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- Written by Bluebird
After the Zeppelin reunion show in December, 2007, the band members were on the interview circuit and Plant introduced his new album several times, which had been released two months prior to the show. "Gone, Gone, Gone" started to grow on me and I became curious and anticipated, as with other Plant projects, it was a unique piece of work. I mentioned it to a colleague who is a genuine bluegrass fan. He told me he didn't like it, because it wasn't bluegrass enough. I listened to the song more closely and although I don't know bluegrass at all, I understood what he meant, and as a Zeppelin/Plant fan, I was secretly pleased.
Plant is the like the scorpion in the fable of inherent character. He just can't help himself to be who he is. Even with the intricately timed harmony of he and Krauss and his wish to discipline himself with this new genre, he is still Robert Plant. His wails and moans are there, they are just subdued, and occasionally, a good one slips out, and we smile.
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REVOLVER: How The Beatles Re-imagined Rock and Roll (2012)
Robert Rodriguez' book, Revolver, an historical work on The Beatles. It takes an intelligent and insightful look behind the scenes, as well as what was transpiring in the minds of the Fab's in 1966. Indispensable to any Beatles fan, as well as the casual music listener, it raises broad concepts about music production in general. The book is enjoyable to read as well. Rodriguez is an academic, though his writing style and approach is never overbearing and easily accessible. Moreover, Revolver is a thorough and exhaustive recording diary.
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- Written by Bluebird
Rock Torch: THE BOOK
Volume 1
Music Recommendations From The Artists You Love
by Randy Abramson
About Rock Torch:
Rock Torch has been one of my favorite - and 'go to' music websites for years. I found it after Alex Chilton died. I was up all night, seeking anything I could find on the web to connect to other Big Star fans. I came across an article Randy Abramson posted with Paul Westerberg's commentary on Chilton. Perfect. Someone who 'gets it'. I was a follower.
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- Written by Bluebird
LATE NIGHT'S ORIGINAL ROCK N' ROLL SHOW IS IN STORES NOW!
THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL COLLECTOR'S EDITION
Burt Sugarman's Groundbreaking Late Night Variety Show, Featuring Live Performances from the Biggest Stars of the Time Will Be Available from StarVista Entertainment/Time Life in Three Configurations: the 11-Disc COLLECTOR'S EDITION ($99.95), Containing Almost Ten Hours of Live Music -- Nearly Five Hours of Bonus Features and a 32-page Collector's Book, a 6-Disc Retail Set with 96 Complete Performances ($59.95 srp) and a single-DVD ($12.95srp)
Artists Featured include Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, Bee Gees, Earth, Wind & Fire, Electric Light Orchestra, Fleetwood Mac, Gordon Lightfoot, Heart, Helen Reddy, Jim Croce, John Denver, KC and the Sunshine Band, LaBelle, Linda Ronstadt, Marvin Gaye, Captain & Tennille, Peter Frampton, REO Speedwagon, Steely Dan, The Doobie Brothers, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Village People, and Many More
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- Written by Bluebird
Guitar/Rock Documentary
It Might Get Loud (Music Documentary Film)
Get this movie. I had to special order it and it took several weeks to arrive because the bookstore can't keep them in stock. This is not only a fantastic movie about the technique and inspiration of guitar musicianship, it is a three generation narrative about how to grasp your voice and blare it for the rest of the world to hear, even if they don't understand it yet.
Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin produced this film. The Edge from U2 and Jack White from the White Stripes join Page in meeting together to "talk" about their personal experiences as they evolve to become the guitarists of their current bands and beyond. In the talking, there is ALOT of guitar playing, both past and present, along with versions of each others songs on stage. Each artist shares interview conversations, photos, vintage video footage of earlier works and secrets of their craft with the audience in the first person. They reveal how they think about music, about technology, about career choices, aging, and life. In speaking directly to the audience and each other in their own voices, it brings you in ... and who wouldn't want to be brought in to the mind of Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White. Get this movie.
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- Written by Bluebird
Years ago, I was on vacation and contacted by Olga Munding, a New Orleans blueswoman who was releasing a record called, Whatever You Want. Agreeing to review it, when I returned to the BBR office, I received a beautiful package in the mail. It was a copy of the CD, plus a 'drop card' that if planted, grew wildflowers in the garden. Attached was a handwritten note, thanking us for our work. In the age of instant downloads and digital messages, I knew Olga Munding's connectedness was different.
I kept the note and did not plant the drop card, because following Olga Munding has been a treasure that I wanted to keep close at hand. As the director of the Jessie Mae Hemphill Foundation, and serving on the Board of the Blues Foundation in Memphis, as well as other important historic blues preservation agencies in the South, Olga keeps planting wild flower seeds wherever she goes.
Olga contacted me again recently to announce a film project she is producing. It is the Anam Cara project. Inspired by Celtic wisdom and philosophical works, it is a film about 'soul friends.' With such an important concept to discuss with readers, I asked Olga if we could run an interview on her work. Between busy camera set ups and costume designer consultations, she was kind enough to correspond with us personally.
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- Written by Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
One of the most rhetorical questions ever asked about music and its meaning, it is related to why people love music so much.
The answer is, obviously, very personal to each different individual but perhaps, a common factor to which many may agree to, it is about that good feeling, that shiver in the spine that music gives us at any moment, anywhere we might be and especially on a live performance, which is the ultimate expression of that sonic connection that magically happens between an artist and a true music lover.
Read more: Beaux Gris Gris & The Apocalypse - Live at The Star Inn, Guildford (UK)