Keep on Jammin’

Related posts:

1. Beer bottle blues
2. A prrr-fectly good guitar
3. Free Air Guitar for those who need it

To view this classic album cover, check out this link for a great picture and test your musical knowledge, without using the references below!

Top row left to right

• Sri Yukteswar Giri (Hindu guru)

• Aleister Crowley (occultist)

• Mae West (actress)

• Lenny Bruce (comedian)

• Karlheinz Stockhausen (composer)

• W. C. Fields (comedian/actor)

• Carl Gustav Jung (psychologist)

• Edgar Allan Poe (writer)

• Fred Astaire (actor/dancer)

• Richard Merkin (artist)

• The Vargas Girl (by artist Alberto Vargas)

• Huntz Hall (actor)

• Simon Rodia (designer and builder of the Watts Towers)

• Bob Dylan (singer/songwriter)

Next row down left to right

• Aubrey Beardsley (illustrator)

• Sir Robert Peel (19th century British Prime Minister)

• Aldous Huxley (writer)

• Dylan Thomas (poet)

• Terry Southern (writer)

• Dion (singer)

• Tony Curtis (actor)

• Wallace Berman (artist)

• Tommy Handley (comedian)

• Marilyn Monroe (actress)

• William S. Burroughs (writer)

• Sri Mahavatar Babaji (Hindu guru)

• Stan Laurel (actor/comedian)

• Richard Lindner (artist)

• Oliver Hardy (actor/comedian)

• Karl Marx (political philosopher)

• H. G. Wells (writer)

• Sri Paramahansa Yogananda (Hindu guru)

• Sigmund Freud (psychiatrist) – barely visible below Bob Dylan

• Anonymous (hairdresser’s wax dummy)

Next row down left to right

• Stuart Sutcliffe (artist/former Beatle)

• Anonymous (hairdresser’s wax dummy)

• Max Miller (comedian)

• A “Petty Girl” (by artist George Petty)

• Marlon Brando (actor)

• Tom Mix (actor)

• Oscar Wilde (writer)

• Tyrone Power (actor)

• Larry Bell (artist)

• Dr. David Livingstone (missionary/explorer)

• Johnny Weissmuller (Olympic swimmer/Tarzan actor)

• Stephen Crane (writer) – barely visible between Issy Bonn’s head and raised arm

• Issy Bonn (comedian)

• George Bernard Shaw (playwright)

• H. C. Westermann (sculptor)

• Albert Stubbins (soccer player)

• Sri Lahiri Mahasaya (guru)

• Lewis Carroll (writer)

• T. E. Lawrence (“Lawrence of Arabia”)

Finally the front row left to right

• Wax model of Sonny Liston (boxer)

• A “Petty Girl” (by George Petty)

• Wax model of George Harrison

• Wax model of John Lennon

• Shirley Temple (child actress) – barely visible, first of three appearances on the cover

• Wax model of Ringo Starr

• Wax model of Paul McCartney

• Albert Einstein (physicist) – largely obscured

• John Lennon holding a French Horn

• Ringo Starr holding a trumpet

• Paul McCartney holding a Cor Anglais

• George Harrison holding a flute

• Bobby Breen (singer)

• Marlene Dietrich (actress/singer)

• An American legionnaire[1]

• Diana Dors (actress)

• Shirley Temple (child actress)

If you cannot make out who is who in my description then check out this link and I hope that it will make it a little clearer!

Keep on Jammin’

Related posts:

1. Woman who inspired song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds dies at 46

Best known for the 1979 #1 smash hit, My Sharona, and my favorite tune that I played with Allen Scott a lot was Good Girl don’t. Sharona was an obsessively catchy track about one of Fieger’s real-life girlfriends, and the bouncy cut off the band’s debut album, Get the Knack, scored another jolt of fame in the mid ’90s when it appeared on the Reality Bites soundtrack.

“Everybody knows they’re going sooner or later. I don’t know any better than anyone else when I’m going. I’ve had 10 great lives. And I expect to have some more. I don’t feel cheated in any way, shape or form.” Doug Fieger

Thanx for the memories Doug Fieger!

No related posts.

Ambient music has influenced many other genres, most remarkably some forms of rhythmic music presented in chill-out rooms at raves and other dance events, with the intention of creating an calmer, relaxed atmosphere for ravers to take a break from dancing.

History

Early 20th century French composer Erik Satie created an early form of ambient music that he referred to as “furniture music” (Musique d’ameublement), in reference to something that could be played during a dinner whose sound would simply create an atmosphere for that activity rather than be the specific focus of attention.

Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses on the timbral characteristics of sounds, particularly organised or performed to evoke an “atmospheric”, “visual” or “unobtrusive” quality. Ambient evolved from the early 20th century music of the impressionists, composers such as John Cage, Morton Feldman and minimalist composers of the 1960s and 1970s to rock musician Brian Eno, who is responsible for coining the phrase ambient music in the manifesto liner notes of his 1978 album, Ambient 1: Music for Airports.

Ambient music has influenced many other genres, most remarkably some forms of rhythmic music presented in chill-out rooms at raves and other dance events, with the intention of creating an calmer, relaxed atmosphere for ravers to take a break from dancing.

Brian Eno is generally credited with coining the term “ambient music” in the mid-1970s to refer to music that, as he stated, can be either “actively listened to with attention or as easily ignored, depending on the choice of the listener”, and that exists on the “cusp between melody and texture.” Eno, who describes himself as a “non-musician”, termed his experiments in sound as “treatments” rather than as traditional performances. Eno used the word “ambient” to describe music that creates an atmosphere that puts the listener into a different state of mind; having chosen the word based on the Latin term “ambire”, “to surround”.

No related posts.

Founded in 1873 by Greek luthier Anastasios Stathopoulos, the Epiphone guitar Company was manufacturing guitars for a while before succumbing to economic pressures during World War 2. Gibson at that time, was able to simply acquire the fledgling company. Today, Gibson still manufactures instruments under the name Epiphone.

Epiphone and Gibson

Prior to the acquisition by Gibson, Epiphone left and right guitars were a rival to Gibson. The sound quality was magnificent, the materials were the same and the electronics were just as superior. If Epiphone had not been absorbed by Gibson, I am sure the company would have either rivaled or bypassed Gibson eventually.

A good instrument can be hard to find, when it comes to a guitar lefty. Only more affordable in many cases, Epiphone left hand guitars are every bit as good as a Gibson. The controls and knobs to be oriented the same for a right hand guitar which is important. Epiphone LH guitars provide this detail nicely. So if you are a left hand player you dont need to use a right hand guitar with the strings and bridge reversed and the controls backwards.

Casino Hollow Body

One of the most famous Epiphone left hand guitars is the left handed Casino hollow body. This beauty looks like a Gretsch and was responsible for the Beatles famous sound in the 1960’s. The Beatles bought three Casinos and used them to record and play live shows as they toured. Obviously, the Epiphone left hand guitar was good enough for Paul McCartney.

I personally own an Epiphone Les Paul and it gives me great  pleasure to play live and in astudio. This is another well known Epiphone left hand guitar. I can used it for jazz, blues and even classical tracks. Besides that, I can crank the volume on the pickups and jam away with the metal heads.

Epiphone left hand guitars are an investment that you can  trust. There is a  web site that focuses on guitar lefty players. These folks know left hand guitars and left hand electric guitars. The site has a selection of instruments available and you can look up their different left hand instruments.

So if you are looking for an Epiphone left handed guitar, get on over to lefthandedguitarmall  as soon as possible. You will not find a more guitar lefty focused site anywhere and they really care about left hand players finding the right guitar. An Epiphone left hand guitar is the way to start off that career, especially for those on a budget and can’t quite afford that Gold Top LP just yet. Epiphone means quality and quality means a happy player.

No related posts.

The one person who did not make an appearance was none other then Kanye West. What that guy did last year at the VMA awards was truly unbelievable. Imagine what was going through Taylor Swift’s mind when that happened. Not that I am a fan of her music, but still I really feel for her! I don’t mind a little bit of today’s modern country music, I’m more from the old school guy. Acts like Johnny cash, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings are more to my liking!

Kings of Leon, won the album of the year with Use Somebody. These guys, I like. Funk Joint by Marcus Miller should have won Best Pop Instrumental Performance, that tune is great! Besame Mucho by Herb Alpert was 2nd on my list for this category.

I really like the winner for Best Pop Instrumental Album. It went to Booker T. Jones Potato Hole! You can’t go wrong with anything that a keyboardist using a Hammond B-3 with a Leslie amp does. Actually everyone that was nominated for this award was worthy of it. Chris Botti, Hiroshima, The Rippingtons Featuring Russ Freeman and my favorite instrumental band for 20 years or more Spyro Gyra!

Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance went to Bruce Springsteen. I saw this guy in Toronto a couple of years ago with my favorite brother in law Steve and I just didn’t enjoy the band. Sure some of his classic tunes will be around forever, but the only aspect of the band/show that earned my respect was the drummer! He literally ran the whole band, if it wasn’t for him that night I think the band would of been completely lost.

Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals had lots of talent to choose from! Ultimately it went to Kings of Leon. What did you think about this one?

In the category of Best Hard Rock Performance, ACDC walked away with it. There wasn’t all that much there that interested me. Maybe it’s because I’m a little bit older now and tired of Hard Rock bands that would rather blow your head off then entertain me. Did I really write that down?!

Judas Priest, a favorite band my buddies Steve and Johnny from Gemini, took control of the Best Metal Performance class of 2010. Lamb of God should have honourable mention here kidz! I realize that Lamb of God is a loud band, but they’re really neat to listen to.

As for the rest of the awards, most are not all that appealing to me. Anyone out there feeling the same as I do?

Keep on Jammin’

Related posts:

1. Listen to great new musical artists at Unsigned.com
2. Seven Ages of Rock
3. Just won tickets for Amos Lee

We were watching the final episode of The Tonight show with Conan O’Brien that we taped on our PVR (TVO) last night and this ad came up talking about this product. With Eric Clapton and a wall of Fender Stratocasters behind him, hell ya, that got my attention real fast!

The thing that honestly grabbed my curiosity was an application for the phone showing the strings of a Fender guitar, I assume, and Eric strumming it, ha genius!

For the life of me I don’t know what you’d use this for? Is this app created just for it’s novelty or is it intended for tuning your guitar if the battery on your guitar tuner is dead? If so then they might be onto something here folks.

Fender will also be coming up with it’s own apps for it later on. If anyone out there knows of any apps for phones that Fender has done in the past then please tell us! I don’t have a phone that uses apps, I use it for calling people that’s it!

The look of it fascinates me. The Faux Wood’s fiery grain pattern to it, just like the one that a vintage Fender guitar has is always a smart way to go for that classy appearance. It comes loaded with some of Eric Clapton’s tunes on it, which ones I can’t say. The phone holds a 16GB microSD card in it as well. Just like in the past I can hear some people saying what the hell do you need a 16GB card in a cell phone for anyway?! That’s similar to what Bill Gates said about 4 MB of RAM that came installed in the early 80’s computers I believe?

So has anyone out there picked one of these bad boys up? If you do have one these phones then what other apps come with it and which other ones did you but to use that is guitar oriented?

Keep on Jammin’

Related posts:

1. Great deal on T-Mobile Phones

God that looks like a blast doesn't it!

Keep on Jammin’

Related posts:

1. Great balls of fire
2. To the guy who practises random acts of kindness
3. The Grand Old Danforth Music Hall

Chris W. was the drummer and singer of Pylis. He also played guitar a wee bit and he was pretty good, even thought he thought that I was the least talented in that band! Now that wasn’t nice of him now was it?! Ha, gotcha CHICKEN MAN!

I caught up with him when the Keyboardist Tony F. and his wife thought that it would be a great idea if we got together for a concert with other bands from that time for a night of live music! What a FABULOUS idea I thought. I must admit that performing with these guys again really got my musical juices flowing. We did the show at The Hardball Cafe in Milton in November 2006.

So before we jammed he said that his band called The 905 Band was playing at Timothy’s in Etobicoke and I thought it would be great to see both of them. I went into the bar with this sign saying I liked you better on the drums and went right up to him in front of the stage while the band was playing trying to put him off his game! It didn’t work but we all got a laugh out of it!

The sound that these guys had was amazing! The mix was perfect and their set list was very impressive to say the least! I had the chance to meet a few of them after the show and these guys are a class act! The one singer/bassist well …

If your a lover of that Big Band sound then treat yourself someday and checkout where and when their playing next … it’s worth the drive trust me on this one!

Keep on Jammin’

Related posts:

1. Wilton Said from Nuance 2008

After attempting to reproduce as much as I could all my buddies were lining up for lessons! The learning curve was not that bad for most of my buddies but at times I must admit it was frustrating! During this period I was playing in this band called Deuce with Brian McGlinchy and Eddie Cudek from Gemini. We attempted 2112 and in the bands eye’s it was perfect, as for me well…

Then I joined a band with the great keyboardist Tony F. and guitarist Mike Vantresca? We didn’t have a name but we sure sounded fantastic! I recall trying to play 2112 and with Tony’s magical keyboard sounded quite better then Deuce, sorry guys.

Then after leaving Pylis, I was playing with Domenic Nardone, Eddie Steel and Jon Penrose. I must admit Domenic was outstanding on this tune! It was like Dom was born to play anything that Neil Peart could do.

So I hope that you all enjoy vintage RUSH performing 2112 and I know I’ll be thinking of Domenic on drums whenever I listen to it!

Keep on Jammin’

Related posts:

1. Best Selling Album of all time turns 25
2. The Dream Theatre Rock experience
3. Saga, 30th Anniversary Tour