Rock N Roll Road Stories #402

From Mott to All American Alien Boy and beyond

Ian Hunter still growing strong at 75

Being a true rock n roll fan is serious business for some of us. Long ago I decided to dedicate my life to working with musicians and taking it as far as it could go. One of the perks has always been being able to meet the people who make the music. In that respect, I have been quite fortunate to meet many big rock stars.

Perhaps the most memorable meeting was the day in 2007 when I met one of my all-time favorite songwriters, Ian Hunter, who was the singer of Mott The Hoople and since has had an incredible solo career.  

A band I was managing, The Charms, were opening a bunch of west coast dates for Hunter and The Zombies. The third date of tour was in Los Angeles at The Wiltern Theatre and naturally I was excited to see the show. I arrived early for sound check as I usually do and after catching up with the band, I went into the theatre and sat down as Hunter and his band were setting up. It would be great to check out their sound check in an empty theatre so I found a seat right smack in the middle.

Having missed the first two dates, I had asked The Charms if Ian was playing “Irene Wilde” on this tour and they told me he wasn’t which I thought was a shame. It was my favorite song, one that I worshipped from the first time I heard it in 1976 on the “All American Alien Boy” album, Hunter’s second solo record and perhaps one of the best and most underrated records in his storied career. An interesting side bar here is that along with several other great musicians, the legendary and now departed Jaco Pastorius played Bass on the “All American Alien Boy” record, one of the few rock records the jazz legend played on.

In 1990 when Hunter toured with Mick Ronson as the Hunter-Ronson band, I saw them in LA and they played “Irene Wilde” which to me was one of the highlights of the show.

So here I sat alone anxiously waiting for the band to play a song after getting the sound set and low behold, they go into “Irene Wilde.” It was magical, I was alone in the theatre and I was hearing one of my favorite songs live.  It was a great experience that I will never forget. In fact when I met Ian after the show I told him about this great experience and he laughed and said he must have ESP, it was pretty funny. I didn’t know what to say and before you knew we had a great conversation about another band I love, whom his band Mott The Hoople took on their first American tour in the early seventies, Queen.  These are the kind of moments you worship when you love the music and to be able to sit around and talk music with Ian Hunter was truly an unforgettable experience.

Hunter turned 75 years old in early June but by no means his considering retirement any time soon. He and his band have tour dates booked both in America and Europe from July to October this year and will probably keep playing until he can’t play any more and that’s ok with me.

Until next time keep the rock n roll alive!

(This Rock N Roll Road Stories column is dedicated to former Webster resident David Thayer, who passed away on June 1. R.I.P. my friend)

*Note - This column was published in print in The Yankee Shopper on July 1, 2014

Rock N Roll Road Stories #401

Journey 

June 1, 2014 - Greetings rock fans! The seventies were a unique decade musically. Even though it will never get the same notoriety as the sixties, which was arguably a period that defined rock n roll music and took it to the masses like never before, you still can’t dismiss the plethora of outstanding talent which emerged in all genres.

Yes the sixties had English bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, and Cream, but the seventies also played heavily in what we look at today as Classic rock with bands like Led Zeppelin, Queen, and Black Sabbath rising above. The decade also saw the emergence of more American rock bands than ever before.

It’s interesting to try and pick out the American bands that symbolized what the decade meant not for music fans and radio but for historical purposes as well. Four bands come to mind that not only dominated album oriented rock radio in many ways but were also successful touring bands that made a living entertaining thousands and thousands of music fans.

Ironic as it sounds, these bands have also had to endure the wrath of critics and have been attacked as much as they have been praised. Ladies and gentlemen, the seventies bands that you love and hate at the same time; Styx, Foreigner, Kansas, and Journey.

These bands may not all the sound the same but they have a lot in common.  Most of the members of these bands were born in America, they all put out their debut albums and the bulk of their biggest records in the seventies, and they are all have had to endure a great deal of criticism despite having huge loyal fan bases. Whether it’s just or not everybody agrees that these bands deserve the same recognition as some of their peers from this era.

Not surprisingly, none of these bands are in the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame and honestly, none of them probably ever will be, except for maybe Journey, but that is still along shot. Despite all of this backlash, these four bands have so many hit songs that it would take another entire column to list them all and once again let me reiterate it doesn’t matter whether you like them or not, they were very successful.

Here is quick synopsis of each of the forgotten four’s accomplishments.

Journey was formed in 1973 in San Francisco by former Santana group members Neal Schon and Greg Rolie and released their first five records in the seventies. The have had many hit songs. Our favorite album would be 1978’s “Infinity” and as far as songs go “Lights”, “Any Way” and of course “Don’t Stop Believing”(cheese).

Chicago’s Styx released nine albums from 1972-1977 including 1977’s “The Grand Illusion” which produced several big radio songs. Among them arguably their most famous song “Come Sail Away.”

Foreigner may only be 50% American but they made their mark on American radio and by touring the states relentlessly. Their first three albums that were pretty close to being their best three albums were released from 1977-79.  From “Cold As Ice” to “Jukebox Hero”, they were a big time radio band.

Kansas, who hailed from Topeka, and named their band after their home state, released their first six albums in the seventies and also toured non-stop for years. They brought it heavy with “Carry On My Wayward Son” and slowed it down with their number one hit “Dust In The Wind.”

Whether you love them or hate them, these bands symbolize American rock radio from the seventies as well as anyone and are synonymous with the decade and still continue to tour bringing joy to their many fans.

Until next time, keep on rocking! 

(Previously published in The Yankee Shopper Magazine)

Rock N Roll Road Stories #400

May 1, 2014 - Greetings Rock fans! Its good to be back in the rock n roll road stories saddle again!

By now you have probably heard all about the interesting goings on at the 2014 Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony.  There were obviously many highlights as the hall inducted KISS, Nirvana, Cat Stevens, Hall And Oates, Linda Ronstadt, and Peter Gabriel. 

Many Kiss fans were overjoyed about the bands selection after years of being ignored and even though this writer is not the biggest KISS fan, it only seems fitting that they were finally honored. This still doesn’t make as much sense as inducting Deep Purple would have made. Seriously, KISS is a nice novelty based band that wrote some very good songs over the years, but they are not in the same league as Deep Purple.

There will always be critics questioning the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame’s criteria until they finally get it right and give Deep Purple its day, but for now lets acknowledge this years selections.

Of this selections, the one act that would have to be at the top of the list as most worthy would have to be Nirvana. As one of the king pins of the Seattle grunge scene along with Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice N Chains, its only fitting that were inducted the first time they were nominated. For drummer Dave Grohl, whose current band The Foo Fighters, has garnered a huge amount of commercial success, this is only trip one to the hall. He is sure to get a second nod a few years down the road.

Nirvana performed with several different singers sitting in for the departed Kurt Cobain, including Joan Jett, who lead the band through their mega-hit “Smells Like Teen Spirit”.

Cat Stevens, as odd as he has become over the years, was also a very deserving choice. His impressive body of work that includes classics such as “Wild World”, “Father And Son”, “Morning Has Broken” and “Oh Very Young”, and “Moon shadow” made him an obvious choice.

Whether you love Hall And Oates or not, they belong in the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame. They have a huge catalog loaded with hit singles and are still at it and they always paid homage to their roots. It’s hard not to forget their collaboration with David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks in 1985 when they recorded “Live At The Apollo”.  It was an outstanding tribute to the two former Temptations legends.

Peter Gabriel joined a small group of artists that was inducted for a second time (first time around as part of the band Genesis) into the Hall. He changed his style and found a niche that saw him cover genres from pop to world music. 

If you can live through making twenty-seven studio albums, you really do deserve to be recognized by the Hall Of Fame. It took a while but at 67 years old, the great Linda Ronstadt was finally inducted.

The Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame hasn’t always gotten it right but they came through this year and should be applauded for it and as one of its staunchest critics, we are doing just that.

Until next time keep the rock n roll alive!

(Previously published in the Yankee Shopper Magazine)

A tale of two staircases

Staircase #1
It was a pretty ordinary late afternoon. I had been hanging out at the Curve Of The Earth office listening to music with some cool people and when I left I decided to stop at the Whole Foods on River Street, like I often did, before getting on the highway.

For some reason, I am not a big escalator fan so I usually take the stairs like I did this time. I was about half way up where there is a flat surface before you take the second set of stairs. As I was looking up, I saw a girl probably in her twenties coming down the stairs. She was wearing a New York Dolls tee shirt and had sunglasses on. She looked pretty cool.  

Suddenly with little warning, she lost her footing and started to fall down the stairs and was heading right towards me. I didn’t have much think to think but I reached out and she fell right into my arms. Our faces were practically touching when I asked her if she was all right. She looked stunned and shocked at the same time.

A guy was near the bottom of the stairs on his way up and said “nice catch” and that’s when I realized this could have been a pretty horrible situation.  She was quite thankful and I was kind of falling in love with the idea of having this beautiful young woman thanking me and looking in my eyes. Soon she continued on her way and looked back in appreciation and smiled.

It’s hard to explain but the event gave me an amazing feeling of happiness, one that stayed with me for at least two days and put me in a really good mood.

Staircase #2

It was a beautiful November morning, unseasonably warm for Boston especially down near the Aquarium where it’s usually a little windier and chillier. I was in a fantastic mood for no specific reason, it just felt good to be out in the fresh air.

I had just driven an hour on a Sunday morning to talk to tourists about buying trolley tickets. It was one of the three jobs I was trying to hold down to pay my overdue bills. I actually liked this job. It was fun to be in the great city of Boston, which usually made me happy.

Rarely do I ever go on a trolley other than to get picked up at the office where we would meet every morning and to get dropped off at a specific location like Faneuil Hall. Today I was working down at the Aquarium where a trolley is usually always parked.

We needed maps to give out  to people and there was a box of them on the Trolley so I went up the four or five steps to get a box and as I was coming down the stairs, I am not sure how but I lost my footing. For a split second, I felt airborne and wasn’t sure where I was going to land and then..THUD…I hit the stairs on my back and my head and slid down to the sidewalk.  The pain in my back was like no other pain than I had ever felt and I could barely breathe.  One of my fellow employees Shawn was on the Trolley at the time and immediately came down and put his hand behind my head and told me to breathe. I was trying but it seemed like no air was coming in. I heard voices asking, “What happened?” “Is he alright?” “Is he having a heart attack?”  This was the beginning of a long 15-minute wait for an ambulance to arrive.

When the ambulance did arrive, they were asking me questions but I could barely answer them because it was hard to talk. I tried to but nothing would come out. The pain was so intense in my back that I barely could feel the huge lump on the back of my head. When the ambulance people asked me to straighten my legs, it was so hard to do, but they told me I had to. The next few minutes were worst that the previous fifteen. It seemed to take forever but I was on a stretcher and in the ambulance. Every bump in the road hurt as the siren rang and we headed towards a hospital which moments later I realized was Mass General.

I was soon in the emergency room with an IV in my arm and all I remember after that was closing my eyes and seeing nothing but green. It was so surreal and suddenly I didn’t feel anything and was able to talk so I asked the nurse why I was seeing green and she said, “You are on morphine young man”. It was so great to be relieved from that pain but before long it was back.

They took me to get X-Rays, which created more discomfort and pain but soon there was more Morphine and I was seeing, green again. I heard one of the nurses say that my ribs were broken so I asked her and she said that I had three broken ribs and I was probably going to be admitted, which I was.

I spent the next two days at Mass General getting the best treatment around and it seemed like everything was getting better so I was released. Unfortunately the next week at home trying to take care of myself was brutal but I survived.

There you have it, two tales on a staircase, so different, so real. 

by Steev Riccardo