The Upper Crrrrust Will Rocque You

These are one of the better, unsung rock (rocque) bands going today. They look funny, but they rocque hard and do it with class and nobility.

 

Bustin’ Out Some Budgie

I can’t help it. I love me some old school rock and roll. I always have. Sometimes I think I was born too late. What I really love is going back and finding bands that have become kind of lost, bands that were once popular in the day but the public, fickle as ever, moved on and forgot about. Budgie is one of those groups. Here in the States their chart impact was minimal, but their influence on others was an ever-flowing current. If you’ve heard of Judas Priest or Metallica, then you can trace them right back to Budgie.

Back in the 70s Budgie was playing everything that would in time become hallmarks of NWOBHM, classic heavy metal, thrash metal, stoner rock, stoner metal, grunge and alternative. They formed way back in ’67 in Cardiff, Wales, the UK. They were a power trio taking cues from Cream, Blue Cheer, Taste, the Jimi Hendrix Experience and other acts of that period, building around the sparse, primal power of guitar, bass guitar and drums. Burke Shelley on the bass had a voice similar to Canada’s Geddy Lee, whom of course we know from Rush, another similar, heavy, blues-driven power trio* that debuted around that time. Their tunes were hard hitting but could drift out into space, reflecting the influence of psychedelic bands.

Some songs that show what Budgie could do and how their work trickled throughout the rest of the rock world include “Homicidal,” “Whiskey River,” “Crash Course in Brain Surgery,” and one of their best-known songs, “Breadfan:”

The video features the modern Budgie lineup. Burkey Shelley remains and now has ex-Dio guitarist Craig Goldy on guitar, along with stalwart “Syco” Steve Williams on drums. The video of course answers the question of whether or not Budgie are still alive and kicking. They very much are, but from their touring page it looks like you have to be in Eastern Europe if you want to catch them, and sadly it seems Shelley is convalescing at the moment. The poor man suffered an aneurism and the band’s future hasn’t been determined.

Nonetheless Budgie are definitely, from at least this side of the pond, one of the forgotten greats of hard rock and early heavy metal. Anyone who digs Led Zeppelin, Cream, Rush and Black Sabbath would like this band very much. Should you be a fan of groups like Red Fang, Fu Manchu, High on Fire or Clutch, definitely give Budgie a try. You’ll be glad you did. If you want to know some more about their music, Grooveshark and Allmusic are great resources to reference.

*Before anybody points it out, Rush on their debut LP were very much a heavy, blues-rock band and had not yet become the prog rock act everyone recognizes.

 

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.

 

Back to More Music – Red Fang “Prehistoric Dog”

Red Fang. Straight outta Portland, OR. My brother recommended these guys to me.

 

Christmas Schmaltz

I don’t listen to much Christmas music, and it’s really because so much of it is overdone. Additionally I’m not exactly the “Jingle Bells” type, though I do dig the hell out of Christmas tunes done by Tom Petty, the Boss and Elvis. From time to time though I get the desire to hear a specific, Christmas tune though. “Blue Christmas” normally sates this but today I wanted to hear, “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.” Trying to find it made me wade through the surfs of schmaltz that I realized greatly pervades holiday music.

First I tried a basic one. I don’t know who did it. The video was posted by a user called reelworship, so this person is either a film lover or Christ lover (Maybe both?) Anyway this version is your basic, synth-driven version you’d hear at the mall. It’s pretty harmless, just a tad too basic and cold for me.

Yeah, not feeling that one. So I moved on and came across Loreena McKennitt. My wife loves her vaguely Celtic-New Age music. McKennitt’s music has a very defined, unifying motif to all of her songs and arrangements. That motif is basically that at any moment, a group of neopagans are about to strip to their pasty, pale bare bottoms and have a Wiccan orgy. All her music is slow drumming, hurdy gurdies and keyboards. So basically if you want to feel slightly naughty about a fairly staid Christmas traditional, then go with Loreena’s hippie orgy version.

Okay have you toweled off and put your clothes back on yet? Let’s move on then. Alright so I still want to hear a good version of this song that won’t a) make me sick from the saccharine; b) have sex at an inappropriate place and time. So I came across Metal Xmas, and wouldn’t you know it, my heroes Ronnie James Dio and Tony Iommi did their own take on “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.”

“Awesome!” I think, “Let’s give this a whirl!”

OH MY GOD THE STAR SPAWN OF CTHULHU HAVE DESCENDED!!! SULFUR IS FALLING FROM THE AIR! RUN! RUN FOR YOUR SANITY! Oh wait, this isn’t a Black Sabbath song. Dio/Iommi are out then. This is way too much sturm and drang for Christmastide. After this I decided to try old, Christmas stand-bys Manheim Steamroller. Bear in mind to this point I’ve never listened to them before in my life. In college I worked at Target and there was always a display in the seasonal section full of Manheim Steamroller’s numerous Christmas albums.

Okay I’ll give the Steamroller some credit here. Leading with a french horn is pretty cool just because hardly anybody does it. The rest though is way too muzak and not enough music. Maybe I have heard these guys before after all: in about a dozen different grocery stores during the Christmas season. Sorry, Manheim, but it’s just too vanilla.

I started to get a little disappointed by this juncture, because I’ve already tried several versions of this song and nearly every one is well, pretty damn ridiculous. But I did come across something that was unexpected, and promising. Jethro Tull has a version! This I had to try.

You know what, Tull’s version of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” isn’t exactly traditional, but it’s not mall music, it’s not over the top, and it’s not really even schmaltzy. It’s just the band diddling around with a simple, catchy tune. At this point I called it: winner – Jethro Tull. Maybe they should do a special, “Ian Anderson Saves Christmas?” I never thought the world’s only rock flautist would make my Christmas just right.

 

It’s Chriiiiiiiiiiiiistmaaaaaas!!!

Not quite, but here’s Slade to help you get into the spirit.

 

What Kind of Music Do I Like?

Funny, with a blog you think I wouldn’t get questions from friends, acquaintances and other people I meet about what kind of music I like when my face turns funny, after they just got done raving over the latest corporate crud.

My response is, quite simply, this. This is the kind of music I like.

 

Slade: Mama Weer All Crazee Now

I’ve been on an old, English glam rock kick. Stuff like Sweet, Slade, T Rex and such. It’s very cool music and I wish there was more of it around today.

 

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.