LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-MARCH 10, 2020…IT WAS ON THIS DATE IN 1981 THAT GUITARIST JOE WALSH RELEASED HIS 5TH STUDIO ALBUM ‘THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD’. THE ALBUM HAS JOE WALSH WORKING WITH A TON OF SESSION PLAYERS, INCLUDING EAGLES MEMBERS DON FELDER AND TIMOTHY B. SCHMIDT.  THE ALBUM WAS A HUGE HIT IN ROCK RADIO, WITH THE SINGLE ‘A LIFE OF ILLUSION’ HITTING #1 ON THE BILLBOARD MAINSTREAM ROCK CHART. THE SONG WAS ALSO FEATURED IN THE OPENING CREDITS OF THE MOVIE ‘THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN’.  HERE’S JOE WALSH AND A  VIDEO OF WALSH SHOOTING THE COVER OF THE ALBUM “THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD’ INCLUDING THE PICTURE THAT WAS USED FOR THE 45 SLEEVE OF ‘A LIFE OF ILLUSION’

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-MARCH 9, 2020…THIRTEEN YEARS AGO BRAD DELP, THE LEAD SINGER OF ‘BOSTON’ DIED AT THE AGE OF 55. DELP COMMITTED SUICIDE BY CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING AT HIS HOME IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. HE DIED FROM THE SMOKE OF 2 CHARCOAL GRILLS HE LIT INSIDE HIS SEALED MASTER BEDROOM. HE WAS FOUND BY POLICE WITH A NOTE CLIPPED TO HIS SHIRT WHICH READ “MR. BRAD DELP. I AM A LONELY SOUL.”  SIX MONTHS BEFORE BRAD TOOK HIS LIFE HE DROPPED BY THE BONE STUDIOS, AND I HAVE TO TELL YOU, BRAD DELP WAS ONE OF THE NICEST GUYS I HAD EVER MET. HE DROPPED BY THE SHOW TO PLUG A BEATLES SIDE PROJECT HE WAS INVOLVED WITH CALLED ‘BEATLEJUICE’

DELP WAS OF COURSE BEST KNOWN AS BOSTON’S LEAD SINGER. DELP SANG ALL LEAD AND ALL HARMONIES ON BOSTON’S ALBUMS, INCLUDING ALL LAYERED VOCAL OVERDUBS. BOSTON’S DEBUT ALBUM SOLD OVER 20 MILLION COPIES. 

RIP BRAD DELP, YOU ARE MISSED. HERE’S DELP WITH BOSTON

photo thanks-Carl Lender

lamont archives Delp in studio

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-MARCH 9, 2020…ON THIS DATE 33 YEARS AGO U2 RELEASED THEIR FIFTH STUDIO ALBUM ‘THE JOSHUA TREE’. THIS MIGHT BE THE DEFINITION OF A MONUMENTAL ALBUM. ‘THE JOSHUA TREE’ WAS NUMBER 1 ON BILLBOARD’S ALBUM CHART FOR 9 WEEKS, AND STAYED ON THE TOP ALBUM CHART FOR A TOTAL OF 103 WEEKS! THE SINGLES ‘WITH OR WITHOUT YOU’ AND ‘I STILL HAVEN’T FOUND WHAT I’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR’ WERE BOTH NUMBER 1 ON THE SINGLES CHARTS, AND ARE THE ONLY #1 SONGS FOR U2 IN AMERICA. A THIRD SINGLE ‘WHERE THE STREETS HAVE NO NAME’ HIT #13. “THE JOSHUA TREE ALSO WON 2 GRAMMY AWARDS 1987, INCLUDING “ALBUM OF THE YEAR” AND HAS SOLD OVER 25 MILLION COPIES. YEP, MONUMENTAL. 

HERE’S U2 PERFORMING ‘WITH OR WITHOUT YOU’

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-MARCH 8, 2020…IT WAS ON THIS DATE IN 2016 AC/DC POSTPONED THE REMAINDER OF THE  “ROCK OR BUST” WORLD TOUR ANNOUNCING THAT LEAD SINGER BRIAN JOHNSON HAD BEEN WARNED BY DOCTORS TO STOP TOURING IMMEDIATELY OR “RISK TOTAL HEARING LOSS.”

HOWEVER, ACCORDING TO VARIOUS STORIES THAT STARTED TO SURFACE, SOMETHING WASN’T RIGHT. COMEDIAN JIM BREUER BROKE A STORY ON HIS PODCAST, AND SAID THAT JOHNSON’S HEARING ISSUES WERE OVERBLOWN AND JOHNSON FELT HE WAS “UNFAIRLY KICKED TO THE CURB BY THE BAND.” ONE DAY AFTER THE BAND MADE THE ANNOUNCEMENT THAT JOHNSON WAS OUT OF THE BAND, THEY ANNOUNCED THE TOUR WOULD CONTINUE ON WITH GUEST SINGER AXL ROSE FILLING IN FOR THE REMAINING 10 NORTH AMERICAN SHOWS AND 12 EUROPEAN DATES.  AND THE PLOT THICKENS, BECAUSE ON JANUARY 28TH OF THIS YEAR, BRIAN JOHNSON CONFIRMED HE’S BACK IN THE BAND WORKING ON A NEW AC/DC ALBUM, WITH A TOUR TO FOLLOW. HE MUST HAVE FOUND THE CURE FOR DEAFNESS !! ONE OF JOHNSON’S LAST SHOWS WITH AC/DC ON THE ‘ROCK OR BUST’ TOUR WAS IN SF AT AT&T PARK. HERE’S THE ENTIRE CONCERT

photo thanks-Francesco

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-MARCH 8, 2020…43 YEARS AGO FOREIGNER RELEASED THEIR SELF-TITLED DEBUT ALBUM. THE FIRST OF 4 HIT SINGLES FROM THE RECORD WAS ‘FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME’. IT WAS THE FIRST SONG MICK JONES WROTE, AND IT WAS A SONG THAT HE WROTE SPECIFICALLY WITH LOU GRAMM IN MIND TO SING THE SONG. JONES HEARD A TAPE OF GRAMM AND SAID “THAT’S THE VOICE WE NEED IN THE BAND.” IT’S ALSO THE SONG THAT EARNED THE BAND A RECORD CONTRACT. ‘FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME’ WENT TO NUMBER 4 ON THE US CHARTS. 'STARRIDER’  'LONG LONG WAY FROM HOME’ AND ‘COLD AS ICE’ WERE THE OTHER SINGLES TAKEN FROM THE RECORD. 'COLD AS ICE’ WAS TOP TEN AS WELL FOR THE GROUP AND BECAME ONE OF FOREIGNERS BEST KNOWN SONGS IN THE US.  FOREIGNER'S DEBUT ALBUM HAS SOLD OVER 5 MILLION COPIES IN AMERICA. HERE’S FOREIGNER PERFORMING ‘FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME’ IN 1978

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-MARCH 8, 2020…WOW !! TODAY MARKS  THE 26TH ANNIVERSARY OF SOUNDGARDEN’S ‘SUPERUNKNOWN.’ THIS ALBUM WAS A EARTH SHATTERING FOR SOUNDGARDEN. THE RECORD DEBUTED AT #1 ON BILLBOARD’S ALBUM CHART, AND SPAWNED 5 SINGLES. THE FIRST SINGLE RELEASED FROM THE ALBUM WAS ‘SPOONMAN’ WHICH WENT ON TO SELL OVER 5 MILLION COPIES. ‘SPOONMAN’ AND ANOTHER SINGLE ‘BLACK HOLE SUN’ WON GRAMMY AWARDS. THE ALBUM WAS ALSO NOMINATED FOR A GRAMMY IN THE “BEST ROCK ALBUM” CATEGORY. ‘SUPERUNKNOWN’ IS CERTIFIED 5X PLATINUM BY THE RIAA. HERE’S SOUNDGARDEN AND THE OFFICIAL VIDEO FOR ‘SPOONMAN’ 

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-MARCH 7, 2020…IT WAS ON THIS DATE FIFTY YEARS AGO THE BAND MOUNTAIN RELEASED THEIR DEBUT ALBUM ‘CLIMBING.’ THIS BAND MIGHT BE ONE OF THE MOST UNDERRATED BANDS OF THE 1970’S, AND IF ANYTHING, THE BAND SHOULD BE COMMEMORATED FOR GIVING US ONE OF THE TRULY GREAT ROCK SONGS ‘MISSISSIPPI QUEEN.’ MOUNTAIN GUITARIST LESLIE WEST SAID THIS ABOUT THE SONG:  "When Corky (Laing, drummer) brought me the idea, it was a one-chord dance song. We got real high, took out a napkin, and I came up with the main riff and the chords. Then we fit the words over the sound." Laing says of the song: "I was madly in love with The Band, and I decided to put a 'Cripple Creek' feel behind it. Later on, I told Levon Helm that I felt bad about ripping him off, but he said that he didn't hear any similarity between the 2 songs, and that we didn't owe them any money!"

THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS COWBELL SONGS OF ALL TIME, BUT THE BAND DIDN’T ENVISION THE INSTRUMENT IN THE SONG. ACCORDING TO LESLIE WEST: "The cowbell in the beginning was just in there because Felix wanted Corky to count the song off. So we used the cowbell to count it off - it wasn't put in there on purpose. And it became the quintessential cowbell song."

HERE’S MOUNTAIN PERFORMING CIRCA 1970 PERFORMING ‘MISSISSIPPI QUEEN’ AT A BAR IN NEW YORK.

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-MARCH 7, 2020…THIS IS A FREAKIN GEM. ON THIS DATE IN 1976 LYNYRD SKYNYRD PLAYED THE WINTERLAND BALLROOM IN SF. THE BAND’S LINE-UP AT THE TIME WAS RONNIE VAN ZANT ON LEAD VOCALS, ALLEN COLLINS AND GARY ROSSINGTON ON GUITARS, BILLY POWELL ON KEYBOARDS, LEON WILKESON ON BASS, ARTIMUS PYLE HANDLING THE DRUMS, AND OF COURSE THE HONKETTES ON BACKGROUND VOCALS. IT WAS SUCH A LEGENDARY SHOW THAT GEFFEN RECORDS RELEASED THE ALBUM IN 2009. HERE’S VIDEO OF THE ENTIRE CONCERT FROM THAT MAGICAL NIGHT AT THE WINTERLAND BALLROOM 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx5gdTtBq90

We are not going to let the coronavirus stop us from coming to the radio station, so we are taking the proper precautions.

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-MARCH 6, 2020…THE SONG ‘REELING IN THE YEARS’ OR SOMETIMES CALLED ‘REELIN’ IN THE YEARS’ WAS RELEASED ON THIS DAY IN 1972 AS THE SECOND SINGLE FROM STEELY DAN’S ALBUM ‘CAN’T BUY A THRILL.’  THE GUITAR WORK ON THIS SONG IS EXTRAORDINARY. LED ZEPPELIN GUITARIST JIMMY PAGE HAS BEEN QUOTED AS SAYING THAT THIS GUITAR SOLO IS HIS FAVORITE OF ALL-TIME. THE SONG HAS A STEREO MIX, AND A QUADRAPHONIC MIX. THE ‘QUAD MIX’ HAS EXTRA GUITAR FILLS NOT HEARD ON THE STEREO VERSION. HERE’S THE QUADRAPHONIC MIX OF ‘REELING IN THE YEARS’ (PRETTY RARE)