In 1973, Paul Pena, a diverse American blues singer from Massachusetts, recorded “Jet Airliner” for his New Train album. Yet, after conflicts with his label, the album went unreleased (until 2000) and “Jet Airliner” was left as bootleg recording. For four years one of modern classic rock radio’s most overplayed hits laid on the shelf collecting dust. This until Steve Miller heard a recording of “Jet Airliner,” and decided to record it for his album Book of Dreams. Miller placed a Clapton-like “Crossroads” guitar riff in front of the airplane epic. The song hit #8 on the Billboard chart after being released as a single, and, like I said earlier, now is severely overplayed on almost all classic rock radio stations. If I ever get the opportunity to be one of the preservers of classic rock music on the radio, I will make a point not play “Jet Airliner.” How about “Swingtown or “Going to the Country?” I am not saying these are better songs, but, at least they are different.
The reason I am profiling “Jet Airliner” today is because on Monday I will be taking a big ol’ jet airliner to Israel on Birthright. Birthright is a Jewish charity that sponsors free 10-day trips to Israel for Jewish youths. I fit the profile of a Jewish youth and therefore am fortunate enough to be going on this trip with fellow Music Court writers Josh Lampert and Amanda Grannis, my girlfriend, and our suitemate Marc. I am incredibly psyched. I will be away from May 17-27. So, I wish all of you faithful readers a fantastic 10 days and I am looking forward to posting when I return. During the 10-day span, a familiar face will be returning to the blog to write a couple of posts and “water the flowers” when I am gone. I trust he will do a great job.
Steve Miller:
Paul Pena:
May 26th, 2010 at 12:48 am
Bit late now, and I’m not sure who’s gonna see this. But as a message to everyone reading, I am in charge of watering the plants. The problem here is that Matt apparently forgot to leave me a key, in that I can write articles (or updates, whatever you call a post on a blog) but I cannot publish them with Matt’s approval.
So yea… Maybe Matt will just post everything I write the day he comes back. Either way, no new content until Israel trip is over.
May 26th, 2010 at 12:49 am
I meant ‘without,’ of course. I cannot publish without Matt’s approval.