It’s early September. Wylde’s home from Ozzfest where he did double duty with Ozzy and Zakk’s own Black Label Society (BLS). Time to rest? Hardly. He’s up at 4 a.m. doing whatever it is he has to do as hard as he can do it. The BLS motto of Strength, Determination, Merciless, Forever is no marketing gimmick. The son of a now 87-year-old WW II D-Day Omaha Beach veteran, combat intensity is in Zakk’s blood.
It isn’t often that a song is known as much for the composer as it is for a band that had a number 1 hit with it, but “Mr. Tambourine Man” is just such a song. Originally written by master folkster Bob Dylan, David Crosby and his band the Byrds would record a cover of the song on their debut record, which would jump all the way to number 1 on the charts and making the group stars in the process. While these two versions are the most well-known, artists as diverse as Judy Collins and even William Shatner have covered the song over the decades, making it one of the most recognizable hits of the ‘60s.
One of the most iconic rock’ n’ roll bands in history, Motörhead, is out touring the US to celebrate the band’s 35th anniversary and the release their new studio album The Wörld is Yours. This latest release sold 7,000 copies in US in its first week to land at No. 94 on The Billboard 200 chart, and to-date has sold over 100,000 copies, an achievement Lemmy was proud to point out during an interview prior to the show, saying it was the bands best-selling CD yet.
In true Billy Idol fashion, the singer was initially inspired to write his hit song “Rebel Yell,” which is featured on the album of the same name, after seeing members of the Rolling Stones drinking out of a bottle of Bourbon, which was aptly named Rebel Yell. Idol, who liked the Bourbon, took it upon himself to write a song in dedication to the whisky, forever immortalizing that night spent with the Stones. The song was co-written by Idol’s guitarist Steve Stevens, who came up with a classic into that remains to this day as one of the finest of the era.
Inspired by the classical guitar piece “Bouree in E Minor” by J.S. Bach, “Blackbird” is one of the finest guitar moments in the Beatles long and storied history. After Paul McCartney and George Harrison first learned the Bach piece as a “show off” song, McCartney would later experiment with the song’s opening chords, leading him to write the guitar part for “Blackbird.” The song would appear on the White Album, which many consider of the band’s best records, and was originally performed by McCartney out of his window for waiting fans on the first night that his then girlfriend Linda Eastman stayed at his house.
Australian guitarist, Tommy Emmanuel, has gifted the world with some of the finest acoustic guitar playing to adorn the planet. He’s an itinerate touring musician who sparkles on stage with his ability to caress, cajole and occasionally slap beautiful acoustic arrangements out of his beat up Maton guitars. Emmanuel captivates his audiences with his humorous patter, world-class guitar playing and the percussive antics he unleashes on his six-strings.
Though its roots can be traced back to Folk music in America, the song “House of the Rising Sun” is most closely associated with the British Invasion group the Animals. The band first heard the song in a local club and shortly after chose to play it while on tour with rock legend Chuck Berry so that they would have something other than the standard fare in their set. Little did they know that this little choice would lead them down the path to rock stardom, that are now considered one of the most important British bands of their, or any, era.
Inspired by bandmate Joe Perry’s wife, in a manner that has never been properly interpreted as good or bad, Steven Tyler and Tom Hamilton came together to write one of Aerosmith’s, and the ‘70s, greatest rock songs, “Sweet Emotion.” Released on their 1974 album Toys in the Attic, the song would go on to be one of the band’s biggest singles. The song also saw a revival decades later when it was featured in Richard Linkater’s classic coming of age movie, set in the ‘70s, Dazed and Confused. Though the song only peaked at number 36 on the charts, it was the first single to break the Top 40 for Aerosmith, setting the stage for the band to climb to the top of the rock world, where they continue to sit even to this day.
When Times of Grace started, Adam Dutkiewicz and Jesse Leach had songs written but they didn’t know if they would record them. When they had recorded an album, they didn’t know if they would release it. And after they released their debut record, The Hymn Of A Broken Man (Special Edition)(CD/DVD), in 2010, they weren’t sure if they were going to tour behind it, which brings us to the Bottom Lounge last weekend in Chicago. Obviously, response has been enough for Times of Grace to do a club tour across the U.S. with guests War of Ages (Erie, PA) and Straight Line Stitch (Knoxville, TN).
As is the case with just about every popular metal and hard rock band, ACDC’s comments and actions have been misconstrued over the years, with several being interpreted as theme pledging allegiance to the devil. Following an interview with Guitar World magazine, where ACDC lead guitarist Angus Young commented that being on the road for months at a time was like a “highway to hell.” Of course this comment was immediately taken by critics and the media to mean that the band were Satanists, a rumor that the band furthered by placing Angus’ face, complete with devil horns, on the cover of the album.
