Thursday, November 5, 2009
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Eric Clapton: From the Cradle to the Crossroads by Greg Bahr
Few guitarists, if any, have been as influential as Eric Clapton. He started by learning the riffs of blues masters Freddie King, B.B. King, Albert King, Buddy Guy, and Robert Johnson, among others. Combining this encyclopedia of blues licks with his own original phrases, he developed a style which has become the template for blues/rock guitar playing.
Eric first became known in 1963, as the lead guitarist for the Yardbirds, a virtual university of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitar players, whose graduates also include Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck. The solos on early singles "I Wish You Would" and "Good Morning Little School Girl" provided a glimpse of the stem cells from which Clapton's body of work would emerge. The voices of this stylistic DNA were the Fender Telecaster, Fender Jazzmaster, and Gibson ES-335 guitars, played through Vox AC-30 amplifiers. In 1964 Yardbirds manager Giorgio Gomelsky gave Clapton the nickname "Slowhand". The legend is that when Eric broke a string onstage, the audience would engage in a "slow handclap" until Clapton had finished changing it.
In 1965, following the release of the hit single "For Your Love", Clapton left the Yardbirds because of artistic differences. Instead of the pop stardom the rest of the Yardbirds desired, Clapton wanted to play music that was true to his blues roots. He joined forces with John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, whose alumni also include original Fleetwood Mac guitarist Peter Green and Rolling Stones' guitarist Mick Taylor. Mayall and Clapton recorded "Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton", nicknamed "The Beano Album", because Clapton was pictured reading a Beano comic book on the cover. Highlights included a smoking version of "Hideaway", Freddie King's instrumental classic, and Robert Johnson's "Ramblin' on my Mind", which is Clapton's first recorded vocal performance. With the Bluesbreakers, Clapton combined Gibson Les Pauls and Marshall amplifiers to produce a guitar sound noted for high volume, feedback, and sustain. Eric's reputation grew to the point that fans began to write "Clapton is God" on the walls of buildings around London as a tribute to his guitar playing prowess.
After a year in the Bluesbreakers, Clapton decided to further expand his musical horizons by forming his first "supergroup" with bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker in 1966. They chose the name "Cream" because they were considered "the cream of the crop" of British blues musicians. Their debut album, "Fresh Cream", was followed by the classic "Disraeli Gears". Clapton and Bruce shared singing and songwriting duties, and in the hit single "Sunshine of Your Love", they traded vocal lines. The tune was their tribute to Jimi Hendrix, and included a spectacular solo by Clapton that quoted the 50's song "Blue Moon" in the opening phrase. The ingredients for Clapton's Cream recipe were the Gibson Les Paul, SG, ES-335, and Firebird, plugged into two 100-watt Marshall stacks. Eric was one of the first guitar players to popularize the Vox Wah Wah pedal, which was heard on "Tales of Brave Ulysses", from "Disraeli Gears", and "White Room", from the studio disc of the two-record set, "Wheels of Fire". The live disc of "Wheels of Fire" contained a reworking of Robert Johnson's "Crossroads", in which Clapton took the colors of a Mississippi delta blues Rembrandt and painted a psychedelic rock guitar Picasso. "Badge", from "Goodbye Cream", featured the use of a Leslie rotating speaker to create a phasing effect during the bridge section of the song. The DVD "Cream's Farewell Concert" offers a taste of Cream's live perfomances, which were flavored with extended jams cooked up by the three instrumental virtuosos.
During his time with Cream, Clapton jammed with several other British rock bands, including the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. As a guest in the studio, he contributed the solo to George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", from the Beatles' "White Album". The DVD "The Rolling Stones' Rock and Roll Circus" contains Clapton's performance with "The Dirty Mac", a group lead by John Lennon, which included Jimi Hendrix Experience drummer Mitch Mitchell and Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards on bass.
After Cream's breakup, Clapton formed Blind Faith, a congregation which included singer/ songwriter/ keyboardist Steve Winwood, bassist Ric Grech, and former Cream drummer Ginger Baker. The highlights of Blind Faith's self-titled album were the hit single "Can't Find My Way Home", and "Do What You Like", in which Baker contributed a devastating drum solo. Clapton's instruments of "Faith" were a Gibson ES-335, a Gibson Firebird, and a Fender Telecaster with a Stratocaster neck, played through a Fender Dual Showman or Marshall amp. The DVD "London Hyde Park 1969" documents the band's debut concert.
While touring with Blind Faith, Clapton became friends with the opening act, Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett. He recruited their backup musicians, keyboardist Bobby Whitlock, bassist Carl Radle, and drummer Jim Gordon, to form his next band, Derek and the Dominos. With Allman Brothers guitarist Duane Allman sitting in on slide guitar, the Dominos recorded "Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs". The two record set featured extended guitar workouts on "Keep on Growing", "Tell the Truth", "Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?", the blues standard "Key to the Highway", Jimi Hendrix' "Little Wing", and "Layla", on which Clapton and Allman overdubbed interweaving slide parts onto an extended coda written by drummer Gordon. Eric's main guitar at this time had become the Fender Stratocaster. His amplifiers of choice were a Fender Champ in the studio, and either a Fender Showman or a Marshall onstage.
Clapton's solo career bagan in 1970 with "Eric Clapton", mainly written by Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett, with the Dominos providing the musical backing. "461 Ocean Boulevard" followed, featuring Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff", which was Eric's first foray into reggae. Other highlights of his solo career were "Slowhand", which included a cover of J.J. Cale's "Cocaine", "From the Cradle", an album of blues standards, "Unplugged", a Grammy winning acoustic album, "Riding with the King", recorded with B.B. King, and "Me and Mr. Johnson", a tribute to Robert Johnson. Clapton's main axe during his solo years was a hybrid Stratocaster nicknamed "Blackie", which was put together from the parts of three different 1950s Strats. In 2004 "Blackie" was auctioned for $959,500, with the proceeds going to Clapton's "Crossroads Centre, Antigua", a charity he formed to help victims of alcoholism and substance abuse. The DVDs "Crossroads Guitar Festival" and "Crossroads Guitar Festival 2007" chronicle concerts in which Eric was joined by guitar players Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Hubert Sumlin, J.J. Cale, John McLaughlin, Steve Vai, Joe Walsh, Carlos Santana, Johnny Winter, Albert Lee, Jeff Beck, Robbie Robertson, Robert Cray, and Jimmie Vaughan, among others.
With his impressive resume of musical accomplishments, beginning in the 1960s and continuing to the present day, Eric Clapton's incredibly wide ranging influence reverberates throughout the guitar playing community.
About The Author
I've been playing guitar for thirty years. I've recently begun writing articles about the guitar and related topics. To read more visit my blog at http://guitarmojo.blogspot.com
Eric first became known in 1963, as the lead guitarist for the Yardbirds, a virtual university of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitar players, whose graduates also include Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck. The solos on early singles "I Wish You Would" and "Good Morning Little School Girl" provided a glimpse of the stem cells from which Clapton's body of work would emerge. The voices of this stylistic DNA were the Fender Telecaster, Fender Jazzmaster, and Gibson ES-335 guitars, played through Vox AC-30 amplifiers. In 1964 Yardbirds manager Giorgio Gomelsky gave Clapton the nickname "Slowhand". The legend is that when Eric broke a string onstage, the audience would engage in a "slow handclap" until Clapton had finished changing it.
In 1965, following the release of the hit single "For Your Love", Clapton left the Yardbirds because of artistic differences. Instead of the pop stardom the rest of the Yardbirds desired, Clapton wanted to play music that was true to his blues roots. He joined forces with John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, whose alumni also include original Fleetwood Mac guitarist Peter Green and Rolling Stones' guitarist Mick Taylor. Mayall and Clapton recorded "Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton", nicknamed "The Beano Album", because Clapton was pictured reading a Beano comic book on the cover. Highlights included a smoking version of "Hideaway", Freddie King's instrumental classic, and Robert Johnson's "Ramblin' on my Mind", which is Clapton's first recorded vocal performance. With the Bluesbreakers, Clapton combined Gibson Les Pauls and Marshall amplifiers to produce a guitar sound noted for high volume, feedback, and sustain. Eric's reputation grew to the point that fans began to write "Clapton is God" on the walls of buildings around London as a tribute to his guitar playing prowess.
After a year in the Bluesbreakers, Clapton decided to further expand his musical horizons by forming his first "supergroup" with bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker in 1966. They chose the name "Cream" because they were considered "the cream of the crop" of British blues musicians. Their debut album, "Fresh Cream", was followed by the classic "Disraeli Gears". Clapton and Bruce shared singing and songwriting duties, and in the hit single "Sunshine of Your Love", they traded vocal lines. The tune was their tribute to Jimi Hendrix, and included a spectacular solo by Clapton that quoted the 50's song "Blue Moon" in the opening phrase. The ingredients for Clapton's Cream recipe were the Gibson Les Paul, SG, ES-335, and Firebird, plugged into two 100-watt Marshall stacks. Eric was one of the first guitar players to popularize the Vox Wah Wah pedal, which was heard on "Tales of Brave Ulysses", from "Disraeli Gears", and "White Room", from the studio disc of the two-record set, "Wheels of Fire". The live disc of "Wheels of Fire" contained a reworking of Robert Johnson's "Crossroads", in which Clapton took the colors of a Mississippi delta blues Rembrandt and painted a psychedelic rock guitar Picasso. "Badge", from "Goodbye Cream", featured the use of a Leslie rotating speaker to create a phasing effect during the bridge section of the song. The DVD "Cream's Farewell Concert" offers a taste of Cream's live perfomances, which were flavored with extended jams cooked up by the three instrumental virtuosos.
During his time with Cream, Clapton jammed with several other British rock bands, including the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. As a guest in the studio, he contributed the solo to George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", from the Beatles' "White Album". The DVD "The Rolling Stones' Rock and Roll Circus" contains Clapton's performance with "The Dirty Mac", a group lead by John Lennon, which included Jimi Hendrix Experience drummer Mitch Mitchell and Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards on bass.
After Cream's breakup, Clapton formed Blind Faith, a congregation which included singer/ songwriter/ keyboardist Steve Winwood, bassist Ric Grech, and former Cream drummer Ginger Baker. The highlights of Blind Faith's self-titled album were the hit single "Can't Find My Way Home", and "Do What You Like", in which Baker contributed a devastating drum solo. Clapton's instruments of "Faith" were a Gibson ES-335, a Gibson Firebird, and a Fender Telecaster with a Stratocaster neck, played through a Fender Dual Showman or Marshall amp. The DVD "London Hyde Park 1969" documents the band's debut concert.
While touring with Blind Faith, Clapton became friends with the opening act, Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett. He recruited their backup musicians, keyboardist Bobby Whitlock, bassist Carl Radle, and drummer Jim Gordon, to form his next band, Derek and the Dominos. With Allman Brothers guitarist Duane Allman sitting in on slide guitar, the Dominos recorded "Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs". The two record set featured extended guitar workouts on "Keep on Growing", "Tell the Truth", "Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?", the blues standard "Key to the Highway", Jimi Hendrix' "Little Wing", and "Layla", on which Clapton and Allman overdubbed interweaving slide parts onto an extended coda written by drummer Gordon. Eric's main guitar at this time had become the Fender Stratocaster. His amplifiers of choice were a Fender Champ in the studio, and either a Fender Showman or a Marshall onstage.
Clapton's solo career bagan in 1970 with "Eric Clapton", mainly written by Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett, with the Dominos providing the musical backing. "461 Ocean Boulevard" followed, featuring Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff", which was Eric's first foray into reggae. Other highlights of his solo career were "Slowhand", which included a cover of J.J. Cale's "Cocaine", "From the Cradle", an album of blues standards, "Unplugged", a Grammy winning acoustic album, "Riding with the King", recorded with B.B. King, and "Me and Mr. Johnson", a tribute to Robert Johnson. Clapton's main axe during his solo years was a hybrid Stratocaster nicknamed "Blackie", which was put together from the parts of three different 1950s Strats. In 2004 "Blackie" was auctioned for $959,500, with the proceeds going to Clapton's "Crossroads Centre, Antigua", a charity he formed to help victims of alcoholism and substance abuse. The DVDs "Crossroads Guitar Festival" and "Crossroads Guitar Festival 2007" chronicle concerts in which Eric was joined by guitar players Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Hubert Sumlin, J.J. Cale, John McLaughlin, Steve Vai, Joe Walsh, Carlos Santana, Johnny Winter, Albert Lee, Jeff Beck, Robbie Robertson, Robert Cray, and Jimmie Vaughan, among others.
With his impressive resume of musical accomplishments, beginning in the 1960s and continuing to the present day, Eric Clapton's incredibly wide ranging influence reverberates throughout the guitar playing community.
About The Author
I've been playing guitar for thirty years. I've recently begun writing articles about the guitar and related topics. To read more visit my blog at http://guitarmojo.blogspot.com
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Metallica Unveils Massive North American Tour
Author: ShowTimeTickets.com
Metallica first came about in 1981, when drummer Lars Ulrich put out a newspaper wanted ad in an attempt to form a heavy metal group. By 1983, the Los Angeles band was fully formed, named and ready to release their first official album. Kill ‘Em All was released that year, to modest sales and reviews. Ride the Lightning was released the following year and although neither album succeeded commercially, by the end of 1984, the band was able to retain a substantial following in the thrash metal community.
In 1985, Metallica released Master of Puppets, an album which became their first to ever reach gold status. Master of Puppets was followed by …And Justice for All in 1998 and by Metallica three years later. The self-titled 1991 release was of particular importance, as it had become the group’s first largely mainstream album, thanks to the popularity of its hit single Enter Sandman. To date, Metallica remains the group’s most successful record, reaching a status of fifteen times platinum in the United States alone.
From their small-time heavy metal roots in Los Angeles, Metallica was now being deemed one of the biggest groups to ever grace the heavy metal genre. To date, they have sold over 100 million records worldwide, won countless awards (including seven Grammies) and were even honoured with an "Official Metallica Day" by San Fransisco mayor Willie Brown.
In celebration and promotion of their latest release, Death Magnetic, the group has now set out to once again do what they do best: perform live for diehard metal fans on the road. Metallica’s 2008 concert tour will take place in various venues throughout the United States and Canada starting in October and won’t end until January 1, 2009.
Metallica North American Tour Dates:
October 21, 2008 – Glendale, AZ – Jobing Arena
October 23, 2008 – Albuquerque, IM – Tingley Coliseum
October 25, 2008 – Kansas City, MO – Sprint Center
October 26, 2008 – Des Moines, IA – Wells Fargo Arena
November 1, 2008 – Portland, OR – Rose Quarter
November 3, 2008 – Salt Lake City, UT – Energy Solutions Arena
November 4, 2008 – Denver, CO – Pepsi Center
November 6, 2008 – Omaha, NE – Qwest Center
November 8, 2008 – Moline, IL – iWireless Center
November 9, 2008 – Columbus, OH – Schottenstein Center
November 17, 2008 – St. Louis, MO – Scottrade Center
November 18, 2008 – Tulsa, OK – BOK Center
November 20, 2008 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center
November 22, 2008 – Little Rock, AR – Alltel Arena
November 23, 2008 – New Orleons, LA – New Orleons Arena
December 1, 2008 – Seattle, WA – Key Arena
December 2, 2008 – Vancouver, BC – GM Place
December 4, 2008 – Calgary, AB – Pengrowth Saddledome
December 5, 2008 – Calgary, AB – Pengrowth Saddledome
December 7, 2008 – Edmonton, AB – Rexall Place
December 12, 2008 – Ontario, CA – Citizens Business Bank Arena
December 13, 2008 – Fresno, CA – Save Mart Center
December 15, 2008 – San Diego, CA – Cox Arena
December 17, 2008 – Los Angeles, CA – The Forum
December 18, 2008 – Los Angeles, CA – The Forum
December 20, 2008 – Oakland, CA – Oracle Arena
January 12, 2008 – Milwaukee, WI – Bradley Center
January 13, 2008 – Detroit, MI – Joe Louis Arena
January 15, 2008 – Washington, DC – Verizon Arena
January 17, 2008 – Philadelphia, PA – Wachovia Center
January 18, 2008 – Boston, MA – TD Banknorth Center
January 26, 2008 – Chicago, IL – Allstate Arena
January 27, 2008 – Chicago, IL – Allstate Arena
January 29, 2008 – Uniondale, NY – Nassau Coliseum
January 31, 2008 – Newark, NJ – Prudential Center
Feburary 1, 2009 – Newark, NJ – Prudential Center
Metallica tickets available at:
ShowTime Tickets
604-688-5000
1-800-480-SHOW(7469)
About the Author:ShowTimeTickets.com is an industry leader with exceptional service, competitive prices and an inventory of preferred seating tickets for more than 100,000 events. Our pricing reflects supply and demand in the premium ticket market as we are not directly affiliated with the box office or specific events.
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Metallica Unveils Massive North American Tour
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Syd Barret
By: Harry Rackers
In August 2006 a sixty year old, bald, stocky bachelor with a face at once stern and sensitive died of diabetes. He was living on his own in his home-town: the genteel city of Cambridge, England, world widely known for its university, which, in the UK, is rivalled only by the equally venerable one in Oxford.
His name was Syd Barret. Or was it? No. His name was Roger Keith Barret, known as Rog to the few people he bothered to see, mostly his family. Syd Barrett is the name the world will remember him by.
He was a living legend. Now he is a dead legend.
Let me outline the birth of this legend in a few words.
Do you know the magnolia?
What makes its beauty so special is not only its features, but also that it blooms very early, and very short. In those seminal years of pop/rock music, the mid sixties, Barrett's songs and music shared the same properties. As founding father and undisputed leader of a band called Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett was a pivotal figure in the emerging psychedelic scene in London, and, via his records, the rest of the world.
It was a time when the world, in the words of Keith Richards, suddenly turned from black and white into Technicolor. And Syd Barrett was a most colourful being indeed, to the ear, to the eye and to the mind in equal measures. Brought up quite liberally, with well to do parents, and a particularly doting mother, young Syd was as gifted as he was attractive, and a humorous, impish fellow at that. Experimenting with a few things almost no one had heard of in these days, like LSD -until the sixties mainly used by the CIA as sort of a truth serum drug- and the ancient Chinese Book of Changes, the I Ching, his main occupations were painting and music. Painting came first, the music and songs that would make him famous came second in those early days.
In the music industry many things had changed in the slipstream of the Beatles fame. Musicians were no longer puppets on a string of shady, cynically-minded Tin Pan Alley-types, churning out product for whoever laid the money down. There was a new playfulness and originality in the music of the Beatles and also a completely un-self-conscious integrity, mainly brought about by the fact that the Beatles wrote their own songs, and became a role model for that. It was the Kennedy era. People were in some ways starting to be encouraged by the authorities to think for themselves and not to do simply what the same authorities expected them to do, which, of course, implies a paradox with a vengeance, but, lucky for those times, it took a while for us all to realize.
Back to our story. So the Beatle phenomenon became a trailblazer for a whole gamut of gifted young bands, all into writing their own material: The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, and The Who, who does not know their names.
Barrett's Pink Floyd rose to fame a few years after the first batch of post Beatles bands. And in those heady days a few years made an enormous difference. Swinging London was already turning psychedelic and of that era Barrett was, is, and always will be one of the finest relics. It all went by so fast...
Syd Barrett was an almost devout non-believer in discipline, and had a frame of mind and body not heavy duty enough for the rough life of a rock star. Within two blasting years his behaviour had become so erratic that he could not rationally function anymore in the band that was his brainchild. Forgetting guitars everywhere, sometimes refusing to speak to anyone, standing on stage like a statue, playing just one chord. Roger Waters, Rick Wright and Nick Mason had to incorporate guitarist David Gilmour, a good friend of the whole band, and already a highly rated session player. A short while the band was a five some, David Gilmour delivering the sonic good, and Syd Barrett as a sort of far-out ornament. Then the idea was that he would be the home staying genius, with the other boys on the road a la Brian Wilson, but it al expired, Syd being so deranged that he temporarily became an inmate of the Terrapin Asylum, after which followed a few years in London, living in various trippy bohemian settings. During that time he did manage to create two albums that are still enjoyed by quite a few good ears: "The Madcap Laughs" and "Barrett's" quirky, very asymmetrical songs with strangely evocative lyrics about almost nothing/everything, after which he stopped making music altogether. He ended up where he started, in Cambridge, living with his mother, and after her death on his own, picking up painting again and writing a history of art for his own enjoyment, without the slightest idea to let others read it, let alone publicize it.
All his life he had the status of a cult hero, also because his old band, Pink Floyd, became hugely successful in the line-up with David Gilmour, and the standard bearers of, let's say, adult rock: always competent, creative, even poetic, skilfully performed on state of the art hardware, but with the elusive x-factor, which makes things creep under your skin, considerably reduced.
A short career and a long retirement.
He regained his inner balance sufficiently to live as a quiet, withdrawn, strange but not crazy citizen, sustained by the royalties of his compositions on Pink Floyd's and his own records. According to his family he could even be said to live with his very own brand of satisfaction. Syd Barrett will always be remembered as one of the most enigmatic characters in the pantheon of modern Western popular music.
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Harry Rackers writes for File Sharing the site to visit if you want to download music, movies and/or games from the Internet.
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