2012 Rock and Roll Hall OF Fame Induction Ceremony

As I walk the four blocks from the parking garage to Public Auditorium in Cleveland for the 2012 Rock and Roll Hall OF Fame Induction Ceremony I can feel an electricity in the air.  People are mulling around hoping to catch a glimpse of someone famous.  As I arrive at the front entrance there is a red carpet laid out for the rich and famous that is surrounded by fans and paparazzi.  This is not an every night event like it is in New York, this is a special night in Cleveland.  The floor of the auditorium is for the hoi ploi of society, the record executives, recording artists, politicians and movie stars.  The music fans sit in the balcony that wraps completely around the top of the auditorium. 

Little did anyone know as the show began that this night would turn into a marathon of music and speeches.  The show started at 8:00 PM Saturday and finished around 1:30 AM Sunday.  The curtain is pulled back and right off the bat the audience is punched in the face by Green Day playing their expletive filled song "Letter Bomb".  I'm no prude but I think "F" bombs should flow naturally and not feel so forced.

Of course there are a few opening speeches.  During the speeches the blue collar fans boo the mention of Governor  Kasich.  Jan Wenner also gets booed.  Mr. Wenner has expressed in the past how he feels Cleveland isn't deserving of the Rock Hall or the Induction Ceremonies.  Mr Wiener as I like to call him feels that only New York should host the Ceremonies because there is nothing to do in Cleveland.  Jan join Axl and stay at home we don't want you in Cleveland.

Dusty Hill and Billy Gibbons induct Freddie King into the Rock Hall.  They give a very nice speech and tell how they used to play with and warm up for Freddie King.  Dusty, Billy, Derek Trucks and Joe Bonamassa take the stage together and do an instrumental jam of Freddie King's "Hide Away" before launching into "Going Down".  Joe and Billy trade off vocals while all three guitarists trade off leads.  Of course Dusty keeps the the back rhythm flowing.  This is one of the highlights of the evening for me.

John Mellencamp inducts Donovan.  I guess there is another Donovan out and about because John actually called Donovan by his full name Donovan Leitch.  Growing up my whole life I knew there is only one Donovan, no last name needed.  Donovan gave a funny acceptance speech and recited a poem that he had composed for his inauguration.  Donovan on acoustic guitar with Will Lee on upright Bass perform "Catch The Wind".  Donovan then goes electric for "Sunshine Superman" and "Season of the Witch" sharing vocals with John Mellencamp.

Bette Midler gives a heartfelt induction speech for Laura Nyro.  Laura's son accepts the award and also gives a very loving acceptance speech.  Sara Barielles performed Laura Nyro's "Stoney End".  Sara not only had the dark hair and skin that reminded you of Laura but she had the range in her voice that made you think that Laura had come back to life.  I gave it a WOW moment.  I was hoping to hear Bette sing but that didn't happen.

Carol King the close friend of Don Kirshner welcomed him into the Hall of Fame.  Carol made us feel like we knew Mr. Kirshner a little better by the time she was through.  If you grew up in the 70's you knew Don Kirshner was a GREAT man that brought music into our homes with his Rock Concert series.  Darlene Love performed a very lovely rendition of Carol King's "Will You Love Me Tomorrow".

During a video montage of all of the music people who passed away this year Ledisi sang the Etta James hit "At Last".  Many in the crowd along with me were asking "who is she"?  Who she is is a Jazz singer with a beautiful voice.  Stevie Van Zandt even screwed up her name when he announced Ledisi. 

Little Steven inducted the Small Faces/Faces into the Rock Hall.  The mates gave a quirky speech and then got to playing some music.  Rod Stewart was sick and could not attend gala under doctors orders.  I thought of the Jeff Beck quote "I hate lead singers" at this time.  Mick Hucknall from Simply Red sat in on vocals and did a splendid job.  The band seemed to be having a great time as they ripped through "All Or Nothing", "Ooh La La" and "Stay With Me".

Smokey Robinson explained how even though there are lead singers such as James Brown, Buddy Holly, Gene Vincent, Hank Ballard and Smokey himself, they would be nothing without the rest of the band.  Finally after being overlooked for years the Rock Hall got it right and granted entrance into the Hall of Fame for the back up groups of the Blue Caps, The Comets, The Crickets, The Famous Flames, The Midnighters and the Miracles. 

Can I take a time out here and have a little rant.  Let me just say RAP AIN'T ROCK.  If Jan Wenner wants The Beastie Boys, Grand Master Flash and Run DMC in a museum then let him open, in New York City, a Hip Hop Hall Of Fame.  The long winded Heavy D did not use the term Rock and Roll once in his Beastie Boy's induction speech and neither did LL Cool J.  They call their form of art Hip Hop or Rap not Rock and Roll.  There are allot of bands who actually play Rock and Roll that are not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that deserve to be there before anymore Rap stars get in.  Rush, Yes, The Nice, King Crimson, Joe Walsh as a solo artist, J Geils, T Rex and Todd Rundgren just to name a few.  Hell Nashville wouldn't recognize Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings because they weren't country enough. They were closer to their gendra of music then Rap is to Rock.  Rap or Hip Hop is a whole separate classification of music.  Lets not water down the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by claiming Rap and Hip Hop belong here. 

LL Cool J and Chuck D inducted the Beastie Boys in a long winded speech.  The Roots, Kid Rock and Travie McCoy with Quest Love on drums rapped out a medley of Beastie Boys hits.  There was a certain "Idiot Element" that was present in the audience that could have cared less about the Rock and Rollers who were being inducted.  They talked loudly, texted, stood up at inappropriate times blocking everyone elses view who was sitting behind them and were generally rude.  Now they were jumping up and down and swinging there fists wildly in the air.  I guess this is what they were here for.

Green Day inducted Guns and Roses into the Hall of Fame.  Billie Joe Armstrong introduced the dysfunctional Guns and Roses minus Axl Rose.  Steven Adler the original drummer seemed ecstatic to be on stage.  I felt happy for him.  Matt Sorum the new drummer made the comment about Steven that Steven deserved an award for being kicked out of Guns and Roses for doing drugs.  That is quite an accomplishment.  GNR with Matt on drums and Billie Joe dancing around the stage and Myles Kennedy from Slash's band on vocals performed "Mr. Brownstone".  Steven Adler gets behind the drum kit for "Sweet Child O Mine" and "Paradise City".

Robbie Robertson who inducted three Recording Engineers into the Hall Of Fame first gave a shout out to Levon Helm.  Maybe because of the bad blood between Axl and his band, made Robbie a little introspective?  The three engineers were Cosimo Matassa, Glyn Johns and Tom Dowd.  Cosimo Matassa's grandson accepted the award with Cosimo proudly watching from a wheelchair.  Tom Dowd's daughter also did a fine job of accepting posthumously Tom's award.  Glyn Johns accepted his own award.

Chris Rock comes out and entertains the crowd while inducting The Red Hot Chili Peppers.  The Chili Peppers Perform "By The Way", "The Adventures Of Rain And Dance Maggie" and "Give It Away".  They had Irons and Martinez on Drums.

The Encore is all of the Chili Peppers plus Ron Wood, Slash, Billie Joe Armstrong on guitars, Kenny Jones from the Faces on drums and Tre Cool and George Clinton on comic relief.  They perform a very bad rendition of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground". 

The Marathon is over but I must say over all a great show.  I must commend the sound engineers.  The sound in the large hall was impeccable.  I can't wait for three more years to pass for the reverie and pomp to return to Cleveland.  Rock on.

Mickey Hart Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert 4/11/12

The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame gave a few privileged fans a sneak peak at the new Grateful Dead exhibit.  The exhibit covers the fifth and sixth floors of the museum and the bands iconic rise from a band playing at acid parties to the leading jam band in the world.  There are instruments that were used by the band over the years.  Although I did notice there were no artifacts from Bill Kreutzmann who has been in the band from the start.  There are biographies of all the band members even all five keyboardist.  I personally loved the live concert footage being played on the sixth floor and the hand decorated envelopes sent by fans to the band.  This is an exhibit worth seeing even if you are not a Dead Head.

Mickey Hart and his band played a concert in the Rock Halls lobby to help celebrate the opening of the exhibit.  My Honey Bunny and I were leaning on the stage right in front of Mickey's drum kit.  Mickey's drum kit consists of approximately 20 different drums, a 12 stringed synthesized instrument, a theremin and various pedals and boxes.  For a man in his sixties Mickey pounds and bangs and dances the whole time he is on stage.  He has to be in pretty good shape. 

At one point in the concert one of Mickeys foot pedals would not respond when he needed it.  Mickey was visibly upset that he could not produce the sounds he wanted.  Eventually Mickey's tech came out in front of the stage grabbed the pedal and fixed it.  Mickey was happy and back in business.  Most of the crowd probably never even noticed what was going on because the band just switched songs and kept on playing. 

The band played classic Grateful Dead songs such as; Not Fade Away, Brokedown Palace, Bertha, Franklin's Tower, And We Bid You Goodnight and a smoking hot Going Down The Road Feeling Bad.  They also mixed in some songs off of Mickey's new CD "Mysterium Tremendum" such as Heart Beat Of The Sun, Time Never Ends and Starlight Starbright. 

The band is made up of Crystal Monee Hall who gave a gospel sound to the music with her huge voice.  Tim Hockenberry who also plays with the Trans Siberian Orchestra shared vocals with Ms Hal and also played trombone and keyboards.  Gawain Mathews on lead guitar had a very Jerry sound.  He even got lost at one point in one of his jams and Mickey was trying to get his attention to come out of it so they could end the song.  That reminded me of how Jerry used to get lost in the music at times.  Ben Yonas on keyboards.  Percussion's Sikuru Adepcoju.  Drums Ian Herman.  And the one and only Dave Schools from Widespread Panic on Bass.

I danced, I sang, I had a good time and feel sorry for all of the people who chose not to go to this show.  The music was wonderful, familiar but different.  Mickey and the band kept every thing fresh.  I was expecting more of Mickey's original music but it was a nice surprise to have the band cover so much Grateful Dead music.  I would have to give this show a 5 twirl ranking.

Warren Haynes HOB 6/17/11

Warren Haynes whom I have seen with Gov't Mule, Allman Bros., The Dead and Dave Matthews is always a pleasure to listen to.  This time out Warren is flying with a little bit different type of band.  This band is more geared for Rhythm and Blues.  You have Ron Holloway on Sax, Ron Johnson On Bass, Terrance Higgins on Drums, a keyboard player who's name I did not catch and Alicia Shakur on heavenly vocals.  And, of course,  Warren Haynes on lead guitar and vocals.

Warren seems very relaxed with allowing the other musicians to take the front and center and show the crowd what they can do with their respective instruments.  There are times through out the night when he matches licks with the sax player, keyboard player and bass player.  Vocally Warren harmonizes with  Ms. Shakur and the keyboard player very nicely.  Warren also lets Ms. Shakur show off what her powerful set of pipes can do too.

The first five songs are off of the new album "Man In Motion", which is a risky move because you could lose the crowd, but they didn't, the new material was very well received.  Funky and bluesy in a R&B fashion.  Just superb.  "Sick Of My Shadow", "Rivers Gonna Rise", "Man In Motion", "A Friend To You" and "On A Real Lonely Night".  During "A Friend To You" Warren breaks a string but being the professional that he is he doesn't even stop, he just keeps playing.  Farmer, Warren's guitar tech, finally gets a new guitar out on stage and seamlessly trades guitars and the band just keeps playing.  Even though the new album has just come out most people new the words and were familiar with the music.

Then Warren and the Band go way back to pull two songs off of Warren Haynes first solo album "Tales of Ordinary Madness",  "Fire In the Kitchen" and "Invisible".  The band is smoking.  The first set has the crowd rocking. 

After the break Warren comes out solo and acoustic for "Real Thing".  "Patchwork Quilt", one of my favorites, is played with Warren and Ron Johnson.  Warren does a very nice job on John Lennon's "Working Class Hero".  Warrren proves he can play slide with the best of them when he plays Elmore James' "Rollin and a Tumblin" with Mr. Higgins on drums.

The full band comes back out and they produce some great harmonies on "Change is Gonna Come".  The crowd loves "What Is Hip" the old Tower Of Power song.  There is an older woman back stage that is just dancing up a storm.  "Hattiesburg Hustle" is off of the new album and a rocker to boot.  "Tear Me Down" off of Gov't Mule's "Deep End" album finishes out the second set.

The encore is a killer version of "Soulshine".  You had to be there.  The vocals, the Sax, the Keyboards and Warren on guitar.  WOW!

This is a five twirl show.  If you weren't there, let me tell you, you should have paid the thirty dollars to see this.  Excellent.  I bought a ticket out side the venue for $25.  best $25 I have spent in a long time.

Miami Heat Lose Playoffs

Yes the big three of the Miami Heat lost to the whole team of the Dallas Mavericks or like we like to call them the Mavaliers.  Miami fans thought they were going to be like the Yankees of MLB and buy a championship.  No matter how much money you spend on great players you still can't program what is between their ears.  Wade, The Wanna Be and The Other Guy might be good players but their mind's and their ego's get in the way.  They all want the ball at some time and if they don't get it I know one of them for sure will pout.

Yes, Lebaby does have a history of pouting.  He also does not like to be coached.  Back in High School Lebron was playing in a championship game and Drew Joyce the coach tried to tell Lebron how to close out the game.  Lebron did not listen to the coach because he knew better and they lost the game.  Mike Brown tried to coach Lebron during the Boston Cleveland finals and Lebron waved him off and did what he wanted.  Rumor has it that Shaq then stepped in in the locker room and told Lebron that Mike Brown was the coach and that the team as a whole needed to listen to him.  Lebron went out and stunk up the arena, pissed off the fans, his teammates and the coach ( yet in Cleveland we were willing to forgive him). 

Then LeBron waits until after all of the good free agents were picked and announces that he is taking his talents to South Beach.  A childish move.  So he moves to Miami and all of the ESPN pundits trip over themselves telling anyone who will listen how great the three players are.  Halfway through the season those same pundits started making excuses for the three great players who were only playing mediocre.  Then they started to gel.  But come playoff time there was something amiss they were winning but not huge like everyone thought they would. 

Now here comes David to Goliath.  A little hyped team who has failed before with some old guys who were good but never superstars like the Big Three.  But what the Mav's had was heart, desire and an unselfish style of ball where if one man was down the others picked him up and carried him until he got back on track.  Yes "Old School" Basketball, team play, move the ball, take good shots by anyone who is open not designated players.  The whole team cheered each other on and did not worry about statistics.  All they wanted to do was win, any way they can.

I knew that Dallas was going to win as soon as D Wade went into Lebron's room after game five and tried to tell Lebron how to play the game.  As soon as Lebron needed to be coached he shut down and blew the game for Miami.  He refuses to listen to anyone.  He knows better.  Lebron's name should not be mentioned in the same sentence with Michael Jordan or Scottie Pippin, he is no where near as good as either of them were.

Well Miami you are stuck with him now.  The best you can hope for is that your front office trades Lebron for Dwight Howard straight up.  Believe me you will be getting the better of the deal.  And trust me as long as Lebron keeps his "I am better than everybody alive" attitude he will never have a ring unless someone else wins it for him.

Vote Responsibly

I have been hearing a lot of complaining lately about Ohio's Bill 5.  Wisconsin has been up in arms over their Bill 5.  I guess people in both states did not vote responsibly.  Had the majority of voters voted responsibly they never would have voted in the Republican party that is ending up screwing the middle class.  People must have thought when the governors to be were campaigning and they said they were going to balance the budget by cutting jobs every one thought well not my job, I am to important.  Hah, guess what the only one i who is important to Governor Kasich is Governor Kasich.  He eliminated collective bargaining and he eliminated jobs and gave himself a raise because he is more important than anyone in Ohio.

In the midterm elections there were about 30% of voting age Ohioans that actually voted.  That means the winner only needed 16% of people over thee age of 18 to vote for you and you could win the position of Governor.  So a relative minority actually elected Governor Kasich but it sounds like a majority of people are upset with him.  Where were you on election day?  How come you didn't vote or how come you voted for Kasich?  Everyone knows that the Republicans are out for big business and screw the little guy.  It is the Teachers and the Fire Fighters and the Police that are killing the budget, they are over paid.  The fat cat politicians and the lobbyist that make more in one year than most teachers make in four years deserve their pay.

People when it comes to elections you have to vote.  You have to do your home work and find out what the candidates actually stand for.  Don't just watch TV and listen to the commercials because most of the commercials are sponsored by big business.  The Supreme Court just made it easier for big business to control what you will see on TV come election time.  So you will have to actually do some studying on your own to find out what the truth is about a candidate.  A good rule of thumb is if you don't make over $250,000.00 per year you should not vote Republican because you are going to get screwed.

Yes they are going to cut taxes, but only for the rich people such as themselves and their friends.  Someone will have to pay taxes to keep the government running that means yep, everyone who is making less than $250,000.00 per year will have to dig into their pockets to support the rich.  Oh but eventually the rich will trickle some money down to the rest of us.  I am not bitching about Kasich or the Republicans they are only doing what they have always done and always will do.  I don't like hearing all of the protesters and the whining and the crying.  We live in a Democracy where majority rules.  The majority spoke with their votes last November.  We got exactly what the majority of voters wanted.  If you don't like what is happening, if you thought the Republicans were talking about someone other than you and you were surprised to find out that you lost your benefits, then do your homework and vote in 2012.  Don't just vote but vote responsibly.

7 Walkers Beachland Ballroom 3/29/11

I caught the second set of the 7 Walkers at the Beachland Ballroom and was very impressed. This isn't just another Grateful Dead cover band. 7 Walkers takes Grateful Dead songs and makes them their very own. They have a mixed style between Jam band and New Orleans funk blues band. At times they sounded like Dr. John plays the Grateful Dead and at other times they sounded like Bill Kreutzmann plays New Orleans Rock. Very different but appealing to me.

I had one Dead Head telling me how longed to here that old Jerry twang in the songs. Jerry's dead this is new and exciting. Bill Kreutzmann Drummer, formerly of the Grateful Dead, did a fine job of switching between his old style of drumming to that syncopated New Orleans sound. Papa Mali Guitar and Vocals sounds like Dr. John vocally but plays an exquisite slide guitar and never once tried to reproduce any of Jerry's sound when they were playing covers. Matt Hubbard Keyboard, Harmonica, Trombone and Vocals multi instrumentalist that was very entertaining and added the twist that makes this band very different from any other band out there today. Reed Mathis Bass kept he rhythm going very nicely with Bill but stepped up to play the bass like a guitar which I always enjoy. As I said I only heard one set but was very impressed with the originals that they played kind of low down and funky blues, to up beat swing, to some good old rock and roll and they made the GD covers into their own. I loved them.

They had a light show like I have never seen before at the Beachland. They had the back stage surrounded in tie dyed hangings then they flashed lights onto the tied dyed hangings that brought the tied dyed hangings to life. At times I thought I saw faces then looked again and it was just tied dyed. I thought I saw fishes or birds swimming and flying through the different colors and then I looked again and it was just tied dyed. Very well done kind of reminded me of being basked in the 70's again. I give the portion of the show I saw Four twirls and some moth catcher moves thrown in.

Just Kids

Patti Smith's book "Just Kids" is a twisted story of her friendship, relationship and growth with the artist Robert Mapplethorpe. They meet in New York City under a mitigating circumstance. Patti was afraid of a man she just met and pretended that Robert Mapplethorp was her boyfriend. Her shining blue star saved her that night and they began a long journey of protecting each other and influencing each other through out their lives. This love story is filled with twists and turns as the two artists falter and hustle in New York City's growing art, rock and roll, poetry scene. Robert was trying to be an artist who ended up a shocking photographer. Patti also wanted to be an artist who became an underground poet and the leader of a punk rock band. They take you around the emerging scenes at places such as the infamous Chelsea Hotel, The Village Gate, Max's Kansas City, The Fillmore East and CBGB. The story chronicles their brushes with famous people or people who were to become famous in the near future. Patti reads tarot cards for Johnny Winter and is taken around town to meet emerging poets and rock stars by Todd Rundgren. She has a conversation with Jimi Hendrix and a heart to heart conversation with Janis Joplin. Artist, poets the Merry Pranksters were just another person on the street to Robert and Patti. Their relationship endures through hard money woes where Robert sells his body on the streets and Patti gives up books and pieces of art work that she loves so that the two can survive. Patti seems to be the more conventional worker, taking jobs in bookstores. Robert is hustler and a street kid who just knows how to make money in unconventional ways. Drugs, gay sex, poor but never alone because the two of them always have each other to lift and inspire each other . This book is a must read for anyone interested in the counter culture of the late sixties and seventies. A must read for anyone who loves a good story of love and friendship. A must read for anyone who has ever had a dream and wants to know how to achieve it.