Jimi was the best. Purple Haze is the first song Hendrix song everyone hears and it does rock. Dig the distinctive E7 #9 (the sound that gives this song its edge).
Jimi is loose in this video and even tunes his guitar himself, something rock stars don’t do any more. (I think someone took this from the Isle of Wright concert – but I am not sure.)
Continuing my fascination with everything Black Sabbath/Deep Purple, check out this extremely early Deep Purple live oh so sixties version of Hush. Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Paice and John Lord are in the band, they sound great (dig the killer organ solo) but the best part is the groovy dance people – how did these fashions ever leave us?
I am not sure I understand the Sabbath, Deep Purple, Rainbow connection – but it is there. Ronnie James Dio, who went on to a great solo career after replacing Ozzy as the front man for Black Sabbath, started out with Rainbow – the band Ritchie Blackmore formed after leaving Deep Purple. The personnel with these bands was lucid, Ian Gillian also sang for Sabbath, other members of Deep Purple would join Rainbow, as would guys from Ozzy’s solo bands. Other bands also got in the loop, most famously Tony Iommi’s brief gig with Jethro Tull.
Rainbow was classic, featuring Ritchie Blackmore’s great guitar playing, great songs (some of which even became hits), and a host of great lead singers and sidemen. I found this old live clip of the “Man on the Silver Mountain” – I think it was their most famous song (though not their biggest hit).
In an earlier post I mentioned what I think is common knowledge, Ozzy made his name as the front man for Black Sabbath. Black Sabbath were the first and certainly most famous of the proto-heavy metal bands that hit the scene in the late sixties and early seventies. Although they sound nothing like Led Zeppelin, they are often lumped together and presented as the ying to Zeppelin’s yang. Whether or not this is true I guess is up for debate, personally I couldn’t care less – each band is amazing and I have both their catalogues on vinyl - can anyone beat that?
I found this wild old clip of Paranoid from English TV – the first two minutes have nothing to do with the music, but are pretty funny.
I am sure it is common knowledge that Ozzy got his start as the lead singer for Black Sabbath and after leaving Black Sabbath went on to mega-superstardom as a solo artist. What people probably don’t know is that Ozzy discovered guitar legend Randy Rhodes, who was responsible for changing heavy metal guitar.
Randy Rhodes, besides from being a virtuoso, invented a new approach to rock guitar and made classical music cool. He borrowed harmonically from the classical world and very rarely relied on the standard pentatonic blues riffs that are germane to the rock world (and made Ozzy famous). He was a new and innovative voice in a world dominated almost exclusively by Eddie Van Halen until his untimely death in a plane crash while on tour with Ozzy. (After his death, the Ozzy guitar spot became the most coveted gig for heavy metal guitar players.)
I am pretty sure this clip is from an early 80’s late night rock show and the band is playing live to the cameras. The bass player is Rudy Sarzo from Quiet Riot – after Randy’s death he left Ozzy to return to Quiet Riot (they had a few hits and then disappeared) – Randy Rhodes also played in Quiet Riot before landing the Ozzy gig.
Charlie Daniels has been around the music scene forever, though the first song I heard was his massive country, southern-rock crossover hit “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” – arguably the greatest fiddle song ever recorded. Dig the groovy bass line during the “devil’s” jam section – it comes back at the end for a flash as well.
It may be a stretch to say Gil Scott Heron invented rap, but his classic “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” certainly sets the stage for the powerful and politically charged tirades by Public Enemy and others (the first time I heard Gil Scott Heron was actually something sampled on Public Enemy’s “It Takes A Nation of Millions”).
Gil Scott Heron’s early recordings are in the Impulse! label (home of John Coltrane, Archie Shepp and other jazz masters) and I think is a testament to the musicality and depth of his music, transcending the politics and issues of his time.
Paco de Lucia is probably the world’s most famous Flamenco guitarist. A composer and solo artist in his own right, de Lucia became a household name with a series of performances and recordings he did with fusion greats John McLaughlin and Al Di Meola. A guitar geek’s fantasy-come-true, this trio spewed out the fastest, most chops-intensive guitar music ever recorded.
I found this video clip of Paco’s solo spot from a concert done with the trio – classic and dazzling as usual.
Stevie Ray Vaughan first hit the scene playing a few solos on David Bowie’s Let’s Dance album (the guitar stuff at the end of “China Girl” is Stevie Ray). Stevie Ray didn’t tour with Bowie that year, but by that point it didn’t matter – his first album was out and he was about to become a guitar superstar.
At the time Stevie Ray was lumped in with the Hendrix wanna-be’s (completely unfair) and that was what dominated much of his early media hype – bummer, but no one makes those comparisons anymore and most people recognize Stevie Ray as a guitar master in his own right.
Dig “Couldn’t Stand the Weather” – it was the first Stevie Ray song I heard and always my favorite.
What can you say about Stevie Wonder – he became a celebrity at 12, has a string of top 10 hits, and has won more Grammies then any other artist. His voice is amazing, his grooves funky, and his abilities on a range of different instruments prodigious to say the least.
Check out this clip (poorly recorded, probably straight off the TV) of “Living in the City.” His vocals are incredible, as his the band and backing vocalists.