"Z," I TOLD YOU SO!

Today, we complete the "A" to "Z" Blog Challenge. What a long strange trip it's been, to quote the Grateful Dead's song lyric. I started out on a journey to remember some of the people who made contributions to Rock and Roll. Some contributions were expansive and significant. Others were seemingly small but their significance were much larger.

Today is "Z" day. I could have blogged about Led Zeppelin, ZZ Top, Warren Zevon, Frank Zappa or even Zager and Evans. However, I think I will close out my series of blogs by making a plea for the arts.

I grew up listening to music, all kinds of music. In the 60 plus years that I've been circling around the Sun on this great blue marble hurtling through space, I've come to really appreciate the genius, the hard work and the creativity that it takes to create something that so resonates with the spirit and leaves such a lasting impression. I have come to appreciate the paths that my favorite artists and bands have walked to create their unique sound and to achieve their level of greatness.

I hope that through these blog posts I have been able to evoke some pleasant memories for you. I suspect that many of you are like me, in that when you hear a particular old song it brings you back to a time in your life that gave that song some significance. For example, when I hear "Sweet Home Alabama" I'm back at a U.S. Air Force Base in England sitting in a snack bar enjoying a deluxe grilled cheese sandwich. When I hear Chicago's "Colour My World" I'm at my high school prom dancing with my girlfriend who has been my beloved wife for 43 years.

I hope that you continue to listen to the songs of your life. Maybe someday you'll hear a song and before you know it you're somewhere back in time re-living a memory. May all such time travel be pleasant for you. Thank you for accompanying me on my journey through time!

"Y" AM I STILL WRITING?

We have arrived at the letter "Y" in the "A" to "Z" Blog Challenge. This exercise in writing commitment has been kind of fun for me. I have learned some things along the way as I hope you have.

I present for your consideration today THE YARDBIRDS. The Yardbirds were formed in southwest London in May 1963. From the outset the band has experienced frequent personnel changes. 

The original members consisted of Keith Relf, Vocals/Harmonica, Paul Samwell Smith, Bass Guitar/Backing vocals, Chris Dreja, Rhythm Guitar/Bass Guitar, Jim McCarty, Drums/Vocal, and Tom Topham, Lead Guitar. Both Keith and Paul were members of the Metropolitan Blues Quartet before joining the remaining founding members of the Yardbirds. The band took it's name from the slang name for hobo's who would hang around railroad yards and a reference to jazz saxophonist Charlie "Yardbird" Parker. 

The yardbirds is credited with beginning the careers of three of Rock and Roll's greatest and most respected guitar players, Jimmie Page, Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton. In Rolling Stones list of the top 100 guitarists Clapton is ranked 2nd, Page is ranked 3rd and Beck is ranked 5th.

In October 1963 Topham left the band and was replaced by Eric Clapton. It was after Clapton joined the band when the band broke through and signed with EMI Columbia. They recorded three singles that received air play, the most successful was "For Your Love" that sold over a million copies, going gold.

Clapton became frustrated with the "three minute" song format. He was interested in more than commercial success and abruptly left the band in March 1965. He recommended a session guitarist, Jimmy Page, to replace him. Jimmy was concerned about his health and liked the regular paycheck of his session gig so he turned down the offer but recommended Jeff Beck who did agree to replace Clapton. Beck played his first gig with the Yardbirds two days after Clapton left.

In June 1966 Samwell Smith left the group to become a record producer. Jimmy Page joined the band as it's bass guitar player until Dreja became proficient enough to take over from Page. Page and Beck played tandem lead guitar. Unfortunately there are no known recordings of the Beck-Page tandem lead guitars in action.

In October 1966 Beck was fired from the band for not showing up for gigs, his hot temper and his perfectionism. The band continued on as a quartet with Page handling the lead guitar duties alone.

The band continued until July 1968 when the band broke up. The news release said that Page wanted to pursue solo recording work. It wasn't too long after this break up that Page joined up with Robert Plant, John Bonham and John Paul Jones and formed Led Zeppelin. You may have heard of them!

The Yardbirds, particularly Beck and Page, are credited with introducing guitar effects like feedback fuzztone effects, wah-wah pedals, and using a cello bow across the strings of a guitar. These innovations are the beginning of the explosion of guitar effects that have occurred since.

Page, Clapton and Beck continue to entertain audiences with their guitar mastery to this day.  The Yardbirds were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.   

"X"-TRA, "X"-TRA, "X"-IT THE "X" BLOG!

     Are you confused by the title of my "X" Day Blog post? Try as I might, I could not locate even one band or artist whose name begins with the letter "X" to post on today, "X" day at the "A" to "Z" Blog Challenge. 
     Properly written the title would read Extra, Extra, Exit the "X" Blog."  I have nothing to write about other than the fact that I have nothing to write about. Still confused? "X" Day will do that to you. Hopefully I'll have better luck tomorrow!

"W" DAY AT THE "A" to "Z"!

There are a ton of artists whose name begins with "W." The problem is that I haven't heard about most of them. As I like to stray from the well beaten path, I do so again today. My subject has earned several Grammy Awards but not so much for his musical excellence but more for recording other people's music.

I present for your amusement and information Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic. Weird Al made a name for himself recording parodies of other artists hit songs.

Al was born on October 23, 1959, in Downey, CA. Al's father was Nicholas Louis Yankovic. His mother was Mary Elizabeth Yankovic. Al was a nerd through his school years. He was his high school class Valedictorian. He attended California Polytechnic State University where he earned a degree in Architecture.

Al's introduction began on October 22, 1965, when he started taking accordion lessons at a local music school. It seems that a door to door salesman offered the Yankovic's a chance for Al to learn to play the Guitar or the Accordion. They chose the accordion because there was already a famous accordion player named Frankie Yankovic and because they believed that the accordion would revolutionize Rock and Roll. 

Al was influenced to perform song parodies by early masters of that art form, Tom Lehrer, Alan Sherman, Stan Freberg and Spike Jones. Also, in 1976 Dr. Demento spoke at Al's school. Dr. Demento was a nationally syndicated DJ who played song parodies and novelty songs. Young  Al gave Dr. D a tape of his original songs at the school when the good doctor spoke. Dr. D played it on his radios show and Weird Al was discovered.

During his time in college Weird Al had his own radio show. His schoolmates called him weird so he called his on-air persona "Weird Al" and he has be Weird Al ever since.

Al has done parodies of many artists songs. Al always spoke to the artist he parodied and got their permission before he released the parody of their songs. In interviews Al has said most consider Al doing a parody of their songs to be a sign that they had achieved success as an artist. There have been a few artists who have denied permission to parody their songs and Al has honored their denial.

Some notable song parodies are Nirvana's "Smells like Teen Spirit (Smells Like Nirvana); Michael Jackson's Bad (I'm Fat) and Beat It (Eat It); Dire Straits Money for Nothing (Money for nothing/Beverly Hillbillies). 

Weird Al has used the same back-up band musicians since his first tour. He keeps busy with recording albums and touring around the country and the world performing his songs and song parodies to the amusements of fans young and old. Al has a reputation of keeping his shows and record family friendly.  

You might say that Weird Al Yankovic is the comic relief of the Rock and Roll world. We can all use a laugh now and then!

BLOG IN "V" AT THE "A" TO "Z"!

It occurs to me that a sub-theme of my posts this month is writing about lesser known artists. Some of these artists though lesser known made a significant impact upon the music scene.

Today's artist is Stanley Robert Vinton, Bobby Vinton. Bobby was an only child born on April 16, 1935, in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. His father was a popular bandleader, Stanley Vinton. His mother was Dorothy Vinton. Stanley Sr. changed his real surname, Vintula, to Vinton. Bobby's parents encouraged his interest in music by paying him his 25 cent allowance after he practiced the clarinet.

Bobby formed his first band at age 16 years. He would play at clubs around the Pittsburgh, PA, area. The money he earned helped pay his way through college. Bobby attended Duquesne University and earned a degree in Music Composition. While at Duquesne U. Bobby became proficient in all the band instruments, Piano, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, drums and oboe. Another thing, Bobby, at his father's suggestion, began using his middle name to avoid his band being confused with his dad's band.

Bobby's band recorded two albums and several singles for Epic Records. These records did not sell well. Epic was about to drop Bobby's contract when he found a song in the company's reject pile. The song became Bobby's first number one hit, Roses Are Red. Bobby promoted the song himself by having a copy of the record along with a dozen roses delivered to every local DJ. 

Song hits kept coming for Bobby. In 1963 another number one song, Blue Velvet was released. Twenty years David Lynch used the song's title for his cult-hit movie of the same name. In 1964 there were two more number one hits, Mr. Lonely and There I've Said it Again. "Mr. Lonely" was written years before while Bobby was a chaplains assistant in the U.S. Army. "There I've Said it Again" became the last U.S. number one song before the British Invasion.

The hits stopped coming until the 1970's. Three songs were in the Top 40's, Every Day of My Life, My Melody of Love and Sealed with a Kiss. 

Bobby hosted a half hour variety show on Canadian T.V. called "The Bobby Vinton Show". The show ran from 1975 through 1978. Bobby also co-starred in two John Wayne movies, Big Jake and The Train Robbers.

Bobby married Dolores Dobbins on December 12, 1962. They have five children and make their home in Englewood, FL. 

CAN 'U' SEE ME ON 'U' DAY?

Today is "U" day at the "A" to "Z" Blog Challenge. The band that I have chosen to write about is a real flash in the pan. It had several hits in rapid succession and then faded away.

The band I speak of is Gary Puckett and the Union Gap. Gary Puckett was born in Hibbing, Minnesota, and grew up in Yakima, WA, which is near Union Gap, Idaho. 

Gary began playing guitar in his teens. After graduating from high school he attended college in San Diego, CA. Gary quit college and joined a number of local bands before finally joining The Outcasts, a local hard rock group. The Outcasts toured the northwest in 1966 and recorded a couple of singles which did not do well.   

The bands name was changed to The Union Gap in 1967 with the members wearing Union Soldier uniforms as a gimmick. The band recorded a demo and was signed by Columbia Records.

Gary and the Union Gap had a number of single hits that all went gold. Their first hit was Woman, Woman. This was followed by Young Girl then Lady Willpower, and then Over You and Don't Give in to Him. These hits were written by the songwriting team of Jimmy Pane and Jim Glaser. 

Gary and the band wanted to write their own songs and refused to record any more of the Pane Glaser authored songs. 

The band had their last hit, This Girl is a Woman Now in 1969. The band disbanded in 1971.

Puckett worked sporadically playing the "oldies circuit" from time to time. However, he has not come close to duplicating the success 1967 thru 1969.

IT'S TIME TO "T" IT UP!

Today is "T" day at the "A" to "Z" Blog Challenge. I was unable to post yesterday due to being otherwise engaged with doctor appointments and other stuff that could not be put off. So here is my "T" day blog post.

This artist had a lot of struggles on his way to stardom. His music, however, has left an indelible mark on Rock and Roll. This artist is James Vernon Taylor, also known as Sweet Baby James!

James was born in Boston, MA, on March 12, 1948. His father, Dr. Isaac Taylor, was a doctor at the same hospital, Massachusetts General. His mother, Gertrude, studied singing at the MA Conservatory of Music.

The Taylors moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, when James was three years old. James grew up in Chapel Hill. James first learned to play the cello and switched to playing guitar in 1960. James developed his own unique finger-picking style.

The Taylor's summered at Martha's Vineyard where he met an aspiring guitarist Danny Kortchmar. James and Danny listened to and played blues and folk music together. James and Danny played in coffeehouses around the Vineyard during the summer of 1963.

James struggled with depression and signed himself in to a Massachusetts hospital for treatment. He was there for nine months and obtained his high school diploma while hospitalized. James siblings also suffered with depression and were similarly hospitalized for treatment.

James moved to New York City and lived with Kortchmar. They formed a group called The Flying Machine. This group did not achieve much success. During his time in New York James became addicted to heroin. Jame's life cycled downward to the point that he ran out of money and had to call his father for help. His father drove him from New York to Chappel Hill where James was treated for his addiction.

James moved to London, England, in 1967 where he signed with the newly formed Apple Record, the Beatles record company. James recorded his first album in London. This record was noted by a London music critic to be a breath of fresh air, however, the album did not sell very well. During the recording of this album, James relapsed back into drug addiction.

  In 1969 James recorded his first commercially successful album, Sweet Baby James. James had a mega-hit from this album the classic Fire and Rain. This album sold over 3 million copies in the U.S. alone. His next album, Mudslide Slim and the Blue Horizon, with another mega-hit, the Carole King song You've Got a Friend was released in April 1971. 

James has recorded many albums since, each with it's own hit singles. James has struggled with depression and drug addiction from time to time. James has been married and divorced and married again as is not that unusual in the music business. Despite the storms of his life, James continues to make new music, perform at concerts and support mostly liberal causes. James has become a master musician, songwriter and singer and has earned his place in the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame to which he was inducted in 2000.