ROCK-on Worldwide

April is definitely not the cruellest month for Rock birthdays, but for those who like things tied together, two guitarists are connected by one man and one of those two is connected to one of the obituaries.  Answers at the end… **

Leon Russell – 68 on 2^nd April 2010

How many people can claim to have played with Jerry Lee Lewis, Willie Nelson, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, George Harrison and Joe Cocker as well as arranging River Deep and Mountain High for Ike and Tina Turner?  Only one – the great Leon Russell.
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DECEMBER 21ST 1940 TO DECEMBER 4TH 1993

“Rock journalism is people who can’t write, interviewing people who can’t talk, in order to provide articles for people who can’t read.”
Frank Zappa

I thought I’d start with that quote from the great man himself to put the piece in perspective. Never short of a few words on any given subject, Rock’s most opinionated man, was not known for mincing his words. He would most certainly found it ridiculous that some sixteen years after the fact he was being commemorated on the anniversary of his death on a website dedicated to classic rock. After all this was the man who once said, “I don’t give a fuck if they remember me at all.” The pigeon holing of his music into one category would also have irritated him. Understandable, given that much of his music wasn’t even Rock, and for that matter, defied categorisation to the point that the only term it could be lumped under was “Zappa.”

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November’s deaths have no patterns to them, just losses from the world’s greatest band, the world’s most popular Rock singer and the drummer for the world’s greatest Rock guitarist.

GEORGE HARRISON – BORN 24TH FEBRUARY 1943 – DIED 29TH NOVEMBER 2001
I remember George Harrison describing life in the Beatles when he was interviewed alongside Ringo for a TV documentary at the time they released the Beatles 1 CD. He said that people had forgotten how good they were as a live band: “we were just so tight” and people also forget in the post Cream, post Prog Rock era of long, self indulgent, “virtuoso” guitar breaks and meandering tunes that the musicianship of the Beatles was focused on the band as the entity, not on individual members and that they perfected the 3 minute single, “She Loves You”, the LP “Revolver” and the Concept Album “Sgt Pepper” before anyone else had ever thought of it.

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October is all Stetson, Old Glory and Bourbon – Southern Rock at its best and in memoriam.

JANIS (LYN) JOPLIN – born 19th January 1943 – died 4th October 1970
Another fully paid up member of the 27 Club, Janis Joplin didn’t just lead the Rock Star lifestyle, she lived for Blues and Rock music, the drugs and booze (her trademark Southern Comfort) were just part of the way she inhabited the music and the ghosts of the great Blues singers who she so much admired – Bessie Smith, Odetta and Big Mama Thornton – Joplin’s version of Thornton’s Ball and Chain blew them away at Monterey in 1967. But perhaps her best known hit was the song was first recorded by soul singer Erma Franklin, Aretha’s older sister, in 1967 – (Take Another Little) Piece of my Heart.

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September was a bad year for drummers, with two of the best dying from the Rock lifestyle, but pride of place on September’s monument goes to the uniquely talented, the one and only, Jimi Hendrix.

Jimi Hendrix – born Johnny Allen Hendrix on 27th November 1942 in Seattle, died 18th September 1970 in London. There’s no point in our offering up another précis of his career, but here are a couple of facts about how he achieved the sound we all love:

He used right-handed guitars – Fender Stratocasters being a favourite. He turned the guitars upside-down as he was left handed and re-strung them so that the heavier strings were in their standard position at the top of the neck. This gave his lowest string a bright sound while his highest string had a mellow sound.

He also used Fender Rock ‘N’ Roll light-gauge strings, using a regular E string for a B and sometimes a tenor A string for a little E. After June 1967 Hendrix decided to tune his guitar down half a step to B-flat, A-flat etc as this tuning not only made it easier for his voice, but it also made it easier for him to do string bends.

Greatest Track – All Along The Watchtower (yes we know it was written by Dylan)
Greatest Concert – Montery 1967

Marc Bolan – Born Mark Feld on 30th September 1947 – Died in Barnes, London on 16th September 1977. If he hadn’t been a fashion icon and a very pretty guy would anyone have bought Get it On (Bang a Gong)? Or indeed could they have told the difference between that song and Telegraph Sam? Maybe we are being unfair, but compared with Jimi…

Jimi…

Keith Moon – born London 23rd August 1946 – died 7th September 1978. We all know the stories about his drinking, his bombs in hotel toilets, the (probably) specious story of the Cadillac and the swimming pool, but… he was a great Rock drummer. He knew drumming and he knew it needed Rock style to be recognised.
recognised.

Moon fact: Christie’s auction house auctioned five pieces of one of Moon’s silver Premier kits on 29 September 2004 as part of its Pop Memorabilia sale in South Kensington, London. The estimate was £10,000-£15,000. The lot sold for £120,000 plus fees to an American collector, setting a world auction record for a set of drums.

John Bonham – Born, Worcestershire 31st May 1948 – Died 25th September 1980. Both Keith Moon and John Bonham died at the same age for much the same reason – what is it about drummers?? Anyone in doubt about his playing abilities and with a couple of minutes to spare should look at:

And where would the Muppets have been without him?

November

Michael Hutchence
22.11.97
At the age of 37

Freddie Mercury
24.11.91
At the age of 45

George Harrison
29.11.01
At the age of 58