The Guitar Maniacs at WristRock celebrate our favorite artists' birthdays, passing or memorable dates in music history with the video blog, "This Day in Music".
We start our weekend tributes with a Happy Birthday but one of the saddest memories and biggest losses in recent memory. Happy 50th birthday to the dearly departed Metallica bass player, CLIFF BURTON.
"For Whom the Bell Tolls", Day on the Green, 1985
Clifford Lee Burton was born on February 10, 1962, in Castro Valley, CA and began playing bass at age 13 after his father introduced him to music through classical piano at age 6. The death of his brother Scott played a big role in motivating Cliff. His main influences were Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath), Steve Harris (Iron Maiden) and Geddy Lee (Rush) but he practiced up to 6 hours a day on everything from Classical to Jazz to Southern Rock.
He was scouted by James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich of Metallica in 1982 while playing LA's Whiskey A-Go-Go with his former band, Trauma. They were blown away by Cliff's "lead solo" bass style and asked Cliff to join Metallica in time to play on the debut LP, Kill 'Em All.
After six months opening for Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica headlined their first European tour. It was during a Scandinavian tour, they had just finished a show in Stockholm on September 27, 1986.That would be Cliff's last performance. The band was en route to play in Copenhagen, when Metallica's tour bus flipped in a remote section of southern Sweden near Ljungby. Cliff was killed instantly. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Metallica on April 4, 2009. Flea hit the nail on the head in his tribute speech at that induction ceremony:
"Flea" (RHCP) delivering Cliff's eulogy at Rock HOF induction of Metallica, 2004
Don Wilson w/ The Ventures 50th Anniversary Concert, Japan, 2009
Happy 79th birthday to Don Wilson, co-founder, original member and rhythm guitarist of The Ventures since Bob
Bogle and Don founded the band in 1958. Wilson co- founded the band in 1958.Don has been with the band ever since and is still performing with them. They are just as popular in Japan today as they were in the 1950's and 60's. During the 60s, The Ventures actually outsold the Beatles 2 to 1!
Born in From
Tacoma, Washington in 1933, Don met Bob when he sold him a car and they discovered their mutual interest in guitars. They did their own arrangement of Chet Atkins', "Walk, Don't Run", on their own label and was picked up for national release by Dolton Records. It hit #2 on the charts and sold 2 million copies. With over 100 million records sold, they are the
best-selling instrumental band of all time. In 2008, the Ventures were
inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. John Fogerty was their presenter. Bob Bogle died shortly after in June, 2009, after a long battle with Lymphoma at 75.
Telstar, the Ventures w/ Cris Spedding including band interviews
Despite hundreds of albums and singles, counting compilations, they nver had a #1 chart hit and only 2 gold albums: Walk Don't Run (# 11 in 1960) and Ventures Play Telstar & The Lonely Bull (#9 in 1963. K
that have done over 200 albums! Among their hits were Pipeline, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, Hawaii Five-O, (Catch Springsteen and Conan's drummer Max Weinberg on drums) and MANY more.
Don Wilson and Bob Bogel, Co-founders of The Ventures
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We Remember Those Who Left
"This Day in Music History...
DAVE VAN RONK (1936-2002)
"Sunday Street" Live, Dave Van Ronk, (circa 1982)
We lost this legendary American folk singer 37 years ago today. Dave was born in Brooklyn, New York, and settled in Greenwich Village. The "Mayor of MacDougal Street" was an important figure in the folk revival of the '60's and was considered the elder statesman of the coffee house folk culture. He befriended, mentored, inspired and promoted such 'up-and-coming' folk artists as Tom Paxton, Phil Ochs, Joni Mitchell and Ramblin' Jack Elliot. His
early influence on Bob Dylan while Bob was a floundering Greenwich
Village singer/songwriter is well documented in this rare 1961 bootleg
recording of Woody Guthrie's ''Car Car" from the Village's Gaslight Cafe.
Van Ronk received the ASCAP Lifetime Achievement Award in December 1997.
Dave passed away at age 65 in 2002 from heart failure while undergoing post-operative treatment for colon cancer.
Dave Van Ronk at the 1963 Newport Folk Festival
RIP, Dave
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DAVE ALEXANDER (1947-1975)
Collage of rare 60's footage of Dave with Iggy & The Stooges, "No Fun"
Today is the 10th anniversary of the passing of original bassist for Iggy Pop & The Stooges, Dave Alexander. Born in Whitmore Lake, Michigan on June 3, 1947, "Zander" as he was known, dropped out of high school 45 minutes into his senior year to win a bet. After returning from the UK, he met brothers, Ron and Scott Asheton in 1967, hooked up with Muskegon native, James Newell "Jim" Osterberg, Jr., aka Iggy Pop, and The Stooges were born.
Dave arranged and played on all songs on Iggy's debut album, The Stooges and Fun House. He also wrote "We Will Fall", "Little Doll" (from The Stooges), and "Dirt" and "1970" (Fun House).
Dave wasn't around for The Stooges breakthrough hit, "Wild One"
Dave was canned by Iggy in August, 1970 for being too drunk to play the Michigan Goose Lake International Music Festival (Notice the absence of a bass line in this Goose Lake version of "1970"?) Dave joined the elusive "27 Club" after suffering pulmonary edema in 1975 after being hospitalized in Ann Arbor for pancreatitis resulting from his excessive drinking.
Today we begin pay honor to a true Rock and Roll pioneer... a day late thanks to AT&T's incompetence and their broadband network failure.
DEL SHANNON (1934-1990)
"Runaway" live at 1987 Rock-n-Roll Reunion Concert
Happy 78th birthday to Rock-n-Roll legend, DEL SHANNON. Del was born Charles Weedon Westover in Grand Rapids, Michigan on
December 30, 1934. He picked up the guitar at age 14 after learning the ukelele as a child. After a stint in the Army in the mid-50's, he joined a country-rock
band in Battle Creek playing the Hi-Lo Club. Two years later he was discovered by Ann Arbor DJ, Ollie McLaughlin, and was off the New York in 1961 to record "Runaway", which skyrocketed to #1 within weeks.
"Hats Off to Larry" (1961), Del's second big hit, reached #5
Del's hit streak continued with this, quickly followed by "So Long
Baby," and "Hey! Little Girl" giving Del four Top 40 hits in the first year of his short career. "Swiss Maid" (1962) bombed in the US but hit #2 in the UK, while his "Cry Myself To Sleep" later proved
to be the inspiration for Elton John's "Crocodile Rock." His success in the UK prompted a tour which introduced him to The Beatles who were recording "From Me to You" at the time. He recorded it upon his return to the US and thus, became the first artist to cover a Beatles tune. He returned to the charts in 1962, however, with this one:
~ He wrote "I Go To Pieces" in 1963, while on tour in Australia for Britain's Peter and Gordon (Peter Asher, then brother-in-law of Paul McCartney).
~ In 1964, he discovered Bob Seger & The Lost Herd in Detroit and produced Bob's first recording, "Alone In The Crowd".
Smith, Live on The Barbara McNair Show in 1969
~ In 1967, he discovered the band, Smith, with lead singer and psychedelic predecessor to Lady Gaga, Gayle McCormick. Del helped launch their hit cover of The Shirelles, "Baby, It's You" in 1968.
~ in 1990, he recorded with Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra. There were rumors Del would join The Traveling Wilburys after Roy Orbison's death.
Part 1 of the Traveling Wilburys' documentary. Here's Part 2.
This was Del's last public appearance from March, 1989, paying tribute to one of his biggest influences, Roy Orbison (Hank Williams was his biggest influence). This is a live performance of his 1972 cover of Roy's, "Crying". After this last tour of Australia, he withdrew to California for good. This concert, was released as a live album in the 1990 Live:
The Final Concert. Del's final album, Rock
On!was released after his death in 1991.
Del's demons had returned in the late '80s. He had previously overcome problems with alcohol addiction in the late '70s and early '80s with the help of ELO's Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty. He ultimately "ran away" by putting a .22 caliber rifleto his head while on a prescription dose of the anti-depressant drug Prozac in his Santa Clarita, Californiahome in 1990. There have been many attempts to psychoanalyze his demise. We prefer to leave all that alone and honor the memory of the man who influenced so many, like Mark Knopfler who was quoted as saying, "Del Shannon was the reason I picked up my first
guitar."
Del was been recognized by the Rockabilly HOF, was inducted posthumously into the Rock HOF in 1999, and in 2005, was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame.
RIP, Del
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February 8th Birthday Tributes...
Tom Rush, 71
Happy 71st Birthday to this American folk and blues singer, guitarist and songwriter was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and began his career in 1961 while attending Harvard University. With 23 albums from his very first, Tom Rush at the Unicorn (1962) to his most recent The Fish Story Song(2011), Tom is credited by critics as being the pioneer of the singer/songwriter genre.
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Creed Bratton, 69, The Grass Roots and TV's The Office
Happy 69th birthday to original Grass Roots member and actor from The Office, Creed Bratton. He toured with the Grass Roots from their very first chart hit in 1965, "Where Were You When I Needed You", written by P.F. Sloan, to the Top 10 hit here sung by the recently deceased Rob Grill, lead singer and bassist for the band, "Let's Live for Today" (1967), to their #1 hit "Midnight Confessions" (above). Creed made use of his drama education beginning in 1969 appearing in the films, The Mask and Heart Like a Wheel. After releasing three solo album in 2001 and 2002 with the help of smooth jazz and fusion guitarist, Peter White, he is a currently a cast member of NBC's Emmy-winning series, The Office.
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Will Turpin, 41, Collective Soul
Happy 41st birthday to Will Turpin, bassist for the American rock band from Stockbridge, Georgia, Collective Soul. This video, "Shine" is from their 1993 debut album, Hints, Allegations and Things Left Unsaid. The band has had seven #1 chart singles. Collective Soul released their 8th studio album, Rabbit in 2009 with the single, "Staring Down" reaching #17 on Billboard's Top 100. Collective Soul was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 2009.
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Dave "Phoenix" Ferrel, 35, Linkin Park
Happy 35th birthday to Linkin Park's bassist, Phoenix Ferrel, born in Plymouth, MA, but relocated to California when he was young. Taught to play guitar by his mother, he picked up the bass while a student at UCLA and joined the band, Xero, aka Linkin Park. He left the Agoura Hills band in 1999 to tour with his former Christian punk band, Snax, but returned to The Park in 2001 after the release of the multi-platinum debut album, Hybrid Theory. Combining rock, rap, and
electronics, they went to the top of their genre overnight. Phoenix made his recording debut with the band on the collaboration album with Jay-Z, Reanimation (2002) and has been with them ever since. Linkin Park has sold over 50 million albums worldwide and has won two Grammys. The band's most recent 'concept' LP, A Thousand Suns, was released in 2010. (This video is the "full experience" 48 minute HD version.)
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Cameron Muncey, 32, Lead Guitar, Melbourne, Australia's JET
Happy 32nd birthday to Cameron Muncey, lead guitarist for the alt rock band, Jet formed in 2001 while Cameron, Mark Wilson (bass) and brothers Nic and Chris Cester (vocals/rhythm guitar and drums respectively) were attending St Bede's College Mentone in Melbourne. Jet's debut album, Get Born (2003), sold 3.5 million copies. Their most recent album was Shaka Rock (2009). Their last single released from the album was "Seventeen" (2010).Combined they've sold over 6 million albums worldwide.
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February 9th Birthday Tributes...
Carole King, 70
Happy 70th birthday to New York City native, singer, songwriter and pianist, Carol Klein,akaCarole King. She attended Queens College in NYC, and was a classmate (and girlfriend) of Neil Sedaka. She was the inspiration for Sedaka's first hit, Oh! Carol. She wrote her first hit at 18 years old, which was a big hit for The Shirelles, "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow". (She later recorded it herself and added it to the Tapestry album). This prolific songwriter along with her former husband, Gerry Goffin, wrote 25 chart hits during the 1960s. By 1999, Carole had written or co-written an amazing 118 songs between 1955-99 that made the Billboard Hot 100 List.
As a recording artist, her 1971 Grammy-winning album, Tapestry, was #1 on the U.S. album charts for 15 weeks and stayed on the charts for over 6 years... still the record for longest stay at #1 on the charts by a female artist. Carole has recorded 25 solo albums, with her most recent a collaboration with James Taylor at age 68, Live at the Troubadour. It reached #4 on the charts in its first week, and has gone Gold with over 600,000 copies sold. Carole has won 4 Grammys and has been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Rock HOF and Hit Parade HOF.
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Earnest Tubb, 98
Happy 98th birthday to the "Texas Troubadour", Ernest Dale Tubb. Born on a cotton farm in Crisp, Texas, at 19 he took a job as a singer on KONO-AM, a San Antonio radio station but had to dig ditches for the WPA the pay was so low. His biggest career hit song, "Walking the Floor Over You" (1941), was the birth of the honky tonk style of music. Earnet, not Elvis, was the first to record a hit version of "Blue Christmas" in 1948.
Jimmy Short, Earnest's first guitarist in the Troubadours, is credited with the Tubb sound of single-string guitar picking in the mid-1940's. In the '60s, Tubb had one of the best bands in
country music history. The band included Leon Rhodes,
who later became the guitarist in TV's Hee Haw band. Buddy Emmons,
the guitar virtuoso who will shortly appear in Guitar Maniacs' "Top 10 Pedal Steel Guitarists" chapter, began with Tubb in 1958. (Emmons went on to create a steel-guitar
manufacturing company that still bears his name).
He contracted emphysema late in life but still managed to do 200 concerts a year, carrying an oxygen tank on his bus, until he was forced to retire in 1982. He passed away from the illness in 1984 in Nashville where he'd been a member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1943. Earnest was inducted into the Country Music HOF and the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999.
RIP, Earnest (1914 – 1984)
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We Fondly Remember Who Started it All....
Bill Haley (1925-1981)
31 years ago today a chapter of American Rock-n-Roll history was closed never to be re-opened again with the passing of William John Clifton "Bill" Haley. Born in Highland Park, Michiganon Jul 6, 1925, Bill got his first professional gig at the age of 13, playing at an auction for $1 a night. By 1940, he left home in Brooklyn, PA, guitar in hand with very little else, to seek his fame and fortune singing and yodeling with any band that would let him. (During the '40s Haley was one of the top cowboy yodelers in America, known as "Silver Yodeling Bill Haley").
He was working with a traveling medicine show when he hooked up with a group of musicians popular around the Hartford, CT area, the "Down Homers" then became musical director of radio station WPWA-AM in
Chester, PA. He had formed his own Western Swing band, Bill Haley's Saddlemen. In 1953, Haley's recorded "Crazy Man, Crazy" which became the first
rock and roll song on Billboard's charts at #15. Re-naming the band, Bill Haley and the Comets, he first recorded "Rock Around the Clock" in 1954 without success. It was his cover of Big Joe Turner's "Shake, Rattle and Roll" (1954) which went platinum in the US and became the first rock song in Britain to crack the charts.
When "Rock Around the Clock" appeared in the opening credits of the 1955 film Blackboard Jungle starring Glenn Ford, its re-release as a single went to #1 for 8 weeks in the US and became the first million seller in both the UK and Germany. The "Father of Rock and Roll" became the first major American rock singer to tour Europe and the rest is musical history. Haley continued to score hits throughout the 1950s such as "See You Later, Alligator", but nebver came close to the hysteria of Rock Around the Clock.
A self-admitted alcoholic, he continued to tour into the 1970's, performing for Queen Elizabeth II in 1979, then made his final performance in South Africa in June, 1980 after contracting an inoperable brain tumor. He passed away in 1981 at 56 years of age. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock HOF with the very first class in 1987. He also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Today our tribute begins with the memory of Greenwood, Mississippi blues guitarist, Eddie Jones, akaGUITAR SLIMwhom we lost 53 years ago today.He moved to New Orleans to be raised by his grandmother after his
mother died when he was 5. As a teenager he picked cotton during the day
while singing and dancing as "Limber Legs" in local Hollandale clubs by
night.
After returning from World War II military service, he resumed his singing and dancing in juke joints until he met bandleader, Willie D. Warren, who introduced him to the guitar at age 18.
Influenced by Gatemouth Brown, T-Bone Walker and Delta slide legend, Robert Nighthawk, he quickly adapted his dance routines to the stage in a flamboyant presentation modeled after W.C. Handy's Mississippi Delta blues and Charley Patton's wild stage performances. Slim donned outrageous threads with hair dyed to match his stage costumes, he was labeled "Guitar Slim". His playing was just as unique as he incorporated distorted guitar overtones 10 years before it made it's way into rock and roll.
His first record in 1952, "Feelin' Sad", was a minor R&B hit. But it was his 1954 classic produced by Ray Charles, "The Things That I Used to Do" that took Slim national. Staying at #1 for six weeks, riding the R&B charts for 21 weeks and selling a million copies, it was this son that would be Slim's legacy. The song was commemorated in the Rock HOF as one of the 500 most influential songs in shaping Rock-n-Roll.
"The Things That I Used to Do", Guitar Slim, 1954
The high point in Slim's career was selling out New York's Apollo Theater for a full week, a record that has stood even over Sammy Davis Jr's 5-night sold out engagement. It took him to Los Angeles performing with the great Muddy Waters. Despite a string of songs like "Sufferin' Mind", "The Story Of My Life", "Letter to My Girlfriend" (aka "Prison Blues") " and "5th Street Alley Blues",
his career never recaptured the success of his million seller.
Slim sadly turned to alcoholism and according to his guitarist, Earl King, Slim was drinking "a pint of gin and chasing it with a fifth of black port every day.". He finally passing away in New York City from pneumonia at the young age of 32. His death was overshadowed by the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and The Big Bopper only four days earlier. (See February 3rd article, "This Day in Music History".) But we pay special tribute to a blues legend today After all, his biggest contribution to the blues just could be one he would never know.
Buddy Guy on Guitar Slim
It was after seeing Guitar Slim perform, that a young Buddy Guy decided to make the Blues his career. Buddy stated in his autobiography, Damn Right I've Got The Blues:
"When I saw him, I'd made up my mind. I wanted to play like B.B. (King) but act like Guitar Slim."
To this day, Buddy still utilizes the stage antics he learned by watching Slim.
RIP, Guitar Slim
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DENNY WRIGHT (1924-1992)
The Guitar Maniacs remember 20 years ago today the passing of Denny Wright, British jazz and skiffle guitarist. Denny was born in Deptford, London, England, and began his musical education on the piano. His older brother, Alex, was a semi-professional guitarist and by age 15, guitar became Denny's main instrument. Denny spent World War II playing in jazz clubs in the West End of London and doing non-stop session work. He worked with Stephane Grappelli for the first time in London around 1941.
His free-flowing improvisational style was inspired by Django Reinhardt. He became known working with Lonnie Donegan in the 1950`s. Denny was a pioneer in establishing a fresh lead guitar style in folk and blues roots. Denny also performed with Johnny Duncan, Digby Fairweather, Ella Fitzgerald, Billy Eckstine and many other musicians including young rising stars such as:
Bireli Lagrene
&
Nigel Kennedy
Denny was a prolific composer for jazz and orchestra. He led many bands in his career, ranging from small jazz ensembles through night club bands to full size orchestras. Between all the recording sessions and sit-ins, he would always return to the comfort of his own The Denny Wright Quartet.
He also played often with the Carlyle Barriteau Orchestra, Glen Miller Orchestra and the Phil Green Orchestra of Decca Records. In addition to jazz and skiffle, he worked with Latin American and Jamaican bands, including Kenny Graham's Afro-Cubists. We lost Denny at age 68 after a 9 year battle with bladder cancer.
RIP, Denny.
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Monday, February 6, 2012
"This Day in Music History" Birthdays..
BOB MARLEY (1945-1981)
Let's begin with our continuing recognition of National Black History Month in wishing a happy 67th birthday to Reggae superstar, BOB MARLEY, whom we sadly lost on May 11, 1981 at the young age of 36. Rising from the slums of Jamaica, this son of a black teenage mother and much older, absent white
father, he spent his early years in the rural village known as Nine
Miles in the parish of St. Ann. Moving to Kingston in the late '50s, he lived in the impoverished Trench Town district,
struggling in poverty, but
finding inspiration from hearing The Drifters, Ray Charles, Fats Domino and Elvis Presley.
Not finding success as a solo artist, he formed The Wailing Wailers in 1963 with Neville "Bunny" O'Riley Livingston, Peter McIntosh (aka Peter Tosh). The band's first recording, "Simmer Down," became #1 in Jamaica in 1964. By then, The Wailers had added Junior
Braithwaite, Beverly Kelso, and Cherry Smith.
Around this time, Marley was exploring his spiritual side and developing
a growing interest in the religious and political beliefs of Rastafarianism started in Jamaica in 1930s. This movement drew
its inspiration from the Jamaican-born black
nationalist Marcus Garvey, the Old Testament, and their African heritage and culture.
"You can fool some people sometimes...
but you can't fool all the people all of the time..."
The Wailers got their break in 1972 with their first full album, the critically acclaimed Catch a Fire. After tours with Bruce Springsteen and Sly & the Family Stone. They followed with Burnin (1973), featuring "I Shot the Sheriff" that Eric Clapton took to #1 the following year. It also featured this song, "Get Up, Stand Up", Bob's first strong political lyric.
After the politically criticized Natty Dread (1975), the new configuration of the band, now Bob Marley and The Wailers, scored their first US Top 40 hit with "No Woman No Cry" and made the U.S. album charts with Rastaman Vibration (1976), containing the timely single "War". Its lyrics were taken from a speech by Haile Selassie, the 20th century Ethiopian
emperor and spiritual leader of the Rastafarian
movement. This battle cry for freedom from oppression, it discusses a
new Africa, one without the colonial racial hierarchy.
Fleeing the country after an attempt on his life the day before his controversial concert at Kingston's National Heroes Park, he recorded Exodus (1977) in England. Containing the hits "Waiting in Vain" and "Jammin" the album charted for over a year and is considered to be one of the best albums ever
made.
"Exodus", Live, 1980
1978 was a full year for Bob. He released Kaya (1978) w/ "Satisfy My Soul" and "Is This Love", returned to Jamaica to play the One Love Peace Concert and made his first journey to Africa visiting Kenya and Ethiopia. Inspired by this trip, his next album Survival (1979) was seen as a call for greater unity on the African continent as in this cut, "Africa Unite". Uprising (1980) featured "Could You Be Loved" but it was "Redemption Song" that became Bob's signature song. It was during a US tour in support of this album that the cancerous toe he refused treatment for 3 years earlier had spread throughout his body. Fighting the cancer for months, he tried to get back to his
beloved Jamaica one more time but died en route Miami, Florida.
"Redemption Song", Live from Dortmund, Germany, 1980
Bob sold more than 20 million records, making him the first
international superstar to emerge from the "Third World". Marley received the Order of Merit from the Jamaican government shortly before his death and was awarded the United Nations Medal of Peace in
1980. In 1994, Marley was inducted into the Rock HOF. Bob Marley's commitment to fighting oppression is being carried on
by a foundation started by his wife, Rita, and some of his nine children. The Bob Marley Foundation helps people and organizations
in the developing world. His son, Ziggy, and other talented family members carry on Bob's musical legacy as the frontman for The Melody Makers and plays his father's music as well as his own compositions.
This video is of his funeral in Kingston attended by over 30,000 people.
I won't say RIP, Bob... Spiritual legends don't die... and need no rest.
AXL ROSE is 50???
Welcome to the Jungle, Baby...
Happy 50th birthday to William Bruce Rose, Jr., akaAXL ROSE, lead vocalist for GUNS N' ROSES. We celebrate superstar artists here. Though Axl's image seems to be on the opposite spectrum of the unselfish and "involved" social contributor that Bob Marley's is, Axl is unquestionably a superstar that changed the face of Rock-n-Roll when G N' R bludgeoned their way into music history in 1985. At a time when pop music fans became disco'd out and Glam Rock was fading into heavy metal in the late '80's and early '90's, it was GN'R's "hedonistic rebelliousness"
that revived good ol' nasty rock-n-roll in the pop music culture.
Guns N' Roses - "Paradise City" (Live in Tokyo 1992)
Axl was born in Lafayette, Indiana, into a very religious Pentecostal family. His psychotic father abandoned the family at age 2. His mother remarried and Axl was raised as William Bailey. After singing in the church choir, Axl gravitated to more secular music. We are all thankful for that!
Axl is the only original member of the group carrying the moniker of GN'R after the initial group consisting of the March, 1985 lineup of Axl and Jeff Isbell (aka Izzy Stradlin) on rhythm guitar from Axl's first band, Hollywood Rose. They joined forces with lead guitarist Tracii Guns and Ole Belch (bass) and drummer Rob Gardner from LA Guns. Hence the combination name: Guns N' Roses.
The core of the group that met with success, however, was Slash (lead guitar), Izzy Stradlin (rhythm guitar) Duff McKagan (bass) and Steve Adler (drums). After six studio albums and 100 million in record sales, this lineup disbanded. From their all-time best selling debut album (28X Platinum) Appetite for Destruction (1987), to the commercial flop, Chinese Democracy (2008), Axl's fan base has remained loyal. Appetite for Destruction was a tough act to follow but G N' R Lies (1988) tried.
"Patience", Live, 1989 with Eagles' Don Henley on drums
But it was the twin release of Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II (1991), that sold a combined 35 million copies worldwide. The two are sometimes considered a double album but were, in fact, separate releases prior to the two-year Use Your Illusion World Tour in 1991. Illusion I debuted at #2 on the Billboard Album charts, while Illusion II was slightly more popular and debuted at #1 the week of release. Both have been certified 7× Platinum albums.
"You Could Be Mine", Live In Tokyo 1992
Complete with Axl's Arnold Schwarzenegger impression
The 'cover' album "The Spaghetti Incident?" (1993) was the band's last studio LP with Slash and McKagan. The long-promised Chinese Democracy (2008) debuted at #3 but never lived up to all the years of hype and anticipation. Axl continues to tour under the name of Guns N' Roses with an assortment of side men, but true GN'R fans know the difference. Guns N' Roses will always remain a cultural phenomenon caught like lightening in a bottle... but sometimes you can't put the genie back in the bottle.
"King of the Blues", Live at HammerSmith Odeon, 1990
One year ago today the world lost one of the true guitar virtuosos with the passing of GARY MOORE at the young age of 58. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, he started playing acoustic guitar at age 8. He was playing a right-handed electric guitar by age 14 despite being left-handed. Gary started his professional career in the 1960's playing with such artists as Phil Lynott and Brian Downey during his teens. His early musical influences were Albert King, Elvis Presley, The Shadows and The Beatles. After seeing Jimi Hendrix and John Mayall play in Belfast, he became enamored with the blues. His biggest influence and mentor became early Fleetwood Mac guitarist, Peter Green. He even bought Peter's old Les Paul guitar from him. Peter served as a mentor to Moore when performing in DUblin though he went the rock route first playing with Skid Row and Thin Lizzy on three separate occasions.
Gary & Thin Lizzy, "Don't Believe A Word",
UK's Old Grey Whistle Test, 1979, Phil, Cozy and Gary are have reunited
Gary's first solo album was Grinding Stone (1973). It was 5 years before his next solo effort; a bluesy collaboration w/ Phil Lynott, "Parisienne Walkways", followed by the Thin Lizzy album Black Rose: A Rock Legend, which reached #2 on UK album charts.
Gary Moore & Scott Goram, " Black Rose " Live in Dublin, 2005
"The Prophet", Live at Montreux Jazz Festival, 2001
CARL WILSON (1946-1998)
Gary fell victim to an apparent heart attack at his hotel in Estepona, Spain last year while vacationing with his girl friend. A talent like Gary's is rare and certainly missed. Look for him near the top of the forthcoming Guitar Maniacs' chapter "Top 10 Virtuoso Guitarists" later this year. RIP, Gary.
Carl Wilson & The Beach Boys, "Good Vibrations", Midnight Special, 1979
Carl Wilson was a founding member, lead guitarist and falsetto vocalist of The Beach Boys as a 14 year old in 1960 until his death 14 years ago today. Born on
December 21, 1946, in Hawthorne, California, Carl was the youngest of the three Beach Boy Brothers (Dennis, drums and Brian, bass being the other two). His Chuck Berry-like riffs were a characteristic sound for the surf sound made famous with early hits like "Surfin' USA", "Surfer Girl" and "Fun, Fun, Fun".
"Fun, Fun, Fun", Live at Knebworth, 1980
When Brian, the band director, started using session musicians
on many of their mid-'60s studio albums, Carl would have none of it and insisted playing on all the guitar tracks. (He was a very underrated guitarist as he matured). He never did vocals on any of the Beach Boys' hits as that was Mike Love and Brian's department. But after his lead on "God Only Knows" (1966), he was featured more as lead vocalist on the albums Smiley Smiles and Wild Honey, including the hit singles "Good Vibrations," "Darlin'," and "Wild Honey.
"Darlin" with Carl singing lead
By 1965, Brian's mental and physical health had deteriorated to the point he eventually became withdrawn
and detached from the band. He retired from the stage and Carl
became the leader of the band onstage and shortly thereafter, the in-studio leader, too. He produced the bulk
of the albums from then on: 20/20 (1969), Sunflower (1970), Surf's Up (1971), Carl and the Passions - "So Tough" (1972), and Holland(1973). In 1967, Wilson made headlines as a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War, at one point having to let the rest of the band tour the UK without him while he was up before the draft board.
Kokomo Video, 1988 with scenes from Cocktail
In 1988, they scored their first number-one hit single in 22 years with "Kokomo", which was written for the movie Cocktail becoming their biggest-selling hit ever. Interesting fact here is that their biggest hit came the year after the Beach Boys were inducted into the Rock HOF (1987). There were only the second artist to have a #1 hit after entering the Rock Hall (Aretha Franklin was the first).
After a couple unsuccessful solos albums, collaborations with bands such as Status Quo, random TV guest appearances on shows like Full House, Home Improvement, and Baywatch. Carl chose to travel and perform with the
the For the Summer Tour in 1997, despite his medical issues. With years of heavy smoking since childhood, Carl
finally succumbed to lung and brain cancer on February 6, 1998 after a
long battle with the disease. RIP, Carl.
