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THE LEGENDARY ‘MACHINE HEAD’

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-MARCH 25, 2020…ON THIS DATE IN 1972 DEEP PURPLE RELEASED THE ALBUM ‘MACHINE HEAD’ AND I WAS HOOKED ON ROCK N’ ROLL. ‘MACHINE HEAD’ WAS THE 6TH STUDIO ALBUM FROM DEEP PURPLE AND BY FAR THE BAND’S MOST SUCCESSFUL COMMERCIALLY. IT STAYED ON THE AMERICAN CHARTS FOR A TOTAL OF 118 WEEKS AND SOLD OVER 2 MILLION COPIES IN AMERICA. THE ALBUM WAS RECORDED UNDER INCREDIBLE CONDITIONS. THE BAND WAS IN SWITZERLAND TO RECORD MACHINE HEAD RIGHT AFTER A FRANK ZAPPA CONCERT, BUT SOMEONE FIRED A FLARE GUN AT THE CEILING DURING THE ZAPPA SHOW AND IT SET THE PLACE ON FIRE. DEEP PURPLE WAS IN THE AUDIENCE FOR THE SHOW, AND LEAD SINGER IAN GILLAN RECALLS 2 FLARES BEING SHOT OFF BY SOMEONE SITTING BEHIND HIM WHICH LANDED IN THE TOP CORNER OF THE BUILDING AND QUICKLY SET IT ON FIRE. FRANK ZAPPA STOPPED THE SHOW AND HELPED ENSURE AN ORDERLY EXIT.  THE REST OF THE BAND WAS ACROSS THE STREET AND WATCHED THE FIRE FROM A NEARBY RESTAURANT, AND WHEN THE FIRE DIED DOWN, A LAYER OF SMOKE COVERED LAKE GENEVA, WHICH THE CASINO OVERLOOKED. THE IMAGE GAVE ROGER GLOVER THE IDEA FOR A SONG TITLE ‘SMOKE ON THE WATER’, AND GILLAN WROTE THE LYRICS FOR THE SONG TO RECORD ON MACHINE HEAD.

THE BAND WAS RELOCATED TO THE GRAND HOTEL IN MONTREUX, WHERE THEY RECORDED THE ALBUM USING THE ROLLING STONES MOBILE STUDIO. ALSO INCLUDED ON THIS ALBUM IS A SONG MANY CONSIDER TO THE  FIRST EVER “SPEED METAL” SONG ‘HIGHWAY STAR’, ‘SPACE TRUCKIN’ ‘MAYBE I’M A LEO’  & ‘LAZY’

MACHINE HEAD HAS SOLD OVER 2 MILLION COPIES IN THE UNITED STATES ALONE, AND OVER 7 MUSIC PUBLICATIONS  CONSIDER THIS AS ONE OF THE TOP ROCK ALBUMS OF ALL TIME. 

HERE’S HIGHWAY STAR

LAZY

 

SMOKE ON THE WATER

 

AN INCREDIBLE LIVE VERSION OF SPACE TRUCKIN’

AND HERE’S FANTASTIC AUDIO OF A LIVE VERSION OF ‘MAYBE I’M A LEO’ FROM AN APPEARANCE ON THE BBC FROM 1972 

ELTON JOHN’S BIRTHDAY

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-MARCH 25, 2020…HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO REGINALD KENNETH DWIGHT, BETTER KNOWN AS ELTON JOHN. TODAY IS HIS 73RD BIRTHDAY. THE NAME ELTON COMES FROM ELTON DEAN, A BLUESOLOGY SAX PLAYER. JOHN COMES FROM LONG JOHN BALDRY, A BRITISH R&B SINGER. IN 1974, HE MADE ‘ELTON HERCULES JOHN’ HIS LEGAL NAME.
HERCULES WAS THE NAME OF A HORSE FROM A BRITISH SHOW WHICH HE ENJOYED. HERE’S SOME ELTON JOHN TRIVIA:
-He won a piano scholarship when he was 11 to the Royal Academy of Music.
-When Elton auditioned for Liberty Records, they liked his performance, but not his songs. So they gave him a bunch of Taupin’s lyrics, and that’s how the two met. He also famously auditioned for rock groups King Crimson and Gentle Giant … and was rejected by both.
-Has played piano on records by many different artists including George Harrison, John Lennon, Rod Stewart, Bon Jovi, Jackson Browne, Ringo Starr, the Hollies, and Bob Dylan.
-John’s American debut at Los Angeles’ Troubadour featured handstands on his piano and members of the Spencer Davis Group backing him. He was an instant critical success.
-As a child, John didn’t need glasses, but wore them anyway to look like Buddy Holly. They damaged his eyes so much that he was soon forced to wear them.
-After he topped a poll by Cadbury to find Britain’s favorite personality, Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum in London made a statue of Elton out of 227 lbs of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk Chocolate. He’s the first solo rock star to get a wax portrait made by Madame Tussaud’s. The Beatles were the first rock band.
-His 1975 album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy was a charting milestone for the singer and the industry. Not only was it his first album to enter the US charts at #1, it was the first time an artist ever debuted at the top of the Billboard 200. His other 1975 album, Rock of the Westies, was the second.
-He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 by Guns ‘N’ Roses lead singer Axl Rose, who calls John a major influence.
-John was made an Officer of Arts and Letters by France, one of their highest distinctions.
-At one point, John was responsible for 3% of all records sold on the planet.

HERE’S ELTON PERFORMING ‘GOODBYE YELLOW BRICK ROAD ON THE BBC’S TOP OF POPS FROM 1973

 

photo thanks Sarah Lou

GUNS N’ ROSES

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-MARCH 25, 2020…THIRTY FOUR YEARS AGO GUNS N’ ROSES SIGNED THEIR 1ST RECORD DEAL WITH GEFFEN RECORDS. HERE ARE SOME QUICK RANDOM NOTES ABOUT GUNS N’ ROSES. 

-BEFORE HE JOINED GNR AXL ROSE WAS SO HARD UP FOR CASH HE JOINED A UCLA MEDICAL STUDY WHERE HE WAS PAID $8 AN HOUR TO SMOKE CIGARETTES

-SLASH’S FATHER, ANTHONY HUDSON, IS AN ENGLISH ARTIST WHO CREATED ALBUM COVERS FOR MUSICIANS, INCLUDING SEVERAL FOR JONI MITCHELL.

– ACCORDING TO INFORMATION PUT TOGETHER BY CONCERT HOTELS.COM, AXL ROSE HAS A GREATER VOCAL RANGE THAN ANY OTHER POPULAR MUSIC SINGER. ROSE HAS SUNG NOTES IN MORE THAN 5 OCTAVES, AND JUST A FEW SEMI-TONES UNDER 6 OCTAVES. THEY RANGE FROM THE HIGH OF F1(IN ‘THERE WAS A TIME’) TO A LOW B FLAT 6 (‘AIN’T IT FUN”) THIS IS A GREATER RANGE THAN MARIAH CAREY WHO HAS MANAGED TO SPAN A SLIGHTLY SMALLER GAP BETWEEN F2 AND G7 ON HER RECORDINGS, AND PRINCE, WHOSE SPAN HAS REACHED BOTH A B6 AND AN E2

-SOME BAND MEMBERS OF GUNS N’ ROSES KEEP UP COLLECTIONS IN THEIR SPARE TIME. AXL ROSE COLLECTS ANTIQUE CRUCIFIXES, AND SLASH COLLECTS SNAKES

HERE’S THE OFFICIAL VIDEO FOR ‘SWEET CHILD O’ MINE’

photo thanks- Jimmy O’Sheehan Photography Jimmy O’Sheehan Photography

THE VAN HAGAR ERA KICKED OFF WITH A BANG

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-MARCH 24, 2020…ON THIS DATE IN 1986, VAN HALEN, OR SHOULD WE SAY VAN HAGAR, RELEASE THEIR 7TH STUDIO ALBUM ‘5150’. IT WAS THE FIRST VH ALBUM TO FEATURE SAMMY HAGAR WHO REPLACED DAVID LEE ROTH. 5150 IS POLICE CODE FOR AN INVOLUNTARY PSYCHIATRIC HOLD. IT’S ALSO THE NAME OF EDDIE VAN HALEN’S HOME STUDIO ( BTW, THE STUDIO IS REPORTEDLY A 40-FOOT-LONG ROOM WITH AN ADJUSTABLE CEILING FOR ACOUSTICS THAT CAN RAISE UP TO 18 FEET HIGH). SAMMY’S DEBUT WITH VAN HALEN SOLD OVER 11.5 MILLION COPIES WORLDWIDE AND PUT VAN HALEN BACK ON TOP OF THE ROCK WORLD. THE ALBUM BOASTED 5 HIT SINGLES ‘WHY CAN’T THIS BE LOVE’’ DREAMS’ ‘LOVE WALKS IN’ ‘SUMMER NIGHTS’ & ‘BEST OF BOTH WORLDS’    

HERE’S ONE OF MY FAVORITE VAN HAGAR SONGS, A LIVE VERSION OF  ‘BEST OF BOTH WORLDS’ FROM A CONCERT IN 1986

THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST     

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-MARCH 24, 2020…IT WAS 1982 AND I HAD MY MIND BLOWN BY A RECORD FROM IRON MAIDEN. THE ALBUM WAS IRON MAIDEN’S ‘THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST.’ IT WAS THE FIRST IRON MAIDEN RELEASE TO FEATURE SINGER BRIAN DICKINSON AND THE LAST WITH DRUMMER CLIVE BURR. THE ALBUM WAS THE FIRST ALBUM FOR IRON MAIDEN TO ENJOY COMMERCIAL SUCCESS AND WAS REALLY A LANDMARK ALBUM FOR THE BAND, SPAWNING TWO HIT SINGLES ‘RUN TO THE HILLS’ AND THE TITLE TRACK ‘THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST.’ THE ALBUM TO DATE HAS SOLD OVER 2 AND A HALF MILLION COPIES WORLDWIDE. HERE’S THE OFFICIAL VIDEO FOR ‘RUN TO THE HILLS’

THE RELEASE OF NUTHIN’ FANCY  

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-MARCH 24, 2020… FORTY ONE FOUR YEARS AGO, LYNYRD SKYNYRD RELEASED THE ALBUM ‘NUTHIN’ FANCY’. THE GROUP CRANKED OUT ALBUMS AT A BRISK RATE DURING THE ORIGINAL LINE-UPS BRIEF RECORDING CAREER. THIS MARKED SKYNYRD’S THIRD STUDIO ALBUM IN AS MANY YEARS.  NUTHIN’ FANCY WAS CERTIFIED GOLD 3 MONTHS AFTER IT’S RELEASE. THIS RECORD WAS THE FIRST ALBUM FROM THE BAND WITH DRUMMER ARTIMUS PYLE AND THE LAST WITH GUITARIST ED KING UNTIL THE REFORMATION OF LYNYRD SKYNYRD IN 1991. ‘NUTHIN FANCY’ CRACKED THE TOP TEN ON THE BILLBOARD ALBUM CHARTS, AND EVENTUALLY REACHED PLATINUM STATUS, SELLING OVER A MILLION COPIES. THE ALBUM WAS FUELED BY THE SINGLE ‘SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIAL’

HERE’S LYNYRD SKYNYRD PERFORMING ‘SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIAL’ CIRCA 1977

THE MEGA ALBUM FROM ZZ TOP 

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-MARCH 23, 2020…ON THIS DATE IN 1979, ZZ TOP GAVE US THE ALBUM ELIMINATOR. ELIMINATOR IS ZZ TOP’S MOST SUCCESSFUL ALBUM, HAVING SOLD MORE THAN 14 MILLION COPIES WORLDWIDE. IT SPAWNED 5 SINGLES ‘SHARP DRESSED MAN’ ‘GIMME ALL YOUR LOVIN’ ‘TV DINNERS’ ‘GOT ME UNDER PRESSURE’ AND ‘LEGS.’ THE ALBUM WAS NAMED AFTER BILLY GIBBONS 1933 FORD HOT ROD, WHICH HE CALLED  “THE ELIMINATOR.” THE CAR WAS FEATURED IN THE BAND’S VIDEOS FOR ‘GIMME ALL YOUR LOVIN’ ‘SHARP DRESSED MAN’ AND ‘LEGS.’ THIS ALBUM WAS ALSO THE FIRST ZZ TOP ALBUM TO USE SYNTHESIZERS. HERE’S ZZ TOP AND THE OFFICIAL VIDEO FOR ‘GIMME ALL YOUR LOVIN’

VAN HALEN II

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-MARCH 23, 2020… FORTY ONE YEARS AGO VAN HALEN RELEASED THEIR 2ND STUDIO ALBUM VAN HALEN II. THIS RECORD CAME ON THE HEELS OF VAN HALEN’S DEBUT ALBUM WHICH SOLD 1 MILLION COPIES AND WAS STILL ON BILLBOARD’S ALBUM CHARTS. THE SUCCESS OF VAN HALEN II WAS DRIVEN WAS DRIVEN BY 2 HIT SINGLES, ‘DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY’ & ‘BEAUTIFUL GIRLS.’ HERE ARE SOME QUICK HITS REGARDING VH II : 

-VAN HALEN II REACHED #6 ON THE BILLBOARD TOP LP’S CHART

-THE BLACK AND YELLOW GUITAR ON THE BACK OF THE ALBUM IS BURIED WITH DIMEBAG DARRELL. EDDIE VAN HALEN PLACED IT IN HIS CASKET AT HIS FUNERAL BECAUSE DIMEBAG SAID IT WAS HIS FAVORITE.

-DAVID LEE ROTH IS SHOWN IN A CAST IN THE LINER NOTES. HE ALLEGEDLY BROKE HIS RIGHT FOOT MAKING A LEAP AT A PHOTO SHOOT FOR THE ALBUM AND LANDED ON THE BOTTOM OF THE MICROPHONE STAND ALSO SEEN IN THE PICTURE OF THE BACK COVER ART

-VAN HALEN II HAS SOLD MORE THAT 5 MILLION COPIES IN THE USA 

HERE’S VAN HALEN IN 1983 PERFORMING ANOTHER GREAT TRACK FROM THE ALBUM ‘BOTTOM’S UP’