Jazzcat

OK you cowbell fans; here's a little trivia for you. On the album A Scratch In the Sky by the Cryan' Shames Jim (J.C. Hooke) Pilster is credited as playing both cowbell AND backwards cowbell!

It's a completely different song from ELO's Evil Woman. Crow used to make the circuit of teen clubs and school dances around the Chicago area quite a bit. I saw them perform a number of times and on one occasion helped lug their Hammond B3 organ out to the truck (OUCH). They were a pretty good band and had a hard rock image ala Steppenwolf as already noted.

"Our song" is Desafinado by Stan Getz.

Michael's "solo" was certainly memorable and we forget about the other Santana percussionists who gave that solo a distinct and unique sound for rock at the time. Michael gets the credit but I submit it was a great team effort. Other memorable solos that come to mind: Ron Bushy - In a Gadda da Vida Steve Gadd - Aja (Steely Dan) Ringo - The End Kenny Aronoff - Jack & Diane (actually a break as opposed to a full out solo) Danny Seraphine - I'm A Man (Chicago) Carl Palmer - KarnEvil 9 Lots of others. Lets hear some of yours.

No but Michael Shrieve had a cousin who played baseball with the brother of.....and...who....Kevin Bacon!

Very interesting. I always assumed it was a fictional place with a typical suburban sounding name.

Regardless of the talent of the band it was a tremendously popular show and gave work to a lot of up and coming songwriters at the time: Neil Diamond- I'm A Believer, Little Bit Me a Little Bit You Boyce & Hart - She, Valleri John Stewart - Daydream Believer Gerry Goffin/Carole King - Pleasant Valley Sunday

[Jim Keltner also played for Delaney and Bonnie as well as the smooth sounding drums on Derek and the Dominoes' "Bell Bottom Blues."

I'm a drummer too. When it comes to influential I think Ringo has to be right up there. He probably sold more Ludwig drumsets than all their other endorsers combined. Although he sometimes gets critisized as being too "basic", his drumming was solid and sometimes quite creative. Others that had huge influences are some of the guys who were in the background (studio guys) that played on big hits. Hal Blaine it's said played on more than 350 top ten records and 40 number one hits. His drumming can be heard on the early records of the Beach Boys, Mamas & Papas, Simon & Garfunkel, the Fifth Dimension to name a few. He was the "go to" guy for Phil Spector and if you want an example of an influential piece of drumming listen to the first two bars of "Be My Baby" by the Ronnettes. Then there are the great drummers of the Motown sound Uriel Jones, Benny Benjamin, and Pistol Allen who between them played on all the Detroit recorded hits of the Temptations, Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight, etc. One more I'll leave you to think about is Jim Keltner who was the beat behind tons of great artists including Dylan, John Lennon, Clapton, Jackson Browne,Joe Cocker, and many others. It amazes me that these studio guys can jump into a session and not only play something solid but also be creative and lend a great feel to songs that we all know and love. They are the unsung heroes of the music industry.

The first Santana album with the composite pictue of the lion. Whipped Cream by Herb Alpert & TJB (I think all of us teenage boys convinced our parents that it was Ok, Dad liked it too). Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles was the topic of many discussions.

Gotcha Bluesboy, I thought it was interesting to see you list some jazz style singers and just had to put in a plug for one of my favorites. Not trying to be a crusader (ok maybe a little) but I think it helps for people to listen to stuff outside their normal realm. There's so much great music that has been created since the advent of recording and a lot of folks tend to focus on a relatively narrow time frame. Guess we all do it to some extent.Just trying to bring something new/old to the table.

Vincent - Don Mclean The Boxer - Simon & Garfunkel The Dutchman - Steve Goodman The Pretender - Jackson Browne Ohio - CSNY

With the discussion about longest song running it reminded me of something I thought of a while back while listening to the radio. What song do you think has the longest introduction or maybe I should say instrumental prior to the start of the vocals. I can't think of one longer than "I Need A Lover" by John Mellencamp. Seems like that sucker goes on forever before the lyrics start. Any others?

Thanks, I'll have to check out that version.

Kevin, interesting point you bring up there. Probably pretty much on track too. Crosby had been part of a trio called "The Rhythm Boys" in Paul Whiteman's orchestra and clearly the most popular voice. When teamed up with Louis and his popularity I'm sure that opened a lot of doors. Considering Louis usually operated small ensembles it's not a really big stretch to see the connection you suggest with rock & roll.

Is that a version of "Work Song" the Nat Adderly composition?

Wow, I would have never thought of that version. For fun here's a little info about Stardust. It was originally written by Hoagy Carmichael in 1927 (6 years before Willie was born!) but performed as an uptempo number. He later re-wrote the song as a ballad and added lyrics by Mitchell Parish. The first recording of it was in 1929 by Isham Jones and his orchestra. By 1933 there were already over two dozen cover versions of the song. It has been one of the most recorded songs in popular music. Nat King Cole had a very popular recording of it but performers as diverse as the aforementioned Willie Nelson and Ringo Starr have had a go at it. Hoagy said he based the melody on improvisations that his friend and legendary cornetist Bix Beiderbecke played and at one time I believe he referred to the song as "Bix Licks". Hoagy was a tremendously popular song writer and had a great songwriting career and even made a few movie appearances.

Gene Clark- This Byrd Has Flown Steely Dan- A Decade of Hits Grateful Dead- Skeletons from the Closet Django Reinhardt- Djangology Bix Beiderbecke- The Chicago Cornets Beatles- Please Please Me

Stardust by Hoagy Carmichael

Post was in fun. Should I worry?

Maybe more CD's than L.P. records but we had boxes upon boxes of 45 singles. Bought those at about a buck a piece and frequently broke the old piggy bank. In my neighborhood it was a tradition to stop at the record store at least once a week to pick up the hot stuff the radio stations were hyping. Record stores also had listening booths where you could go in and play the record to see if you liked it. Sort of like the "listening stations" at the stores today. Buying an L.P. was reserved for artists that you REALLY liked. Seems like prices were about four to five dollars and that was a pretty good chunk of dough (a full tank of gas in Dad's Dodge and a pack of smokes).

Both excellent but how can a guy named Bluesboy not include the great Joe Williams? Other jazz oriented guys Mel Torme, Chet Baker, Tony Bennett, Lou Rawls, and the most unmistakeable voice in pop music history Louis Armstrong.

Graham Nash Denny Doherty Gary Puckett (great voice cheezy songs) Tom "Toad" Doody (from the Cryan' Shames with no apology for my Chicago roots showing)