Lamont

VAN HALEN’S FAIR WARNING

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-APR 29, 2020…ON THIS DATE IN 1981 VAN HALEN CAME OUT WITH THE ALBUM ‘FAIR WARNING.’ IT WAS THE THE 4TH STUDIO ALBUM RELEASE BY THE GROUP AND HAS THE DISTINCTION OF BEING THE SLOWEST SELLING ALBUM OF THE DAVID LEE ROTH ERA ( ONLY THE GARY CHERONE ERA VAN HALEN ALBUM FAIRED WORSE). WITH THAT BEING SAID, IT STILL SOLD 2 MILLION COPIES. MUSICALLY THE ALBUM BOASTED SOME GREAT TRACKS LIKE ‘MEAN STREET’ ‘SO THIS IS LOVE’ AND ‘UNCHAINED’.

HERE’S A LIVE VERSION OF ‘UNCHAINED’ THE VIDEO WAS RECORDED LIVE AT A SHOW AT THE OAKLAND COLISEUM JUNE 12,1981

BOB SEGER AGAINST THE WIND

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-APR 28, 2020…It was April 28,1980 and Bob Seger released the single ‘Against the Wind,’ the title track from the album of the same name, and the second single from the record. Here’s what Bob Seger had to say about the making of ‘Against the Wind’: “My old friend Glenn Frey of the Eagles had an idea that our guitarist Drew Abbott should play along with the piano solo. He and I then went out and did the background vocals together. The line ‘Wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then’ bothered me for the longest time, but everyone I knew loved it so I left it in. It has since appeared in several hits by other artists, so I guess it’s OK. The only thing that bothered me about that phrase was the grammar. It sounded grammatically funny to me. I kept asking myself, ‘Is that correct grammar?’ I liked the line, and everybody I played it for – like Glenn and Don (Henley) – were saying, ‘That’s the best line in the song,’ but I couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t right. But I slowly came around. You have to understand that songwriters can’t punctuate anything they write. I work in such a narrow medium that I tend to second-guess things like that. As a matter of fact, I’ve seen that line in a few other songs since I came up with it, so I guess it was okay after all.” Don Henley and Glenn Frey both sang background vocals on ‘Against the Wind’.
Seger won the 1980 Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal Grammy award for this song.

Here’s a great quality version ‘Against the Wind’ featuring Seger jamming with Jason Aldean

TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-APR 28, 2020…TODAY IS THE 21ST ANNIVERSARY OF TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS GETTING A STAR ON THE HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME. THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES OFFICIALLY DEEMED APRIL 28,1999 AS “TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS DAY” WITHIN THE CITY LIMITS, AN HONOR WHICH ACCOMPANIES THE STAR. DURING THE UNVEILING CEREMONY, PETTY WAS HUMBLE ABOUT THE HONOR, DESCRIBING IT AS: “Pretty unbelievable.We used to walk up and down this street and look at the stars and never dreamed we would ever have one.”

HERE’S PETTY LIVE WITH A GREAT VERSION OF ‘RUNNIN’ DOWN A DREAM’

AXL ROSE’S MARRIAGE

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-APR 28, 2020…30 years ago today Guns N’ Roses lead singer Axl Rose married model Erin Everly. The marriage lasted 27 days. Here is a summation of the marriage and a subsequent marriage from the Biography Channel website:

“In 1990 he married Erin Everly, who later claimed that Rose had shown up at her house, threatening to kill himself with a gun in his car if she wouldn’t marry him. The marriage was annulled in early 1991. That same year he began dating supermodel Stephanie Seymour. They got engaged in 1993 but broke up soon after. Rose sued Seymour, claiming she assaulted him, and Seymour counter-sued, saying he attacked her and she grabbed him in self-defense. The case dragged on, but Rose ultimately settled out of court. Everly was called to testify during the case and filed her own suit against Rose for assault and sexual battery. Rose settled this case out of court as well.”

In December of 2003 Erin rid herself of all of her memorabilia from the marriage, auctioning off her personal items, including handwritten love letters, song lyrics, clothes Axl wore in videos, and the couple’s wedding video. When things were happy between the couple, Erin, along with all of the band member’s girlfriends made an appearance in the video of “Sweet Child O’ Mine”.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ACE FREHLEY

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-APR 27, 2020…HAPPY 69TH BIRTHDAY TO ACE FREHLEY ONE OF THE FOUNDING MEMBERS AND THE ORIGINAL LEAD GUITARIST OF KISS. FREHLEY WAS WITH KISS FROM THE START UNTIL 1983. HE THEN REJOINED KISS IN 1996 UNTIL 2002 WHEN THE BAND WENT ON THEIR FAREWELL TOUR (BTW THEY ARE CURRENTLY ON THEIR 2019 FAREWELL TOUR)!! FREHLEY INVENTED THE “SPACEMAN” PERSONA AND IS WELL KNOWN FOR INVENTING THE GUITAR THAT EMITS SMOKE FROM THE PICK-UP ON THE NECK OF THE GUITAR.

NOWADAYS THERE IS A WAR OF WORDS BETWEEN ACE FREHLEY AND GENE SIMMONS. IT ALL STARTED WHEN GENE SIMMONS SAID HE DIDN’T WANT ACE FREHLEY AND PETER CRISS ON THE GROUP’S MOST RECENT FAREWELL TOUR FULL TIME. FREHLEY THEN FIRED BACK AND CALLED SIMMONS A SEX ADDICT AND ACCUSED SIMMONS OF GROPING AND PROPOSITIONING HIS THEN WIFE. THEN FREHLEY’S CURRENT GIRLFRIEND CHIMED IN. HER NAME IS RACHEL GORDON AND SHE POSTED THIS ON FACEBOOK: “Let me tell you. They tried to have Ace killed in the 70’s. Tried sending him to a so-called ‘private party’ in the Bahamas. Ace is VERY sober now and knows what’s happening. He sees things clearly now. He doesn’t need a chain of low brow restaurants; he plays the guitar. That’s what he does. F-CK THEM.”

HERE’S FREHLEY WITH THE LAST SHOW HE DID WITH KISS IN 1982 BEFORE THE 1996 REUNION

45TH ANNIVERSARY OF LEGENDARY SF CONCERT

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-APR 27, 2020…IT WAS 45 YEARS AGO TODAY THAT THE CLASSIC LYNYRD SKYNYRD LINEUP PLAYED BILL GRAHAM’S WINTERLAND IN SAN FRANCISCO. THE GROUP WAS TOURING IN SUPPORT OF THE ALBUM ‘NUTHIN’ FANCY’ AND WERE RIDING HIGH, HAVING ESTABLISHED THEMSELVES AS A ROCK AND ROLL FORCE WITH HITS LIKE ‘SWEET HOME ALABAMA’ ‘GIMME THREE STEPS’ ‘CALL ME THE BREEZE’ ‘TUESDAY’S GONE’ AND THE ANTHEM ‘FREE BIRD’ AS PART OF THEIR ARSENAL. THE TWO WINTERLAND SHOWS WERE PERFORMED JUST ONE MONTH AFTER THE RELEASE OF ‘NUTHIN’ FANCY’ AND WERE SIGNIFICANT BECAUSE THEY WERE AMONG THE LAST SHOWS TO FEATURE THE ORIGINAL THREE-GUITAR ATTACK LINEUP. ED KING WOULD LEAVE THE GROUP HALFWAY THROUGH THE TOUR, CITING EXHAUSTION. HE WAS EVENTUALLY REPLACED BY STEVE GAINES.

THIS IS A REAL TREAT. THE ENTIRE CONCERT FROM WINTERLAND. ENJOY

buyskynyrdprints@https://www.wolfgangs.com

KEITH RICHARDS TESTS GRAVITY

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-APR 27, 2020…On this date in 2006 Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones was admitted to a hospital in Fiji after he reportedly fell out of a palm tree. The reports did not indicate what he was doing up on the palm tree. Here are the Stones performing “GIMME SHELTER”. It truly doesn’t get any better than this !!

photoCredit Raph_PH

WHEN LED ZEPPELIN PLAYED 2 CLUBS IN SAN FRANCISCO

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-APR 26, 2020…OKAY THIS BLOWS MY MIND. EXACTLY 51 YEARS AGO TODAY YOU WERE ABLE TO SEE LED ZEPPELIN PLAY AT THE FILLMORE AND WINTERLAND !! ZEPPELIN PLAYED APRIL 24TH AND 27TH 1969 AT THE FILLMORE, AND APRIL 25 & 26TH AT WINTERLAND. HERE’S VINTAGE LED ZEPPELIN FROM 1969

buyledzep@https://www.wolfgangs.com

A SONG THEY WOULD NEVER WRITE NOW !

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-APRIL 6, 2020…ON THIS DATE IN 1971, THE ROLLING STONES RELEASED ‘BROWN SUGAR’ IN THE U.S.A, THE FIRST SINGLE FROM THE ALBUM ‘STICKY FINGERS’(IT WAS RELEASE APRIL 16 IN THE U.K.) IT WAS ALSO THE FIRST SINGLE ON THE GROUP’S NEW LABEL, ROLLING STONE RECORDS, WHICH INTRODUCED THE NOW INFAMOUS “TONGUE AND LIPS LOGO”. THE LOGO WAS DESIGNED BY JOHN PASCHE, WHO WAS FRESH OUT OF ART SCHOOL. THE ORIGINAL WORKING TITLE FOR THE SONG WAS “BLACK PUSSY” BUT JAGGER DECIDED IT WAS A LITTLE TOO DIRECT AND CHANGED IT TO ‘BROWN SUGAR.’ THERE ARE MANY INTERPRETATIONS OF THE SONG. ONE OF JAGGER’S OLD SECRET GIRLFRIENDS MARSHA HUNT SAYS THE SONG WAS WRITTEN FOR HER (IT WAS REVEALED LATER THAT SHE HAD A CHILD WITH JAGGER).

JAGGER STATED THAT THE SONG: “was all to do with the dual combination of drugs and girls. This song was a very instant thing, a definite high point. That makes it… the whole mess thrown in. God knows what I’m on about on that song. It’s such a mishmash. All the nasty subjects in one go… I never would write that song now.”

THE LYRICS WERE DESCRIBED AS A COMBINATION OF A NUMBER OF TABOO SUBJECTS, INCLUDING SLAVERY, RAPE, CUNNILINGUS, LOST VIRGINITY AND HEROIN. THIS SONG REALLY HAS IT ALL !! HERE’S A LIVE VERSION FROM 1972

BLACK SABBATH HEAVEN AND HELL

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-APR 25, 2020…ON THIS DATE 40 YEARS AGO, BLACK SABBATH RELEASED THEIR 9TH STUDIO ALBUM ‘HEAVEN AND HELL.’ THIS IS A HUGE ALBUM IN THE HISTORY OF BLACK SABBATH BECAUSE IT WAS THE FIRST ALBUM TO FEATURE RONNIE JAMES DIO AS THE GROUP’S LEAD SINGER, REPLACING OZZY OSBOURNE WHO HAD LEFT A YEAR EARLIER. WHAT’S REALLY WEIRD IS THE INITIAL SESSIONS FOR THIS ALBUM ACTUALLY STARTED OFF WITH OZZY IN THE STUDIO. BAND INFIGHTING IN THE 11 MONTH STUDIO SESSIONS RESULTED IN OZZY LEAVING THE GROUP. IN OZZY’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY HE STATED: “it was clear they’d had enough of my insane behaviour”.

IN ANOTHER CRAZY TWIST, DIO WAS ACTUALLY INTRODUCED TO TONY IOMMI BY SHARON ARDEN (WHO WOULD LATER BECOME SHARON OSBOURNE). THE PAIR LATER HAD A CHANCE MEETING AT THE RAINBOW ROOM IN LOS ANGELES WHERE BOTH DISCUSSED FORMING A NEW BAND INSTEAD OF CARRYING ON AS BLACK SABBATH. ACCORDING TO DIO: “It must have been fate, because we connected so instantly.”

ON THEIR FIRST JAM SESSION TOGETHER, THE DUO FINISHED ‘CHILDREN OF THE SEA’ A SONG THAT IOMMI HAD GIVEN UP ON PRIOR TO THE BAND’S FIRING OF OZZY. THE ALBUM HEAVEN AND HELL WAS HUGE COMMERCIALLY FOR SABBATH, SELLING OVER 1 MILLION COPIES IN THE U.S.

HERE’S BLACK SABBATH WITH A LIVE VERSION OF ‘CHILDREN OF THE SEA’

AND AS AN ADDED TREAT ANOTHER GREAT SONG FROM HEAVEN AND HELL. HERE’S A LIVE VERSION OF ‘NEON KNIGHTS’