Scorpio Rising

All Good Rockers Thank Their Moms

Every year when I watch the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's new inductees deliver their acceptance speeches, I'm moved to hear the titans of the music business thank their mothers - for buying them their first guitars, for putting up with their basement drum practice, for driving them to early gigs. Who could forget Bruce Springsteen in 1999, dedicating his award to his mother sitting in the audience, saying, "she gave me a sense of work as something that was joyous, and that filled you with pride and self-regard, and that committed you to your world."  Last week, it was new Rock Hall of Fame member Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers who got me all choked up when he gave an emotional shout-out to his mom.  And I'll never forget hearing the indestructible Iggy Pop tell Terri Gross of NPR that once, during a near-death experience from drugs, it was his mother's voice that he heard, calling him back to life. Because, he said,  she was the one "who cared for me… in this world."

So, like the artists who inspire me, I thank my mom for allowing me to develop my rock persona. On this Mother's Day, I want to thank her for all the things she never did.

Behind the Beat: Klaus Voormann - How an Early Beatles Fan Became a Lifelong Colleague

A man walks into a bar, so the story goes. And sometimes it results in something big. In 1960, German art student Klaus Voormann walked into the seedy Kaiserkeller Club in the St. Pauli red light district of Hamburg, Germany, and discovered a band of five amphetamine-charged, leather-clad English boys rocking the house apart. You could reckon that Mr. Voormann, who turned 74 on April 29, had the distinction of being the first international Beatles fan.  And a whole lot more. 
 

Love Some Vinyl on Record Store Day, April 21, 2012

Give an old record a loving home!  Saturday, April 21, is the fifth annual Record Store Day, so visit one of your local independently owned shops, browse the bins, and buy a platter full of sound that you can actually hold in your hands -- a shiny groooovy disc with a sleeve that doesn't require a magnifying glass to read!  And even if you were foolish enough to get rid of your old turntable, stop in and browse anyway. It's like taking a trip in a time machine. 

To me, a record has presence, with its lovely grooves like audio fingerprints. You not only hear the sound, you feel it. With every revolution the sharp but devoted little needle skates upon its grooves so gracefully, waking it to life.

Behind the Beat: Alexis Korner, Founding Father of British Blues

If you're a fan of British-accented electric blues, give a nod and a wink today to one of the genre's founding fathers, Alexis Korner, April 19, 1928 to January 1,1984.

In the early 1960s, in a rainy land far from the steamy Mississippi Delta, there lived a small band of missionaries who spread the gospel of American blues music to British artists seeking spiritual enlightenment beyond the pulpit of mindless pop and traditional jazz. Alexis Korner was among those prophets, forming England's first amplified R&B/blues band, Blues Incorporated, with fellow bluesologist Cyril Davies in 1961.

God Bless Tiny Tim, a True Original

The 1960s music scene had it all: folkies, mods, electric bluesmen, surf singers, soul scorchers, R&B belters, psychedelic hipsters…and one falsetto-voiced ukelele player who went by the name of Tiny Tim.  No course on the decade's pop culture would be complete without a mention of this eccentric celebrity. 

Mr. Tim, born Herbert Khaury on April 12, 1932, in Washington Heights, Manhattan, to a Polish Jewish mother and Lebanese Catholic father, personified the "let your freak flag fly" philosophy of the late 60s. He blew kisses, batted his eyes and tossed his wild, tinted hair as he strummed his ukelele and sang long-forgotten vaudeville tunes in his vibrato voice. He was probably the only sensation of the day to play a stringed instrument NOT made by Fender, Gibson, Gretsch or Rickenbacker. 

Hey Jules! Happy Birthday to You

Happy 49th birthday to John Lennon's first "beautiful boy," Julian.  Young Julian's drawing of classmate Lucy (in the sky, with diamonds) Vodden inspired John to write one of his most famous songs. He also inspired what is arguably the Beatles' biggest hit of all time, "Hey Jude." Paul McCartney has long maintained that he began writing the song as "Hey Jules," in an effort to comfort young Julian during the divorce of his father and Cynthia Powell in 1968. 

How Ravi Shankar (Unwittingly) Influenced a Cosmic '60s Sound

Can you imagine 1960s psychedelic rock music without the mystical aura of the sitar?  We have Ravi Shankar to thank for that distinctive sound. The world's most renowned sitar player, who turns 92 years old today, inspired many of rock's most famous musicians to incorporate the traditional Indian stringed instrument into their songs. Ironically, Ravi, a classical musician, never sought fame among the titans of rock. They sought him. His sitar vibe was unique to Western ears, and once rock's 1960s alchemists discovered that sound, it would make a major impact on Western culture.   

When White Artists Cover Black Music: It Rocks or it Flops!

Thirty-one years ago this week, Blondie's "Rapture" became the first rap song to hit the number one spot on the Billboard chart, introducing a whole new audience of white Americans to a provocative musical genre emerging from black artists like Grandmaster Flash, Kurtis Blow and the Sugarhill Gang.  A blonde on blonde chick rapping about a man from Mars who eats up cars, bars and guitars?  Yes, brave, sexy Debbie Harry and her band of New York / New Wave punk-hipsters put their own spin on a distinctly urban black musical style - and it worked!  The "Rapture" music video was equally cool, paying homage to rap's founding fathers. It referenced Grandmaster Flash, featured black dancer William Barnes as a white tuxedoed Man from Mars and included cameos of hip-hop pioneer Fab Five Freddy and ill-fated graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.  It was the first rap video shown on MTV, back in the day when the all-music channel was actually the all-white music channel, shunning black artists altogether until Michael Jackson broke the embargo with "Billie Jean." 

Happy Birthday to the Sly Stone - Rock's First Equal Opportunity Employer

Most recording artists in the 1960s were singing about lovin' your brothers and sisters regardless of the color of their skin, but few practiced that ethos better than Sly Stone, who assembled the first - and one of the few - interracial, dual-gender rock bands of the era: the iconic Sly and the Family Stone.  They perfectly summed up the generation's quest for total acceptance with their number one hit, "Everyday People," a song which produced one of the most popular catchphrases to emerge from rock culture: "different strokes for different folks." 

'Ol Sly Stone sure fell into the category of different folks, alright.  He was never destined to live among the ranks of everyday people.  He was one outrageous, mega-talented dude. Nobody on the planet had a funkier, chunkier Afro than Sly. That 'Fro simply knew no bounds, extending into pube-like sideburns that could have been called wideburns.  Sly shared honors with Jimi Hendrix for best dressed 60s ebony God. But while Jimi personified the gypsy as hippie with his bright paisley prints and ruffly shirts, Sly was the true sartorial spaceman in knee boots, satin and studded leather.  He had ATTITUDE.

Micky's Monkee

With the sad passing of the ever-youthful Davy Jones last week, I beg the question: who was your favorite Monkee?  I loved them all, but my childhood favorite was the pixie-faced Micky Dolenz, who turns 67 today. Why Micky?  Well, I just loved his sweet smile, sexy singing, incessant clowning and his mastery of silly voices and cartoonish mugging.   

The son of Hollywood actors George and Janelle Dolenz, Micky began his career in 1956 as a bleached-blond child star in the TV show "Circus Boy" and went on to perform with a number of unsuccessful LA-area bands, including Micky and the One Nighters and The Missing Link.  In 1966 he was cast as the drummer (a mimed performance) and authentic lead singer for the made-for-TV band The Monkees, singing some of the group's biggest hits,  including "I'm A Believer," "Last Train to Clarksville" and "Pleasant Valley Sunday."  Fellow Monkee Mike Nesmith once said that Micky's vocal styling gave the group its distinctive sound.

Tales of Two Cities

At age 85, the brilliant Tony Bennett is bigger than ever, with a CD that debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart last fall and a recent Grammy win for Best Pop Duo with the late Amy Winehouse. What a great time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his signature song, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco," released on February 2, 1962. Anthony Dominick Benedetto may have been born and raised in Astoria, Queens, but his beautiful love song to that city on the bay would make you believe he had lived there since the beginning of time. 

This month also marks the 45th anniversary of two other iconic songs inspired by a famous city, albeit one not nearly as romantic or picturesque: Liverpool, England. In February 1967 the Beatles released their 24th U.S. single, a double A-side record featuring two songs inspired by the childhood memories of John Lennon and Paul McCartney:  "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane." 

She Loves Them. Yeah, yeah, yeah!

Every family has its folk tales -- those sometimes sweet, often cringe-inducing stories we're forced to endure at every holiday gathering.  Like the time my grandfather decided to forgo dental expenses by removing his own teeth with the help of Canadian Club and a pair of pliers.  Or that day back in 1960 when my prankster dad deposited a piece of fake rubber vomit on my aunt's expensive new sofa. Ah, but not all of my family's folk tales are gauche, mind you. In fact, at many gatherings the most anticipated and charming story of all involves the evening of February 9, 1964, when little Dana discovered the Beatles at age four. How my mom loves to spin the tale of the birth of her rockaholic daughter's lifelong obsession!