When I saw the great blues man Johnny Winter perform at My Father’s Place in Roslyn, he stepped on stage with long white hair and aided by a cane. If memory serves me regarding this particular Central Park concert we may have hung out on the rocks and listened to the show from beyond the fences. For anyone who attended these shows as regularly as my friends and I did after discovering this magical venue, the party on the rocks overlooking the Wollman Rink is where we got our education, our initiation into the world and culture of rock and roll.

Johnny B. Goode

Rock on!

GQ

My buddy Sandy asked me for my “top  ten” albums and I dismissed it at first. So many lists have been compiled through the decades and so much great music created that narrowing any greatest hits list to ten is near impossible but I’m about to try.

First some ground rules- single albums only and no live albums. Frampton Comes Alive, One More from the Road, Live From Fillmore East, The River, Physical Graffiti, Yessongs, Sandinista, The Last Waltz, Derek and the Dominos. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, and Exile From Main Street will have to wait.

Second- no greatest hits collections- too many and too easy. Some of my favorite artists have numerous classic songs but not the one great all time studio album.

Third- only one album per artist- it would be tough to narrow down my top ten Neil Young albums so giving Neil and the rest only one slot apiece seems to be the only way to go.

The Top Ten albums of all time (today) in no particular order (maybe) are the following:

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The Beatles-

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

Sgt. Pepper is easily the greatest Beatles albums of all time and one of the most important in the history of rock and roll.

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Rolling Stones- Sticky Fingers

I still remember having this and “Goats Head Soup” (which I had to special order from a local record store) on eight track tape.

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Neil Young- Tonight’s the Night

“Rust Never Sleeps”

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Lou Reed- The Blue Mask

“New York” and the great Velvet Underground catalog notwithstanding , “The Blue Mask” found Lou at yet another peak of his creative powers and this album captured my attention for a long, long period of time.

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Guns N Roses- Appetite for Destruction

What! No Led Zeppelin ? My favorite Led Zep album is the double disc “Physical Graffiti”.

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Pink Floyd- Wish You Were Here

Before “The Wall” and after “Animals” Pink Floyd captivated my neighborhood with “Wish You Were Here” which also took album packaging to whole new mysterious level.

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Bruce Springsteen- Born to Run

My favorite Bruce Springsteen album is “The River” but “Thunder Road” may be the greatest rock and roll song of all time, and the album was the game changer for Springsteen, so Born to Run makes the list.

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Jethro Tull- Aqualung

Some may quarrel with this choice but when I was a high school freshman, my favorite band was Jethro Tull and my buddy Bobby’s older sister in high school put her headphones on me to check out the title song making quite a sonic impression.

The first album I bought on my own was “Warchild” and I was tempted to go with “Thick as a Brick” or “Songs from the Wood” as one of my top ten selections but the album “Aqualung” has been a classic rock staple for so long it seems to have been overlooked of late as one of the great albums in the history of rock and roll.

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Aerosmith- Rocks

“Toys In the Attic” is great hard rock album but this one is just a notch better in my estimation.

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David Bowie- Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)

I love all of the different phases of David Bowie’s career but this Brian Eno collaboration edges out “Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” for me.

Feel free to discuss amongst yourselves.

Rock on!

GQ

i’m not a jazz aficionado, so to speak, but last year my wife and I attended the Newport Jazz Festivsl in Newport, Rhode Island. As I am always open to the new musical experience and Newport is a cool town and a great summer destination, it seemed like a perfect plan.

We reserved two nights at the Newport Hotel and Marina in the center of town and were immediately upgraded to a room with a harbor view. The actual Newport festivals take place at Fort Adams which is right on the water and configured perfectly for thee stages.

I cannot say we did not have fun, because we did, but the weekend would have been a lot more enjoyable had it not rained pretty much for three straight days. It did not just rain but it was pretty much a deluge from the time we arrived until the time we left. It got so bad that we bought a couple of blue plastic ponchos and walked from stage to stage like a couple of drowned rats. To add insult to injury, Dr. John was scheduled to appear but canceled snd we finally cut our losses and headed home before Trombone Shorty hit the stage. Jack White played at the suddenly hip again Newport Folk  Festivsl last year adding to my miscalculations however the seed had been planted for a return trip in 2015 but this time to the folk festivsl on the 50th anniversary of Bob Dylan going electric.

Folk You

Rock on!

GQ

In the same week that had me enjoying a stellar Neil fest at the Bowery Ballroom, my daughter and I attended Phil Lesh and Friends at the Central Park Summerstage. We had such a good time last year when “friend” Warren Haynes of Allman Brothers Band fame joined Grateful Dead founding member and bassist Phil Lesh on stage, that we were looking forward to Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes, and the Grateful Dead influenced Chris Robinson Brotherhood, playing with the band on a beautiful late summer evening.

Due to worse than usual mid town traffic,we arrived at the park just minutes before the band hit the stage for a sold out general admission show. As the front of the stage was jam packed, my daughter and I decided to watch from the much less crowded side of the stage where mostly middle aged fans danced throughout a set of familiar Grateful Dead tunes led by Chris Robinson, whose vocal style and laid back pot smoking vibe fit in well during the night’s festivities.

About a third of the way into the band’s set we were invited to a catered party taking place on a deck in front of us on the side of the stage where friends of the band enjoyed gin cocktails and some food while grooving to the band’s take on Dead classics like “Sugaree”.

Phil Lesh, who played with the Dead for their fiftieth anniversary shows in Chicago this summer, will not participate in the Dead & Company fall tour. Phil was in good spirits throughout and played great right up until the 10:00 PM curfew brought the show to an end.

The smiling crowd walked off into the Manhattan night satisfied that they had seen a legend continuing an unstoppable rock and roll communal rite.

U.S. Blues

Rock on

GQ

Does Anybody Remember Laughter?

Update-

Mr. Plant was also seen this year at Forest Hills Stadium and the Arroyo Seco Weekend festival in Pasadena, California.

The Road Goes On Forever

Rock on!

GQ

Warren Haynes and Gov’t Mule are about to hit the Westbury stage in the half round. Warren was last seen here on the Last Waltz anniversary tour with Michael McDonald and others. It’s an odd venue for the Mule but should make for a loud and raucous Wednesday night.

Update-

The Mule return to the Beacon Theatre this New Year’s Eve weekend for their annual shows that will end 2018 and bring in the new year. It seems that Warren Haynes may have taken the mantle as the hardest working man in show biz. He is an extraordinary guitarist and blues vocalist who can play with absolutely anyone on any stage.

Soul Shine on the Dark Side of the Mule

Rock on!

GQ

The greatest rock and roll documentary ever made is “Beware Mr. Baker” about the great Cream and Blind Faith drummer Ginger Baker but I have recently watched two extraordinary docs that every fan must see. The Jeff Beck documentary on Showtime and the Joe Cocker documentary on Netflix are phenomenal and must see television for anyone that is a fan of rock and roll music and performance. Two great rock and roll icons and two great stories provide great insight regarding their determination, unique talents and musical genius. Joe Cocker is no longer with us however Jeff Beck is still in the studio and out on the road so if you have not seen him check him out and, if you have, check him out again real soon. Coincidentally both Mr. Beck And Mr. Cocker recorded and performed some of the great Beatles cover versions you will ever hear. How is Joe Cocker not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? For his Woodstock performance alone he should be in, especially now when the Def Lepperds, Chesp Tricks and Bon Jovis of the world are getting inducted (don’t even get me started about Janet Jackson and some others).

A Day in the Life (with a little help from my friends)

Rock on!

GQ