Retro Chicken

In 1968 the Rolling Stones put together the “Rolling Stones Rock N Roll Circus” for BBC TV. A handful of bands – including the Who, the Stones and John Lennon – spent the night in a circus tent performing and recording. In the end, the Stones pulled the plug on the entire project and the “Rolling Stones Rock N Roll Circus” became a much talked about but unheard part of rock history. (Clips of the Who from that night were in the film “The Kids Are Alright”).

The clip here is the band John Lennon put together for the Stones’ aborted TV show and includes Eric Clapton on guitar, Mitch Mitchell (from the Jimi Hendrix Experience) on drums and Keith Richards on bass*. The song is “Yer Blues” from the White Album – also dig the introductory interview.

*Keith Richards often played bass with the Stones in the studio.

Leslie West and Mountain had a huge hippie hit with the megaton in-your-face Mississippi Queen. The live version here lacks the blistering guitar leads from the studio cut, but the vocals are absolutely incredible. The last I heard of Mountain was a stint opening for Van Halen a few years ago – bring them back!

I was deep into JB and P-funk when my roommate turned me on to Sly Stone – one of the most important pioneers of funk. I bought his albums “Fresh” and “There’s a Riot Goin’ On” and I was hooked. Many of the songs on these albums are open funk vamps that were probably extended indefinitely live – I am sure the band was incredible to see in person, especially as the night wore on. (There are one or two goofy songs on these albums as well – I can only blame them on the seventies – they were goofy times).

Larry Graham played bass with Sly for many years and is credited with inventing slap bass (the technique used in this video clip – I don’t know what Larry Graham looked like and I am not sure if he is the bassist featured here).

In spite of the seventies, wild clothes, and whatever else was going on – Sly’s voice sounds great (as do the backing vocals) and the band is extremely tight – early funk at its best.

Before Ron Wood joined the Stones, before Kenny Jones joined the Who, and before Rod Stewart went on to mega-massive-super-stardom – there were the Faces. Rising from the ashes of the Small Faces (when Steve Marriot left to form Humble Pie with Peter Frampton), the Faces were known as the hardest partying band in rock n roll, and pumped out good-time party honk from England. They had a few UK hits, but the song that still gets airplay on the American classic rock stations is “Stay With Me” – not necessarily the theme song for the feminist movement – but a great rocker nonetheless.

The Pogues play traditional Irish music but somehow became the darlings of the mid-80’s punk scene – despite the acoustic instrumentation, penny whistle and accordion. I don’t know much about them, except that the first time I saw them was an appearance on Saturday Night Live and it looked to me like they were extremely drunk – it was a very impressive performance – their huge band crammed together on the tight SNL stage, cranking out fast-tempo Irish grooves while doing their best to remain standing. Joe Strummer from the Clash also played with the Pogues and I think there is a wild Irish “London Calling” somewhere out there.

When I was in high school, a friend of my sister made it his mission to teach me about the punk scene. He put together a tape for me that included bands like Mental Abuse, the Specials, the Misfits, the Circle Jerks and a few others. I was blown away, especially by the Circle Jerks.

The Circle Jerks were one of the better bands featured in the “The Decline and Fall of Western Civilization” – the classic film chronicling the early eighties LA hardcore scene (Fear and Black Flag were also in the movie). With minute-long songs at blistering tempos, the Circle Jerks exemplified an era and have been covered by everyone, including the Red Hot Chile Peppers and the Beastie Boys.

Muddy Waters is easily one of the most important people in the evolution of rock n roll. Originally a blues singer and acoustic slide player from the Mississippi Delta*, he moved to Chicago, switched to electric guitar, and recorded a string of singles that ended up in the record bins in London. These recordings (along with those of Howlin’ Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson and others) had a major influence on many young English bands (including the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and Cream – to name a few) who ultimately covered many of these songs throughout their careers.

Near the end of his life, Muddy re-recorded many of his classic songs in collaboration with Texas rocker Johnny Winter (Muddy’s most famous work was recorded in the fifties when recording technology was still very primitive). Johnny Winter re-recorded Muddy performing much of his catalog in the late seventies using modern technology, but staying true to the instrumentation of the originals (e.g. no cymbals when recording drum parts) – the results are raw, powerful and a far cry from the many “tribute” sessions that were done by other rockers paying homage to their heroes. I think Muddy and Johnny did four albums together, the one I have is “Hard Again” and it is well worth the listen.

In the video clip, Muddy is singing but for some reason doesn’t have a guitar. Willie Dixon is one of the people dancing (the tall, bald man) and Johnny Winter is the blond guy with long hair.

*Muddy Waters was one of the people recorded out in the fields by the legendary Alan Lomax from the Library of Congress (the most famous of these recordings were the sessions done with Robert Johnson).

For my money Jaco Pastorius was one of the greatest bass players ever. He was the musician’s musician; boasting exceptional chops, masterful groove, taste, grace, finesse, and a mastery of many different styles and feels. He revolutionized the electric bass and his influence can be heard everywhere.

“Portrait of Tracy” is a short piece from his first solo album (the self-titled “Jaco Pastorius”) featuring an innovative use of harmonics. The solo in the video clip quotes the harmonics-laden melody from the studio recording within the greater context of an extend improvisation.

Lynyrd Skynyrd was easily the greatest Southern rock band ever. Like I mentioned in an earlier post – Al Kooper discovered them (I don’t know the story), produced their first three albums and played on a few tracks.

You Tube has a 10-minute limit, so I’ll have to search around the web to find a complete version of “Free Bird” (the song that put the word “anthem” in “rock anthem”), for now enjoy “Gimme Three Steps” – classic Skynyrd honky-tonk.

“Subterranean Homesick Blues” was the first Bob Dylan song I really got into. My first introduction was the cover done by the Red Hot Chili Peppers on their (arguably best) album the “Uplift Mofo Party Plan” (with “Special Secret Song Inside” and featuring the classic lineup of Hillel Slovak on guitar and Jack Irons on drums). Based on the Chili Peppers’ “recommendation” I bought the Dylan album – “Highway 61 Revisited” – little did I know that it was not only one of the most famous/important Dylan albums, but that it would completely blow me away – every song on the album is a classic.

Is this the first music video? I don’t know and probably not – but rumor has it that the bald dude off to the side is beat poet Allen Ginsberg.