CD Review: Chickenfoot "Chickenfoot III"

CD Review: Chickenfoot "Chickenfoot III" 
eOne Music
All Access Review: B+


Now we know why Sammy Hagar can't drive 55. It's because he's got some hot little number waiting somewhere to give him the time of his life, and Hagar is hours away from a steamy rendezvous. With Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy blasting from the stereo, Hagar's going to drive all night at dangerous speeds to get there, state troopers be damned.

That's the gist of "Big Foot," the first single off the head-scratchingly titled III, the second LP from Chickenfoot, a much-ballyhooed supergroup of Hagar, guitar god Joe Satriani, ex-Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony and Red Hot Chili Peppers' drummer Chad Smith. Another in the long line of car songs that have made Hagar the lead-footed hero of scofflaw drivers everywhere, it may be the best of the bunch. Rooted in Satriani's thick, meaty guitar grooves, "Big Foot" stomps and beats its chest like a testosterone-crazed Tarzan eyeing up a naked Jane.

A manly expression of heated desire and need for speed, "Big Foot" paces a strong set of heavy, skull-thumping rockers and occasional surprises — see the Nashville-flavored country stylings of "Different Devil" and the spoken-word, "all hell's breaking loose" fury of "Three and a Half Letters," which bemoans the dilapidated state of the U.S. economy. Pushed to the fore are the signature vocal harmonies of Hagar and Anthony — more muted in Van Halen — while bedrock riffs and crunching rhythms churn underneath such infectious brawlers as "Up Next" and "Lighten Up."

Tender is the soft tear-jerker "Come Closer" and Hager dips down into the lower registers in the smoky R&B-tinged winner "Dubai Blues," but make no mistake, Chickenfoot is throwing big, chunky right hooks of '70s-inspired hard rock on III. Your move, Van Halen ... and David Lee Roth.

-Peter Lindblad


Official Website:
Chickenfoot

CD Review: Anthrax "Worship Music"

CD Review: Anthrax "Worship Music"
Megaforce Records
All Access Review:  A


A dark, evil hymnal for the damned, Anthrax’s Worship Music is a gloriously aggressive monstrosity, frightening in its intensity and yet somehow also melodically captivating. Already anointed by metal’s cognoscenti as one of the New York City bashers’ greatest works, the record is Anthrax’s first with singer Joey Belladonna since 1990’s Persistence of Time, and the long-awaited reunion, brokered for the recent earth-conquering Big 4 tour with Metallica, Slayer and Megadeth, has birthed a thrash-metal masterpiece, a teeth-gnashing symphony of sonic mayhem and beautiful violence that never takes a smoke break.

More than that, however, Worship Music is classic Anthrax. It doesn’t suffer from an identity crisis. Thirty years into a career built on uncompromising, brutal music, Anthrax has stayed true to itself, despite numerous vocalists and other personnel changes. Even when they stretch out a bit, like in the soul-searching, cavernous chorus “The Giant,” where Belladona passionately wails, “Caught between the lines of right and wrong yeah/Caught between the things that I don’t know,” Anthrax stamps its mark on the track with a heavy, furious cyclone of serrated guitars, pounding rhythms and a heaving bridge as clear proof that they’re as grounded and comfortable in their own skin as any metal band that’s ever lived.

To put it another way, Anthrax is, indeed, the devil you know, and the sprawling Worship Music won’t leave anybody wondering if Scott Ian, Charlie Benante, Frank Bello, Rob Caggiano and, of course, Belladonna, have traded in their aggressive, high-velocity riffage, searing guitar solos, hammering drums and quaking, blinding bass lines – not to mention Belladonna’s primal, raging vocal waging piercing through the magnificent din – for a bag of magic beans and glitzy, pop-music stardom. After the haunting instrumental intro “Worship,” Anthrax ignites all-out war in “Earth on Hell,” a hornets’ nest of activity and energy that attacks the senses from every angle. “The Devil You Know” follows, and its momentum is unstoppable. A runaway semi of sound with an instantly memorable chorus (“Gotta go with the devil you know!”) and an impossibly heavy groove, “The Devil You Know” has secured its place among Anthrax’s most revered aural assaults. And speaking of aural assaults, the unrelenting “Fight ‘Em ‘Til You Can” – a song about fending off a zombie apocalypse – is a street fight of Benante’s vicious, martial-arts-style drumming, sharp guitar stabs and Belladonna’s bare-knuckled vocals.

Heavier still is the militaristic stomp of “I’m Alive,” with its thick, crushing riffs and Belladonna delivering the poisonous lyric “heaven lives in every gun” with gut-level urgency and theatrics, while the churning epic “In the End” rises slowly and majestically like a rogue wave that’s about to crash down on a defenseless fishing trawler. Everything on Worship Music boggles the senses. It’s war-like, with a little bit of dark, oaken cello and the occasional church bell for atmosphere. Tempos shift on a dime, and Anthrax’s frantic energy strains at the leash, while Belladonna barks like a Doberman at times and soars to the sun when coaxed to fly, like he does on the retina-scorching supernova “Crawl.” Always ready to do battle in the streets if they have to – as the haymaker-throwing, nose-bloodying riots of “The Constant” and “Revolution Screams” bear out – with Worship Music, Anthrax has come to blow open the doors of cathedrals everywhere and unleash hell.

-Peter Lindblad

Official Websites: 


CD Review: Michael Shenker "Temple of Rock"

CD Review: Michael Shenker "Temple of Rock"
Inakustik
All Access Review: A-


A shrine built of molten, rampaging riffs and burning solos – all infused with subtle melodic touches and flourishes – Temple of Rock is an all-out shred-a-thon from one of metal’s most enduring and admired guitar slingers. Pulling out all the stops, Michael Schenker unleashes a fast and furious sonic bombardment that sweetly and majestically explodes on impact in tracks like the “How Long,” “Storming In,” “The End of an Era” and “Fallen Angel,” and if this Temple of Rock is, indeed, a place of worship, perhaps it could also serve as a sanctuary for a man beset by turmoil in both his personal and public life.

A cult hero to serious fans of metal, Schenker is also a cautionary tale, an extraordinary talent whose alcoholism and health issues, not to mention his onstage blowups with UFO and revolving-door personnel changes in the Michael Schenker Group, almost completely derailed his career. There almost at the beginning with The Scorpions, founded by his older brother Rudolf in 1965, Schenker lent his burgeoning axe work to the band’s 1972 debut Lonesome Crow. While on tour with The Scorpions in support of Lonesome Crow, headliners UFO witnessed Schenker’s six-string sorcery. Under his spell, the British hard-rock survivors beamed him aboard as a replacement for Bernie Marsden, himself a temporary fill-in for departed original member Mike Bolton.

Schenker’s tenure with UFO was tumultuous, to say the least, spanning the years between 1974’s Phenomenon and 1979’s classic steamroller of a live LP Strangers in the Night. All the while, critics, blown away by Schenker’s blazing fretwork, lined up around the block to hail this guitar phenomenon, with the rest of UFO becoming engulfed by the large shadow he cast. Tensions ran high, and there were nights when it all came to a head. On a few occasions, Schenker was reported to have walked off the stage in the middle of a show. By 1978, he’d had enough, and for a brief period, Schenker rejoined The Scorpions, injecting Lovedrive’s “Another Piece of Meat,” “Coast to Coast” and the title track with a potent shot of lead guitar Viagra.

In the years since, Schenker has fronted his own project, the Michael Schenker Group, which for a time became the McAuley-Schenker Group. But, when UFO set about making the comeback record Walk on Water in 1995, Schenker couldn’t resist re-upping for another tour of duty. Eventually, though, Schenker would return to MSG, which has had its ups and downs, as has Schenker. Personnel shuffling and Schenker’s continued battles with the bottle led to inconsistent recordings and live performances, but through it all – including a bizarre episode where his wife divorced him and disappeared with his kids, and his manager’s alleged embezzlement of Schenker’s savings – the guitarist has persevered, despite a troubled 2007 tour, riddled with cancellations, that would have killed the careers of lesser artists.

Schenker, though, has apparently come out the other side a better man, and a more focused musician, as Temple of Rock bears out. Despite his problems, Schenker doesn’t seem to lack for friends. The band he assembled for Temple of Rock includes ex-Scorpion Herman Rarebell on drums, Schenker’s old UFO mate Pete Way on bass, Wayne Findlay on keyboards and Michael Voss on vocals. And that’s not all. Among the cast of thousands appearing as guest stars are keyboardist Don Airey, legendary Mountain guitarist Leslie West (who participates in a three-man guitar battle with Schenker and Michael Amott on “How Long (3 Generations Guitar Battle Version), and drum gods Carmine Appice and Brian Tichy – not to mention Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner.

But, go ahead and throw the liner notes away, because a cleaned-up, motivated Schenker was all that was needed to make guitar nerds wet their pants over this release. His solos, so fluid and smoothly executed, are sublime, and those heavy riffs of his have all the powerful thrust of booster rockets, propelling each track into the stratosphere. On the aforementioned “Fallen Angel,” Schenker assembles what seems to be a jigsaw puzzle of neon-lit guitar parts, piecing together surging, shape-shifting riffs and high-flying leads until they form a dazzling picture of an artist who isn’t afraid of complexity. Drag racing ahead is the “The End of an Era,” which showcases Schenker’s ability to combine speed, an impeccable feel for the urgency of the moment and barely harnessed energy, while he punishes “Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead” with power chords and shrouds it in a bluesy darkness that knocks at your backdoor like Perfect Strangers’-era Deep Purple did in the ‘80s.

In the quiet moments of the epic “Storming In,” Schenker adroitly navigates a tricky acoustic prelude, before a deluge of riffs comes pouring down and floods the scene. His solos here bloom like a bush of roses turned black by some demonic hand, setting the stage for the progressive-metal oddity “Scene of Crime,” a track that’s full of sonic menace and muscular rhythms that occasionally detours into Asian gardens of sound that an early Genesis might have planted.

The full breadth of Schenker’s talent and experience are on display in Temple of Rock, as the fist-pumping party anthem “Saturday Night” sits comfortably alongside the red-hot, muscle-car growl and grind of “Speed.” And if you like guitar solos the triple-threat guitar orgy of the freedom-fighting “How Long,” (3 Generations Guitar Battle Version)” featuring West and Amott, is not to be missed. This Temple of Rock is built on a bedrock foundation of classic musicianship and strong songwriting, and it houses one of the finest guitarists metal has ever known.

-Peter Lindblad

Official Michael Shenker Website: Michaelschenkerhimself.com

Chickenfoot: Putting their ‘Big Foot’ on the Gas

Super group returns with a new album full of rock and roll bravado, and a November tour.
By Peter Lindblad



That commanding voice of his, a primal scream surging with adrenaline and horsepower, has taken Sammy Hagar far in life. It got him into Van Halen, when brothers Eddie and Alex needed someone to fill David Lee Roth’s spandex. Its full-throated roar sent “I Can’t Drive 55” crashing through police barricades and barreling up the charts before settling in as a pop culture touchstone. What more could anybody ask of Hagar’s ravaged vocal chords, so beaten up by the hundreds and hundreds of shows he’s played over the years?

Joe Satriani, his Chickenfoot soul mate, thought Hagar was capable of doing so much more with it. “I related to him this experience I had a few months before we started really … or I started really writing for this record, and we were hanging out and I’d just come from another local studio, and I said, ‘Sam, they were working on a song that you sang on,’” relates Satriani. “It was Sammy and Neil Schon and Michael Walden, and other local musicians doing a Sly Stone song for a local film. And I was totally blown away listening to Sam’s vocal performance. He just sounded like a stone-cold R&B singer. And the register was lower and his vibrato was beautiful – his voice was the usual, a thousand feet wide.”

Emboldened by what he’d heard, and knowing that Hagar has a soft spot for soul and R&B classics, Satriani approached Hagar with a proposition for Chickenfoot’s recently released sophomore record, the whimsically titled III. “So I was saying, ‘Sam, that was like the greatest vocal I’ve ever heard. Why aren’t we doing that?’” asked Satriani. “So, he was definitely excited about it, because he remembered that session. And he had a good time doing it, and he started telling me about all the soul music that he loves and how he’d love to do it.”

                But, Hagar figured that this stylistic shift was a two-way street and that Satriani was going to have to go outside of his comfort zone to help Hagar adapt to the idea. “This [record] we thought, ‘Well, what do you think, Joe? What would you like to see from me on this record?’ He said, ‘I would like to hear you sing in a way no one’s ever heard you sing before,’” remembers Hagar. “And I went, ‘Hey …’ And he goes, ‘What do you want from me?’ And I said, ‘I want you to write me a piece of music that makes me sing that way (laughs).’”

                Satriani did just that on the tender, smoky track “Come Closer.” But, first, Hagar had work to do, and he was nervous about it. “Joe said, ‘I wrote these songs … write some lyrics.’ He said, ‘What do you want to sing about?’ So I wrote ‘Come Closer,’” said Hagar. “And I gave it to Joe. I’ve never handed lyrics over to a musician and said, ‘Here, write music to these lyrics.” I wait for the musician to give me some music and I write lyrics and melody to that, and that’s been the way I’ve always done it. That’s the way we did it on Chickenfoot. So anyway, Joe comes back. He loved the lyrics. He came back with a little piano part, and it was just magic, I thought. So we transferred it to guitar and we did a demo of it, just him and I. And God, it was just f**king great. I’m just going, ‘Yeah, I’ve never really sung this R&B before.’ I’ve sung the blues, but I never quite sang like this. And the meaning, the lyrical meaning, is very personal and sensitive, and it’s not typical of Sammy Hagar – you know, yelling and screaming. I mean, I’ve written ‘Eagles Fly,’ and some nice songs, ‘Dreams,’ but nothing quite so personal about a relationship.” And that emotional connection made Hagar a little apprehensive about singing it live.

“I was afraid of that song,” admits Hagar. “As much as I wrote it, you know, those lyrics came to Joe. When he came back and the sensitivity and emotion of the music, and the openness of it, I’d walk up to the mic and go, ‘Rrrnt.’ I was f**king froze up. It took me a long time to get the courage to do a real vocal, because I was sick … when I did the demo. I had a really bad sore throat and I couldn’t sing at all, but I sang it anyway. It was kind of cool. I was kind of hoarse, and I had no range. But, it had a magic about it. It was like Teddy Pendergrass or something. You know, how his voice always sounded so raspy, and I didn’t. So then I got scared of it. I said, ‘F**k, I don’t know if I can outdo that.’”

Eventually, Hagar got over his fear, and now he croons it with confidence. Still, the trouble that Hagar experienced with “Come Closer” was emblematic of the difficulties he had penning lyrics for Chickenfoot III, a diverse, multi-faceted recording that has its moments of righteous rage (“Three and a Half Letters”), uplifting, emotional swells of pop-metal (“Different Devil”), writhing metallic-funk grooves (“Up Next”) and propulsive, accelerated rockers (“Big Foot” and “Last Temptation”) that swerve and careen like a runaway semi. 

“I really felt some pressure of the success of Chickenfoot I, because no one cared if it was going to be successful,” said Hagar. “No one thought it would be that successful.  I mean, I thought it was going to be successful, but I didn’t think it would go gold in every freaking country. And it was on the charts for a year. I haven’t had an album on the charts for a year my whole life. I have had some No. 1s, but … so that caused some pressure. It took a little bit of the casual, ‘we don’t care’ attitude out of it for me. And I thought, ‘I do care.’ And I really gotta out-do that last record. The first Chickenfoot record was pretty damn solid.”

Wringing his hands and obsessing over every detail took some of the fun out of recording Chickenfoot III for Hagar. Don’t think for a second, though, that Hagar isn’t having a blast with Satriani, his former Van Halen mate Michael Anthony, and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith. For his part, Anthony found the making of Chickenfoot III thoroughly enjoyable.

“The reason why we even formed the band in the first place was because we didn’t want to have any kind of pressure,” said Anthony. “You know, everybody’s done their stuff in the past, in their respective bands and what they’ve done, so we wanted to do this purely to have fun and make music. In the beginning, even when we first went in the studio back in 2008, we had no intention of even doing an album back then. It was just so much fun getting together and jamming, we just wanted to see musically where it could take us or if anything could even come of it. And then all of a sudden, we’re working on an album, all of a sudden there’s a tour, and obviously, a second album. But we don’t want to have to feel that kind of pressure, because we just want to do it purely for the enjoyment of making music. But we are very proud of what we did. I think we have really evolved as a band, it’s more in-depth now. I think we’re finding our own niche and our own sound, and songwriting and everything else.”

While Anthony and everybody else were living the high life, Hagar was hunkered down trying to put down words that would match the intensity and drive of the music that was flowing out of the quartet in the studio. “For Sammy, I think it was a little more difficult because there were a lot of ideas coming out really quick, and when we actually got into the studio to start recording, jeez, like the first eight songs that we put down, we were like doing two basic tracks a day,” said Anthony. “I mean, we were on fire. And Sammy is going, ‘Hey, whoa, whoa. Wait a second. I’m still working on an idea for this song.’ And I think it was a little tougher for Sammy this time.”

Adding weight to Hagar’s burden was the sadness he was feeling over the passing of his longtime manager and confidante, John Carter. Closer than most managers and their clients, the Carter-Hagar bond was as strong as steel. Almost preternaturally, Carter seemed to know what was best for Hagar, and when there were calls for Hagar to go back in the studio with Chickenfoot while he was writing his book, “Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock,” Carter made sure his client didn’t spread himself thin.

“He was really just the greatest guy, and Carter wanted me to be great, and he insisted … he weeded out my bullshit, and he wasn’t always right, but most of the time, if he wasn’t right, he at least got my attention,” said Hagar. “I’ve got to tell you, he beat me up going into this record. ‘If you ain’t ready, we ain’t making a record. I don’t care,’ he goes. ‘I don’t care if it takes five years. I want you to be the best you’ve ever been.’ And I’m going, ‘F**k. Wow. That’s a big challenge.’ But he did. He postponed this record. We were supposed to do it last year. Chad had a little break. But I said, ‘Carter, I’m writing my book right now.’ And he goes, ‘No. Then forget it. I’m not going to allow you to do anything mediocre.’ He goes, ‘Until you are ready and inspired, then you’re not going in that f**king studio.’ I mean, what manager would tell you that? So, I don’t know. I love the guy. He really pushed me on this record.”

The track “Three and a Half Letters” is a perfect example of Hagar’s ambition. Inspired by Carter, with his manager’s words still ringing in his ears, Hagar took on the challenge of writing a song that would evoke the desperation and anxiety of these times, what with the troubled economy and the still-burning ember of war in Afghanistan glowing red hot. With Hagar intent on writing something with meaning for Chickenfoot listeners, he had a request for Satriani, and that was that the technically brilliant guitarist let loose and go wild. In recording “Three and a Half Letters,” everyone let out any pent-up energy they had left.

“When we finally got in the studio to do ‘Three and a Half Letters,’ by then a lot of things had happened,” said Satriani. “I mean, the record was pretty much done and we had just this one last piece of music that Sam and I had written. And our good friend, co-manager and Sam’s personal manager, John Carter, had gotten ill and passed away during the making of the record. And we were back in the studio after he had just passed doing sessions, and so all of that, together with Sam’s earlier request of letting go, was definitely something that I was feeling at that moment. And that I think allowed everybody to let go, and everybody did on that particular one. It was just a very emotionally charged afternoon in the studio.”

A spoken-word piece in which Hagar reads letters that speak of the hardships people are going through presently in America, “Three and a Half Letters” explodes out of the speakers, sending shards of disenchantment and anger flying in all directions. As impactful and surprising as “Three and a Half Letters” is, perhaps the most memorable track off Chickenfoot III is “Big Foot.” The first single – a driving song, of course – from the new LP is a stomping, hook-filled, heaving beast of a song, and for Hagar, it’s the one where all the pieces fit together almost immediately.

“That was the easiest one. That was the most fun,” said Hagar. “Out of all the songs on the album, that was the most fun to record and it came the easiest. Some of the other songs we worked real hard on. But [with] ‘Big Foot’ we went in that day, Joe presented us with that riff, and I had the title ‘Big Foot’ in my head ‘cause actually Joe called it ‘Big Foot’ before I even had lyrics. But what is Big Foot? I don’t know, but that is it. So, I didn’t want to sing about Sasquatch, about the Abominable Snowman or some shit. So what else are you gonna talk about? My big foot? Where is it going to be? Is it going to be up your ass? Or is it going to be on the gas, you know. So the guys thought, well, let’s go with the gas on this. Here’s a Sammy cartoon. I’ve made a career out of these kinds of songs. And by the time the band had learned the song and recorded it, which took two or three hours, I had the lyrics written and I did the vocal and that song was done. And we all said, ‘This has to be the first song the fans hear from Chickenfoot,’ because this is all-out Chickenfoot. This is the way we work. This is the way we roll. This is the way we did the first album. It was done in no time. And the rest of the CD didn’t come that easy.”

Hopefully, the North American road-test tour Chickenfoot embarks on in November to try out the new stuff onstage will go more smoothly for Hagar and company. However, Smith won’t be joining the rest of Chickenfoot this time around. Touring commitments to the Red Hot Chili Peppers will keep him from going out on the road with Chickenfoot this time around. In his place will be another legendary drummer, Kenny Aronoff. So far, the transition with Aronoff has been seamless, although Anthony was surprised at how Aronoff prepared for his mission.

“Actually when Kenny came in, and he’s got some … well not big shoes, because Kenny, he’s very talented in his own right, but Chad’s so unorthodox the way he plays in this band, and you know, Kenny came in like trying to play it like how Chad did, and we knew as soon as Kenny started getting comfortable with the songs, he’d just kind of make them his own,” said Anthony. “Especially, only having rehearsed a couple of days, all of a sudden it was just really clicking. He was just throwing in a lot of his own fills and making it his tune, which he should, stepping in a live situation. So I think it’s a pretty smooth transition. I think he’s going to do really well. But, you know, when he first came in – he played with us probably about a month ago now – he came up and he goes, ‘Well, yeah, I’ve been listening to these songs …’ and he pulled out … he charted them. He says that’s what does when he plays other people’s stuff, when he comes into … like with John Fogerty, who he’s been playing with recently, that he’ll chart it all out so he knows the song. And I said, ‘Okay, okay, Kenny. You look at those charts, but once you’ve got it down, you throw those charts away. You don’t need them anymore. Do your own thing, man.’ So that was a little strange right at first, but he’s slipped into it really well.”

                As did Hagar when he joined Van Halen, a time of incredible creativity for him and Eddie, Alex and Michael Anthony, when they answered the critics who doubted they’d be able to carry out without David Lee Roth. Hagar recalls the band being “on fire” in the studio during the sessions for the first Van Halen with Roth, 1986’s 5150. Eventually, Anthony and Hagar, in particular, were able to develop some amazing, signature harmonies that made Van Halen soar higher than ever. “It was pretty much an instant mesh, but I’ll say one thing, after doing backgrounds to David Lee Roth, because his vocal range is a lot lower, all of a sudden, it was like, ‘Whoa,’” said Anthony. “I mean, it really pushed me in the beginning, so I was all of a sudden singing in registers that I hadn’t really sung in before. Not that I couldn’t do it. But I never did it with Van Halen, and it was cool. And I think it really inspired me and the fact that I could sing those parts, I was really digging it. We really kind of took it to another level vocally with the backgrounds we were doing.”

                Hagar and Anthony are bringing that same intricate vocal knitting to Chickenfoot, putting more emphasis than ever before on their unique harmonies and bringing them to the forefront in a way Van Halen never did.

“Singing with him, he’s the only guy that I know that could just go above – I don’t care if I’m at the peak of my range; he can get up above me, just squeeze his nuts and get on up there – and right on key, he can mimic my phrasing,” said Hagar. “He’s just … he’s so fast. That’s the thing that people don’t understand about Mike. He learns faster than anyone I’ve ever met in my life. Joe Satriani, Eddie Van Halen … guys come up with riffs, and come on. I can’t f**king play them. I’m sitting here with an acoustic guitar around the house still trying to learn these riffs on this record, and I ain’t got ‘em down yet. Like Joe goes to Mike, [scats a line] and Mike goes [scats the same line] second times he’s done it. Okay, go. I mean, he does that with my lyrics and my phrasing … you know, I’ll go, ‘No, Mike. I’m going [sings a line].’ And he’s just right with me. You know, third take. And I just want to do anything but work. Having a guy like him, to be able to learn Joe’s parts and my parts and get out of the studio to get down to the beach as quick as we can, is like a f**king dream come true. I think that pretty much sums Mike up, right? (laughs)”

With Chickenfoot III out and the band ready to hit the road, the guys are content with how this Chickenfoot project has taken off. Though it wasn’t meant to set the world on fire, in a way, it has, breathing new life into the careers of Hagar, Anthony and Satriani. The music of Chickenfoot is straight out of the ‘70s, influenced by such legends as Cream, Led Zeppelin and The Who – bands that inspired all of the members to become musicians in the first place. And the rest of the world is responding.

“I’ve met tons of people going on the Internet, fans, younger people, that don’t even necessarily know where we come from,” said Anthony. “But they hear of this band Chickenfoot and they like the music, and that’s great. It’s like, wow. It’s not like we’re not just bringing the fans that we have out; hopefully, we’re gaining some of those new fans.”

When asked what he thought the future of Chickenfoot is, Anthony joked, “We can’t even map out what we’re doing a day in advance (laughs).” Turning only slightly more serious, the affable Anthony remarked, “Well, right now the future is getting this album out and going on tour. Unfortunately, Chad can’t be with us. Chad’s still in the band. I know he has a big commitment with his other band now, and he’ll probably be out on the road for quite a while now. And so, what’ll even happen at that point, once we’ve been out on tour, I don’t know. But I mean, right now we just want to get this album out because for me, personally, it’s one of the best albums I’ve ever been involved with in my career. And I really, in my heart … I mean, I listen to this album when I’m at home, and I’m like, man … from the harmonies to the songs and the way everybody’s playing, I just can’t wait to get out on tour and play this. We are going to afford ourselves the time now, or we can, to go out and do a tour and tour as much as we can, or we want. The last time, we go to Europe, we can only play here, here and here. We’ve got to get back to the States, and the whole time, we’re kind of like crossing our fingers that Chad doesn’t have to be called back in to do anything. So we just kind of … we had to look at everyone’s schedules and this time out, I think, everybody’s schedules are going to be on the same track so that we can go out and play.”

To the men of Chickenfoot, getting together to play is what matters most. And as long as everybody is enjoying themselves, Chickenfoot could go on for many years. Or, it could end very quickly.

“I’m pretty confident that the core group – Sammy, Mike, Chad and myself – will make another couple of records,” said Satriani. “I truly believe that. I think that every time we finish a record, I think we all got the feeling like, ‘Wow, this is almost like a step to some new beginning.’ And then, of course, reality steps in and then it’s like, ‘Oh, that’s right. Chad’s in the Chili Peppers. Sam’s got a million things going on. I’ve got a solo career. And Mike’s on a permanent vacation, which he takes very seriously.’ But, we kind of just put that out of our minds, and we just move ahead, one step at a time. That’s what I think. I really do think there’s so much more music to share between the four of us, we will make more records.”

Ozzy Osbourne: The Doctor Is In

The Doctor Is In
By: Jeb Wright - Classic Rock Revisited


Ozzy Osbourne continues to entertain people around the world as one of the top vocalists in Heavy Metal history. Now, Ozzy is back with two new projects, neither of which features him on center stage. The first, a book titled Trust me, I’m Dr. Ozzy, is an advice column where the Prince of Darkness listens to questions about kids, relationships, sex, drugs and anything else on his reader’s mind before giving them advice on what to do in their current situation. It is a hilarious book; however, Ozzy does the unexpected and comes across as actually caring what these people are going through. You get his over the top sense of humor but Ozzy also reveals he is much more in touch with humanity then one might expect.

The other project is a documentary by his son, Jack Osbourne, titled God Bless Ozzy Osbourne. Jack went behind the lens and delivered big with a behind the scenes look at who Ozzy really was, and is, and what it was like to grow up his son. At times this is humorous, but other times it is soul searchingly honest and emotional. Ozzy discusses the project in-depth in the interview that follows.

At the end of our time together, I took the opportunity to ask Dr. Ozzy for some advice with a personal problem I am currently facing. His answer was spot on, so much so that I’m hoisting a piece of pepperoni pizza in his honor as I type these words.

Jeb: Your new book is a collection of question and answers from your advice column that was in the Times in London and in Rolling Stone Magazine. What was your reaction when you were asked to do the column?

Ozzy: What happened was that I was asked to get this test on my DNA because of everything that I had done with drugs and alcohol, and the lifestyle I had led the last forty years. I did this thing called Genomics, which is where they take some of your blood and they go clear back in your bloodline and figure out where you came from, and what diseases and things you could be facing in your lifetime.

The Times in London said, “Why don’t you do a column since you’ve survived everything and give advice to people.” The column is really just common sense. I suddenly found myself relating to a lot of the people writing in. They wrote in about kids and marriage and all of this stuff. If I didn’t know what to say, or if it was serious, then I would tell them to go and see a doctor.

Jeb: When they did the DNA test, I heard they found you were part Neanderthal.

Ozzy: Yeah, yeah, that explains the thick part of my skull [laughter].

Jeb: Did you expect the results to be that in-depth?

Ozzy: I didn’t know what to expect. I did find out one thing that I didn’t like. Every morning, I like to get up and have a strong cup of coffee and I found out I’m allergic to coffee because of this test. I go, “Oh fuck.” I have one cup of good strong coffee a day but that’s it.

I can only decipher about a third of it [the test] because two thirds of it is a lot of technical jargon. It’s not a cheap test; it costs quite a lot of money. It is beyond my fucking brain, what they talk about. It is hard for me to digest information because it may as well all be in Latin.

Jeb: Did you have a lot of fun doing the column?

Ozzy: If it wasn’t fun then I wouldn’t have done it. I suppose people were expecting me to tell them to take a ton of acid, and an aspirin, and go to bed.

Jeb: I think the book has more charm because you’re so open about substance abuse.

Ozzy: I was talking to my wife just the other day about this; most of my old associates, people that I used to get stoned and drunk with, are dead and gone. There are a few stragglers but most are dead. The word moderation has never applied to Ozzy Osbourne. I never went out for a fucking drink; I went out to get fucking crippled. I would say, “I am going down to the local pup, darling. I’ll be back in a little while.” I would show back up three days later in a pair of fucking handcuffs.

Jeb: Now, at age 62, is moderation something you can achieve?

Ozzy: I can‘t drink and I can’t do drugs. I mean, I live in California and I could get a bag of mild marijuana from the doctor but who I am fucking kidding? I’d start out with a mild bag of marijuana and I’d end up with a fucking bag of crack. My mind runs away with the fantasy because one drink, or one joint, or one whatever doesn’t apply to me but my head still thinks it does. I will think about it and my head runs away with the thought.

Jeb: You have tried to quit for as long as I can remember. Why is it different now?

Ozzy: I got fed up with quitting. The first thing I stopped was tobacco, and don’t ask me how I did that. I have been in nearly every rehab around. I have been in rehab with heroin users and they say, “I can put the smack down but I can’t give up tobacco.” I put it down first. My voice would crack in concert and I felt like a soccer player kicking the fucking wall when he was not in the game.

To be honest with you, I was not having a good time. I would make all of these grandiose statements about how I was Mr. Sober, now. In the National Enquirer, the following day, you would see me on the floor in a bog covered in piss.

There is a lot more help these days than there used to be. It is a lot more openly spoken about then when I was a kid. My folks didn’t say, “He’s got a drinking problem.” You just didn’t talk about it. My drinking problem was that I couldn’t get e-fucking-nough. If I knew, and I honestly thought to myself, that I could drink moderately, then I would, but I know I can’t. I never ever did, I never ever will and I don’t want to.

Jeb: I think when someone like you tells people to stop doing drugs it comes across loud and clear. What was one of your favorite questions on drugs?

Ozzy: The one that I remember was this guy who had just come back from a doctor who had prescribed this medication that said on the bottle, “While taking this medication, do not drink alcohol.” This guy asks, “What should I do?” I said, “Well, if you’re a dummy, and you’re fucking nuts, then you will drink alcohol with the medication. If I were you, then I would do what it says on the bottle and not drink any alcohol.” Some people are fucking insane.

Jeb: Oh, come on, I imagine back in the day you would’ve drank with the medication.

Ozzy: I did. If they would have asked me that question ten years ago, then I would have been on drugs and drunk and I would’ve gone, “Dude, this is Ozzy, I’ve just taken this medication and I’m about to down a quart of vodka. Where is the nearest fucking hospital from where I am?”

Jeb: Were there any sex questions that were uncomfortable for you to answer?

Ozzy: The newspaper would get them all in and then just send through the funny things. One guy wrote in telling me that he was worried about his relationship because he used to have sex with his wife three to four times a week. He said, “Now, we are only doing it once a week. I’m 80 years old and I’m worried we are growing apart.” I said, “Stop complaining, man!” I mean fucking hell, he’s doing good.

Jeb: I want to talk about a project your son Jack did called God Bless Ozzy Osbourne. Tell me about how that came about.

Ozzy: He decided to go behind the camera, rather than in front of the camera. He wanted to start a production company and he said, “Would you mind if I did a documentary on you?” I said, “Just don’t make me look like something that I’m not. If I’m bad then say that I’m bad.” I didn’t want him to do one of these documentaries that say, “Look at me, I’m the wonderful one.” I’ve had my wonderful moments but I’ve also had my fucked up moments as well. I said, “Jack, you’ve got the freedom of the camera. Do the best job that you can.”

I must confess, when I was watching it in a theater in New York, part of me said, “Fuck, be careful what you ask for.” I’m not afraid to talk about the bad things I’ve done in my life. So many of us are the great and glorious and never talk about the things that we don’t want to talk about.

Jeb: Was it emotional for you to see you through your son’s eyes?

Ozzy: No, because when I was watching it, I was just watching a film. We’re a very close family. There were parts of it that kind of got me. There was a question that asked if I was a very good father and the answer was no. I thought about it and I suppose it was true because I was always fucked up, you know.

Jeb: I think that would be hard to take now that you’re not all fucked up.

Ozzy: But it’s the truth. I remember one time I was arguing with my son Jack and I said, “What the fuck is wrong with you? You’re always complaining about what I’m doing. You’ve never wanted for a damn fucking thing.” He said, “Oh yeah?” I said, “Name one fucking thing in your life that you’ve wanted that you haven’t got? If your bicycle broke, you got a new one. If you wanted to go somewhere you got to do it.” He said, “You want to know what I’ve never had? A father.” He stopped me dead in my fucking tracks. Alcoholics and drug addicts are self-centered people. We only care about ourselves.

Jeb: You can’t go back and do it again.

Ozzy: If you could buy love then people would be selling it in gold boxes.

Jeb: Are you at a place in your life where you can finally say that you’re happy and that you’re satisfied?

Ozzy: No.

Jeb: How can that be?

Ozzy: I’m a worrier. I will worry if I don’t have anything to worry about.

Jeb: From the outside looking in, it appears you’re doing great. You can tell that you are really in love with your family.

Ozzy: We do stupid things and we have rows but it’s a family. When we started filming The Osbournes T.V. series people would come into my house and go, “Is it always like this?” I was like, “What?” They would go, “Your son just put a fucking spike in his shoe and your daughter just bought a new party dress. Your wife is coming in with all these shopping bags and the fucking cat is on fire.” It was just how our life is. When we did the show, a lot of people ended up relating to us. We didn’t go Hollywood bullshit.

Jeb: My daughter, Cassidy, watched the show and said, “We are like The Osbournes but without the money and drugs.”

Ozzy: [Laughter] I love it.

Jeb: My last one is asking Dr. Ozzy for some advice. I need some help with an issue that I know you have struggled with. I have discovered a new authentic Mexican restaurant in town and I’m hooked on burritos. What do I do to get off the burritos?

Ozzy: Switch to pizza [laugher]!

Jeb: That’s perfect. I’m getting a pizza today.

Ozzy: I will do that with burritos. I will eat nothing but burritos for about a month and then I will go, “This is fucking boring.” A normal person wouldn’t eat burritos every day for six weeks. If they did then they would never eat one again for the rest of their life.

When I was doing that TV show people were noticing that I was eating these energy bars, and then they got them for me for free. Then, I was eating burritos all the time and I was given a lifetime supply and I never had to buy one when I went to the place to get one. Once they started giving them to me for free, I’ve never had one since. When it was free, I didn’t want it. I have no idea why I’m like that.

For more of Jeb Wright's interviews, reviews and news check out Classic Rock Revisited

Deep Purple "Phoenix Rising"

Deep Purple "Phoenix Rising" 
Eagle Vision
All Access Review: A - 


All was not well with Deep Purple when version Mark IV accepted a lucrative offer to jet off to Jakarta, Thailand, to play before a people hungry for just a little taste of big-time, arena-sized, hard rock. For starters, Mark IV had in its stable not one, but two, drug-crazed toxic twins in bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes and guitar wunderkind Tommy Bolin, both of whom were being dragged to their own personal hells by severe addictions and free-for-all excess. That factor alone should have spelled doom for Mark IV, but there were other divisive issues, like the fact that keyboardist Jon Lord wasn’t completely onboard with the soulful, more groove-oriented direction of the newly constituted lineup, now down to two original members, Lord and drummer Ian Paice. The old guard was, somewhat reluctantly, ceding authority to the new one, and into the void of leadership stepped Hughes, Bolin and hairy vocal god David Coverdale, who had replaced Ian Gillan.

Their styles inevitably clashed. And Lord will tell anybody who cares to listen that 1975’s Come Taste the Band was really not a Deep Purple album. It was a Hughes-Coverdale-Bolin project, backed by two longtime Deep Purple veterans, as Lord explains in “Getting Tighter,” a frank and revealing 90-minute documentary packaged with the new DVD, “Phoenix Rising,” that delves, often uncomfortably, into Deep Purple’s troubled transition from the Ritchie Blackmore years into its short-lived, turmoil-filled Mark IV phase. It is accompanied by a true treasure, the lost, but incredibly well-filmed 30-minute “Rises Over Japan” concert footage that is now finally seeing the light of day. An electric performance sees Coverdale and company roaring through “Burn,” giving a smoldering rendition of “You Keep on Moving,” slinking around the funky “Love Child” and blazing through “Smoke on the Water” and the scorching closer “Highway Star,” which drives the audience nuts – after all Japan always has been, historically, a Deep Purple stronghold. It’s one of the very rare pieces of film that shows Bolin playing with Deep Purple, and for that, it is absolutely essential. The playing is muscular, Coverdale’s vocals are masculine and sexy, and the band seems invigorated, even if they know the end is near. But, then there’s that documentary, as strangely gripping as a car wreck.

Through gritted teeth, and trying to be as diplomatic as possible, Lord recounts those days of ruin in his own words in “Getting Tighter,” just as Hughes presents another perspective, one of a repentant wild man who has come to grips with the fact that his lurid appetites probably contributed to the fall of one of rock’s greatest groups. It’s a fascinating account of a period in Deep Purple’s existence that has, in some ways, been sort of brushed under the rug … with good reason. For all involved, it’s not a particularly pleasant episode – Coverdale would not even consent to take part in the film. These were, after all, the last days of Deep Purple – yes, different versions of the band would later reunite, but for all intents and purposes, this was it. And for Hughes, especially, that brief time he was with Deep Purple, as artistically gratifying as it may have been, was when his addiction took hold. 

Then, there was Jakarta, a tragic piece of history that would rank right up there with Altamont had it not happened in a place ignored by most of the world, like Thailand. Not pulling any punches, Lord and Hughes, the only Deep Purple members interviewed here, explain in detail what happened to Purple. From the notorious California Jam gig, where Blackmore memorably destroyed a TV camera in a complete onstage meltdown, on through Hughes’ recruitment, Mark III’s Stormbringer and Blackmore’s subsequent departure, and then trumpeting Bolin’s flamboyant arrival, the drugs and the Jakarta incident, followed by the almost anticlimactic breakup.

For those unfamiliar with the Jakarta story, it’s a murky tale to be sure. Invited to play Jakarta as the first rock band from the U.K. or America to play Thailand, Deep Purple gladly accepted a big cash offer to do it. Met with incredible fanfare – oddly way-over-the-top as Hughes recalls riding with tanks and soldiers on a convoy through town, as the people lavished the band with an outpouring of affection – Deep Purple experienced corrupt promoters who tried to stiff them on their payment and stuff over 100,000 people into a 50,000-seat stadium. Then, there was the murder of one of the minders hired to care for Hughes and Bolin. Hughes was arrested for the crime, and the band was forced to play a second show while grieving terribly for its loss. Hughes openly describes the duress he was under and recounts how thuggish security guards turned the dogs loose on the crowd, as all hell broke loose and fans were mauled by the animals.

Not a pretty picture, is it? Well, neither is the guitar case of cocaine Lord says he saw. This is as ugly a story of rock ‘n’ roll excess as has ever been told, though there are bright spots. The amount of rare vintage concert footage, from various phases of Deep Purple’s life, is astounding, as are the interview pieces from yesterday with Bolin and Paice and the film of Deep Purple, and its entourage, actually in Jakarta, getting off the plane and setting up for those doomed shows. And for all of Lord’s reservations about Come Taste the Band, he does extol the virtues of Bolin’s thrilling musicianship and the album’s strengths as a rock record. For his part, through the self-flagellation, Hughes also seems to sincerely view the work on that record as one of the most artistically rewarding times of his life.

And so, what’s here is an amazing tale, one that’s far more than just a tawdry, sensationalized “Behind the Music” stumble into the gutter. But, questions remain, such as why no Coverdale? Why is he not a part of this? And why are Hughes and Lord the only ones talking? Couldn’t the filmmakers bring a broader perspective to the documentary? If “Phoenix Rising” – and its centerpiece “Getting Tighter” – comes up a bit a short, this is the reason. Ultimately, however, there is so much to love about this collection. The electronic press kit for Come Taste the Band in “Phoenix Rising” is a wonderfully detailed look at the record, complete with a track-by-track assessment by Hughes and Lord. And that’s not all. There is also a great reproduction of an old Record World magazine section devoted to Deep Purple that includes a wide array of interviews with band members and their associates, advertisements, photos … if the documentary wasn’t enough for you, this should seal the deal. Furthermore, there is a special two-disc DVD/CD package that will include an audio version of “Rises Over Japan.” Run, don’t walk, to get this.

-          Peter Lindblad



CD Review: Rainbow "Live in Germany 1976"

CD  Review: Rainbow "Live in Germany 1976"
Eagle Records
All Access Review: A-


Never one to be careful with his words – it’s been said, after all, that he infamously referred to the elements of funk and soul that Glenn Hughes and David Coverdale injected into the Mark IV version of Deep Purple as “shoeshine music,” not exactly the most politically correct of descriptions – guitar sorcerer Ritchie Blackmore had “creative differences” with just about everybody who was ever in Rainbow. Notorious for being difficult to work with, Blackmore burned bridges over and over with a series of firings that led to massive personnel overhauls in Rainbow – this after already having swum away from what he surely perceived as a sinking ship of dysfunction in the last incarnation of Deep Purple, born out by the cold public shoulder given to Purple’s last hurrah, at least before later reunions, Come Taste the Band.

Go all the way back to the messy birth of Rainbow, those sessions in Tampa Bay, Florida that yielded what was originally going to be Blackmore’s first solo salvo across Purple’s bow, a single with a version of the Steve Hammond-penned “Black Sheep of the Family” and “Sixteenth Century Greensleeves” on the B-side. Though still technically in Deep Purple at the time, Blackmore, his aspirations leaning toward a more classical interpretation of hard rock and heavy metal, had holed up with Dio in a hot, muggy place where retirees go to die with ace musicians like keyboardist Matthew Fischer of Procol Harum, ELO cellist Hugh McDowell, and Dio’s band mate in Elf, drummer Gary Driscoll . The results pleased Blackmore so much that he decided to make a solo album – just with a whole new cast of characters. Keeping Driscoll, Blackmore and Dio gathered up the remnants of Elf, aside from guitarist David Feinstein, and with bassist Craig Gruber and keyboardist Mickey Lee Soule, they crafted Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, a medieval fantasy world of an album marred by bad sound and occasional lapses in musical judgment and taste.

Which brings us to 1976’s Rainbow Rising, a metal classic by any standard of measurement. Every bit the killing machine that Deep Purple was in its finest hour, the lineup that recorded Rising – none of whom were around for Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, except, of course, Dio – barely harnessed its considerable horsepower on that great record. There was Tony Carey on keyboards, Jimmy Bain on bass and the all-powerful Cozy Powell on drums, and the combination was magical. But the thing about Blackmore, aside from his ability to mold and sculpt some of the most unforgettable riffs in rock history and reel off solos that fly closer to the sun than Icarus ever dreamed possible, is that he simply cannot compromise his artistic vision. It isn’t in his nature. And so, again, Blackmore issued pink slips to everybody, Dio being the only survivor in this purge. This time, however, Blackmore went a bit too far. Rainbow never again was this good.

But before the inglorious end of this version of Rainbow, a 1977 live album, Rainbow on Stage, was issued, and it was a lead balloon. It culled a patchwork of muted concert performances of the Rising crew, mostly from shows in Japan, with a couple tracks from shows in Germany. Lacking the fire and brimstone normally generated by the Rising gang when confronting an audience, it’s a lukewarm representation at best and it was missing one of the band’s greatest achievements, “Stargazer.” Thirty-four years later, the ghosts of Bain, Powell, Carey, Dio and Blackmore are avenged by Rainbow: Live in Germany 1976, a two-disc collection of long-lost performances of that revered lineup from their scorched-earth tour of German hamlets like Cologne, Munich, Dusseldorf and Mannheim.

Gathered from reels of tape found in vaults in London, as the brief liner notes here indicate, the eight songs – all except two eclipsing the 13:00 mark – that comprise this release all burn with intensity. Free to explore his every whim on the guitar, Blackmore gives a performance for the ages. Opening Disc 1 with a relatively compact 5:25 “Kill the King,” the band, propulsive and feeling its oats, comes out with guns blazing as Blackmore fires a hail of notes as arrows into the crowd and drives the band’s unstoppable momentum with motoring riffs. The bluesy, Zeppelin-esque stomper “Mistreated,” which Blackmore wrote with Coverdale, follows and is drenched in exotica. It’s a vision quest for Blackmore, where he emits quiet, meditative guitar codes for ancient astronauts before painting the sky with echoing, hallucinatory chords and epic runs across the expanse of the universe. Even more disarming is how Blackmore’s insistent, pulverizing riffs pound away in “Sixteenth Century Greensleeves,” while still managing to shoulder the melody like a muscle-bound steelworker carrying an I-beam as Carey, Powell and Bain construct the song’s sturdy framework with workmanlike attention to detail.

Dio sings the transcendent Disc One closer “Catch a Rainbow” beautifully, letting Blackmore reveal intimate little eddies of sonic mystery and wonderment before the epic build-up comes on a like a sudden storm and whips up gale force winds of sound, with his aerial guitar acrobatics diving and rising like some sort of flying dragon. It’s magnificent to behold, as are the furious, demonic grooves Blackmore and company push and prod in an absolutely gripping “Man on a Silver Mountain” tour de force. Carey channels his inner Keith Emerson in the dancing keyboards that introduce “Stargazer,” another massive, powerful undertaking that clocks in at 17:10 and takes all kinds of strange, but utterly beguiling, twists and turns, while never losing the plot. All of which sets the stage for the rhythmically dynamic, thundering canon of “Still I’m Sad” and “Do You Close Your Eyes,” played at top speed and full of balled-up energy that simply explodes at Blackmore’s command. His soloing has never been as wild or as carefree, while still retaining the precision, care and blinding speed that has made him a legend.

An exhausting listen that leaves one breathless and satisfied, like the best concerts do, Rainbow Live in Germany 1976 provides an ironclad argument for Blackmore to not mess with a good thing. The chemistry between these musicians is obvious, and Dio wails as if he’s chained and held aloft above a hot bonfire of guitars, bass, keyboards and drums that never turn to ash. Simply put, this the live album Rainbow should have put out in 1977, but … well, better late than never I suppose.

-          Peter Lindblad

Backstage Auctions Rolls Out a Different Type of Auction

Summer Classic Rock 'n Roll Auction
Auction Dates: September 17th - 25th

By Pat Prince

Backstage Auction’s “Summer Classic” auction, September 17-25, will be unique for a rock ‘n’ roll auction house that typically handles consignments from only those involved in the recording industry. The sole collection for the “Summer Classic” auction is that of a private collector.

Uncle Ted's favorite Indian boots.
“This is the first, and likely only, exception we are making to our standard model,” says Backstage Auctions owner Jacques Van Gool. “We pretty much knew where these items in this auction came from. This is a collection that came from a private collector who has been a buyer from Backstage Auctions, literally, from the very first auction. And he never skipped a beat — every single auction we put up, he bought. So the one thing that I did know is that a lot of the things still have the original certificate of authenticity. I know where they came from, so I’m very comfortable. And items that we found that didn’t come from us, we had the signatures verified by a third party to make sure the signatures are authentic.”

He continues: “When you have an individual who has been so incredibly loyal to you, literally from the first day you been in business, you build a personal relationship with them— which is what we had. And he sadly passed away and his family did not know where to go. And we just felt — and it’s hard to put into exact words — but if he knows that we are taking care of this, then I would like to believe that that would make him happy.”

Also, this may be one of Backstage Auction’s most eclectic auctions yet. “The fact that he was so diverse and eclectic of a collector means that you’re probably going to find something from anyone who was somebody in rock ‘n’ roll. He wasn’t discriminating towards either a particular artist or a particular musical genre or a particular type of item — from ticket stubs to videos — everything you can think of. But he did have a couple favorites.”

One of those favorites is Ted Nugent. According to Van Gool, twenty-five percent of the entire collection is made up of Nugent-abilia. “There’s a tremendous amount of Ted Nugent stuff,” says Van Gool. “I mean, it’s impressive. The rarest vinyl you can think of. A CD collection that is just over-the-top. Then there’s also the personal stuff, like one of Ted’s most favorite outfits that actually used to hang in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which is a pair of his Indian boots that he used to wear for years and years. There has to be over a thousand photos where you can find Ted wearing those particular boots. And there are Gold and Platinum record awards (RIAA) that were all issued to Ted Nugent. These were his personal record awards, including one issued to his mother.”

1965 Pandora & The Males "Kiddie A Go Go"
He goes on: “One of the things I thought was so cool is that we came across a 7” of Pandora & the Males’ “Kiddie A Go Go” from 1965. We had set it aside because no one here had recognized what it was. Finally, when we started doing research on it, we found that Kiddie A Go Go (aka, Mulqueens Kiddie A Go Go) was a pre-teen dance show from 1965, Chicago — which was basically a cross between American Bandstand and the Mouseketeers. They had some pretty interesting artists on the show, but they also had their own house band which was Pandora (Elaine Mulqueen) and a backup band, The Males. And the soundtrack for the show was “Kiddie A Go Go.” Well, Ted Nugent was the guitar player of The Males. And this little 7” is the very first recording that includes Ted Nugent. To me, something like that, is super awesome. Yeah, it’s great to have a “Double Live Gonzo” signed album hanging on your wall, and, yeah, we have that, and it’s cool to have, but then you have something like Pandora & The Males 7” from 1965 … I get excited about that kind of stuff.”

For many, it may be hard to imagine the Motor City Madman, who is about as polarizing a personality as one can ever imagine, as the guitar player for a pre-teen dance show’s house band. Whether it has to do with his opinions or his politics, controversy attaches itself easily to Ted Nugent. But Van Gool makes it clear that it isn’t his job to be the judge of such issues. “As an auctioneer we have never looked at which artist we like for their life views or their political views because it is irrelevant. You only can look at what their contributions are to the history of music, and how relevant they are to collectors. Nugent, without question, is very relevant. But I think that, as opposed to a lot of artists, there’s no denying that the world of Nugent is a little more black and white. You either really really like him or you really really don’t.”

Long Life To The Queen
But, as stated above, you don’t have to be a Nugent fan to be attracted to this auction. There will be plenty of other artists — over 1000 auction lots to chose from and the foundation of it is probably the vinyl record collection. “I mean, we’re talking about thousands and thousands of records here,” says Van Gool. “But what makes this so interesting is that just about every vinyl lot will include some really unusual, special releases. We found a very solid number of import vinyl — British pressings, German pressings, Japanese pressings. Then we found a significant number of broadcast vinyl. Back in the ‘70s, companies like Westwood One would make these broadcast specials, print them on vinyl and distribute them to radio stations around the nation. Westwood One had their Superstar Concert Series and those were legitimate live recordings. Westwood One also had a DJ named Mary Turner and a series called Off The Record. Mostly interviews, there are also some studio sessions and live sessions.”

Also included in this record collection is much sought after bootleg vinyl. “Usually in vinyl collections you’ll come across these releases,” says Van Gool. “They’re mostly from the ‘70s. And back in those days they would press like a 1000 copies, and yeah, you know, the audio quality is probably not the greatest but 30-40 years later these albums have become real collectible. It’s almost more fun to complete a bootleg collection of your favorite artist.”

1979 KISS World Tour Vintage T-Shirt
Apart from the vinyl, it doesn’t stop there. There are hundreds of signed items, over 300 concert t-shirts (mostly officially licensed), ticket stubs, backstage passes, guitar picks, drum sticks, photos, posters, promo items, reels, CDs, DVDs and videos, books and over 1000 magazines (first assorted by artist, then by genre and then by title). There is even an entire lot of Goldmine magazines.

It may all seem a bit overwhelming but one thing’s for sure, rock ‘n’ roll collectors, this is one auction not to miss.

The auction will feature rare memorabilia from KISS, Pink Floyd, Rush, Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Queen, AC/DC, Van Halen, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Aerosmith, Fleetwood Mac, Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Doors, Pretenders, YES...and these are just a few of the highlighted artists. 

Register Today:   VIP All Access Auction Pass

A special thanks to Pat Prince for writing such an awesome piece on our auction. Pat you ROCK our world!




DVD Review: Neil Young - Here we are in the Years: Neil Young’s Music Box

Here we are in the Years: Neil Young’s Music Box
Sexy Intellectual
All Access Review: B-


Drawing parallels between Buffalo Springfield’s raucous “Mr. Soul,” penned by Neil Young, and the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction” doesn’t require a great leap of imagination, nor does one have to strain to hear the sad echoes of Roy Orbison in the tender melancholy of Young’s heartbreaking “Birds.” Anybody who fancies himself an amateur musicologist could make similar connections. To construct a sort of family tree of the complex musical influences that, when combined, drove Young to become the multi-faceted, challenging and utterly compelling artist he’s been for decades takes a more skillful hand, especially when doing it as a documentary film.

In the case of “Here we are in the Years: Neil Young’s Music Box,” the filmmakers, to their detriment, often allow the hardcore musicology to get in the way of a good story. A detailed, studious survey of Young’s career and all its fascinating twists and turns, “Here we are in the Years” offers up an in-depth examination of the impact of genres as diverse early rock ‘n’ roll, surf instrumentals, the Beatles and the Stones, country and folk, punk and new wave, electronic and grunge on Young’s work. Much of it involves weaving together the thoughts of critics, Young biographers, authors, musicologists and fellow musicians with live footage and snippets of old interviews with Young taken from other sources. As with many similar DVDs from Sexy Intellectual, Young is not involved personally in the project, and the film does not have the blessing of Young’s management or record label.

His lack of participation isn’t a distraction, however. There are plenty of Young to go around – in performance clips (the MTV Awards with Pearl Jam, concert pieces from his tour for Trans, the “Heart of Gold” concert film and a televised Buffalo Springfield jam on “Mr. Soul” to name a few) and a very small part of an interview Young did in 2007 with the BBC. What “Here we are in the Years” leans on is a clutch of talking-head interviews with the likes of writers Greg Prato, Anthony DeCurtis and Richie Unterberger. It traces Young’s career from the very beginning, starting with the rock ‘n’ roll pioneers like Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard he idolized on through to his preoccupation with, of all people, Kraftwerk.

That open-mindedness and willingness to pay attention to, and incorporate, elements of what was happening in contemporary music – punk rock was something Young found a kinship with, even as colleagues like Stephen Stills, David Crosby and Graham Nash turned their backs on it – probably helped Young stay young, or at least artistically relevant. And even though efforts like the electronic immersion of Trans and the rockabilly-fueled Everybody’s Rockin’ were both part of Young’s early ‘80s malaise, they were signals of Young’s intentions to try his hand at just about everything, and give this film credit for delving into the stories behind these failures with as much relish as does the triumphs, like Harvest, After The Gold Rush, On The Beach and Sleeps With Angels.

There’s a lot of territory to cover, and “Here we are in the Years” does its level best to traverse it all. The thought-provoking analysis, delivered honestly and without a hint of cynicism, hits the mark consistently, and the history provided here is as deep and well-researched as can be, given the constraints of film running time. Much insight is given into Young’s dalliance with electronic music and his grandfatherly relationship with grunge icons, such as Pearl Jam, is explored with great intellectual curiosity, as is his abiding love of the folk duo Ian & Sylvia and the theory that Bert Jansch and his brand of depressed, gloomy British folk weighed heavy on Young’s more folk-oriented material.

But, there’s a limit to the amount of serious, almost academic discussion of Young’s influences a viewer can take. This is master’s class in Young and his art, his lyrics, his guitar playing, his politics and his songwriting. From the undeniably British narration – quiet, unassuming and intellectual – to the all-business attitudes of the commentators gathered here, “Here we are in the Years” is a death march to the end. With one eye watching the clock to see how much running time is left and a finger on the fast-forward button, it’s not always easy to stay awake for the whole thing. The more dedicated Young scholars will go for extra credit and review the extended interviews and digital biographies included among the extras. The C students among us who want to go play our Harvest records or try to copy the wild, noise-drenched solos Young plays with Crazy Horse will ditch school and try to avoid the truant officer.

-          Peter Lindblad

CD Review: WhoCares: Ian Gillan, Tony Iommi & Friends

WhoCares: Ian Gillan, Tony Iommi & Friends
Armoury Records
All Access Review: B

Across the WhoCares marquee, in big, bold letters, read the names Ian Gillan and Tony Iommi, icons of a bygone time in rock history. Any pairing of the groundbreaking Black Sabbath guitarist and, for all intents and purposes, the voice of Deep Purple — with apologies to David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes — is bound to raise a few eyebrows, just as it did in 1983 when Gillan joined Sabbath for heavy metal's version of "Plan 9 From Outer Space," the laughably awful LP Born Again and its "Spinal Tap"-like supporting tour.

Long considered the worst album in Black Sabbath's otherwise awe-inspiring monolith of a catalog, Born Again was a debacle — Gillan's hairy-chested bluesy vocals ill-suited for Sabbath's trademark gloom and doom, a problem made even worse by lackluster songwriting. Even the album cover, that demonic infant born with devil horns, fangs for teeth and sharp claws, proved to be comic fodder. And yet, here we, almost 30 years later, with Gillan and Iommi back together to rewrite the wrongs of the past — or at least trying to get by with a little help from their friends — and make some money for charity. Again into the abyss, the two legends gain a measure of redemption with the WhoCares project, whose purpose is to raise money for the music school of Gyumari, Armenia, an area still struggling to recover from the devastation wrought by a horrendous earthquake in 1998.

A two-song digital single, WhoCares features the tracks "Out of My Mind" and "Holy Water," the former an epic, heavy-duty collision of the thick, crushing riffage of Iommi and HIM guitarist Mikko "Linde" Lindstrom, the insistent, surging keyboard swells of Gillan's old Deep Purple mate Jon Lord and the monstrously huge rhythmic wrecking ball swung over and over by Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain and former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted. As for Gillan, he doesn't sound as out of place here as he did on Born Again. There's a seething undertone of menacing madness in his vocals that rises and falls with every pummeling sonic wave, with a seething Gillan dramatically expressing the scrambled thoughts of a man losing his grip on sanity as nightmarish imagery flashes in his brain. Unexpectedly, Gillan seems to have picked up on that undefinable "it" that made Ozzy Osbourne's vocals work so well with Iommi's unique hammer-of-the-gods guitar work.

"Holy Water," though, is more tailored to what Gillan does best. The star power dimming on "Holy Water" — as the supergroup of "Out of My Mind" gives way to less prominent musicians, like guitar duo Steve Morris and Michael Lee, drummer Randy Clarke, bassist Rodney Appleby and keyboardist Jesse O'Brien — Gillan gives a more reflective, contemplative performance, finding solace and comfort in that "Holy Water" that drowns so many alcoholics. An exotic, dreamy, Middle Eastern intro, perfect for a movie about the politics of that war-torn region starring George Clooney, wafts through the air until smashing headlong into a powerful, bluesy train of Hammond organ, noisy guitars and steely bass and drums that slows in the verses, riding on golden rails of acoustic guitar, and then chugs full-steam ahead toward its destination. It's a song that looks ahead, while still managing to seem full of regret and haunted by a troubled past. And Gillan perfectly captures that combination of hopeful yearning and  twinges of repressed pain in thoughtful singing that can only come with years of bold living.

Still, neither track would ever approach the proto-metal classics that Gillan and Iommi recorded with Purple or Sabbath. There's a slow, but strong, current that pulls "Out of My Mind" along that is magnificent to behold,and while able to roll along through one's mind like the Danube, the song labors and meanders to the finish, despite some beautifully drawn twin guitar work from Iommi and Lindstrom near the end. And while there is character, grace and guts in "Holy Water," it's a fairly bland offering that lacks a memorable melody and doesn't seem to notice it is traveling down a road to nowhere. Still, with Iommi and Gillan both drifting outside their comfort zones, the pair seem energized by their reunion and willing to explore new horizons, even as they bask, somewhat, in the glories of their respective histories.

The enhanced CD is fleshed out with a 30-minute, behind-the-scenes documentary of the recording sessions — plus a video for "Out of My Mind" — and it offers interesting insight into the project, inspired by Iommi and Gillan's trips to Armenia to see the damage and recovery for themselves. In a way it perhaps mirrors the motivation Iommi and Gillan might have had in trying to fulfill the potential they saw in their partnership the first time they joined forces back in 1983.

-Peter Lindblad

CD Review: ZZ Top - Live in Germany

CD Review: ZZ Top -  Live in Germany
Eagle Rock
All Access Review: A+


The tread on ZZ Top’s tires was showing a lot of wear by the time that little ol’ band from Texas put out 1976’s uninspired burr under the saddle Tejas. Compared with the thick, rubbery, insatiably delicious blues-rock boogie of Tres Hombres and Fandango, from 1973 and 1975, respectively, the bald and flat Tejas rolled along almost completely on its rims until being sent out to that album scrap yard where disappointing records go to be dismantled for parts. As for ZZ Top, it was time to go back to the shop for a tune-up.
Lying low for three years, the durable trio of Frank Beard, Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill triumphantly returned in 1979 with the nitro-burning funny car Deguello, as rowdy and raunchy a record as ZZ Top would ever make. Their propulsive rhythms and Gibbons’ growling guitar licks never sounded so lean or mean as they did on Deguello, with the bubbling hot bluesy stew “I Thank You” and the snarling pit bull of a single “Cheap Sunglasses” leading the charge. It was a strutting, vice-ridden tour de force that would set the stage for the even more lusty and powerful Eliminator in 1983, an album that would transform ZZ Top into the toughest rock-and-roll outlaws on the planet.
But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Already bad and nationwide, having poured its whiskey-soaked, boogie-rock down America’s gullet and gotten the country blind drunk on its shots of its heavy-duty, Chicago-by-way-of-Texas blues moonshine, ZZ Top set out to search Europe for some accommodating “Tush” and new fans thirsty for their brand of barroom rock, at the behest of Warner Bros. And they found it all on the famed TV show “Rockpalast.” In 1980, ZZ Top roared into the Grugahalle in Essen, Germany, and raised more than a little hell, the live mayhem caught on camera for the acclaimed “Double Down Live” DVD released in 2009. Here, is the musical documentation of that unforgettable night and it is street-legal, complete with vintage concert photos of the band and informative liner notes from “Rockpalast” executive producer Peter Ruechel that tell the fascinating story behind this historic performance.
Riding in to the sound of spaghetti-western horns of the intro “El Deguello,” ZZ Top launches into a wicked, side-winding version of “I Thank You,” one of nine Deguello tracks in the concert set, and follows up with the rugged, earthy grooves of a brass-knuckled “Waitin’ For The Bus” that kicks like a mule. Hill’s bass registers 7.0 on the Richter scale throughout Live in Germany, but on “Jesus Just Left Chicago,” it simmers slowly and seductively, until reaching a boil during Gibbons’ fuel-injected solo, just one of seemingly a thousand sharp, stinging leads the guitar legend clawed his way through that night so long ago. Going deeper into the catalog, ZZ Top rumbles and rages through “Precious and Grace” and “Manic Mechanic,” before working out the kind of sweaty, nasty grooves usually found in strip joints in “Lowdown in the Street” and the radiation burn of “Cheap Sunglasses.”
And Gibbons and company are just warming up, their earthy, gritty aesthetic sounding so dynamic and full of vitality. On “Heard it on the X,” ZZ Top presses the accelerator to the floor and simply runs over the clapping, cheering crowd, prior to cooking up a steaming hell broth of boogie-based blues and proto-metal on “Arrested for Driving While Blind.” Many of ZZ Top’s most salacious hits are set on fire in this scorched-earth, 16-track set, including a riotous “Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers” and a down-and-dirty medley of “La Grange/Sloppy Drunk/Bar-B-Q,” where Gibbons wrings every bit of sinful, aggressive energy his guitar can muster out of those hot-wired six strings. It’s the highlight of an incredibly exhausting thrill ride that concludes with tasty, swaggering takes on Elmore James’ “Dust My Broom” and Elvis’ “Jailhouse Rock,” before driving the bruising, brawling closer “Tush,” in all its tawdry glory, straight into a house of ill repute. Confident, lively and full of testosterone, ZZ Top’s Live in Germany is a sensational concert album, maybe one of the best ever. It never lets up, not for a minute, and in the end, it’s a full-blown package of dynamite that will blow you to kingdom come. Don’t worry, you’ll die happy.
Peter Lindblad

Artist Official Page: ZZ Top