was recorded in 36 hours). This was also the first time Led Zeppelin began using sound effects. Songs like Whole lotta Love proved this

 

But, without doubt, the most stand out performance on the whole album has to be Page’s guitar work! Songs like Living Lovin’ Maid (She’s Just a Woman), The Lemon Song, Heartbreaker and Bring it on Home – I honestly don’t think Page never matched these performances!

 

To pick one song to sing Page’s praise though would have to be Heartbreaker! This is simply stunning that also has a degree of arrogant showmanship to the way the song stops at exactly 2 minutes and allows page to unleash what is quite possibly his greatest guitar solo! It really does have everything, but then stops to unleash the 2^nd guitar solo that even matched the first! Sublime!! For the record – both solos last 1:40, but seems like an eternity!!

 

But Heartbreaker isn’t just about the solo(s); the intro is firmly embedded into rock music folklore! Instantly recognisable across the world, you can almost see every rock music fan the world over doing the devil signs with their little finger and pointer finger upon hearing it (especially most inhabitants of The Swan pun in Liverpool, eh Pughy?)

 

Finally, you could say that led Zep 2 set the bar for heavy rock! Many Black Sabbath fans may disagree! They may have a point, but, in my opinion, Sabbath we’re one trick ponies with their sluggish rhythm section and their second rate guitar work! Led Zeppelin were 25 trick stallions ... with a big fuck off hard on! Led Zep 2 was the Viagra of the birth of stadium rock music! Led Zep 2 seen the birth of the TRUE rock guitar hero! Led Zep seen the start of real, new, innovative rock music production and set the mandate for rock/heavy metal music of today!

 

Summary

 

We all have our favourite bands! I do – the Stones! Most of you know that! It’s a love that will never go away to my last breath! But, and this is not a criticism of The Stones by any means, but Led Zeppelin, in my opinion made you think! They made you look up and go “WOW!!”. They made you appreciate all aspects of music whether it be heavy rock, psychedelic, folk, blues or pop! They made you look at Robert Plant & Jimmy Page and think “Fucking hell! I bet they could fuck any bird they wanted to at the drop of a hat!”

 

Led Zeppelin, in 11 brief years, jammed more outstanding music into that time than any other band in my opinion. But, more importantly – they made every album count! They never shirked or added some shit album filler at the request of some pushy A&R tit from a record label! This was mainly because they also (like The Stones & The Beatles) seen the advantages of creating their own record label thus giving them full artistic control over what they released – something you do not see these days!!

 

So, next time you listen to Led Zeppelin, think about the music and what they put into it! Think about Plant’s lyrics! Think about how Page thought out a solo! Think about John Paul Jones’ creativeness and think about Bonham being a drunken rhinoceros with two tree trunks as drumsticks bashing the fuck out of a drum kit!

 

Finally, I thought i’d leave you with the lyrics of the current, random Led Zeppelin song i’m listening to as I write this – ‘Thank You’ off Led Zep 2......

 

“If the sun refused to shine

I’d still be loving you

Mountains crumble to the sea

There’d still be you and me”

 

Marvellous stuff

 

 

 

Mol

 

The Brian Johnson Massacre

The Brian Johnson Massacre

 

A few days ago I read a rather disturbing article about AC/DC singer Brian Johnson facing the possibility of the sack after announcing that his hearing may well be on the way out

 

There are a few dark forces at work here

 

Firstly, it’s a pretty well-known fact that a lot of singers and musicians in general suffer from some sort of deafness towards the end of their careers. Obviously this is due to simple wear and tear as a result of standing in front of a very noisy drummer or guitarist for the best part of a few decades (I should know!).

 

Pete Townsend once famously stood in front of Keith Moon’s exploding drum kit on the Smothers Brothers show in 1965 resulting in his hearing being permanently damaged in one of his ears (this, of course, could have been avoided had Moon not got the man who was in charge of the pyrotechnics drunk the night before, but Moon was Moon – deranged)

 

Secondly I fail to see how the powers that be in AC/DC can come to this decision (if true, of course as there has been no official statement made yet by the band – which is also quite strange) to relieve Johnson of his duties

 

In case you didn’t know, Johnson joined the band after the death of the much loved Bon Scott in 1980 and recorded the critically acclaimed ‘Back in Black’ as their comeback album and tribute to Scott. You could say he saved their bacon as the rest of the band considered quitting!

 

After Back in Black, Johnson has continued to show true professionalism and loyalty over four decades to a band that he basically pulled out of the shit resulting in them being one of the biggest bands the world has ever seen!

 

You get the feeling they owe him BIG TIME!!

 

Thirdly, I know this sounds simplistic, but why can’t Johnson employ the services of a hearing aid? Pete Townsend, Ronnie Wood, Richie Blackmore and a whole host of other wrinkly rock stars have used one for years! Maybe vanity is an issue? If so, since when have AC/DC give a fuck about how they look??? (Maybe they’re thinking of doing a duet with Rhianna!!)

 

Fourthly, with AC/DC being a band that easy fall into the category of ‘Band of the People’, why are they acting as some sort of faceless corporation who throw away loyalty and sentiment and replace it with some sort of ridiculous X Factor style selection process by plucking some no mark from obscurity to replace Johnson! That’s NOT the way AC/DC do things and, honestly, if true, I will have lost all respect I once had for them!!

 

What I usually do here now is play devil’s advocate, but I’m not going to!

 

AC/DC’s actions here are nothing short of greed and capitalism! You get the feeling they are trying to squeeze every last dollar out of their fans by placing some puppet into Johnson’s shoes when they should just do the honourable thing and call it a day! Iron Maiden did a similar thing years ago when Bruce Dickenson left – that blew up in their faces as well!!

 

Granted, AC/DC have obligations to make and fans to please, but, personally, I’d rather just have my money back than watch them take to the stage with some phoney who will probably do his own piss poor impression of one of the greatest rock singers the world has ever witnessed!!

 

Also, if once again this is true, why can’t Angus and the boys just simply say in true rock n roll fashion “fuck it, We’re not carrying on or playing” (like they did when Bon Scott died) as they’ve made enough money, made enough great records and finish on top with the adulation and love of their fans safe in their hearts!  

 

Finally – I think they owe an explanation or some sort of statement to the people who have followed them all over the world for nearly five decades and made them who they are – the fans!!

 

Then again, seems we really are walking dollar signs and the people who made them great are merely expendable commodities who can be replaced at the drop of a hat!!

 

 

 

 

Mol

Too old to cut the mustard?

 

Dads! A bunch of embarrassing old farts aren’t they? If they’re not making a tit out of themselves in social clubs with their ties tied round their heads dancing to Gangham Style, they are wearing cream slip on shoes with green socks to look ‘trendy’ to try and impress a young lady who is younger than their grey pubes!

But, not all of them are in the mould of Peter Stringfellow; two of these national treasures have proved recently that they are still quite cool and relevant in today’s world of music.

Recently – crinkly old Rolling Stone Keith Richards and cuddly old Dave Gilmour of the recently disbanded Pink Floyd have both released solo albums to critical acclaim.

They may sound a bit rough round the edges, this is to be expected due to them having a combined age of 302, but what are important here are the production techniques taken up by these two elder statesmen. They play with a proper band and record on tape! Maybe this is due to them knowing every trick when it comes to recording or that they simply know how to sound good – who knows! One things for true though – it works! Gimmicks and gadgets really don’t get a look in and its evident in the sound they create – it’s called quality recording that isn’t just created via a computer and generic overdubs!!!

I know some people may look on these old geezers as being past their best and looking like they have just been dug up, but who says the world of music should be full of clean cut kids with their chizzled looks and their blindingly perfect white teeth? Do we really have to have beautiful, brainless, robot-like wankers being churned off Simon Cowell’s conveyor belt every week backed up by shit karaoke style backing tapes? The answer is no!!! Just look at the popularity surrounding Jeremy Corbyn lately that proves old people are still cool!!!

From a personal point of view the ‘rise’ of these dinosaurs of rock is also quite poignant being somewhat of a wrinkly rocker I! But less about my Gentleman’s area, I’m talking about my continued and much enjoyed participation as lead singer for The Outriders (or my backing band as they have become known as late).

Many years ago, when we did original material, I would never have dreamt about doing cover versions! It was a strict no no! But, the older you get, the more ideas tend to become less frequent! Your desire to be original becomes less important, but your love for music grows stronger!

Maybe not everyone feels this way, but I certainly see it as more credible than being viewed as the oldest hipster in town! Perish the thought!!!!

But getting back to Dave & Keith – the difference between these two giants of rock music compared to my meagre musical history is this – they have the RIGHT to be cool! They can be forgiven for looking like the oldest hipster in town! They have earned the right to have continuous praise and respect thrown upon them simply for what they have achieved over the years and that they still possess a level of integrity most young musicians these days would take a lifetime to achieve!!!

An example of this would probably have to be David Bowie! You can forgive Bowie for creating Tin Machine as he created Ziggy Stardust! You can forgive Bowie for The Laughing Gnome as he is not just a great singer, but a great actor too! you can forgive Bowie for his duet with Mick Jagger as he released Hunky Dory, Space Oddity, Low, Station to Station, Aladdin Sane and countless, timeless pop songs that everyone knows and loves! Bowies is still releasing critically acclaimed music today at the age of 68 even following health scares. His latest work didn’t go down to well, but I thought it was magnificently bold and experimental that only Bowie could pull it off!!

Which brings us to the not so cool side of rock stars getting old – arise Sir Mick!

Mick – as much as I love him, has never done anything outside The Stones worthy of applause! You could even go as far to say that he is nothing without The Stones

Dreadful films including psychedelic babble laden semi-biographical mess Performance and the futuristic Freejack where he played quite possibly the most camp and un-scary bounty hunter Vacendak. As for Ned Kelly, I know Mick was famous for changing his accent to suit his surroundings, but he was the only Australian outlaw to ever sound like he was either from Dublin or Texas rolled into one!

Musically, Sir Mick hasn’t fared much better! She’s the Boss was pretty grim and Wandering Spirit wondered somewhere between the ether and the darkest depths of his own arse!

 

Add to these turkeys the ‘collaborations’ Mick has recently done with Joss Stone and Taylor Swift you get a slight whiff of your pissed Uncle Knobhead dancing with your eighteen year old niece at someone’s wedding! (With them cream slip-ons on)  

But, the old saying ‘too old to cut the mustard, but can still lick the jar’ is the side of these musical titans that I like to still believe in!

Personally I think the saying ‘with age comes wisdom, but not always class’ is more appropriate

 

 

Mol

 

Beggars Belief How the Stones’ Cut Their Teeth - My ode to Beggars Banquet by The Rolling Stones

A few weeks ago a friend of mine (yes, Col) asked why I hadn’t written a blog for some time. Well, the official reason is I came to the end of my creativeness and was becoming a bit self-obsessed with the current shit state of modern music. You tend to run out of things when you get to my age – examples being hair! But, when I was listening to Beggars Banquet a few weeks back, I felt it deserved the Mol’s Sound Words treatment.  

The Stones released Beggars Banquet in the 6th December of 1968. It was a career defining moment!! It was, in a sense, the last true blues album they were to release! 

The record was launched to the press that combined with many bottles of red wine and a massive cream pie fight! One of the great PR stunts of all time if you ask me!! 

Many people recognise Sympathy for the Devil as the main ‘single’, but there is so much more to enjoy, respect and consider when thinking about the future of The Stones 

Cast your minds back to Satisfaction and the heady days of The Stones’ rise to fame and you will hear a band that were infamously finding their feet (albeit glittered in number ones and run ins with the law and the establishment) – they had arrived! 

But, if you consider the ‘satisfaction’ era and the link with the ‘Jumping Jack Flash’/’Gimme Shelter’ era, you will find a completely different band on Beggars Banquet that is nicely sandwiched in between them! 

Beggars Banquet was, if you like, a cross over and a turning point between the singles success of the 60’s to the excess and outright genius of the late 60’s and early 70’s that, in my opinion, defined The Stones at their very best, darkest and controversial that would culminate with the death of peace and love in the bloodbath that turned out to be Altamont

While The Stones were enjoying their post-Jumpin’ Jack Flash heyday, Led Zeppelin released Led Zeppelin 1. A great great album, I’m sure you’ll agree, but The Stones, maybe jealous of their adversaries, went back to their roots by releasing Beggars Banquet. But during this recording, they edged nearer to a darker more menacing side that was beginning to show up on tracks such as Paint it Black and Have You Seen Your Mother Baby (Standing in the Shadows). You could say the Stone’s had a lot to thanks Led Zeppelin for  

Brian Jones was considered early on the Stones’ career as the leader up to this point, but was slowly slipping into an un-controllable drug fuelled nightmare that would ultimately prove his undoing and his sad death! Although penning many singles successes before this, Mick & Keith took the reins at this stage and went onto work on Beggars Banquet 

Another outcome of the downfall of Brian Jones would result in the Stone’s greatest asset – the arrival of Mick Taylor! Taylor, an all together different musician and human being to Jones, would bring a silky guitar style that would, in itself, compliment the guitar style of Keith Richards over the coming years. I’m sure Jones’ death wasn’t coincidental, but the outcome did produce one of the greatest musical backbones a band will ever see!! 

The songs

There have been many comments and films about the opening track on Beggars Banquet - Sympathy for the Devil. A truly wonderful song steeped in controversy and outstanding lyrics from a resurgent Jagger who was slowly becoming the mouthpiece for the younger generation who was beginning to stand up to the establishment (which he has sadly become a member of!). On Sympathy, Jagger examines the talking points of the time to ask the question – if there is so much trouble in the world ranging from the war in Vietman to the assassination of the Kennedys, then surely the devil DOES exist. Whether this is the true meaning of the song, who knows! But I’m sure Jagger would like to think his lyrics were indeed about ‘Mr D’

But, in my opinion, Street Fighting Man is one of the greatest (if not the best) protest song of all time and see The Stones at their very best! Jagger – screeching, snarling like an escaped lunatic, is simply outstanding! Gimme Shelter aside, this is quite possibly his finest moment as a singer

The opening acoustic riff grips you in the same way as any other great intro such as My Generation by The Who or Heartbreaker by Led Zeppelin does – right in the bollocks!! You stand up! You wake up! There is no doubt that this song fuelled the protest movement of the late 60’s – and rightly so!! 

But the true beauty of Street Fighting Man is not the fact that it’s a gritty, tough and powerful war cry to the protest movements who were clashing with the brutal American police over the Vietnam War, but the fact that it opened the flood gates to the true protest songs that followed and exist right up to the present day!

Before SFM, the likes of celebrated song writers such as Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan were writing protest songs with subtle undertones of discontent. But, post SFM came the likes of Crosby, Still, Nash & Young writing songs like Ohio and the likes of The Clash and The Sex Pistols writing about the shit, grim days of the late seventies in Britain. In a sense, it forged a new violent, hard-hitting generation of protest songs that didn’t give a shit about Big Yellow Taxis, but cared more about setting fire to them!

None of the above would exist if it wasn’t for SFM. That is testament to just how important this song really is! 

In No Expectations, The Stones show their more subtle side. This is a truly lovely song that would rear its head in the future on songs such as Wild Horses and Shine a Light. Its content is the epitome of the blues song footprint – slide guitar, soft piano notes and the bittersweet lyrics of loss and heartbreak (“Take me to the station, and put me on a train, I got no expectations”)

Dear Doctor was a bit of a piss take directed towards the blues singers of old asking their physician for a cure for the blues! But, I kind of think this is slightly disrespectful by The Stones – don’t bite the hand that feeds you! The comedy moment on the song is Brian Jones’ impression of the nagging woman Curtis is about to marry, but changing her mind and running off with his cousin Lou in Virginia (much to his relief - haha). “Curtis! I’m sorry to hurt you! But I’ve no courage to speak to your face” Brilliant stuff!  

Prodigal Son sees The Stones taking the blues to the extreme with a stunning drum production! This is where the album’s blues roots truly take hold! “Well poor boy, stood there, hung his head and cried” - Robert Johnson couldn’t have written it better! You could easily imagine Mick & Keith writing this on some lonely railroad cross section in the delta wearing a bib and brace and a straw hat!! 

Stray Cat Blues is an epic piece of rock n roll with Keith in fine form. The opening bars hears Jagger having what can only be described as intimate relations with a  young sexually aroused lady that eventually breaks into Charlie banging away and crashing into a superb intro! It sounds more at place on a Led Zeppelin record never mind a rock n roll band with a ‘Jazz Drummer’

Also, if you think about the history of the sound of sexual encounters in recorded music history, think of Rocket Queen by Guns n Roses and anything at all from the ridiculous Mottley Crue and you know where they got their ideas from when you listen to Stray Cat Blues! 

The lyrics on this song would never have been allowed for release where it released some 3 or 4 years earlier. No record label would go near it due to fear of a backlash at the edgy lyrics! And, once again, it shows The Stones really didn’t care and they went ahead with it just the same! “I bet you momma don’t know you scream like that, I bet she never saw you scratch my back” The dark, hedonistic lyrics on albums such as Goat Head Soup, Let It Bleed, Some Girls and Sticky Fingers originated in Stray Cat Blues! 

Factory Girl sees The Stones make fun of working class women in a strange sense that they somehow wish for a relationship with an ‘ordinary’ girl. It’s a lovely song, but i couldn’t really see Mick or keith swapping Anita Pallenberg or Marieanne Faithful for some bird called Rita who works in the Jacobs factory!

The final track on the album, Salt of the Earth, sees The Stones’ paying testament to their hordes of fans with a left wing anthem that spills into a kind of gospel free for all with the obvious influence of Big Mamma Thornton and Robert Johnson. This is true feel good music for the masses that imagines the Stones’ having genuine fun in their work! “Raise your glass to the hard working people” 

Keith sings the intro with what many people describe as “a voice only a mother could love”. Personally I think Keith has a lovely, kind, gently voice for a man known his toughness street savvy reputation. But, once again, Keith went onto sing a few songs for the Stones and in a solo career that seen him release a few decent albums. Happy off Exile on Main Street being one of the more successful songs

As a Stones’ fan, I do understand the importance of albums like Let it Bleed and Exile on Main Street as they will always be some of the greatest albums ever written and hold a firm place in my life and heart, but, to simply cast Beggars Banquet aside as A-N-other Stones album is ludicrous! This is where the Stones’ truly cut their teeth and this is where they discovered the true sense of blues music that would come to define and enhance their career!

Prior to  the release of Beggars Banquet the controversy that followed the Stones around and the bullshit headlines created by Andrew Loog Oldham were a walk in the park compared to encounters The Stones’ would partake in post-Beggars Banquet. Drugs, drink, dabbling in the dark arts and death were to follow

I’m not saying what the Stones’ got up to following the release of Beggars in commendable, but it was a line in the sand that started them on their long, crazy journey to be the greatest rock n roll band in the world and go onto produce some of the finest music ever written that may well never be matched

That title is still evident and fully deserved today

 

Mol