There was a time when the great arena acts were not thought of as “classic  rock” bands. Forty years after the rock and roll animals first roamed the planet, Aerosmith and Styx were working rock and roll bands creating new music and touring behind new album releases. The first time that I saw Aerosmith at the Nassau Coliseum the band was riding high (no pun intended). We were standing on our folding chairs when Strphen Tyler, Joe Perry and the boys hit the stage with the great “Arrosmith Rocks” cut “Back in the Saddle”. About mid song during a Joe Perry guitar solo someone turned the sound up to ELEVEN and it got LOUD. Out hard rock Herod blew the roof off and amazingly still kick ass to this day. According to Tonnie “The Limo Driver” Mund who attended, Stephen Tyler just played a NASCAR driver’s wedding and Aerosmith may embark on a final farewell tour in the near future.

On a sad note, drummer Butch Trucks of Allman Brothers Band fame committed suicide on the same day Mary Tyler Moore passed. After the Allman Brothers Band called it a day, Mr. Trucks, uncle to Derek Trucks, kept himself busy with various projects and I last saw him with the Allman inspired Les Bres.

RIP Butch Trucks

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GQ

Radio City Music Hall, home of the world famous Rockettes, hosted a nice double bill of bands mostly known for their guitarists in Robin Trower and Derringer led by Edgar Winter protégée Rick Derringer most famous for the classic song”Rock & Roll Hoochie Koo”.

Robin Trower, the excellent guitarist from Procal Harum, had his greatest solo success with the ” Bridge of Sighs” and “Live” albums then later joined Jack Bruce of Cream fame for the “B.L. T.” album that had, yes, a photo of a delicious looking B. L. T. sandwich  on the album cover belying the outstanding tracks contained within.

Rick Derringer released several albums with his band Derringer but except for a small hardcore audience made little headway with the masses.

I do not have any specific memory of this particular concert from almost thirty years ago but there will be many more to come.in the road to 600 plus rock and roll shows.

Too Rolling Stoned

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GQ

I pent my vacation on the beach in Aruba reading Robbie Robertson’s excellent memoir “Testimony”. I’ve been a fan of The Band forever but there is so much insight regarding Robbie Robertson and his life that includes his teenage journey learning how to be a working musician, in search of his folk and blues idols, the complicated relationship with Bob Dylan, particularly playing on the controversial Dylan “electric” tour, and ultimately describing the formation and dynamic of The Band, Woodstock, the legendary Basement Tspes sessions recorded at the house dubbed “Big Pink” and The Last Waltz. 

Robbie Robertson may be the Zelig of rock and roll as his travels are intertwined with so many incredible recording artists it’s almost too much to believe. One of many interesting anecdotes is when Robbie and his wife vacationed in France with David Geffen and Joni Mitchell where she wrote “Free Man in Paris” about then boyfriend Geffen. Robbie Robertson did as much by the time he was 22 years old then most accomplish in a lifetime. If you add the backdrop of the 1960’s and the landscape of where the country was at the time and the drug experimentation in the name of artistic expression that unfortunately occasionally led to addiction or death, this book is a captivating read. This autobiography that is almost 500 pages left you wanting more and begs for a volume 2. 

On the heals of Robertson’s book whetting my appetite for all things Band, I pulled out the remastered Academy of Music live double CD and have immersed myself in it for days. This album is just an incredible showcase of The Band at the top of their game and the remastered version of what was the Rock of Ages album is pristine. The Band were truly an original American act and their incredible musicical legacy stands up to this day.

It Makes No Difference 

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GQ

One of the great New York musical experiences you could ever have was the Dr. Pepper Concert series at Wollman Rink in Central Park. The Dr. Pepper Concert series was a great outdoor venue during the summer where you could see many of the greatest acts to come out of the 1970’s with tickets going for $4.50 and $2.50. If you did not care to spend the money or could not get a ticket, you could hang out on the rocks just beyond the exterior fence and listen to the music and party with your friends for free. If I remember correctly I believe we spent the Heart concert that night in 1977 on the rocks and they played Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll” as an encore which was obviously a crowd pleaser.

Heart’s “Dreamboat Annie” album received plenty of radio airplay, particularly once “Magic Man” broke big,  making the Wilson sisters  rock and roll stars seemingly overnight.

Kick It Out

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GQ

The iconic Yes line up of Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Alan White and the returning Rick Wakeman toured behind the “Going for the One” album with Donovan opening and the fans could not be more pumped up to see the progressive rock kings in their prime. This was my first of what would be many Yes concerts seeing my favorite band at the time and the stage’s “Going for the One” cover backdrop added to the anticipition as the album was an instant all time classic. The return of legendary Rick Wakeman to the fold also added to the buzz in the Madison Square Garden crowd. Yes, this would be the first of many Yes concerts I would attend but the only show where we would see the band in a classic concert end stage setting as Yes would tour “in the round” for several years to come. 

The members of Yes are some of the greatest pure musicians on the planet and with the ethereal Jon Anderson providing the lead spiritually and lyrically, Yes was the greatest progressive rock band, for my money, in the history of rock and roll.

This April, Yes will finally join Donovan in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame- a long overdue honor primarily because the HOF committee would seem to have a bias against progressive rock music. Unfortunately co-founder Chris Squier did not live long enough to to be acknowledged in this forum; Greg Lake and Keith Emerson will also be honored posthumously some day. It appears that this committee goes out of its way to create a mix of styles so as to draw the biggest television audience for the HBO production sometimes overlooking “worthy” candidates for potential ratings and media chatter. 

I recently saw Anderson, Rabin and Wakeman at the Paramount in Huntington. They are currently on a lengthy tour and are in top form. 

I struggle with the current Yes lineup that includes Alan White and Steve Howe and have not gone out of my way to see them the past few times they have passed through town.

Jon Anderson has said he could see the band reunite at Barclays Center in Brooklyn for the Hall of Fame ceremony which would be nice to see after the apparent ongoing bad blood between various members through the years.

Close to the Edge

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GQ

The first Bad Company album in 1974 was also the first album released on Led Zeppelin’s Swan Song label and it was a big hit.

The single “Can’t Get Enough” was all over the radio and the band had a soulful hard rock groove led by the incredible vocals of Paul Rodgers and the riffs of Mick Ralphs. The four piece band was rounded out with Boz Burrell on bass and Simon Kirke on drums. They followed the initial  “Bad Co.” effort with the “Straight Shooter”, “Run With the Pack”and “Burnin’ Sky” albums and they were immensely popular.

We sat straight back a little to the right of the Madison Square Garden stage for opener Climax Blues Band who, like headliner Bad Co., also got their share of radio airplay. At some point during the festivities we noticed that up to the left of us a seat was on fire and there were flames visible from a distance. No one was particularly disturbed at the sight of the small inferno inside the famed arena and as I recall the show went on uninterrupted.

No Smoke Without Fire

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GQ

Cosby , Stills and Nash have been one of my favorite acts for as long as I can remember. The threesome’s story is timeless and legendary. They have created and played music together, and with Neil Young, in a variety of incarnations for decades. The band with a social conscience can play acoustically harkening back to their folk roots or play electric with the great Stephen Stills formerly of the Buffalo Springfield and Manassas on the lead guitar. Each band member is prolific in his own right but this is a true case of the sum bring greater than the parts. 

I have no specific recollection of this particular CSN concert but there was one show at Madison Square Garden when we were heading in to see the band on the 7 subway line when the train stopped moving for an extended period of time putting our arrival for start of the show in jeapordy. As it turned out someone had leapt in front of a train ahead of us causing the delay. Eventually we started moving again and made it to the show but even the best laid plans in New York City can be sidetracked by unforeseen circumstances. 

David Ctosby played Town Hall this past December promoting a new “album” and Graham Nash will play City Winery with Shawn Colvin during her winter stint where she will also play with Richard Thompson and Patty Griffin.

Stephen Stills had been working his blues project with The Rides but has not been heard of other than a charity gig he played with a Neil Young appearance. Of the three, Strphen appears not to be as fit as Nash or even Crosby with his numerous documented health scares. 

As with many of the rock legends of the 1960’s and 1970’s our heroes are now in their 70’s and their music can now be heard on the FM oldies station replacing our parents’ Frank Sinatra and Mel Torme music. 

Just a Song Before I Go

Teach Your Children

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GQ

At first blush, Lynyrd Skynyrd co-headlining with Ted Nugent would seem to be an odd match but the two acts together could do what neither could do alone at the time- sell out arenas, and both artists were breaking big in 1977.

Ted Nugent first achieved success with the Amboy Dukes with “Journey to the Center of the Mind” but with “Stranglehold” and the great “Free for All” album he was now wildly popular with our hard rock neighborhood community. 

Lynyrd Skynyrd was more successfully the time  but broke out big nationwide with the double live album “One More From the Road”. 

“Sweet Home Alabama”, the band’s response to Neil Young’s “Alabama” on his mega-hit “Harvest” album, was a huge radio hit and”Freebird” was one of the great dual guitar rock anthems of all time.

Although Nassau County was right next door to Queens, it may have been a thousand miles away. Once you crossed the county line for us it seemed that you had entered a different world but irregardless we endeavored to travel to Nassau Coliseum to see the solid double bill.

We sat up to the left of the stage and a large white piano dominated the scene during Lynyrd Skynyrd’s set.

It would be the only time I would see the original line up with the great Ronnie Van Zant leading the southern rock legends.

Sometime later on, Lynyrd Skynyrd was supposed to headline Madison Square Garden with Ted Nugent but tragically Skynyrd’s plane crashed killing members of the band, including Ronnie, and Ted Nugent played the MSG show himself headlining The World’s Most Famous Arena” and propelling his career to greater heights.

On a side note, during a separate expedition driving through the side streets of Nassau County one night coming from who knows where, long before GPS was even dreamed of, we found ourselves lost somewhere in Valley Stream. While trying to get our bearings and figure out how to get back home to Queens, I looked up to see white sign with black lettering on a silver pole. Nugent Street! We stopped the car, I stood on the hood and unscrewed the top of the sign just as a resident began yelling at us from up the block. We scrambled back into the car with street sign in tow and raced away with our prize. I still have the Nugent St. sigb in my attic to this day- a testament to and reminder of our Long Island adventure.

Just What the Doctor Ordered

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GQ