The Koobas Play “Sweet Music”

19 May

I will be a graduate of Binghamton University on Sunday. For some graduates the prospect of graduation seems unbelievable or “scary.” The word scary is thrown around. I am embracing graduation. I cannot wait to get out into the world of journalism and hopefully enjoy the fruits of my labor. This will most likely be my last post as an undergraduate and it leaves an opening for some nostalgia. I started this blog at my wise brother’s urging after I finished Sophomore year. Since then, The Music Court has amassed over 400,000 views and, while this statement does seem trite, it is because of the support of you all. Thank you to all my faithful readers and I hope to continue to provide you with enjoyable music writing as I enter into the post-undergraduate world.

We are in the early morning hours and I wanted to do a quick song of the day prior to going to sleep. The Koobas are The Beatles that never happened. The emerged as a Beat group from Liverpool in 1962 (two years after the Beatles) and were signed by Brian Epstein (The Beatles’ manager) in 1964. Heck, The Koobas even toured with The Beatles as their opening act during The Beatles’ last British tour. Yet, despite the connection with the most successful band ever, The Koobas could never catch a hint of success and fell off into obscurity, reserved for future listeners of 60’s music lovers. Here is my favorite song by The Koobas, the 1966 single “Sweet Music”

Tags: , , ,

Best Guitar Riffs – The Double-Riff That Sings Layla

17 May

How can we have a Best Guitar Riffs section without the riff that fronted the essential rock “love” song? Derek and the Dominoes conquered the typical love ballad, and transformed the normal adoration tune into a spell-binding passion roller-coaster that portrays Eric Clapton‘s obsession with George Harrison’s wife-at-the-time Pattie Boyd. Everyone knows the basic story.

Clapton and Harrison were good friends. Harrison’s wife Pattie Boyd became Clapton’s obsession. After playing “Layla,” the love-rocker inspired by Boyd, at a party, Clapton confessed his undying love for Harrison’s wife in front of the sitar-wielding Beatle. And then Harrison kicked Clapton’s ass, right? Well, actually, no. Harrison was fine and remained married to Boyd for several more years before she gave in to Clapton’s charm and divorced Harrison for him. And then Harrison kicked Clapton’s ass in a Bruce Springsteen “Jungleland” dystopia where guitars are flashed just like switchblades. Actually, Harrison attended Clapton’s wedding party with Ringo and Paul and wished good fortune to the new couple. Women mattered and didn’t matter at all to these musicians I guess. “Layla” was made because of Boyd, but, did you know that its classic riff and rocking beat was not Clapton’s original intention.

Duane Allman, of the Allman Brothers, was the man you can credit for transforming Clapton’s vision of a ballad to his love into the classic riff we all know and play air guitar to. Let’s talk about the riff composition.

By the way, part two of the eight-minute epic was founded on a separate piano piece that was originally created by Dominoes drummer (yes, drummer) Jim Gordon. Clapton loved it and with Gordon’s blessing they recorded part two with Clapton playing acoustic and slide guitar and Allman playing electric and bottleneck slide.

Okay, on to the riff, or, rather, this:

“Layla” is composed of two riffs. The song can really be on our list twice. Hence why it is such a tremendous guitar piece. The first riff is Clapton’s famous hammer-on, pull-off, power chord epicness which sends crowds into frenzy on first play. He is then joined by an Allman original forming a guitar duet that juxtaposes sweet high notes with the lower-pitch main riff. The riff is commonly listed when top guitar riffs are compiled. On my list it reaches the top five easily. How can it not? It features the work of two guitar gods in their prime and there is nothing better than that.

Beach Boys Reunion? – Cooolllldddppplllaaayyy- Rome Review

16 May

Brian Wilson Considering Beach Boys Reunion

Before I get into this segment of Music News, I have a question. Why is it that the name Brian Wilson spawns craziness? Brian Wilson (musician) lost his marbles in 1969 and has been collecting these marbles ever since. And Brian Wilson (the SF Giants closer), is perhaps the most intense baseball player in the game and his beard is weird (to quote the Just For Men beard commercials).

Anyway, Brian Wislon (musician) recently announced that he would retire from live performances in 2012, but before his last goodbye he may want to rejoin his old surviving band mates and run through his old discography. How cool would that be? “Good Vibrations” with the Boys of the surf.

Asked by BBC Music about playing with the band, Wilson said, “I’m considering it. I don’t know yet but I’m considering it. Nothing’s really holding me back. I just don’t know if I want to be around those guys you know. They’re zany guys. They’re crazy.”

It would be the first performance for Wilson with his old band-mates in around 20 years.

Do you think he will schedule some dates? I have to think Wilson will perform a few with the band before he retires from the stage.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Coldplay Sponsors Safe Driving

Driver’s Education instructors who want to promote safe driving should put Coldplay on to relax students getting behind the wheel for the first time. Seriously.

According to a Stereogum article, “A new survey by Halfords asked people if their driving was affected by the music they were listening to while behind the wheel. 60% said yes. A couple of the tracks that made them more aggressive: Beastie Boys’s “Sabotage” and Kanye West’s “Stronger.” On the flipside, folks felt mellower in the presence of Jack Johnson (obviously) and Fleetwood Mac.” Link: http://stereogum.com/705722/coldplay-fans-may-not-put-out-but-theyre-safe-drivers/list/

On the list of chill driving songs is Coldplay’s “Yellow.”

Calm Driving

Aggressive Driving

Get off the road!

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Review of Rome

Here is a little plug for an excellent “Consequence of Sound” review of Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi’s Rome which will be released tomorrow. The album is truly excellent. Here is the Music Court review for another perspective.

Tags: , , , ,

What is the Best 1960’s Psychedelic Sub-Genre

15 May

Every post I do about psychedelic music must be prefaced by a piece of computer psychedelic artwork. It is a necessity. Over the past couple of weeks, I have put together posts for the section entitled “60’s Psychedelic Experiment – What is 60s Psychedelic Music.” The section has explored numerous types of psychedelic music. Most similarly to Indie music today, Psychedelic music was a fad genre that took on several sub-genres. I say “fad” genre because it is not a main modern music genre like pop, rock or blues. Psychedelic music was a rather obscure genre that took shape because of its temporary popularity.

I love psychedelic music. It is one of the reasons why I first got into listening to true classic rock (rock before 1973 with the exception of a few bands like Boston and Thin Lizzy). The question that I pose in this poll is what is the best type of 1960s psychedelic music. There are more sub-genres than options in the poll below, but since psychedelic music spawns genres within genres (an Inception twist), I’d rather keep it simple. Plus, remember, we are not including sub-genres like Kraut Rock, Art Rock, and Progressive Rock, because besides a few early examples, these sub-genres burgeoned in the 1970s, uncharted territory for this post. Below are a few big sub-genres that contain most psychedelic songs. I will include an example of the genre as well. Happy Voting.

Psychedelic Folk: “Elevator Man” by Kaleidoscope

Psychedelic Garage Rock: “You’re Gonna Miss Me” by 13th Floor Elevators

Psychedelic Soul: “Everyday People” by Sly and the Family Stone

Psychedelic Pop: “Incense and Peppermints” by Strawberry Alarm Clock

Psychedelic Acid Rock: “Purple Haze” by Jimi Hendrix Experience


Tags: , , , , , ,

Pink Floyd Reunite at London 02 Arena Tonight

12 May


Tonight, David Gilmour and Nick Mason joined Roger Waters on stage at the O2 Arena in London for the second time in 30 YEARS! I called this performance earlier today. Don’t give me to much credit. After Waters broke the news during last summer that Gilmour was going to reunite with Waters on stage for a performance of “Comfortably Numb” during Waters’ current The Wall tour, and today’s news that Mason was going to be at the show tonight, the pieces were easy to put together.

According to Rolling Stone, the crowd went insane. What a lucky crowd. I would have went insane as well. My favorite band (well, what is left) on stage together for the first time in three decades. The three had such a great time on stage, Gilmour and Mason joined Waters on stage for a finale performance of “Outside the Wall” where Mason played tambourine.

“I should also remind you that tonight is most definitely a one-off,” Gilmour’s fan blog said. “David is not repeating his special guest performance at a later occasion, I’m sorry to disappoint those of you with fingers crossed and tickets for later shows.”

Will this spark later shows? Who knows. But, check this out and keep your fingers crossed. Photos

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →