Rock and Roll

My wishes for you in year 2010





Great start for Jan,



Love for Feb,



Peace for march,



No worries for April



Fun for May,



Joy for June to Nov,



Happiness for Dec,



Have a lucky and wonderful 2010.

Metallica was easily the best, most influential heavy metal band of the '80s. Responsible for bringing the genre back to Earth, the bandmates looked and talked like they were from the street, shunning the usual rockstar games of metal musicians during the early '80s. Metallica also expanded the limits of thrash, using speed and volume not for their own sake, but to enhance their intricately structured compositions. The release of 1983's Kill 'Em All marked the beginning of the legitimization of heavy metal's underground, bringing new complexity and depth to thrash metal. With each album, the band's playing and writing improved; James Hetfield developed a signature rhythm playing that matched his growl, while lead guitarist Kirk Hammett became one of the most copied guitarists in metal. To complete the package, Lars Ulrich's thunderous (yet complex) drumming clicked in perfectly with Cliff Burton's innovative bass playing.




After releasing their masterpiece Master of Puppets in 1986, tragedy struck the band when their tour bus crashed while traveling in Sweden. Burton died in the accident. When the band decided to continue, Jason Newsted was chosen to replace Burton; two years later, the band released the conceptually ambitious ...And Justice for All, which hit the Top Ten without any radio play and very little support from MTV. But Metallica completely crossed over into the mainstream with 1991's Metallica, a self-titled effort that found the band trading in their long compositions for more concise song structures. Peppered with hits like "Wherever I May Roam" and "Enter Sandman", it resulted in a number one album that sold over seven million copies in the U.S. alone. To support the record, Metallica launched a long tour that kept the musicians on the road for nearly two years.



By the '90s, Metallica had changed the rules for all heavy metal bands; they were the leaders of the genre, respected not only by headbangers, but by mainstream record buyers and critics. No other heavy metal band has ever been able to pull off such a feat. However, the group lost a portion of their core audience with their long-awaited follow-up to Metallica, 1996's Load. The album moved the band toward alternative rock in terms of image -- they cut their hair and had their picture taken by Anton Corbijn. Although the album was a hit upon its summer release, entering the charts at number one and selling three million copies within two months, certain members of their fanbase complained about the shift in image, as well as the group's decision to headline the sixth Lollapalooza. Re-Load, which combined new material with songs left off of the original Load record, appeared in 1997; despite poor reviews, it sold at a typically brisk pace and spun off several successful singles, including "Fuel" and "The Memory Remains." Garage Inc., a double-disc collection of B-sides, rarities, and newly recorded covers, followed in 1998. The band's take on Bob Seger's "Turn the Page" helped maintain their presence in the charts, and Metallica continued their flood of product with 1999's S&M, which documented a live concert with the San Francisco Symphony. It debuted at number two, reconfirming the group's immense popularity.



Metallica spent most of 2000 embroiled in controversy by spearheading a legal assault against Napster, a file-sharing service that allowed users to download music files from each other's computers. Aggressively targeting copyright infringement of their own material, the band notoriously had over 300,000 users kicked off the service, creating a widespread debate over the availability of digital music that raged for most of the year. In January 2001, bassist Jason Newsted announced his amicable departure from the band. Shortly after the band appeared at the ESPN awards in April of the same year, Hetfield, Hammett, and Ulrich entered the recording studio to begin work on their next album, with producer Bob Rock lined up to handle bass duties for the sessions (meanwhile, rumors swirled of former Ozzy Osbourne/Alice in Chains bassist Mike Inez being considered for the vacated position). In July, Metallica surprisingly dropped their lawsuit against Napster, perhaps sensing that their controversial stance did more bad than good to their "band of the people" image. That same summer, the band's recording sessions (and all other band-related matters) were put on hold as Hetfield entered an undisclosed rehab facility for alcoholism and other addictions. He completed treatment and rejoined the band as they headed back into the studio in 2002 to record St. Anger, which was later released in mid-2003.



The recording of St. Anger was capped with the search for a permanent replacement for Newstead. After a long audition process, former Ozzy Osbourne/Suicidal Tendencies bass player Robert Trujillo was selected and joined Metallica for their 2003/2004 world tour. The growing pains that the band experienced during the recording of St. Anger were captured in the celebrated documentary Some Kind of Monster, which saw theatrical release in 2004. Four years later, the band returned with Death Magnetic, an energized album that returned the band to its early-'80s roots. Former Slayer producer Rick Rubin helmed the album, having replaced the band's longtime producer Bob Rock, while Kirk Hammett (who was forbidden to play guitar solos on St. Anger) peppered the record with metallic riffs and frenetic solos.

Originally, there was an entire band called "Alice Cooper " led by a singer named Vincent Damon Furnier. Under his direction, Alice Cooper pioneered a grandly theatrical and violent brand of heavy metal that was designed to shock. Drawing equally from horror movies, vaudeville, as well as Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and the Stooges, the group created a stage show that featured electric chairs, guillotines, fake blood, and huge boa constrictors, all coordinated by the heavily made-up Furnier. By that time, Furnier had adopted the band's name for his androgynous onstage personality. While the visuals were extremely important to the group's impact, the band's music was nearly as distinctive. Driven by raw, simple riffs and melodies that derived from '60s guitar pop as well as showtunes, it was rock & roll at its most basic and catchy, even when the band ventured into psychedelic and art rock.

After the original group broke up and Furnier began a solo career as Alice Cooper, his actual music lost most of its theatrical flourishes, becoming straightforward heavy metal, yet his stage show retained all of the trademark props that made him the king of shock rock.



Furnier formed his first group, the Earwigs, as an Arizona teenager in the early '60s. Changing the band's name to the Spiders in 1965, the group was eventually called the Nazz (not to be confused with Todd Rundgren's band of the same name). The Spiders and the Nazz both released local singles that were moderately popular. After discovering there was another band called the Nazz in 1968, the group changed its name to Alice Cooper. According to band legend, the name came to Furnier during a ouija board session, where he was told he was the reincarnation of a 17th-century witch of the same name. Comprised of vocalist Furnier, guitarist Mike Bruce, guitarist Glen Buxton, bassist Dennis Dunaway and drummer Neal Smith, the group moved to California in 1968. In California, the group met Frank Zappa and his manager Shep Gordon who signed Alice Cooper to their new label, Straight Records.



Alice Cooper released their first album, "Pretties for You" in 1969. "Easy Action" followed early in 1970, yet it failed to chart. The group's reputation in Los Angeles was slowly shrinking, so the band moved to Furnier's hometown of Detroit. For the next year, the group refined their bizarre stage show. Late in 1970, the group signed with Warner Brothers and began recording their third album with producer Bob Ezrin.



With Ezrin's assistance, Alice Cooper developed their classic heavy-metal crunch on 1971's "Love It to Death ", which featured the number 21 hit single "Eighteen"; the album peaked at number 35 and went gold. The success enabled the group to develop a more impressive, elaborate live show, which made them highly popular concert attractions across the U.S. and eventually the U.K. "Killer", released late in 1971, was another gold album. Released in the summer of 1972, "School's Out" was Alice Cooper's breakthrough record, peaking at number two and selling over a million copies. The title song became a Top Ten hit in the US and a number one single in the UK. "Billion Dollar Babies", released the following year, was the group's biggest hit, reaching number one in both America and Britain; the album's first single, "No More Mr. Nice Guy," became a Top Ten hit in Britain, peaking at number 25 in the U.S. "Muscle of Love" appeared late in 1973, yet it failed to capitalize on the success of "Billion Dollar Babies".



After "Muscle of Love", Furnier fired the rest of Alice Cooper, retaining the name for a solo career; the rest of the band released one unsuccessful album under the name Billion Dollar Babies. In the fall of 1974, a compilation of Alice Cooper's five Warner albums, entitled "Alice Cooper's Greatest Hits", became a Top Ten hit.



For his first solo album, Cooper hired Lou Reed's backing band from Rock 'N' Roll Animal -- guitarists Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter, bassist Prakash John , keyboardist Joseph Chrowski , and drummer Penti Glan, as his supporting group. "Welcome to My Nightmare" , Alice Cooper's first solo album, was released in the spring of 1975. The record wasn't a great departure from his previous work and it became a Top Ten smash in America, launching the hit acoustic ballad "Only Women Bleed." Its follow-up, 1976's "Alice Cooper Goes to Hell", was another success, going gold in the U.S. After "Alice Cooper Goes to Hell", Cooper 's career began to slip, partially due to changing trends and partially due to his alcoholism. Cooper entered rehabilitation in 1978, writing an album called "From the Inside" (1978) about his treatment with Bernie Taupin, Elton John's lyricist. During the early '80s, Cooper continued to release albums and tour, yet he was no longer as popular as he was during his early '70s heyday.



Cooper made a successful comeback in the late '80s, sparked by his appearances in horror films and a series of pop/metal bands that paid musical homage to his classic early records and concerts. "Constrictor", released in 1986, began his comeback, but it was 1989's "Trash" that returned Cooper to the spotlight. Produced by the proven hit maker Desmond Child, "Trash" featured guest appearances by Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, and most of Aerosmith. The record became a Top Ten hit in Britain and peaked at number 20 in the U.S., going platinum. "Poison", a ballad featured on the album, became Coopers first Top Ten hit since 1977.



The Coop has also made many a movie and television appearance -- alongside such stars as Helen Hayes, Mae West, and Gene Wilder, among others -- including, most notably, "Wayne's World," "Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare," "Roadie," "John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness," and "Something Wilder."



His Guardian Records release "A Fistful Of Alice," was a paint-blistering live album recorded in Mexico that features special guests Slash, Rob Zombie, and Sammy Hagar, and is guaranteed to break leases and shatter noise by-laws every time it's cranked up to full volume.



Also in release is "Prime Cuts: The Alice Cooper Story," a 90 minute home video shockumentary of Alice's career. This was followed in 1999 by the long-awaited release of the definitive multi-CD box set, "The Life & Crimes of Alice Cooper," an authoritative and comprehensive chronicle of Alice's entire musical history.

One of Britain's most consistently successful groups of the seventies and eighties began life as a glam rock unit in 1968, when Brian May and Tim Staffell, both students at Imperial College, decided they wanted to form a band. Brian placed an advertisement on the college notice board for a "Ginger Baker type" drummer, and a young medical student named Roger Taylor auditioned and got the job. They called the group "Smile". The band was signed to Mercury Records in 1969, and had their first experience in a recording studio in Trident Studios that year. Staffell had been at Ealing College of Art with Freddie Bulsara, and introduced him to the band.









When "Smile" decided to call it a day in 1970, Staffell went off to join a band called "Humpy Bong", (featuring former Bee Gees drummer Colin Petersen) and Freddie left his band "Wreckage" to join up with Brian and Roger. Freddie not only legally changed his name to "Mercury", he also changed the band's name to "Queen". John Deacon was asked to audition as their bass player (they had three temporary ones so far in their short history), and in February 1971, Deacon signed on as the fourth member of Queen.









The band rehearsed tirelessly and played several small gigs at Imperial College. Eventually, they were offered the chance to 'test' a new recording studio called "De Lane Lea". In return for trying out the new equipment, they could also make free demo tapes. The demos went well enough that they signed a recording contract and publishing and management agreements with Trident in 1972. They were paid a weekly salary of just £60, and were given time in the studio during off peak hours, to record.









Soon after the failed single, 'Keep Yourself Alive', they issued a self-titled album, which was an interesting fusion of 70s glam and late 60s heavy rock (it had been preceded by a Mercury 'solo' single, a cover of the Beach Boys' 'I Can Hear Music', credited to Larry Lurex). Queen toured extensively and recorded a second album, which fulfilled their early promise by reaching the UK Top 5. Soon afterwards, 'Seven Seas Of Rhye' gave them their first hit single (UK number 10), while "Sheer Heart Attack" consolidated their commercial standing by reaching number 2 in the UK album charts.









In January 1975, Queen left for the USA on their very first headlining tour. Quite a few shows on that tour had to be cancelled, as Freddie had developed a severe throat problem, but he soldiered on and performed as many as possible, although doctors had advised him against it. Also in January 1975, Queen engaged the services of a music business lawyer, Jim Beach, to negotiate them out of their Trident agreements, as Trident were no longer being as supportive and the band were unhappy with the situation.









As fan support grew, the concert scenes where reminiscent of Beatlemania in the sixties, as Queen's live act was embodied in the outrageous theatrics of the satin-clad Mercury, who was swiftly emerging as one of rock's most notable showmen. In May of '75, the single "Killer Queen" reached number five in the U.S. and number one in the U.K.









After touring the Far East, they entered the studio with their producer Roy Thomas Baker and completed the epic "Bohemian Rhapsody", in which Mercury succeeded in transforming a seven-minute single into a mini-opera. The track dominated the charts in the UK, remaining at number 1 for an astonishing nine weeks. The power of the single was reinforced by an elaborate video production, highly innovative for its period and later much copied by other acts.









The follow up album, "A Night At The Opera", was, at the time, one of the most expensive ever recorded, and when it was released in November 1975, it was a massive hit, and gave them their first platinum album. Freddie had designed a band logo for the "Queen" album, which was re-worked and used as the cover for "Night At The Opera". The now-famous 'crest' features the band's star signs - two fairies for Virgo, a crab for Cancer and two lions for the two Leos.









"A Day At The Races" continued the hit streak, while the catchy "Somebody To Love" and "We Are The Champions", both reached number 2 in the UK. Although Queen seemed in danger of being stereotyped as over-produced glam rockers, they successfully brought variety to their singles output with a '50s rock 'n' roll style single called "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and the disco-influenced "Another One Bites The Dust" (both, U.S. number 1 hits). Despite this stylistic diversity, each Queen single seemed destined to become an anthem, as evidenced by the continued use of many of their songs at U.S. sporting venues, especially "We Are The Champions". Meanwhile, "The Game" gave Queen their first U.S. number 1 album in July, 1980. The group's soundtrack for the movie 'Flash Gordon' was another success, but was cited by many critics as typical of their pretentious approach. By the close of 1981, Queen were back at number 1 in the UK for the first time since 'Bohemian Rhapsody' with 'Under Pressure' (a collaboration with David Bowie ).









After a flurry of solo ventures, the group returned in 1984 with the satirical 'Radio Gaga' (UK number 2), followed by 'I Want To Break Free'. A performance at 1985's Live Aid displayed the group at their very best.









Queen's record output lessened during the late 80s, as the members concentrated on other interests. The band released their sixteenth album on May 22nd 1989, entitled "The Miracle". It entered the UK chart at Number One and went on to become a massive worldwide success, reaching Number One in most European countries.









The space between releases did not affect the group's popularity, as was proven in 1991 when 'Innuendo' gave them their third UK number one, and the album of the same name also topped the UK charts. By this time they had become an institution. Faultless musicianship, held together by May's guitar virtuosity and the spectacular Mercury, made Queen one of the great theatrical rock acts.









On November 23rd, 1991, Freddie announced to the world that he had AIDS. The very next day, his fight was over, and he died peacefully at his home surrounded by friends and family. The music world was in shock. Freddie had kept his illness very private, and only those closest to him had been aware of just how close to the end he really was. Fans from all over the world sent flowers and cards, and many even travelled to London to be at Freddie's house. A quiet family cremation service was held three days after his death, conducted in the Zoroastrian faith that Freddie's parents followed so strictly.









'Bohemian Rhapsody' was immediately re-issued to raise money for AIDS research projects, and soared to the top of the British charts. The song also climbed to U.S. number 2 in March 1992, after being featured in the movie "Wayne's World" (it had originally reached number 9 in January 1976). A memorial concert for Mercury took place at London's Wembley Stadium on May 20 1992, featuring an array of stars including Liza Minnelli, Elton John, Guns N'Roses, George Michael, David Bowie and Annie Lennox.









Even though Freddie was gone, Queen never announced an official break-up, so it was with nervous anticipation that a new Queen album called "Made In Heaven", was issued in 1995. Freddie Mercury's vocals were recorded during his last year while at home in Switzerland, and the rest of the band then filled in the instruments. While Mercury must be applauded for the way he carried his illness with great dignity, it is fair to say that May, Taylor and Deacon performed wonders in crafting an album from slightly inferior material. The album carries a dedication to the 'immortal spirit of Freddie Mercury', in recognition of his request that the material be completed and be heard by the public.


While "Made In Heaven" will be the last original Queen album, there is no doubt that the future will see further projects from Roger, John and Brian. To date, Brian May's solo career has enjoyed the highest profile, while Roger Taylor went on to work with his band called The Cross.



In November, 2006, The Official UK Charts Company released a list of the 100 best-selling albums of all time in the UK. Topping the list was the 1981 release, "Queen's Greatest Hits".

"In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"



During the progressive music revolution in the late 60s, one of the most surprising successes was that of Iron Butterfly. The band was formed by Doug Ingle, who added Ron Bushy, Lee Dorman and briefly, Danny Weiss. Together, they were arguably the first to amalgamate the terms 'heavy' and 'rock', following the release of their debut album called "Heavy" in 1968. Later that same year, Weis left the band and guitarist Erik Braunn stepped in.



When Iron Butterfly relocated from San Diego to Los Angeles, the band started to gain a live following and soon was gigging with the likes of The Doors and Jefferson Airplane.



On September 7, 1968, Iron Butterfly's second effort entered the charts with what was to become its signature album, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida". The 17-minute title track of that album was one of the pioneer songs that spurned the popularity of extended jams in progressive rock. The album became a multi-million-seller and was for a number of years the biggest-selling item in Atlantic Records' catalogue. The album also became the record industry's first platinum disc, selling over 4 million copies. It contained everything a progressive rock fan could want, - neo-classical organ with Far East undertones, a solid beat, screeching guitar parts, barbed-wire feedback and an long drum solo. A singles version of the song hit No. 30 on the U.S. national charts. Magnificently overwrought at the time, the intervening years have been less kind to its standing.



The follow-up, "Ball", was less of a success, despite being a better collection of songs, notably the invigorating 'It Must Be Love' and the more subtle 'Soul Experience'. Braunn departed after a weak live album and was replaced by two guitarists: Larry 'Rhino' Rheinhart and Mike Pinera. However, no further success ensued. "Metamorphosis" was a confused collection, recorded when the band was disintegrating, and in 1971, the band split up.



They re-formed in the mid-70s, with a new line-up of Ron Bushy and Eric Brann joined by bassist Phil Kramer and Howard Reitzes delivering two disappointing albums. A very brief semi-reunion in 1978, enlisting Jimi Henderson on vocals and bassist Keith Ian Ellis, imploded during a tour of Germany, when Ellis was found dead in a motel room.



Ten years later, all of the original members got together for the Atlantic Recording Corporation's 40th anniversary concert and celebration, appearing on stage along with the surviving members of Led Zeppelin, and with Aretha Franklin among many other acts of the company's roster.



Another re-formation, this time in 1992, was masterminded by Mike Pinera. A new version of 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida' was recorded and Pinera recruited Dorman and Bushy for extensive touring in the USA.



By 1993, the legendary "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" album had sold an astonishing 25 million copies and in 1995, the band re-formed once more for an anniversary tour.



On February 12, 1995, bassist Phil Kramer, who took Lee Dorman's place when Iron Butterfly re-formed in 1975, disappeared after calling police and threatening suicide. He was never heard from again, which led to a massive search and many news reports, talk show topics including an episode of Oprah, and even a segment on Unsolved Mysteries some years later. His body was found in a canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains, on May 31st, 1999, over four years later. At the time of his death, he was 42.



In 1997, Iron Butterfly re-formed again, this time with originial members Doug Ingle, Lee Dorman and Ron Bushy being joined by Eric Barnett and Derek Hilland. The band enjoyed a highly successful tour of Europe and had planned a new CD that never got off the ground.



On July 28th, 2003, guitarist Erik Braunn died of cardiac arrest in Los Angeles at the age of 52.



In December, 2005, keyboardist Martin Gerschwitz and guitarist Charlie Marinkovich joined Lee Dorman and Ron Bushy for yet another edition of Iron Butterfly, who continued to tour through 2007.

The Buckinghams formed in 1965 when Carl Giammarese and Nick Fortuna of The Centuries joined up with Jon Jon Poulos and Dennis Tufano of The Pulsations. After adding keyboard player Dennis Miccoli, the group won a 'Battle of the Bands' for a Chicago TV show called All Time Hits and became regulars on the show for 14 weeks. The British invasion was happening at that time and the TV show wanted the band to have a more British sounding name. A security guard that worked for the TV station suggested the name The Buckinghams.



Landing a contract with Chicago's USA Records in 1966, the group was sent to Chess studios where they were paired with producer Dan Belloc. Their first releases were all cover versions of other artists songs: James Brown's "I'll Go Crazy", the Beatles' "I Call Your Name" and the Hollies' "I've Been Wrong Before." While these songs did well in the Chicago area, it took the wistful, Jim Holvay written, "Kind of a Drag" to break the group nationally. The song featured the powerful vocals of Dennis Tufano and a punchy, soul-styled horn section that was the brainchild of James Guercio, who would later go on to produce the band Chicago. Soon after "Kind Of A Drag" was recorded, Dennis Miccoli was replaced by Marty Grebb, the keyboard player from the Chicago folk-rock band The Exceptions.



In just a few weeks, the Buckinghams had a million-selling, chart-topper on their hands. "Kind of a Drag" did for The Buckinghams what no other act seemed to be able to do at that time...knock the Monkees' monster hit "I'm A Believer" out of the #1 spot.



After the demise of USA Records, the Buckinghams signed with Columbia Records and followed "Kind Of A Drag" with a cover version of Lloyd Price's, "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" that quickly stalled at number 36. Columbia wasted no time in going back to the formula that worked so well the first time out, releasing another song co-written by Jim Holvay along with Gary Beisbier called "Don't You Care". That effort secured another top ten hit, when it reached number 6 on the Billboard chart. Not all of their singles had quite as much success though, as "Back In Love Again" topped out at #32.



Cashing in on a good thing, The Buckinghams appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Jerry Lewis Show, American Bandstand, The Smothers Brothers, Entertainment Tonight, P.M. Magazine, and Classic Rock with Wolfman Jack. Between appearances, the band recorded a vocal adaptation of Cannonball Adderley's jazz standard "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy," that soared to number 5.



Still in 1967, Columbia kept pushing out Buckingham singles and a Holvay / Beisbier / Guercio composition called "Susan" made it up to number 11, while "Hey Baby" (They're Playin' Our Song) went to number 12.



Despite selling millions of records and being voted "The Most Listened-To Band of 1967" by Billboard Magazine, the band's Fortunas began to decline in 1968. Their cleverly titled album, "In One Ear and Gone Tomorrow" seemed to be a forecast of things to come, as the LP couldn't produce a hit single. Several line-up changes only undermined their sound and by late 1969, The Buckinghams had decided to pack it in.



Carl Giammarese and Dennis Tufano continued working as an acoustic duo. Work was tough to find and Chicago area clubs were not interested. A demo tape for Reprise Records was turned down. Jon Poulos had started to manage local bands and tried to help. Giammarese and Tufano recorded an entire album demo for Poulos to promote, but nobody wanted to sign them. From there the pair contacted producer Jack Richardson, who worked with The Guess Who. Richardson brought in members of Poco as studio musicians and they laid down three promotional tracks. Poulos sent the demo to every major label, but got no response. He finally contacted former Mamas and Papas producer Lou Adler, who now had his own custom label, Ode Records. Two days after receiving the tape, Adler called to say that he liked the sound and Giammarese and Tufano flew to Los Angeles to audition live. Adler was even more impressed and signed them.



A self-titled Tufano - Giammarese album was released on Ode in 1973 and the first single, "Music Everywhere" managed to climb to #68 on Billboard's Hot 100. A second tune called "Rise Up" was issued the same year, but did not chart. To promote the album, Tufano and Giammarese went out on a two month, nine state promotional tour with Cheech & Chong.



Four tracks for a second album for Ode had been finished when Lou Adler took sick and had to keep leaving the sessions. A discouraged Giammarese decided he'd had enough and began doing session work. During this period, Adler's health declined to a point where he could not make records anymore, but eventually, the second album, titled "The Tufano & Giammarese Band" came together. When the subject of a third album came up, Adler said he will not do another unless he had assurance that Giammarese would stick around for the whole project. To get back on track, the pair assembled a new band, worked clubs and learned new songs. Lou Adler agreed to produce a third LP called "The Other Side". By now Ode was being distributed by Epic Records. Adler hired Hank Cicalo as an engineer and Tom Scott to arrange. On the first day of recording, Adler announced 'I cannot produce anymore, I lost my ear. I want to make movies.' Tom Scott and Hank Cicalo became the producers. The record was finished and made it into record stores, but one week later, Adler cut off the distribution deal with Epic. He wanted to be distributed by Columbia instead. Adler re-released the album, but Columbia had little interest and failed to promote it.



In 1980 The Buckinghams were invited to do a reunion by Chicago radio station WLS. Marty Grebb had to decline because he was working with Leon Russell. 32 year old Jon Jon Poulos died of drug-related causes earlier in the year. It had been eleven years since anyone had seen The Buckinghams play, but after they rehearsed, the pulled off three shows like they had never been apart. The exposure brought a lot of other offers to appear, but Tufano lived in Los Angeles and had other commitments. Carl Giammarese and Nick Fortuna however, decided to reunite as The Buckinghams.



The band toured extensively as a nostalgia act with Giammarese and Fortuna and released new recordings, the album "A Matter Of Time" and the single "Veronica" in 1985 for Red Label records. They were also a part of the highly successful Happy Together Tour which featured The Turtles, The Grass Roots and Gary Lewis. The tour was consistently one of the Top 10 grossing tours.



During the '80s and 90s, Tufano was not only involved in acting, but joined up with Elton John's songwriting partner, Bernie Taupin in a band called Farm Dogs. An album by Farm Dogs, "Last Stand In Open Country" was released in July, 1996 on Discovery Records.



The Buckinghams continued to be a very impressive band, playing festivals, concerts, casinos, cruises, and corporate dates around the world as interest in 60's hits and the bands that made them famous continued. Their clean and tight musical ability combined with trademark vocals made them a popular draw.



More recently, the latest edition of The Buckinghams released some new recordings that include, 1998's "Terra Firma" and "Made In Chicago" in 2001. In October, 2004, The Buckinghams sang the national anthem at Comiskey Park in Chicago before game one of the American Baseball League playoffs. They also toured the country with the "Solid Gold Sixties Tour" along with Tommy James, The Turtles, The Grass Roots, Paul Revere and the Raiders and Gary Puckett.

No Words Needed If You Were There !!

Creed were one of the most popular bands of the late 1990s, combining earnest vocals with lumbering power chords to create songs that aimed for a sweeping, inspirational tone. Representing a more simplistic commercial approach to the grunge rock practiced by bands like Pearl Jam, Creed dominated the charts but irritated critics. Continually having to deflect rumors that they were a Christian group because of their songs’ occasional spiritual overtones, the band lasted only three albums, but their brand of sincere hard rock paved the way for the later success of the similar-sounding group Nickelback.


Creed's Early Days:

Creed formed in Tallahassee, Florida, in 1995, led by singer Scott Stapp and guitarist Mark Tremonti. The band later added bassist Brian Marshall and drummer Scott Phillips. Setting up their own label, the aptly-named Blue Collar Records, Creed started writing hearty, accessible rock songs in preparation for the release of their debut.

A Successful Debut:

My Own Prison came out in 1997 on Blue Collar before being re-released in a remixed version on Wind-Up Records. My Own Prison was indeed blue-collar rock – a condensing of grunge’s bellowing angst into everyman laments and straightforward song structures. Frontman Scott Stapp had the same deep baritone as Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder or Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell, and Mark Tremonti’s guitar echoed the Seattle sound’s soft-verse/loud-chorus template. The album capitalized on grunge’s popularity, going double-platinum within about a year.

Attaining Superstar Status:

My Own Prison had been successful, but it wasn’t nearly as huge as Creed’s next album. 1999’s Human Clay was a more demonstrative musical and emotional experience, turning every song into a full-throttled exploration of love and lost. The band’s vaguely religious sentiments may have turned off some, but hits like “With Arms Wide Open” and “Higher” were simply everywhere on the radio. Human Clay has gone on to be certified platinum 11 times over, becoming one of the 60 biggest-selling albums of all time.

Problems Start to Surface:

Creed’s band unity began to show some cracks after the release of Human Clay. Bassist Brian Marshall left the band after the Human Clay tour, reducing Creed to a trio. But the problems were also obvious by listening to 2001’s Weathered. Although never critical darlings, Creed sounded creatively exhausted on the album, trying to stick to a commercial formula that was running out of juice. Still, Weathered proved to be a dynamic seller, even if it was clear that the band’s fortunes were in decline.

The Breakup:

Creed’s eventual breakup has been blamed on different factors, but one clear cause was Stapp’s addiction to alcohol and drugs. In addition, he was arrested in Florida in 2002 and charged with reckless driving. The band split up in 2004. Stapp released a solo album, The Great Divide, in 2005 – it failed to capture the public imagination like Creed’s records had. Meanwhile, the rest of the band, including Marshall, formed Alter Bridge with a new lead singer, Myles Kennedy, and released two albums. But Alter Bridge also were unable to duplicate the sales Creed once enjoyed.

The Reunion:

Near the end of 2008, Alter Bridge’s lead singer Myles Kennedy was rumored to be joining the Led Zeppelin reunion tour as a replacement vocalist for Robert Plant. These rumors opened the door to speculation that Creed would be reforming for a 2009 tour. Creed made it official in April 2009, announcing a new album and tour.

Creed Lineup:

Brian Marshall – bass

Scott Phillips – drums

Scott Stapp – vocals

Mark Tremonti – guitar

Few rock groups of the '80s broke down as many musical barriers and were as original as the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Creating an intoxicating new musical style by combining funk and punk rock together (with an explosive stage show, to boot), the Chili Peppers spawned a slew of imitators in their wake, but still managed to be the leaders of the pack by the dawn of the 21st century. The roots of the band lay in a friendship forged by three school chums, Anthony Kiedis, Michael Balzary, and Hillel Slovak, while they attended Fairfax High School in California back in the late '70s/early '80s. While Balzary and Slovak showed great musical promise (on trumpet and guitar, respectively), Kiedis focused on poetry and acting during his high school career. During this time, Slovak taught Balzary how to play bass, while the duo encouraged Kiedis to start putting his poetry to music, which he soon did. Influenced heavily by the burgeoning L.A. punk scene (the Germs, Black Flag, Fear, Minutemen, X, etc.) as well as funk (Parliament-Funkadelic, Sly & the Family Stone, etc.), the trio began to rehearse with another friend, drummer Jack Irons, leading to the formation of Tony Flow & the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem, a group that played strip bars along the sunset strip during the early '80s. It was during this time that the quartet honed their sound and live act (as they stumbled across a stage gimmick that would soon become their trademark -- performing on-stage completely naked, except for a tube sock covering a certain part of their anatomy). By 1983, Balzary had begun to go by the name "Flea," and the group changed their name to the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Word spread quickly about the up-and-coming band, resulting in a recording contract with EMI. But before the Chili Peppers could begin work on their debut, Flea and Kiedis were dealt a disappointing blow when both Slovak and Irons announced that they were leaving to focus more on another band they were in, What Is This. With replacement members Jack Sherman (guitar) and Cliff Martinez (drums) filling in, the Peppers released their self-titled debut in 1984. But the absence of the two original members showed, as the album failed to capture the excitement of their live show. While the album didn't set the world on fire sales-wise, the group began to build a dedicated underground following with college radio buffs. By 1985, What Is This was kaput (after issuing a single self-titled album), as Slovak and Irons returned back to the Peppers, resulting in the George Clinton-produced Freaky Styley. While the album was an improvement over its predecessor, it still lacked the fire of the band's in-concert experience, a problem that would finally be solved with their next album, 1987's The Uplift Mofo Party Plan. The album was the group's first to make an impression on the charts, and they followed it up a year later with stopgap five-track release, The Abbey Road EP, in 1988. But just as the world was warming up to the Peppers, tragedy struck when Slovak died from a heroin overdose on June 25, 1988.

In the wake of Slovak's death, Irons left the group for the second and final time, while Kiedis (who was also battling drug addiction at the time) and Flea decided to soldier on. After a new lineup consisting of former Parliament guitarist Blackbyrd McKnight and former Dead Kennedys drummer D.H. Peligro didn't work out, the duo found worthy replacements in newcomers John Frusciante and Chad Smith. The new-look Chili Peppers hit pay dirt straight away, as their first album together, 1989's Mother's Milk, became a surprise hit due to MTV's exposure of their videos for a cover of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground" and a song about their fallen friend Slovak, "Knock Me Down," as the album was certified gold by early 1990. The group knew that their next release would be the most important one of their career, so they moved into a mansion-turned-recording studio with producer Rick Rubin to work on what would become their most successful release yet, the stripped-down Blood Sugar Sex Magik (their first for the Warner Bros. label). The album became a monster hit upon its September 1991 release (going on to eventually sell a staggering seven million copies in the U.S. alone), as it spawned such hits as "Give It Away" and the group's first Top Ten single, "Under the Bridge."

But not all was well in the Chili Peppers camp. Like his predecessor, Frusciante had become addicted to hard drugs, and abruptly left the band mid-tour in early 1992. Undeterred, the band enlisted new member Arik Marshall, and headlined Lollapalooza II in the summer. When the band returned to the studio to work on their sixth release overall, it quickly became apparent that Marshall didn't fit in, and was replaced by Jesse Tobias. But before Tobias could record a note with the group, he was handed his walking papers as well, and former Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro signed on. After a layoff of four years, the Peppers' much-delayed follow-up to BSSM was released in 1995, One Hot Minute. While the album was a sizeable hit, it failed to match the success and musical focus of its predecessor, as it became apparent during the album's ensuing tour that Navarro wasn't fitting in as well as originally hoped, and left the band in early 1998.

After Frusciante had left the group, he released a pair of obscure solo releases, 1995's Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt and 1997's Smile from the Streets You Hold, yet rumors circulated that the guitarist was homeless, penniless, and sickly with a death-defying drug habit. After checking himself into rehab and putting his demons behind him, Frusciante emerged once again refocused and re-energized, and promptly accepted an invitation to rejoin the Peppers once more. The group's reunion album, 1999's Californication, proved to be another monster success, reconfirming the Chili Peppers as one of alternative rock's top bands. The band put in a quick guest appearance on Fishbone's Psychotic Friends Nuttwerx before hitting the road to support the album. The following months found the band getting involved in bizarre situations and controversies. First, their refusal to play songs from One Hot Minute during the tour was an unpopular decision with some fans and a sore spot for Dave Navarro. Next, they reignited a personal feud between Kiedis and Mr. Bungle singer Mike Patton by refusing to play a series of European concerts with Bungle. Patton responded with a "tribute" show for the Peppers, where Bungle mocked their stage moves, faked shooting up heroin, and imitated Kiedis' comments about Patton. They also played the ill-fated Woodstock '99 festival, where their headlining performance was met with piles of burning rubble and a full-scale riot. Tours with the Foo Fighters and Pearl Jam brought them into the next year without problems, but they stepped off the road after a planned stop in Israel was halted due to security worries. They returned to the studio in November of 2001 and by the summer of 2002 they had a new album ready to drop, By the Way. Warner Brothers released a Greatest Hits compilation in 2003, followed by a chart-topping two-CD album of all-new material, Stadium Arcadium, in 2006

Formed: 1973 in Rockford, Illinois
Years Active: 1973 through present.
Group's Main Members: Rick Nielson, Robin Zander, Bun E. Carlos, Tom Petersson, Jon Bryant

Back in the 60s, rock n roll oddball Rick Nielson began collecting bizarre guitars and studying esoteric British bands like Family and the Move. Tooling around the world, he returned to hometown Rockford, Illinois, and wound up in various outfits with avuncular drummer Bun E. Carlos. With lies of success, Nielson fooled bassist-in-crime Tom Petersson into leaving Europe to join. Soon, young folk singer Robin Zander was on board and Cheap Trick was born. The band played anywhere and everywhere, soon opening for the Kinks, Journey and Kiss. Nielson amassed a huge song portfolio before legendary producer Jack (Aerosmith, John Lennon, Zebra) Douglas finally led the quartet into the studio for their self-titled debut in 77. Cheap Trick showcased the Trick throwaway aesthetics of brilliant stupidity ("Hot Love"), wily irreverence ("Daddy Should Have Stayed in High School") and high-voltage pop genius ("He’s a Whore," "Oh Candy"). Chicago murderer Richard Speck was the topic of "Ballad of TV Violence" while "ELO Kiddies" is the cleverest Japanese toy/nuclear generation/Jeff Lynne song ever. In-house producer Tom Werman cleaned up the follow-up, In Color (77), for the radio and polished their third, Heaven Tonight (78), into a shining AOR gem. Few bands could turn songs about barbiturates ("Downed") and suicide ("Auf Wiedersehen") into chugging arena anthems, so Cheap Trick prepared for world domination. Merging the lines of metal, punk and Top 40, this golden stage is encapsulated by the brilliant "Surrender." Meanwhile, the band was already on top in Japan, documented on the stopgap live release At Budokon (79), which pushed the band to platinum status though it was originally intended for Japanese-only release. Thundering versions of "I Want You to Want Me" and the oldie "Ain’t That a Shame" were actual hits, bolstered by the band’s pioneering visual sense and Live at Leeds propulsion. After the abrupt Budokan, much momentum was lost by the impending release of the studio-intensive Dream Police (79). Though the title track, "Way of the World," and "I Know What I Want" were well-crafted singles, the roaring energy circulated by the live platter seemed to evaporate with the heady 70s. Petersson grew disenchanted, pulling a Yoko move with wife Dagmar, and left after the underrated All Shook Up (80), ironically produced by George Martin. Tick lost its commercial footing, unobtrusively releasing over-looked movie songs (two greats on Heavy Metal) for overlooked USA "Up All Night" movies and even "starred" with Debbie Harry in the animated movie Rock & Rule. Jon Bryant replaced Petersson and Trick dropped three eclectic pop artifacts: the compressed One on One (82) with Queen’s uber-producer Roy Thomas Baker; the quality Next Position Please (83) with kindred spirit Todd Rundgren; and Trick reunited with their first boardman, Jack Douglas, for the guilty pleasure Standing on the Edge (85). But when the clanging and bizarre Doctor (86) also slipped under the pop radar, the ever-encroaching record company took over. Petersson returned for Lap of Luxury (88), a calculated commercial confection with 3D production from Ritchie Zito. Trick scored a number one record with the lighter-ballad "The Flame." And "Don’t Be Cruel" was the first Elvis cover to hit the Top Ten since his death. But outside songwriters distanced Trick from their own records, and the vacuous Busted (90) increased the polarity between the power-party stage band and their adult-contemporary schlock tunes. Still playing wicked shows at state fairs and barbecues, Trick seemed to lose heart. In 94, a fresh start at Warner Brothers resulted in Woke Up with a Monster which accelerated Trick’s descent into obscurity. But Smashing Pumpkin Billy Corgan, an Illinois native who cut his teeth on vintage Trick, installed a new life force. Trick released another record, reissued their first four classics and began selling out shows again. Through it all, Cheap Trick weathers on like always, rockin’ like big dogs night after night .

With their 1978 eponymous debut, Van Halen simultaneously re-wrote the rules for rock guitar and hard rock in general. Guitarist Eddie Van Halen redefined what electric guitar could do, developing a blindingly fast technique with a variety of self-taught two-handed tapping, hammer-ons, pull-offs, and effects that mimicked the sound of machines and animals. It was wildly inventive and over-the-top, equaled only by vocalist David Lee Roth, who brought the role of a metal singer to near performance art standards. Together, they made Van Halen into the most popular American rock & roll band of the late '70s and early '80s, and, in the process, set the template for hard-rock and heavy metal for the '80s. Throughout the '80s, it was impossible not to hear Van Halen's instrumental technique on records that ranged from the heaviest metal to soft-pop.
Through all the upheaval over lead vocalists, Eddie Van Halen and his prodigious talent remained at the core of Van Halen. The son of a Dutch bandleader, Eddie and his family moved from the Netherlands to Pasadena, California in 1967, when he was 12 years old and his older brother Alex was 14. As their father supported the family by playing in wedding bands, Eddie and Alex continued their classical piano training. Soon, both boys were enraptured by rock & roll. Eddie learned how to play drums and Alex took up the guitar, eventually switching instruments. The brothers began a hard-rock band called Mammoth and began playing around Pasadena, eventually meeting David Lee Roth. At the time, Roth, who had been raised in a wealthy Californian family, was singing in Redball Jet. Impressed by the Van Halen brothers, he joined forces with the group. Shortly afterward, bassist Michael Anthony, who was singing with Snake, became a member of Mammoth.

Eddie Van Halen became a role model for modern guitarists, regardless of their tastes and preferences. His talent and skill were unquestioned, and he demonstrated a dazzling array of techniques, from simple riffs to extended solos filled with intricate fret work. "Eruption," an instrumental track on the first album, became his calling card as it was transformed into a lengthy showcase during concerts.




EVH Gear



The Custom built "Franken-Strat"
1978 to 1984

Edward bought the ash body from Linn Ellsworth in 1975 for fifty dollars and the neck (also a cast-off) for eighty dollars. Originally, the body came with single-coil bridge, neck, and middle pickup positions pre-routed and Van Halen, with a chisel, excavated a hole to house a humbucker in the bridge position. He placed in this chiseled hole a P.A.F. from a 1961 Gibson ES-335. The pickup was also "ruined" but sounded good so it's what he used. The single-coil neck pick-up was completely disengaged. The guitar was first sprayed with black and then white Scwinn acrylic lacquer bicycle paint and mounted a black strat-style pickguard (also home-made) eventually only covering the two front (electronics) routings. The Guitar was eventually repainted with red, black and white stripes and orange truck reflectors added to the back of the guitar.. This red-Frankenstrat first appeared as the black and white guitar pictured on the debut VH album The nut was brass and the tailpiece unit was from a 1961 Fender Stratocaster. This guitar was Edward's main instrument for the first several albums and tours. During the band's second world wide stampede Van Halen replaced the original tremelo with then-prototype Floyd Rose. A quarter was attached just under the top-back side of the floyd Rose to keep it from rising up.That first Linn Ellsworth neck was broken by the guitarist's rigorous stage antics and replaced with whatever was handy (including a Danelectro at one point). The Ellsworth neck sported Gibson jumbo frets ("I put those in with the help of some Crazy Glue"-EVH). The tuning heads were Schallers. "There's really no secret. The reason I use what I use is through trial and error,"-EVH


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Kramer Guitars
1983 to 1991

In 1983 Ed began endorsing Kramer guitars and used customized Kramer guitars and necks.

Although a Kramer EVH signature model was never created the Kramer "Baretta" was modeled after Ed's frankenstrat (minus the paint job and other EVH customizations)




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The Stienberger
1986 to 1998

Edward introduced the Stienberger Tran's Trem equipped guitar into his arsenal in 1986.
This transposing trem first appeared on the 5150 album and tour. The trans-trem tremelo can be heard on the songs "Summer Nights" and "Me Wise Magic" to name a few


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EVH Music Man Signature Guitars
1991 to 1994

In 1991 Ed collaborated with Earnie Ball to create a EVH signature guitars of Ed's design.

Ed and Earnie Ball split in 1994
due to problems with slow production and distribution.

Size: 12 5/8" wide, 1" thick, 36 5/8" long
Weight: 8 pounds. Varies Slightly
Body: Wood Basswood with bookmatched figure mapel top
Finish: High gloss polyester
Bridge: Music Man Floyd Rose licensed tremolo
Neck
Size Scale: 25" Radius: 10"
Headstock: Only 5 7/8" long
Frets: 22 - Special design unique profile fretwire
Width: 1 5/8" at nut, 2 5/32" at last fret
Wood Selected: maple neck and fingerboard, digitally carved
to Ed's specifications
Tuners: Schaller M6La with pearl buttons
Electronics
Pickups: 2 Custom DiMarzio Humbucking
Controls: 500K volume pot with "tone" knob (the way Ed likes it!)
Switch: 3-way toggle pickup selector


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The Peavey EVH Wolfgang
1995 - Present

Edward considers the Wolfgang the natural evolution of the Ernie Ball/Music Man guitar. "It's what I would've done had I stayed with Music Man. That would've been the next step," suggests Ed. "The angle of the neck is better, it's balanced better, it's got an arched top, and it's got the D-Tuner," he points out. Ed, in fact, owns the patent to the unique D-tuner. (The "D-Tuna" d-tuner allows you to drop the low E string to a D with the flick of a switch without unclamping the trems nut lock.)

Scale: 23 1/2"
Body: Basswood or figured Maple top with
basswood bottom
Neck: Bolt on oil finished figured birdseye Maple, graphite
reinforced scuplted joint
Fret Board: Birdseye Maple
Frets: 22
Pickups: Two Humbucking designed to Edward
Van Halen's specifications.
Controls: Volume, Tone, # wat Pickup Selector
Bridge: Floyd Rose Licensed double locking tremelo with
patented D-Tuner


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Fernandez Sustainer

Ed uses the Fernandez Sustainer pickup which is housed in a Custom Wolfgang guitar (not offered by Peavey). The sustainer can be heard on the songs "Me Wise Magic" and "A Year To The Day" to name a few.

Ed has started using a Wolfgang Special's equipped with the Stienberger transtrem which replaces his customized Stienberger guitar




Guitar Setup
Ed's guitars are strung with Peavey extra-light strings, gauges .009 to .042 Ed sets his action as low as possible for the easiest playability with the least amount of resistance. His personal setup recipe is as follows, "I lower the strings to the point of buzz and then back it off just a hair. Why make it hard?" Ed uses a non-floating Floyd Rose tremelo system which preserves the bridge to guitar-body contact giving a more stop tail piece level of sustain and tone"

I don't know anybody that uses the damn tone control on a guitar, at least I don't. For me, it's all the way up, period." -EVH

"I like thin frets, that way it's more precise, the bigger, the fatter the fret is the worse the intonation is."-EVH

"He's our kind of guy." -- Frank Beard to Billy Gibbons after Beard introduced himself to Dusty Hill in a bar. Hill passed out drunk before returning Beard's greeting.--1969
Best known for: Classic rock trio known for its Texas heritage, bearded, haggard look, reclusive mystique, hard-nosed business tactics, and blues-rock sound.

Born: ZZ Top (aka, That Little ol' Band from Texas): 1969; Billy F. Gibbons (guitar): Houston, September 16, 1949; Dusty Hill (bass): Dallas, May 19, 1949; Frank Beard (drums): Dallas, June 11, 1949; Bill Mack Ham (manager): Waxahachie, 1937.

Family: Billy Gibbons, the son of a financially well-off family living in the Tanglewood suburb of Houston, never married. Dusty Hill is divorced with a college-age daughter. Frank Beard is married and has two twin boys and a daughter who reportedly goes to college in Houston and will be part of the University class of 2001.

Education: While growing up in suburban Houston, Gibbons learned about R&B music from his family's maid, who was African-American.

Career: Guitarist Billy Gibbons met his future manager, Waxahachie native Bill Mack Ham, backstage at a Doors concert in Houston in 1967. Gibbons' band at the time, the Moving Sidewalks, had a local hit with the song "99th Floor." They soon opened on the Doors' Texas tour. After later opening for the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Hendrix named Gibbons his favorite guitar player during an appearance on "The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson." The Sidewalks broke up and Gibbons and Ham contracted to form a new band.

After a few false starts with other musicians, the Gibbons-Hill-Beard version of ZZ Top was founded in 1969. According to Gibbons, the name came from one or more of the following: the two brands of rolling-paper, Zig-Zag and Top, a tribute to blues legend Z.Z. Hill, and/or Gibbons seeing the two words running together on a dilapidated bill board. Hill and Beard had been members of a Dallas band called American Blues.

The trio spent its first few years playing mostly regional concerts. Ham's bosses, Houston record producer Pappy Daily and family, cut a deal with him to finance "ZZ Top's First Album" (1970). Five other records followed on the London Records label. The third album, "Tres Hombres" (1973), brought them national attention. Its hit song "La Grange," about a whorehouse, was allegedly based on John Lee Hooker's "Boogie Chillen." It is still the band's signature riff tune. Also included was "Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers," the would-be anthem.

In an event that tried to be a rock-style Willie Nelson Picnic, the group was the featured headliner in the "Rompin' and Stompin' Barndance and Barbecue," held in Austin on Labor Day, September 1, 1974. Appearing with them before a crowd of 80,000 was San Francisco legend Bill Graham, Santana, Joe Cocker and Bad Company making its U.S. debut. This was ZZ Top's first concert in which they were seen as more than just a Texas act. It was the biggest concert in Austin's history, and the last to be held in Memorial Stadium on the University of Texas Campus for another twenty years. The stadium had been trashed by concert-goers, who had suffered from the heat and lack of food, water and toilets.

The year-and-a-half-long Worldwide Texas Tour, with stage props like haystacks, ranch tools and Longhorn cattle, began in 1975. It featured songs from "Tres Hombres" and "Fandango," their fourth album. Although their concert earnings were now in the tens of millions, by the end of the tour the group was exhausted. They took a break that ended up lasting three years. Manager Bill Ham stayed busy, however, shrewdly negotiating a lucrative recording contract with Warner Brothers that is still talked about in the music business. Their next two albums, "Deguello" and "El Loco," were well received with hits like "Cheap Sunglasses" and "Tube Snake Boogie."

The next album, "Eliminator," featuring musically controversial electronic instruments, debuted ZZ Tops biggest hits, "Legs" and "Sharp-Dressed man." The synthesizers and drum machines caused controversy in other ways as well. According to former roadie David Blayney in his book, "Sharp Dressed Men," sound engineer Linden Hudson co-wrote much of the material on the album as a live-in high-tech music teacher to Beard and Gibbons. Hudson claims that in addition to not getting songwriting credit, Ham worked to cover up his contributions to the album. Despite continued denials by the band, it settled a five-year legal battle with Hudson, paying him $600,000 after he allegedly proved he held the copyright on the song "Thug." Another copyright suit was brought by a co-writer of John Lee Hooker's "Boogie Chillen," the alleged basis of "La Grange." That case was settled and sealed. The group's eighth album, "Afterburner," with its continued use of synthesizers, became a worldwide smash hit.

Until MTV came along in the '80s, ZZ Top had declined all offers for TV appearances. Their first video, "Gimme All Your Lovin'," set the style for follow-ups "Legs" and "Sharp-Dressed man." The addition of videos took the band's famous mystique and popularity to an all-time high.

In 1981, ZZ Top joined a diverse group, organized by art patron and civic leader Marilyn Lubetkin and including such philanthropists as Dominique de Menil, to donate money to purchase J.D. McKissack's Orange Show from his heir. The Orange Show, an open-air, multimedia sculptural installation dedicated to the orange, is Texas' leading example of an art form called "folk art environment." For their support of the blues and an art form, the band was given a piece of wood from Muddy Waters' shack in Clarksdale, Mississippi. They had it made into a guitar, named it the "Muddywood," and sent it on a tour to raise funds for the Delta Blues Museum.

By 1990, the band had sold 50 million records. Tragedy struck in 1991 when Ham's wife, Cecile, was murdered. A 23-year-old man on parole with three prior convictions strangled her for her car so he wouldn't have to walk to his halfway house. In spite of hard times personally, ZZ Top's 1996 album, "Rythmeen" was considered one of their best. Gibbons called it the "first pure trio record of our career," because only the three of them played on it. That return to an earlier sound, made more pure and raw, continued on their 1999 album, "XXX," which celebrates the band's thirtieth anniversary. At the turn of the century, ZZ Top was the only rock group with its original members after three decades. Amazing !!!!

To those of you lucky enough to be part of the Chicago Rock Music scene between 1977-1984, The number of Super Talented Bands was never ending. Here is another of my faves.. There are no other words needed ENJOY this Classic!!!!!
Another blast from the Past

Singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett has translated his easy-going Gulf Coast persona into more than just a successful recording career -- he has expanded into clothing, nightclubs, and literature. But the basis of the business empire that keeps him on the Fortune magazine list of highest-earning entertainers is his music.

Buffett was born on Christmas Day on the shores of the Gulf Coast in Pascagoula, Mississippi and later moved to Mobile, Alabama where he was raised. This is where he developed his early Cajun influences and appreciation for country/folk music. The Gulf Coast is also where Jimmy developed his love for the sea and sailing, largely due to the influences of his grandfather.

Jimmy attended Auburn University, and later received a B.S. in History from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1969.

Jimmy's own words describe his early days:
"I got into music basically to meet girls, no doubt about it. Women have always been an influence on my music, good and bad. It looked like the greatest job in the world. I was in college at the time, a freshman at Auburn University. I was a shy, awkward kid from Mobile, kind of a wallflower. My roommate had a guitar, and even though he knew only three chords, he always seemed to be the center of attention with women. I said, 'Teach me those chords'."

So I learned the guitar and started hanging around folk clubs, watching the bands. They all had big shiny Martin guitars; I would've given my right arm for a Martin guitar. And the women -- all the time women -- were hanging around the band. I thought: this is the job for me"

Before he signed his first record contract in 1970, Jimmy worked as a writer for Billboard Magazine in Nashville, Tennessee.

He released one album for Barnaby Records, called "Down to Earth" in 1970, the single from which, a socially conscious song called, "The Christian," suggested he might be more at home protesting in Greenwich Village. Barnaby "lost" his second album, "High Cumberland Jubilee", though they would find it and release it after he became successful. Instead, he moved to Key West, FL, where he gradually evolved the beach bum character and tropical folk-rock style that would endear him to millions.

Jimmy tells the story:
"I was always a lover of the lyrical song, and I think the people who influenced me in those days typified my upbringing. I grew up in Mobile, and my relatives on my grandmother's side were a kind of Cajun, Indian, wild people from that area. My grandfather was a sailing-ship captain who migrated from Nova Scotia. So it was a gumbo type of musical experience. I'd listen to the radio from New Orleans -- Benny Spellman, Irma Thomas, and great old black New Orleans artists -- which is contrary to what most people think. They assume if you come from Alabama, you listen to country music. I didn't really like it much; all my early influences were out of New Orleans".

"I first started playing in folk clubs, and I drew on all this great Gulf Coast, New Orleans, black input. I was also listening to people like Gordon Lightfoot and Joni Mitchell, who were great writers above everything else. I wanted to write clever, good songs like those people".

"I was in Nashville in 1971. I'd been turned down by 26 record labels and couldn't get songs published. I had wrecked my first wife's car, and I had no alternative, I thought, but to look toward warmer climates. So I took an expired Diner's Club card, held my thumb over the expiration date, went to the TWA counter, and bought a ticket to Miami. I was supposed to have a job at a little coffee house called the Flip, the "in" place for folkies in south Florida then. At any rate, I got to Miami, and of course there was no job. I was in Florida, with no job, and I was broke. Fortunately my old friend Jerry Jeff Walker had a house there and took me in. So I lived in Coconut Grove for about 6 months and worked the folk circuit. I had always wanted to go to Key West. Watching Edward G. Robinson and Humphrey Bogart in Key Largo was the catalyst that sent me farther South. So we got into Jerry Jeff's '47 Packard and took the old overseas highway to Key West. We got there sometime in November; the temperature was about 85 degrees, there was a sailboat race going on, I found a bar, and the rest is history".

Signing to ABC-Dunhill Records, Buffett achieved notoriety but not much else with his second (released) album, White Sport Coat & a Pink Crustacean (1973), which featured a song called, "Why Don't We Get Drunk" ("... and screw?," goes the chorus).

Buffett revealed a more thoughtful side on "Living & Dying in 3/4 Time" (1974), with its song of marital separation "Come Monday," his first singles-chart entry.

"I was in Europe on a film documentary, shopping in a department store in London, when I heard "Come Monday" over the loudspeaker. I thought I'd better call home and see what was happening, and by that time it was #10 or so. I had to stay in Europe for three more months, yet everything had taken off in the U.S."

But it took the Top Ten song "Margaritaville" and the album in which it was featured, "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes" (1977), to capture Buffett's tropical worldview and, for a while, turn him into a pop star. The next release, the title track from the album, sounded so much like Margaritaville that it received little air-play and follow-ups got even less. Still, Buffett's beach bum image made fans flock to his concerts and he became a top draw.

By the start of the '80s, Buffett's yearly albums had stopped going gold, and he briefly tried the country market again. But by the middle of the decade, it was his yearly summer tours that were filling his bank account, as a steadily growing core of Sun Belt fans he dubbed "Parrotheads" made his concerts into Mardi Gras-like affairs. Buffett launched his Margaritaville line of clothes and opened the first of his Margaritaville clubs in Key West. He also turned to fiction writing, landing on the book bestseller lists. He also found time for his passion of flying, purchasing his own sea-plane and taking off in an F-14 Tomcat from the deck of an air-craft carrier.

His recording career, meanwhile, languished, though a hits compilation called "Songs you know by heart", sold millions, a 1990 live album, "Feeding Frenzy", went gold, and a 1992 box-set retrospective, "Boats, Beaches, Bars & Ballads", became one of the bestselling box sets ever.

Buffett finally got around to making a new album in 1994, when "Fruitcakes" became one of his fastest-selling records, reaching "platinum" status. The title track received plenty of radio air-play and the LP entered Billboard's Top 200 album chart at number 5. It was followed in 1995 by "Barometer Soup", which entered the charts at number 6 and went "gold" (with some help from The Weather Channel even), and the number 4 platinum selling "Banana Wind" in 1996, from which he got airplay with a radio single of James Taylor's "Mexico". The following year, Buffett began working on a musical adaptation of Herman Wouk's novel Don't Stop the Carnival with the author himself. After Broadway producers expressed little interest, the production ran for six weeks in Miami during 1997. In spring of 1998, Buffett released "Don't Stop The Carnival", an album based on the book and the play. He began mulling over the idea of taking the play on the road (it went to Miami and the Bahamas). He also released another book - the number one selling A Pirate Looks At Fifty.

1999 brought more successful live shows and the release of two new albums, "Beach House On the Moon" and "Buffett Live - Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays", both of which went "gold".

March of 2002 saw the release of "Far Side of the World", Buffett's first studio album for his new self-run label, Mailboat Records. In mid 2003 a double-album hits compilation "Meet Me In Margaritaville" was released and his 2003 Tiki Time Tour shows were recorded and released on Mailboat. Amidst the summer tour was a number one single with Alan Jackson on "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" - Buffett's first ever number one in music. The Tiki Time Tour ended in January of 2004 in Hawaii (the live album and DVD was released through Mailboat in the fall of 2004 and was released nation wide in the spring of 2005 with the same DVD from the two shows). In December, before the Hawaii shows, he recorded a new record in Key West with a group of country stars and various well respected musicians. Originally called Conchy Tonk , (and later changed to) "License To Chill" debuted at number one on the Billboard LP chart in mid-July of 2004 - Jimmy's first ever number one album. It spun off two Top Ten videos on CMT - the Hank Williams cover of "Hey Good Lookin'" and the Buffett / Martina McBride duet "Trip Around The Sun". Jimmy was even featured in Rolling Stone - the summer of 2004 was truly Buffett's summer. Part of the Chill tour was playing Fenway Park in Boston.

Just in time for Christmas of 2004, he released another book, a continuation of the travels of Tully Mars (from Tales From Margaritaville). A Salty Piece of Land did not get to number one but it did sell very well. Its first printing run included a song called "A Salty Piece Of Land" that was a leftover from the Conchy Tonk / License To Chill sessions.

A Salty Piece Of Land 2005 Summer Tour saw Jimmy playing in football stadiums (Pittsburgh) and another baseball stadium (Wrigley in Chicago for two nights) along with the usual ampitheatres.

In February, 2006, Buffett announced that he would take the summer off from touring. "I'm kinda taking it easy now," he said in a conversation with Radio Margaritaville DJ Miles Hampton. "It's the last summer with my kids before they go off to boarding school, so I'm gonna travel with them and work the spring and the fall. I don't want to do much right now."

Buffett has also been putting in time at his Shrimp Boat Studios in Key West, Fla., recording the follow-up to 2004's "License to Chill".

Jimmy Buffett remains one of the hottest concert draws ever, playing sold out shows to legions of "Parrot Heads" where ever he goes.

Here is one of the Best Party Songs By Jimmy..

Another Chicago Classic and Favorite of us Midwest Folk

"We're 1980's rock 'n roll," says Hounds leader-founder John Hunter, Chicago native and, like the other band members, a seasoned veteran of Midwestern rock, nearly a genre unto its own these days. "By its very nature," explains Hunter, "rock 'n roll is steeped in rebellion. Hounds' messages are contemporary. They are not just sex & sleeze. They're not just street fighting. There's more involved in it, and there's still rebellion. in the '60's, rock 'n roll was more than an art form - it was political as well. Today, I'm not sure where the Hounds are going to end up politically. I think one of the Hounds' functions - or missions – is to shake up the people a bit. I want them to like us or to hate us, but react to the music either way. I want the music to make them think."

In Chicago, where Hounds have passed from semi-legendary street-cult status to genuine historical fact, the popular reaction has been all that Hunter could ask for. Come friday afternoons around 5 P.M., listeners of a dozen radio stations in the area have been known to salivate like Pavolv's dogs at the prospect of hearing Hounds Anthem, "Drugland Weekend," one more time. One station has it pegged as it's "most requested" number of 1976 and 1977 - notwithstanding the fact that they were programming it off a demo tape (which also included "The Alleys of Love," Hounds set opener) and the sides were not for sale in any record store.

With the release of the Hounds' debut album, UNLEASHED (March 1978), the latter problem is solved in no uncertain terms. At the same time, three years of scuffling (and several lifetimes of dues-paying) make it all worthwhile. There have been some times! "We really were starving at one point," recalls Hunter. "We did a tour of Wyoming, of all places, and sometimes we didn't have enough money for a motel room, so we'd sleep on park benches. Hey it was coarse.

For 28-year old Hunter, who'd graduated Northwestern University as a pre-med student, the rock 'n roll decision was hardly an overnight one. He was playing one-handed boogie woogie piano at age 3, and was trained through high school. Along the way was an endless succession of bands, with influences ranging from Dion and Motown in the early '60's (Jr. Walker's "Roadrunner" was the first song Hunter ever recorded); through the Beatles ("I was swept away... they changed my life") and the rest of the British Invasion, with its open indebtedness to its root source - American rhythm & blues and rock 'n roll, factors that figured heavily in the birthright of Hounds.

Out of school in 1971, the John Hunter Band became the focus of attention. An otherwise enlightening A&R junket to New York City turned up no buyers for his many demo recordings, but set his head straight on the next phase: "The general consensus was a) You need a direction; b) You need a band to perform the songs; c) You need a strong road organization and booking organization; d) You need strong management organization. So I had a lot of work ahead of me."

The work began as he sought musicians who shared his initial concept: "Substantial rock 'n roll, with rawness, the strength, the heavy dynamics that I'd really only hear from British groups until that point. I wanted to be able to use that classic British sound, to take those rock 'n roll, into a true rock 'n roll form, not American or British, but a form that transcends both, a continuation."

Hunter came across drummer John Horvath in a country-rock band called Wildwood and was able to convince him to join the venture. Trained by Roy Knapp (who taught Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich years before), Horvath's tastes extend from Lionel Hampton to Billy Cobham, from Led Zeppelin's John Bonham to Count Basie.

When Hunter saw a newspaper ad that read "Professional English-style rockers looking for front man" he crossed the Indiana border and found Jim Orkis playing lead guitar in Pyramid. Hunter sent Pyramid's drummer back to Macon (!) and brought in Horvath. Ditto Pyramid's bassist, whose cousin the guitarist dropped out in protest. Hunter, Orkis and Horvath became the nucleus of Hounds, and recorded the "Drugland Weekend" demo in 1975 with various bassists, they started performing as a 4-piece band, taking gigs virtually anytime and any place they could. With one important proviso - Hunter's unqualified refusal to play anything except his original material.

If such a "luxury" infuriated club owners or alienated patrons - who expected to hear "copy" material at least 50% of the time - it certainly didn't matter to the Hounds. If the boss or the patrons became abusive, the band was ready to defend itself. "We had no choice," says Hunter. "It was either fight or get buried. But something always happened to pull our spirits up, and we'd rally and keep going. 'Let's do a few more gigs, let's do one more demo, let's borrow a little more money and buy a little more equipment, let's make just a little bigger fools of ourselves.' We were bound and determined to make it, no matter what."

The true fans emerged slowly, turning up to request "Drugland Weekend" or "Alleys of Love" on the basis of the demo's radio play and the Hounds' hardworking presence in the area. One fan was Bruce Kapp of Celebration Productions, Chicago's primary concert promoters, who took over Hound's management in 1977 around the same time they were signed to Columbia Records. Already established as headliners around the city and even into suburban Indiana, hounds soon expanded their turf throughout the Midwest, as Celebration booked them onto major regional tour wings with the likes of Ted Nugent, Geils, Manfred Mann, AC/DC and others. The concert audiences were predictably more excited about Hounds' original music compounded with their outrageous, aggressive attitudes onstage. "And the more we did it, the more they liked it," adds Hunter.

Hounds' final personnel change happened last November, 1977, just weeks before recording sessions for Columbia were to commence at the Record Plant in Los Angeles. Guitarist Glen Rupp Jr. and bassist Joe Cuttone, Chicagoans who'd performed and recorded in the Paul Bogush Band (produced by Larry Carlton), were able to master Hounds' repertoire in a matter of days, and the sessions went on as scheduled. "I've never worked with such skilled musicians," praises Hunter.

It seems an altogether appropriate coda for this opening chapter of Hounds' saga that, right after they'd finished the sessions in Record Plant's Studio C, the facility suffered a million dollar fire. Hunter, engineer Steve Smith, and producer Terry Powell (of Sparks renown) were actually doing final mixes of the album elsewhere at the Record Plant when "C" was razed.

But now the real heat is on. "We were very savage when we put this band together," recollects hunter, "We've begun the first step of our journey with the recording of this album. Now we want the whole ball of wax, we want to establish ourselves and make albums forever. as long as we're physically able to do this, we're gonna do it, in one capacity or another. Right now, professionally, this is the high point of our lives

Growing up in the 1940s on a farm in Iowa with a loving but non musical family, Elvin seldom heard music as a kid. "This was before TV," Elvin says, "and on the radio you got a lot of Frank Sinatra and 'How Much Is That Doggie In the Window' type of stuff." The family moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, when Elvin was 10, in 1952. Tulsa was "totally segregated," says Elvin, "I mean, hard core." However, "the one thing they couldn't segregate was the airwaves. When rock and roll started up in the mid-'50s, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino and Little Richard showed up on white radio."


And then, late one night when Elvin was 14 or 15, the atmospheric conditions a little rough, Jimmy Reed's harmonica came cutting through the static from WLAC in Nashville, and Elvin Bishop's life was changed. The song was "Honest I Do." "That piercing harp came through, cutting in like a knife, and I said, 'Oh, man, that's it.' I found out that blues was where the good part of rock and roll was coming from." And about that time, he started trying to play guitar. "I wanted to play it from the beginning," Elvin says. "I kept trying and then quitting it. Hurtin' my fingers, playing those old pawn-shop guitars with the strings two inches off the fret board. Nobody I knew played." But he kept after it. "Not being able to dance, and seeing how the musicians did with the girls, and loving the music, I finally stuck with it."


Hooked on the sounds emerging from the radio, Elvin had to find out where they were coming from and who was responsible. When he was awarded a National Merit Scholarship in 1959, he could have gone to pretty much any college he wanted, but chose The University Of Chicago, because that's where the blues were. And so he landed in the middle of one of the richest and most vital scenes in blues history. "Any night of the week you could hear Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Hound Dog Taylor, Otis Rush, Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, Magic Sam, Bobby King, Eddie King, Little Smokey, Big Smokey, and a whole ton of people you never heard of."


His first week in Chicago, he came across Paul Butterfield, who was sitting on some steps drinking beer and playing blues on guitar. "We fell together right away," says Elvin. "I was amazed to find other white guys into blues." After playing with a lot of different people, including J.T. Brown, Hound Dog Taylor and Junior Wells, Elvin hooked up with Butterfield to form the legendary Paul Butterfield Blues Band, with bassist Jerome Arnold and drummer Sam Lay, who'd been Howlin' Wolf's rhythm section. Producer Paul Rothchild of Elektra Records encouraged them to add guitarist Michael Bloomfield. "I'd met Bloomfield before, in a pawn shop," says Elvin, "when I was looking for guitars. We got to talking. He got a guitar out, started playing circles around the world."


In 1965 the Butterfield band went into the studio and recorded The Paul Butterfield Blues Band album, which turned out to be a sea-change record for thousands of rock fans and musicians. An integrated band playing blues music in 1965 was unheard of. It introduced a lot of people to the blues, and to the musicians who had influenced the Butterfield band. After several more albums with Butterfield, including the pivotal genre bending East West, Bishop took off on his own. "I wanted to stretch out, see how far I could take it on my own," says Elvin. Bishop had visited San Francisco with the Butterfield band during the Summer of Love in 1967. "I loved the people, the weather, and not having to watch my back all the time." And like several other Chicago musicians he ended up moving to the Bay Area.


The 70's saw Elvin hit the charts with solo tracks like "Travelin' Shoes," "Sure Feels Good" and what would become his biggest hit, "Fooled Around and Fell in Love," with a powerful vocal by Mickey Thomas (later of Jefferson Starship). During the 1980's, Elvin spent most of his time on the road, "entertaining the people and maybe having a little too much fun myself." Later in the decade he hooked up with Alligator for a number of excellent albums that grew right out of his blues roots.


Elvin's brand new release "The Blues Rolls On" on Delta Groove Music, harks back to Bishop's roots, paying tribute to the musicians who helped give him his start. A who's who of blues musicians support Bishop on the album, including B.B. King, Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, George Thorogood, James Cotton, Kim Wilson, Tommy Castro, John Nemeth, Ronnie Baker Brooks, and Angela Strehli. Bishop handles the majority of the vocals, with Nemeth and others pitching in as well.


Bishop revisits his own '70s solo hit "Struttin' My Stuff" with Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks, Junior Wells' "Come On In This House," and the Butterfield Band's "Yonders Wall" and Hound Dog Taylor's "Send You Back To Georgia." He also contributes the autobiographical boogie "Oklahoma," played solo electric. Sessions for the rollicking album ranged from Jacksonville, FL to Clarksdale, MS, and to a cruise ship off the Mexican coast.


Bishop is a slide guitar great with 45-years of blues under his belt. Rolling Stone has tagged Bishop's music as "raucous," praising his "careening slide and razor-edged bursts, all delivered with unflagging enthusiasm and wit. "The Blues Rolls On" is another defining moment in Bishop's long career and a welcome reminder that the blues is still alive and well.