Well My Day’s Just Been Crapped On

Fresh off the BBC:

Mr Moore, 58, was, originally from Belfast, and was a former member of the legendary Irish group Thin Lizzy.

Adam Parsons, who manages Thin Lizzy, told the BBC that Mr Moore had died in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Mr Moore was originally drafted into Thin Lizzy by its singer Phil Lynott. He later gained acclaim for his solo work and was a former member of the Irish group Skid Row.

The Northern Ireland guitarist was only 16 when he moved from Belfast to Dublin in 1969, to join Skid Row, which featured Lynott as lead vocalist.

He was later brought into Thin Lizzy by Lynott to replace the departing Eric Bell, another guitarist from Northern Ireland.

Mr Bell told the BBC on Sunday he was still “in shock” at Mr Moore’s death.

The hyperlink at the top goes to the rest of the article.

My personal favorite of Gary’s work with Thin Lizzy was their ’78 album Black Rose. His fiery, signature leads were all over tracks like “Toughest Street in Town,” and “S&M,” and he was always there to give Phil Lynott a square kick in the ass and make him crank out his best work. “Do Anything You Want,” is a very great example of Moore meshing perfectly with Scott Gorham on guitar:

Gary’s solo work started off as your average, 70s blues-based hard rock. Here he is on Old Grey Whistle Test w/ Lizzy doing a slow jam of “Don’t Believe A Word:”

Later Gary got deep into 80s hard rock and kinda went glam metal for a while. His Victims of the Future record is still a favorite of old headbangers. This era has not aged well at all, kind of sounding like music that would go on a Tom Cruise movie of that time. Nonetheless Phil was there with him again for “Out in the Fields,” and considering we lost Phil back in ’86, it’s one of the last documents we have of him.

Gary moved away from the glam rock stuff in the 90s and got down into 60s style English blues rock for the rest of his career and life. He marketed himself as a blues musician, but really his guitar tone was so searing and saturated, that he sounded more like John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and early, Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac. This blues era got Moore the most critical acclaim he’d seen in decades, a signature guitar from Gibson, and exposure to a wider breadth of fans. His final studio album, 2008′s Bad For You Baby, was given 3.5 stars by Allmusic. While his music by that point hadn’t diverged much from where he’d started with 1990′s Still Got the Blues, he was not going through motions and craved to wrench every inch of emotion he could from his voice and guitar.

What’s cool about this next video is seeing Gary rock a Telecaster, which was out of the norm for his blues period, as Gary preferred a Les Paul for much of this material. Also it’s very evident Gary hadn’t slouched nor laid back as he approached his 60s. This performance sweats and swaggers.

Gary died today in a hotel room in Spain. The cause of death remains unknown at the moment, but damn it sure is sad. Thanks for all the great music, Gary. You were gone too soon.

 

For the Lonely Barflies, Rory Gallagher is There

The mid 70s were when Rory Gallagher was at the height of his powers. He commanded exemplary power over blues, jazz, r&b, folk and rock, mixing them all effortlessly from song to song. His guitar prowess was so strong it had the Rolling Stones outright offering him a job at one point (Mick Taylor would get the gig after Rory turned it down).

If you’ve never heard of Rory, and if you’re from America you are likely not alone there, Rory was essentially the Irish Eric Clapton. He had a power trio not unlike Cream called Taste in the late 60s, and he went solo in the 70s. Unlike Clapton though, who slowly but steadily abandoned his fiery, bluesy temperament for mild mannered radio ballads, Rory kept getting rawer and edgier as the decade went on. By the 80s he was doing what was basically blues-based hard rock.

In 70s though he was simply throwing anything and everything in the pot, and he took a lock-tight live band on the road to jam out. Bassist Gerry McAvoy, now of Nine Below Zero, was Rory’s constant foil, while Lou Martin provided rhythm and melody on piano and organ, and Rod D’Ath was back there holding it down in the drum seat. Gallagher concerts were energetic affairs because of his intense showmanship and his band’s ass-kicking groove.

Here’s Rory the Great, from the 1974 Irish Tour documentary/album, doing “Million Miles Away.”

 

Season of the Witch

Okay if you have never heard of Michael Bloomfield or Al Kooper,  remedy this right now. Together they hooked up with Stephen Stills (Buffalo Springfield, Crosby Stills & Nash) and produced one, spectacular album, Super Session. It’s blues, it’s soul, it’s R&B, it’s rock and roll, and it’s all in one package. These guys basically laid down one of their best albums of their lives and it was done for fun.

One of the standout tracks on the LP was “Season of the Witch.” It has the soulful melodies you’d hear on a classic Stevie Wonder record, the wild rhythms of a Hendrix LP, and out front is Michael Bloomfield with his voice and guitar. Hot damn. Listen for yourself.

 

Kris Lager Halloween Party

Omahaites:

The Kris Lager Band is playing the New Lift Lounge on 98th and M St in Omaha, NE on Oct. 31 at 9pm.

Kris Lager and the boys have been discussed on Lobo before – they are a sample of Southern rock, blue-eyed soul, R&B, and jam rock. Fans of everything from Allman Bros to Umphrey’s McGee will find something to like.

If the numerous other Halloween parties aren’t your speed, and you want a heaping slice of bluesy, soulful rock to fill your night, get down to the Lift.

Kris Lager Band Official Site

 

Ozzy Teases Doing Blues-Rock

Blabbermouth reports Ozzy Osbourne talked to VH1 Radio recently, wherein Ozzy disclosed a desire to take off his heavy metal duds and step into something different.

“Being Ozzy Osbourne is great,” he said. “I mean, it’s been wonderful being the singer of BLACK SABBATH. Having all those hits throughSABBATH and then on my solo career is one thing, but then if I want to do anything branching away from the heavy stuff, people will go, ‘Oh, he’s sold out. Oh, he’s not doing it. Oh, he’s singing a love song. Oh, he’s singing about the…’ or whatever.”

Blabbermouth went on to mention how on Ozzy’s cover album, Under Cover, he included tunes by the Moody Blues, Joe Walsh and John Lennon. Ozzy has also named the Beatles as a huge influence.

Now what makes all this even worth discussing? Well consider that Black Sabbath began as Earth, and Earth was basically a British blues band, not much different from Cream, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers or the Paul Butterfield Blues Band when they first started. Black Sabbath‘s cuts often rock and sway with a heavy, bluesy beat. Also let’s face facts: even an ardent Ozzy fan has to admit that his solo work has not improved upon No More Tears back in 1993, and Scream has freshened up his band’s lineup but still contributes more of the same, ho-hum, commercial metal. Ozzy has become associated with reality TV, Ozzfest, trendy metal, having spoiled, crazy children and a manipulative wife. He’s an icon but everyone but him seems to realize it, and takes full advantage of it, especially his own family. At 61 what more is there for Ozzy to do with heavy metal if the process for him has become so staid and businesslike, that the right players can’t come together and vaunt Ozzy to the creative heights of which he’s capable? The point is if Ozzy wishes to sneak a blues album out to the public, he should do it.

The best thing for Ozzy and his public would be an album that takes him into the zone where he started, and breaks him out of the decade-plus, commercial metal rut he’s been in since Ozzmosis. He’s got nothing to lose, so the question is would his handler (Read: Sharon Osbourne) allow him to actually do it? That really is the fundamental question one should ask in regards to Ozzy’s career and personal choices. It’s too bad she wouldn’t because it could be special to see Ozzy Osbourne making music he was actually emotionally vested in for a change.

 

Going down to Mexico (NSFW, You’ve been warned)

Yowsa.

Burlesque, once the entertainment for “gentlemen,” providing bawdy showcases of striptease, nudity and comedy, has like a lot of fallen fads become property of a DIY-centric, punk-rock movement. Pole dancing has been claimed by neo-burlesque. Revamped by its retro-fetishist participants as a kind of acrobatic art, this kind of theater leans heavily on physicality but dresses in 40s and 50s chic. A great example of what burlesque and pole dancing are doing these days is Michelle Mynx’s Academy of Pole Dance, based in St. Louis, MO.  In Omaha Nebraska, Adena Cleary features pole dance as a part of a greater yoga and dance program at Yogadena. The most famous burlesque artist going is of course Dita Von Teese, who did a lot to resurrect the form and place it within its new context. Others like Gigi LaFemme have come up also to broaden and support the neo-burlesque movement.

The prudes will always say sex is bad, moving your body makes people think of sexy time, and it shouldn’t be done. That’s bunk. As opposed to your regular stripclub, neo-burlesque features women who aren’t doing it for money. They lack that distinct, dead-eyed look brought on by low self esteem, cynicism, drug use and shitty, melon-smelling lotion and body glitter. In an effort to reclaim the pornographic arts and reclass them as erotic punk art, neo-burlesque artists use pole dance in conjunction with a wide breadth of music to cater towards crowds who’d otherwise abstain from the usual strip joint. Neo-burlesque is typically held in punk rock clubs and other venues which feature eclectic acts. The dancers are usually intelligent, educated and hold down normal jobs, using this kind of theater as a hobby and creative outlet. Often the dancers are self-proclaimed feminists, and others just like a safe way to get naked and indulge in their own, particular kinks.

The style and beauty standards of neo-burlesque also differ vastly from typical strip clubs. Here the dancers are less ashamed to break from mainstream beauty standards and restrictions, where the plus-sized are as welcome as the rail-thin, and often get louder cheers. Neo-burlesque favors the curvaceous woman, upholding the beauty ideals of old, before someone in Paris, New York or Milan decided women needed to be a size 2. Retaking control from perceived foes is a central theme to this kind of theater. Sex is in the hands of the performers, who put on their shows for joy, not dollar bills. They are rarely enhanced by surgery, and employ pin-up style fashions and makeup. Thus neo-burlesque wraps itself in the retro-fetishism of the psychobilly and punk rock scenes that have also claimed things like roller derby for their own.

Backing all this flying flesh is a wide variety of music, often left to the dancer’s own choice – another thing a stripper has no control over in comparison to the neo-burlesque artist, whom dictates the details of her performance down to the last application of eyelash extensions. It can literally be anything, but music with a swagger and slow rhythm is preferred. Thus at a neo-burlesque show old standards by Peggy Lee are likely to be played to capture that “Gypsy,” mood, but industrial, heavy metal, doo wop, rockabilly, psychobilly, jazz, r&b, blues, classic rock and electronica can provide the setting for the routine.

Here’s the  headmistress Michelle Mynx herself gyrating to the Coasters’ “Down to Mexico.” This video is not safe for work and if you have young kids around, tell ‘em to scram.

And this is Lola van Ella, another St. Louis-based dancer doing “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.” She engages in a more typical burlesque routine. Also NSFW, watch it at home, shoo the kids away.

 

Good Ol’ Geetar Goodness

Not much to say about this one. I thought I’d bring it on back home after going over bass guitar, stick, warr guitar and megatar to the plain old six string. Michael Lee Firkins has been tearing it up since the 80s or so, setting himself apart from the lightning fast shredders by incorporating huge helpings of southern rock, country, rockabilly and blues. He’s an expert hybrid picker (Picking done w/ a thumbpick or flatpick and fingers together), rocks the slide and knows his way around a whammy bar. This video is his entire set at the Fender Kickoff 2009 show, so it’s over 14 minutes. He rocks a slide-heavy version of “Voodoo Child,” on this one, so it’s worth it to hit play, flip to another tab on your browser, and just let this one go in the background, unless you’d like to ctrl+tab over to watch what his fingers are doing.

 

Music for Warr

The last post was about the Chapman Stick, but I’d be remiss to not point out there are more kinds of multi-stringed, guitar-like instruments out there.

The Warr guitar is a touch-style guitar that, like the Stick, combines multioctave ranges across multiple strings. Typically you can find Warr guitars with 8-10 strings, and you play them through tapping. Tapping is exactly what it sounds like – tapping your fingers on the strings. Strumming is possible but de-emphasized, due to the nature of the Warr and its older brother, the Stick.

The most well-known Warr player is Trey Gunn, formerly of classic prog rock band King Crimson. He, like King Crimson bassist Tony Levine, favors two-handing tapping to spice up his playing and break into new musical vistas. Levine is very famous for popularizing the Stick back in the 70s and 80s, while Gunn favors the Warr guitar. The Warr is different from the Stick in that the Warr has more of a body, with traditional curves and horns like a regular electric guitar, plus it has different on board options for equalization (That means controlling the guitar’s bass and treble sounds) and has a special tuning system, the Buzz Feiten system, to help keep the many strings better intonated and in tune.

Joining the multistring crowd is the Mobius Megatar, another tapping-intensive instrument. The Megatar is different from its cousins, because the Megatar employs fan-frets. Frets for your neophites are the metal slivers embedded across a guitar neck. It’s how you can tell what key you’re in when you fret a note or chord and makes doing so more stable. Fan frets look like a oriental fan stretching out across the fretboard. The purpose is to alter intonation to make tuning with up to 12 strings or more easier and so the instrument sounds better.

Two videos show the Warr guitar in action. The first is the Trey Gunn Band, which features 2 Warr guitarists along with a traditional electric guitar player, making for great sonic comparison. The second is by prog-metal band Behold the Arctopus, which takes the Warr guitar away from the clean, jazz-influenced prog of Trey Gunn and Bob Culbertson, into dissonant, heavy ranges.

If you want more, specific details on how these guitars are different, this Yahoo Answers post does a good job.

 

Stick Music

I ran into this guy at the Omaha Arts Festival today. Bob Culbertson plays what’s called a Chapman Stick. It’s a multi-stringed instrument invented back in 1974 by Emmett Chapman, a guitarist who was looking to expand his dimensions and creativity. The stick has both bass and guitar strings, allowing the player to go from bass, to baritone, to treble tones, all while using just his/her fingers.

Bob’s got a few discs out, which he sells himself. The one I got is called AcouStick Dawn, a collection of tunes done on the acoustic stick. He jumps from jazz to blues to classical to world music, brewing them up in a kind of new age/contemporary/folk stew. If you have ever heard of Andy McKee, Michael Hedges or other fingerstyle acoustic guitar virtuosos, Bob Culbertson’s in their school but takes things much further with his use of the stick over six string guitar. For those who haven’t heard of those cats, well, YouTube is your friend. Look ‘em up.

The music Culbertson plays is very technical, melodic and ethereal at times. His work is the kind you stick in for atmosphere if you want to chill out. For a musician, he’s a thrill just because of what the man can do with a big plank of wood with strings attached to it.

Here’s a video. He’s got a YouTube channel, so please go see more for yourself. The video is Bob doing “Little Wing,” a Jimi Hendrix classic, which is a good entry into the kind of arrangements Culbertson does.

 

Easing into Monday evening with Sloe Gin