Neil Young-”Hey Hey My My, Rock `n` Roll Can Never Die!”

“I was thinkin` about what a friend had said, I was hopin` it was a lie,” a line of Neil Young`s from After The Gold Rush, has always stuck with me, and kept me on my toes, as far as relations go. Neil is the best at turnin` a line, you most probably will agree. Neil was given the MusiCares Person of the Year, which is a special Grammy Award. The award goes to an artist who has excelled in philanthropy.

Young has extended a helping hand for decades with Farm Aid and the Bridge School Concerts, which raises money for kids with various impairments. Friday night at the Los Angeles Convention Center countless fellow musicians honored the 64-year-old singer-songwriter by performing 20 of his best known songs.

Let`s see…Dave Matthews did The Needle and the Damage Done, James Taylor did Heart of Gold, and Elton John did my favorite, Helpless, from the Crosby, Stills and Nash era. John Fogerty and Keith Urban sang Keep Rocking in the Free World. It`s amazing how many really great songs Neil Young has written and is still writing today.

Get out your Neil Young-Greatest Hits people! Let`s get ready for the Grammys tonight by jammin` on some Neil…”The King is gone but he`s not forgotten, this is the story of Johnny Rotten…Rock & Roll can never die!” (source-Yahoo News-Grammy weekend begins with Neil Young tribute by Sandy Cohen, AP Entertainment Writer-1/30/2010)

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Have the Grammys ever been a reflection of our times?

Well the Grammy Awards are coming up on Sunday. Big Deal! But I will still watch them anyway to see who wins. I just found this great piece by Jim DeRogatis that was just published in the Chicago Sun Times-Predicable Grammys reward star power. The Grammys have always taken a conservative (or reactionary) bent, going all the way back to their inception in 1958. Please read Jim`s piece, but he argues that the music awards were created by old stalwarts, like Frank Sinatra and Mitch Miller, to counter the surge of a new phenomenon, ROCK `N` ROLL.

Now that`s a bit of information that`s of some use to me. Hopefully, I will be able to trade out my old cable box on Saturday, for a newer box with the Digital Video Recorder feature. I`ve needed it badly for some time. Then I will be able to record the Grammys and capture Lady Gaga, who no doubt will be pulling a rabbit outta some crazy hat (literally) of hers.

Not that I`ll take the winners too seriously, but for Album of the Year I want the Dave Matthews Band to win (Big Whiskey & the Groogrux King). This year the Grammys can be reduced to three pop divas: Taylor Swift, Beyonce and Lady Gaga. Who do you love? I think it`s poppycock that only the ‘music elite’ looks down on the Grammys as passe!

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41 Years Later, Blind Faith Holds Up Fine!

It has been many years since I`ve heard my British ‘Supergroup’ album, Blind Faith. I keep hearing Steve Winwood`s song Can`t Find My Way Home at the market, so I snagged the 1969 record on itunes today. That`s Eric Clapton on electric guitar, Ginger Baker on drums, Stevie Winwood on organ and vocals and Ric Grech on bass guitar and violin.

Backing tracks were prepared in the spring of 1969, and after a tour of Scandinavia and the U.S., Blind Faith finished the record and released it in August of 1969. It`s been many years since I`ve heard it, but it sounds beautiful this morning. That`s Ric Grech on a violin solo on Sea of Joy. I would listen to the record over and over again in my bedroom (in North Dallas); you see, was sixteen years old in 1969. And 41 years later, Had to Cry Today is still my favorite song!

Do What You Like takes up nearly the entire second side, clocking in at 15:18. Lots of extended solos, like an organ solo by Stevie. If you can get your paws on this record, you will finally be able to experience what `60s classic rock really means. I want to locate a copy of the original Rolling Stone (September 6, 1969), that features three reviews of the record: written by Ed Leimbacher, Lester Bangs and John Morthland. (Wiki)

Pooch Rescued From The Icy Waters Of The Baltic Sea

“A dog had a lucky escape when a Polish boat rescued him from an ice floe that had carried him more than 100 miles up a river and out onto the icy waters of the Baltic Sea.

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Radiohead raises more than $500,000 for earthquake relief!

A spontaneous gig in Los Angeles by Radiohead for Haitian earthquake relief raised more than $500,000. The show happened Sunday night at Henry Fonda Theater and was attended by many stars. Justin Timberlake, Jessica Biel, Charlize Theron and Daniel Craig were spotted in the crowd.

Radiohead played for more than two hours and showcased their new song, Lotus Flower. Radiohead`s last long playing record was from 2007, In Rainbows. I`m a big fan, but have never seen them live. I do, however, have all of their records. The exact figure of money reported, that will go for earthquake relief is $572,754. (sources-RTT News and MSN Music)

As you download the Hope for Haiti Now soundtrack on itunes, be sure to read my piece, Seven Beautiful Songs from ‘Hope for Haiti Now.’

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Simon and Garfunkel`s “Bridge Over Troubled Water”

When Stevie Wonder sang  Bridge Over Troubled Water Friday night for the Hope for Haiti Now telethon, a light came on, beautiful tune! It was written by Paul Simon in the summer months of 1969. Art Garfunkel was off filming Catch 22 with Mike Nichols. Paul conceived of it as more of a piano song and developed the lyric from a Claude Jeter line, “I`ll be your bridge over deep water if you trust in me.” (Wiki)

The line comes from a 1958 Swan Silvertones` (Claude Jeter`s band) song Oh Mary Don`t You Weep. I`m familiar with that one and use to perform it with a folk unit I was in during my high school days. Anyway, the Bridge lyrics are about how a friend can help another friend out during some hard times, or in this case, the metaphor of a bridge expresses the notion of leading a friend to safety.

The song may very well be a discourse on Paul and Arty`s friendship? Can`t say for sure. I do know that the dynamic duo parted company after the Bridge Over Troubled Water album. That breakup traumatized me when I was young man. Marvelous song…no doubt about it. Big production, with an orchestra chiming in on the last verse.

It got two Grammy awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year in 1971. One of the best for all time-for personal and sentimental reasons. Our country was hurting bad at that time. “When darkness comes, and pain is all around,” you see? Paul and Arty could save us. Glad to see the two back together occasionally! *(P.S. I got a feeling that I will listening to Simon & Garfunkel into my antiquarian years!) Don`t laugh, I`m crying now…

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