Lamont

CROSBY STILLS NASH AND YOUNG

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-MARCH 11, 2020…HOLY SCHNIKES !!! IT WAS 1970 AND ON THIS DATE CROSBY, STILLS, NASH AND YOUNG RELEASED WHAT WOULD BE THE NUMBER ONE ALBUM OF THE YEAR. THE ALBUM WAS A MASTERPIECE. STEVEN STILLS ESTIMATED THAT THE ALBUM TOOK AROUND 800 HOURS OF STUDIO TIME TO RECORD. DEJA VU GENERATED 3 TOP 40 SINGLES ‘TEACH YOUR CHILDREN’ ‘OUR HOUSE’ AND ‘WOODSTOCK’ AND SOLD OVER 8 MILLION COPIES. KEEP IN MIND THESE ARE 1970 NUMBERS ! NO ONE SOLD 8 MILLION COPIES OF AN ALBUM IN 1970 ! THIS ALBUM IS IN THE ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE’S TOP 500 GREATEST ALBUMS OF ALL-TIME. HERE’S RARE FOOTAGE OF C,S,N & Y FROM 1970

METAL HEALTH

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-MARCH 11, 2020…TWENTY SEVEN YEARS AGO QUIET RIOT RELEASED THEIR THIRD STUDIO ALBUM, AND IT WOULD PROVE TO BE A GROUND BREAKER FOR METAL BANDS.

THE ALBUM WAS ‘METAL HEALTH’ AND IT WAS A GROUNDBREAKER BECAUSE IT WAS THE FIRST EVER HEAVY METAL ALBUM TO TOP THE BILLBOARD ALBUM CHARTS. ‘METAL HEALTH’ KNOCKED ‘SYNCHRONICITY’ BY THE POLICE OUT OF THE NUMBER ONE SPOT IN NOVEMBER OF 1983. THE ALBUM’S COMMERCIAL SUCCESS WAS FUELED BY 2 HIT SINGLES , ‘CUM ON FEEL THE NOIZE’ AND THE TITLE TRACK ‘METAL HEALTH’. NOW THIS MIGHT GET CONFUSING BECAUSE THE SINGLE ‘METAL HEALTH’ WAS THEN RETITLED ‘BANG YOUR HEAD (METAL HEALTH)’ AFTER THE ORIGINAL PRESSING. THE ALBUM ENDED UP SELLING OVER 6 MILLION COPIES. BTW, SOME GREAT TRIVIA ON THE ‘BANG YOUR HEAD (METAL HEALTH) VIDEO. IT WAS A STAPLE ON MTV, BUT WAS MADE ON THE CHEAP BY THE BAND, BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T HAVE ANY MONEY TO RECORD AN ELABORATE VIDEO. SO THEY MADE A DEAL WITH A LOCAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE AND RECRUITED STUDENTS TO FORM THE CROWDS FOR THE STAGE SCENES. HERE’S THE OFFICIAL VIDEO

BEHIND THE SUN

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-MARCH 11, 2020…IN 1985 ERIC CLAPTON RELEASED THE ALBUM ‘BEHIND THE SUN,’ A RECORD MANY PEOPLE REFER TO THIS AS HIS COMEBACK ALBUM. IT WAS CLAPTON’S FIRST COLLABORATIVE PROJECT WITH PHIL COLLINS, AND THE RECORD WAS VERY WELL RECEIVED BOTH CRITICALLY AND COMMERCIALLY. THE MAKING OF THE ALBUM CAME AS AN ESCAPE TO CLAPTON, WHO WAS GOING THROUGH A TRIAL SEPARATION WAT THE TIME WITH HIS WIFE PATTIE BOYD. HIS TROUBLED MARRIAGE BECAME THE SUBJECT OF MOST OF THE ORIGINAL CLAPTON MATERIAL ON THE ALBUM. THE TWO BIG HITS FROM THE ALBUM WERE ‘SHE’S WAITING’ AND ‘FOREVER MAN.’ IN SUPPORT OF THE ALBUM, CLAPTON PLAYED WITH PHIL COLLINS AT THE BENEFIT ‘LIVE AID’. HE PLAYED THE SONG ABOUT HIS FAILING MARRIAGE. HERE’S A LIVE VERSION OF ‘SHE’S WAITING’

TOM SCHOLZ B’DAY

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-MARCH 10, 2020…HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BOSTON CO-FOUNDER TOM SCHOLZ. TODAY SCHOLZ TURNS 73. SCHOLZ IS THE ONLY REMAINING ORIGINAL MEMBER OF BOSTON. HE MIGHT ALSO BE ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING PEOPLE IN ROCK AND ROLL. A GREAT MUSICIAN, HE’S ALSO AN ENGINEER AND AN INVENTOR. SCHOLZ INVENTED THE ‘ROCKMAN’ PORTABLE GUITAR AMPLIFIER. BEFORE HIS CAREER AS A MUSICIAN, HE WAS WORKING AS A SENIOR PRODUCT ADVISOR FOR POLAROID. WHILE WORKING WITH POLAROID, HE TEAMED UP WITH BRAD DELP TO BASICALLY RECORD THE ENTIRE BOSTON DEBUT ALBUM IN HIS BASEMENT STUDIO. ( MOST OF WHAT ENDED UP ON BOSTON’S DEBUT ALBUM WERE TRACKS RECORDED IN SCHOLZ’S BASEMENT, MUCH TO THE RECORD COMPANIES CHAGRIN). BOSTON’S SELF TITLED DEBUT WAS THE BIGGEST SELLING DEBUT ALBUM BY ANY ARTIST UP TO THAT TIME, SELLING OVER 20 MILLION COPIES WORLDWIDE. HERE’S THE OFFICIAL VIDEO FOR ‘MORE THAN A FEELING’

photo credit- the best photo man ever Jim Sheehan https://www.facebook.com/pg/jimmyosheehan/photos/?tab=albums

LED ZEP’S FIRST SINGLE IN AMERICA

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-MARCH 10, 2020…51 YEARS AGO LED ZEPPELIN RELEASED THEIR FIRST U.S. SINGLE. IT WAS THE FIRST SONG ON THEIR SELF TITLED DEBUT. JOHN BONHAM, JOHN PAUL JONES, AND JIMMY PAGE ARE CREDITED WITH WRITING THIS SONG, AND THERE IS NO CREDIT FOR ROBERT PLANT. THAT’S BECAUSE PLANT WAS CONTRACTUALLY TIED UP AT THE TIME AND DIDN’T WANT THERE TO BE LEGAL HASSLES, SO PLANT DIDN’T TAKE ANY WRITING CREDITS ON THE FIRST ALBUM. JIMMY PAGE EXPLAINED HOW THE SONG CAME TOGETHER IN HIS 2012 ROLLING STONE INTERVIEW: “John Paul Jones came up with the riff. I had the chorus. John Bonham applied the bass-drum pattern. That one really shaped our writing process. It was like, ‘Wow, everybody’s erupting at once.” Jimmy Page passed his guitar through a Leslie Speaker to create a swirling effect. The Leslie contains a rotating paddle and was designed for organs, but some musicians used it to process guitars and vocals. Eric Clapton used it on “Badge.” John Bonham used a device called a “Triplet” on his bass drum for this song to get a double bass pedal sound. He used the tip of his toe to flick the bass pedal back fast, creating an effect many drummers tried to copy. Jimmy Page explained in the BBC Book Guitar Greats, “‘Good Times, Bad Times,’ as usual, came out of a riff with a great deal of John Paul Jones on bass, and it really knocked everybody sideways when they heard the bass drum pattern, because I think everyone was laying bets that Bonzo was using two bass drums, but he only had one.”

WHEN THE BAND PLAYED AT THE O2 ARENA FOR A BENEFIT SHOW IN 2007 WITH JASON BONHAM SITTING IN ON DRUMS FOR HIS FATHER, THIS WAS THE FIRST SONG IN THE SET. HERE’S THE DIGITALLY REMASTERED VERSION OF ‘GOOD TIMES BAD TIMES’ FROM ‘MOTHERSHIP’

THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD

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’

BOSTON’S BRAD DELP

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

THE JOSHUA TREE

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’

THE DAY AC/DC ANNOUNCED BRIAN JOHNSON WAS LEAVING THE GROUP

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

FOREIGNER’S DEBUT

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