Lamont

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-MARCH 15, 2020…HOLY CRAP ! IT WAS 27 YEARS AGO TO THE DAY ALICE IN CHAINS RELEASED  ‘ROOSTER’. THE TITLE COMES FROM JERRY CANTRELL’S FATHER. ROOSTER WAS HIS NICKNAME IN VIETNAM, WHERE HE FOUGHT IN THE WAR. CANTRELL’S FATHER WOULDN’T TALK ABOUT THE WAR, SO JERRY WROTE THE SONG BASED ON WHAT HE THOUGHT WERE HIS FATHER’S FEELINGS AND EXPERIENCES, TOLD FROM WHAT HE THOUGHT WAS HIS FATHER’S PERSPECTIVE. THE SONG IS ABOUT RESILIENCE, WITH THE SOLDIER BEING SENT OFF TO WAR, LEAVING A WIFE AND CHILD BEHIND. HE WATCHES HIS FRIENDS DIE, AND DOES HIS BEST TO STAY ALIVE.

THEY COME TO KILL THE ROOSTER, BUT HE WON’T DIE. CANTRELL’S FATHER DID HEAR ALICE IN CHAINS PERFORM THE SONG. JERRY TOLD THE STORY IN “GUITAR FOR THE PRACTICING MUSICIAN” MAGAZINE”:  “He’s only seen us play once, and I played this song for him when we were in this club opening for Iggy Pop. I’ll never forget it. He was standing in the back and he heard all the words and stuff. Of course, I was never in Vietnam and he won’t talk about it, but when I wrote this it felt right… like these were things he might have felt or thought. And I remember when we played it he was back by the soundboard and I could see him. He was back there with his big gray Stetson and his cowboy boots – he’s a total Oklahoma man – and at the end, he took his hat off and just held it in the air. And he was crying the whole time. This song means a lot to me.”

HERE’S THE VIDEO FOR ALICE IN CHAINS ‘ROOSTER’

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-MARCH 15, 2020…IT WAS 1981 AND ON THIS DATE AC/DC RELEASED THE SINGLE ’ROCK AND ROLL AIN’T NOISE POLLUTION’. ‘R&RANP’ IS THE FINAL TRACK ON THE ALBUM ‘BACK IN BLACK’ 

‘BACK IN BLACK’ WAS THE FIRST ALBUM THE BAND RELEASED AFTER THE DEATH OF LEAD SINGER BON SCOTT. THE ALBUM WAS A TRIBUTE TO THE LATE SINGER, AND A “F**K YOU” TO ALL THE CRITICS WHO HAD NO RESPECT FOR THE BAND AND THOUGHT THEY WOULD GO BYE BYE BECAUSE OF BON’S DEATH. AS IT TURNED OUT, ‘BACK IN BLACK’ IS ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL ALBUMS OF ALL-TIME, WITH MORE THAN 53 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE.  AC/DC IS CHAMPIONING ROCK AND ROLL WITH THIS SONG, SOMETHING THEY DID THROUGHOUT THEIR CAREER. OTHER ROCK BANDS WERE DABBLING IN BALLADS OR EVEN DISCO TO SELL RECORDS, BUT AC/DC REFUSED AND JUST KEPT ROCKING AWAY.  ‘ROCK AND ROLL AIN’T NOISE POLLUTION’ WAS THE 4TH AND FINAL SINGLE FROM ‘BACK IN BLACK.’ HERE’S THE VIDEO, ENJOY 

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-MARCH 14, 2020…FIFTEEN YEARS AGO THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME CELEBRATED ITS 20TH ANNIVERSARY AND THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE EVENING WAS U2 GETTING INDUCTED INTO THE HALL. THEY WERE WELCOMED INTO THE HALL BY BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN  

HERE’S GREAT VIDEO OF U2 ACCEPTING THEIR AWARD 

HERE’S U2 AT THE INDUCTION CEREMONY 

AND FINALLY U2 JAMMING WITH BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

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LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-MARCH 13, 2020… FOURTEEN YEARS AGO, THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME INDUCTED LYNYRD SKYNYRD AND BLACK SABBATH AS MEMBERS OF “THE CLASS OF 2006” IN THE RRHOF. HERE’S FOOTAGE OF LYNYRD SKYNYRD ACCEPTING THE AWARD

AND SKYNYRD PERFORMING WITH KID ROCK AS PART OF THE JAM SESSION

AND JUDGING BY THE CAMERA WORK  , THIS HAS GOT TO BE HOME VIDEO OF SKYNYRD PERFORMING ‘FREE BIRD’ AT THE HOF AWARDS SHOW

METALLICA INDUCTED BLACK SABBATH AND HERE’S SABBATH ACCEPTING THEIR  AWARD

AND HERE’S THE METALLICA PERFORMING FOR BLACK SABBATH AT THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME 

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LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-MARCH 12, 2020…THREE YEARS AGO GUITARIST JOEY ALVES PASSED AWAY. ALVES WAS BEST KNOWN AS A KEY MEMBER OF THE BAND Y&T. HE JOINED GROUP IN 1974 WHEN THEY WERE STILL KNOWN AS ‘YESTERDAY AND TODAY’. AT THAT POINT THEY WERE JUST DOING COVERS. WHEN ALVES CAME ON BOARD, THE GROUP STARTED WRITING THEIR OWN MATERIAL. JOEY ALVES WAS A MEMBER OF Y&T FROM 1974-1989. HE DIED AT THE AGE OF 63 FROM ULCERATIVE COLITIS AND INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE. DAVE MENIKETTI IS NOW THE ONLY SURVIVING ORIGINAL MEMBER OF Y&T. HERE’S MEMORIES OF ALVES WITH Y&T FROM A SHOW IN SAN FRANCISCO CIRCA 1985

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