Lamont Hollywood

THE DOORS DEBUT

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-JAN 4, 2020…FIFTY THREE YEARS AGO THE DOORS RELEASED THEIR SELF TITLED DEBUT ALBUM. THE FIRST SINGLE FROM THE ALBUM WAS ‘BREAK ON THROUGH’ AND IT SURPRISINGLY FIZZLED ON THE CHARTS. THE RECORD COMPANY DECIDED TO RELEASE THE SINGLE ‘LIGHT MY FIRE’ BUT CHOPPED IT DOWN FROM THE ALBUM VERSION WHICH CLOCKED IN AT 6:50. THE SINGLE VERSION CUT OUT ALL GUITAR PARTS AND WAS 2:52. AFTER GETTING A TON OF AIRPLAY, DISC JOCKEY’S REFUSED TO PLAY THE SHORT VERSION, AND PLAYED THE LONGER ALBUM VERSION. ‘LIGHT MY FIRE’ CATAPULTED THE GROUP INTO INSTANT STARDOM. THIS WAS THE GROUP’S BIGGEST SELLING ALBUM, SELLING OVER 13 MILLION COPIES IN 1967 AND WHAT’S EVEN MORE MIND BLOWING IS IT WAS THE MOST SUCCESSFUL ALBUM OF 1969, EVEN BIGGER THAN THE BEATLES ‘SGT. PEPPER’S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND.’ ACCOUNTING FOR STREAMING, DOWNLOADS AND ACTUAL SALES, THE DOORS DEBUT HAS NOW SOLD OVER 38.9 MILLION COPIES. THIS ALBUM WAS INDUCTED INTO THE GRAMMY HALL OF FAME IN 2007. HERE’S A FANTASTIC LIVE VERSION OF ‘LIGHT MY FIRE’

PHIL LYNOTT R.I.P.

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-JAN 4, 2020…SAD DAY ON THIS DATE IN 1986. PHIL LYNOTT OF THIN LIZZY PASSED AWAY AT THE AGE OF 36. LYNOTT WAS A FOUNDING MEMBER OF THIN LIZZY, AS WELL AS IT’S MAIN SONGWRITER, SINGER AND BASS PLAYER. IN THE LATE 70’S EARLY 1980’S LYNOTT LEFT THIN LIZZY AND SUFFERED FROM DRUG RELATED PROBLEMS, PARTICULARLY HEROIN. ON XMAS DAY 1985, HIS MOTHER DISCOVERED HIM COMATOSE. HIS GIRLFRIEND KNEW HE WAS ON HEROIN, AND TOOK HIM TO A DRUG CLINIC, WHERE HE WAS THEN TRANSFERRED TO A HOSPITAL AND DIAGNOSED WITH SEPTICAEMIA. HE RECOVERED ENOUGH TO BE PUT ON A VENTILATOR, BUT DIED DAYS LATER AT THE AGE OF 36. THE OFFICIAL CAUSE OF DEATH WAS ‘MULTIPLE INTERNAL ABSCESSES CAUSING BLOOD POISONING LEADING TO KIDNEY, LIVER, AND HEART FAILURE’. THIS STATUE OF PHIL LYNOTT WAS ERECTED IN 2005 ON GRAFTON STREET IN DUBLIN TO COMMEMORATE THE IRISH MUSICIAN. HERE’S THIN LIZZY FROM A TELEVISION APPEARANCE IN THE 70’S.

THE GREATNESS OF THIN LIZZY AND PHIL LYNOTT ON DISPLAY WITH THIS FULL CONCERT FROM 1983.

photo thanks-Juan J. Martínez

GET OUT THE RED LEATHER, IT’S THE ROMANTICS

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-JAN 4, 2020…FORTY YEARS AGO THE ROMANTICS RELEASED THEIR SELF TITLED DEBUT ALBUM. THE ALBUM WAS DRIVEN BY THE SONG ‘WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU’. THE SONG CRACKED THE TOP 50 SINGLES ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS. IT LATER BECAME A ROCK ANTHEM WHEN IT WAS FEATURED IN A BUDWEISER BEER AD. IN 1987 THE ROMANTICS SUED THE MAKERS OF ‘GUITAR HERO’ FOR INCLUDING A SOUNDALIKE VERSION ON THEIR GAME. THEY LOST THE CASE IN COURT WITH THE JUDGE RULING THAT THE GAME MAKER HAD TAKEN ALL THE NECESSARY STEPS IN RE-RECORDING IT IN THE MAKING OF THE GAME. HERE’S THE OFFICIAL VIDEO THE ‘WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU’ WITH THE BAND SPORTING BACK PLEATHER OUTFITS.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEPHEN STILLS

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-JAN 3, 2020-HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO STEPHEN STILLS.TODAY HE TURNS 75. STEPHEN STILLS IS KNOWN FOR HIS SOLO CAREER AND HIS WORK IN ‘BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD’ , CROSBY STILLS AND NASH, AND CROSBY STILLS, NASH AND YOUNG. STILLS’ SOLO CAREER AND GROUP SALES ARE OVER 35 MILLION ALBUMS. QUICK TRIVIA, HIS FIRST SOLO ALBUM AFTER LEAVING C,S,N & Y IS THE ONLY ALBUM TO FEATURE BOTH JIMI HENDRIX AND ERIC CLAPTON ON GUITAR ON THE SAME ALBUM. THIS IS A SPECTACULAR VH1 DOCUMENTARY ON CSN&Y. ENJOY

photo thanks-Eva Rinaldi

ANYONE REMEMBER THE OLD STONE NIGHTCLUB

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-JAN 2,2020…IT WAS 1988 AND CHEAP TRICK PLAYED THE OLD ‘STONE’ NIGHTCLUB IN SF. THE LOCATION OF THE STONE WAS AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER THE HOME OF MANY BARS. ORIGINALLY OPENED BY MARTY BALIN OF JEFFERSON AIRPLANE AS ‘THE MATRIX’. HE OPENED IT AS A VENUE FOR HIS BAND TO PLAY. DON CORNELIUS OF ‘SOUL TRAIN’ PURCHASED IT AND OF COURSE NAMED IT ‘SOUL TRAIN’ AND TURNED IT INTO A SOUL AND R&B BAR. WHEN IT OPENED AS ‘THE STONE’ IT WAS TIME TO ROCK ‘N ROLL AGAIN. HERE’S CHEAP TRICK WITH A LIVE PERFORMANCE FROM 1979

photo thanks-Trina Stewart

GREEN DAY’S AMERICAN IDIOT

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-JAN 2,2020…FIFTEEN YEARS AGO GREEN DAY HAD THE NUMBER 1 ALBUM IN THE USA WITH AMERICAN IDIOT. THIS WAS A MONSTER RECORD FOR THE BAND. WORLDWIDE IT WAS #1 IN 19 COUNTRIES AND SOLD OVER 19 MILLION COPIES. IT ALSO PICKED UP THE GRAMMY AWARD IN 2005 FOR ‘THE BEST ROCK ALBUM’. HERE’S GREEN DAY PERFORMING ONE OF 5 HUGE SONGS FROM THE CD, THIS IS ‘HOLIDAY’

photo-the great Jimmy O’Sheehan Photography https://www.facebook.com/jimmyosheehan/

GREAT START TO A NEW YEAR

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-JAN 1, 2020- THE YEAR WAS 1975 AND ON THIS DATE FLEETWOOD MAC ANNOUNCED THE ADDITION OF 2 NEW MEMBERS THAT WOULD HAVE A MONUMENTAL EFFECT ON THE COURSE OF THE BAND’S FUTURE. ON THIS DATE 45 YEARS AGO STEVIE NICKS AND LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM JOINED THE GROUP. WITH THE ADDITION OF THESE TWO MEMBERS, FLEETWOOD MAC BECAME ON OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL GROUPS IN MUSIC HISTORY, SELLING OVER 100 MILLION ALBUMS WORLDWIDE. THE ALBUM ‘RUMOURS’ALONE HAS SOLD OVER 40 MILLION UNITS, AND IS ONE OF THE BEST SELLING ALBUMS OF ALL TIME. THIS IS AN OUTSTANDING VERSION OF ‘RHIANNON’, FILMED IN 1976 DURING A REHEARSAL FOR A TV SHOW.

buyfleetwoodmacprint@https://www.wolfgangs.com

RUSH ‘PERMANENT WAVES’

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-JAN 1,2020…FORTY YEARS AGO TODAY RUSH KICKED OFF 1980 WITH THE ALBUM ‘PERMANENT WAVES’. THIS WAS THE FIRST OF 14 PLATINUM ALBUMS FOR RUSH. QUICK FACT, IN TERMS OF SALES, RUSH IS BEHIND ONLY THE BEATLES AND THE ROLLING STONES FOR MOST CONSECUTIVE GOLD OR PLATINUM ALBUMS BY A ROCK BAND. HERE’S RUSH IN THEIR HOMETOWN OF TORONTO. THIS TRULY IS GREAT CONCERT FOOTAGE. HAPPY 2020 EVERYONE

ANDY SUMMERS OF THE POLICE IS 77 TODAY !

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-DEC 31, 2019… HAPPY 77TH BIRTHDAY TO GUITARIST ANDY SUMMERS OF THE POLICE. BEFORE JOINING THE POLICE, SUMMERS WAS IN A VARIETY OF BANDS IN ENGLAND, AND IN 1968 WAS EVEN RECORDED AN ALBUM AS A MEMBER OF ‘ERIC BURDON AND THE ANIMALS’. HE JOINED ‘THE POLICE’ IN 1977 AND GAINED WORLDWIDE FAME. THE BAND BROKE UP AT THE HEIGHT OF THEIR POPULARITY AFTER SELLING 80 MILLION RECORDS. A LOT OF THE HOSTILITY THAT LED TO THEIR BREAK-UP WAS SONG SELECTION ON THE ALBUMS. EACH MEMBER WANTED MORE SONGS ON THE ALBUMS, MAINLY BECAUSE THE WRITER RECEIVED THE ROYALTIES, AS THE BAND DIDN’T SHARE IN SONGWRITING ROYALTIES. HERE’S SUMMERS WITH THE POLICE

buysummersprint@https://www.wolfgangs.com

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BURTON CUMMINGS

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-DEC 31, 2018…HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BURTON CUMMINGS, THE FORMER LEAD SINGER FOR THE GUESS WHO. FROM 1965 TO 1975 WITH CUMMINGS LEADING THE WAY, THE GUESS WHO CRANKED OUT A TON OF HIT RECORDS. HE EITHER WROTE , CO-WROTE AND SANG ‘AMERICAN WOMAN’, ‘NO TIME’, ‘HAND ME DOWN WORLD’, ‘THESE EYES’ AND ‘LAUGHING’. IN 1970 THE GUESS WHO SOLD MORE RECORDS THAN ANY OTHER GROUP IN THE WORLD.JIMMY PAGE OF LED ZEPPELIN ONCE SAID THAT ONE OF THE BEST SINGERS HE’S EVER HEARD WAS “THAT GUY WHO SINGS FOR THE GUESS WHO” HERE’S A GREAT APPEARANCE FROM 1973 AND THE T.V. SHOW ‘IN CONCERT’ SHOWING OFF BURTON CUMMINGS CHOPS. ENJOY. HAPPY 72ND BIRTHDAY BURTON CUMMINGS