Dave Mason and the Quarantines, which is an all star cast including Mick Fleetwood, Michael McDonald, have released a remake of the classic song “Feelin’ Alright” during these crazy times without live music. It is a great version well worth checking out.
Certified Live
Rock on!
GQ
The first album given to me was by my Aunt Pat- “Meet the Beatles”- but the first album that I purchased was “Warchild” by Jethro Tull. Tull was my favorite band freshmen year while at Holy Cross High Schiool in Queens; this was also my only year at Holy Cross before transferring to Saint Francis Prep overlooking the Long Island Expressway at Francis Lewis Boulevard.
The obvious most memorable moment of the two Jethro Tull concerts at MSG was during Livingston Taylor’s opening set. Word had it that Ian Anderson was under the weather for the NYC gigs and James Taylor’s brother had the unfortunate circumstance to perform his solo acoustic act to rabid Jethro Tull fans who most had never heard of Livingston, never mind having had heard any of his music. To say Mr. Taylor’s set did not go over very well would be an understatement. Livingston found himself bobbing and weaving while seated trying to survive as he was pelted from items thrown at the stage. Years later I told an acquaintance about the concert and he said he was working at the Garden selling pretzels and people were buying them and throwing them at LivingstonTaylor. At some point Taylor waived the white flag and fled the stage creating a void requiring a lengthier than anticipated intermission.
I last saw the band at Forest Hills Stadium during their 50th Anniversary tour. Jethro Tul concerts in recent years have been a mixed bag, and Ian Anderson’s voice is not what it used to be, but the Forest Hills show was a pleasant surprise and really good on every conceivable level.
There are some great full length Jethro Tul concert videos on YouTube where I am trying to get my live music fix during the continuing pandemic quarantine situation.
Nothing Is Easy
Rock on!
GQ
On November 23, 1977, the Queens crew made another foray into Nassau County to see Hot Tuna in concert at the Hofstra University Playhouse. Amazingly, Jorma and Jack were supposed to play The Paramount in Huntington this month. Check them out on YouTube for some really tasty quarantine video to whet your appetite until the band returns in 2021 for the rescheduled Spring and Summer 2020 gigs.
Been So Long
Rock on!
GQ
James Taylor and Jackson Browne were supposed to play at Jones Beach Theatre tonight before the covid pandemic wiped out what would have been a pretty jam packed summer concert season at the outdoor beach venue. As it turns out, a performance tonight would have proven to have been problematic with tropical storm Fay bearing down on Long Island presently. Fortunately many of the concerts canceled for 2020 have been rescheduled to similar dates in 2021. Giving us all something to look forward to down the line and around the bend.
James Taylor has been a classic rock mainstay for decades and his original music has stood the test of time. From a free concert in Central Park many years ago to more recently the Newport Folk Festival and many stops in between, James Taylor always provides musical comfort food and a pleasant night out. With Jackson Browne opening, and hopefully better weather, the July, 2021 date should be a welcome return to live music for performers and fans alike.
Mr. Taylor’s most recent release is a collection of standards that have been, as legendary DJ Jim Kerr said, ”Taylorized”.
Fire and Rain
Stay Well; Be Safe
Rock On!
GQ
Ringo Starr is celebrating his 80th birthday on YouTube tonight, July 7, 2020. It’s amazing that Mr. Richard Starkey was supposed to perform at the Beacon Theatre this past June before the music stopped after The Brothrrs concert at Madison Square Garden on March 10. I have had the good fortune to see three of the four Beatles perform; Paul McCartney on tour, George Harrison at the Bob Dylan tribute at MSG aka ”Bobfest” and Ringo’s All Starr band’s of course.
Happy Birthday Ringo!
He IS the Greatest
(and you better believe it baby)
Rock on!
GQ
The Rush double live album “All the World’s a Stage” introduced me to the trio of incredible musicians in the band called Rush.
The unique vocals of Geddy Lee and Neil Peart’s’s otherworldly percussion were different than any other popular act in the 1970’s. Rush entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, retired, and Neil Peart passed away.
I finally saw the greatest arena opening act for the past over 40 years headline a couple of months before the music stopped. Cheap Trick made a stop at NYCB Theatre at Westbury over the winter where it was nice to catch them up close in a theatre. Cheap Trick is also inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame making The Paladium concert quite special; we got to witness two legendary acts as they pursued their path to arena mainstays.
A Farewell to Kings
Rock on!
GQ
The one and only time that I attended a concert with Big Frank from my high school, Saint Francis Prep in Fresh Meadows, Queens, was a trek to a hockey arena in Suffolk County to see Robin Trower for a second time and Eddie Money for the first time. A seemingly odd pairing for a tour, it was fairly typical in the late 1970’s to pair up dissimilar acts on the same bill thus broadening the exposure of everyone on stage. The Suffolk Forum was general admission on the floor and it was pretty packed in front of the stage. Undeterred, Big Frank waded through the crowd and we ended up directly beneath Mr. Trower as he wailed on guitar in the somewhat odd venue for a concert. The audience was full of true believers as Robin Trower’s live album and the classic “Bridge of Sighs” collection were in steady rotation on turntables and boomboxes owned by heavy lead guitar aficionados throughout the teenage rock universe. The hypnotic tunes performed by Robin Trower are timeless and worth revisiting.
Little Bit of Sympathy
Rock on!
GQ
For a bunch of Queens kids, Nassau County might as well have been on the other side of the world. I knew of Jones Beach and the Roosevelt Field mall but the Nassau Coliseum, home of the NHL hockey Islanders, was something new altogether. Styx opened the show for headliner Aerosmith who were smoking hot in 1977 and in the beginning stages of a long strange trip and mercurial legendary career. Somehow we found ourselves standing on metal folding chairs in the orchestra pretty close to the left side of the stage. Aerosmith hit the stage and opened with “Back in the Saddle” off of the outstanding “Rocks” album. The band exploded onto the stage and at some point during the opening song someone cranked the volume up to 11 just as Joe Perry hit the lead guitar riff for the now classic “Back in the Saddle”. The increased amplification mid-somg felt like a sonic wave coming over the orchestra section, the volume of which literally knocked me straight backwards on the chair I was standing on. This was just one of many aural assaults which may have finally effected the high end of my hearing (but in my estimation it has all been worth it; you can’t stop rock and roll). Fortunately as I tilted backwards on top of the chair, someone behind me pushed me between the shoulder blades back forward returning me upright and Aerosmith rocked the barn into the night.
Dream On!
GQ
The home of the Rockettes and the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular hosted guitar slinger Rick Derringer of Edgar Winter’s White Trash and Robin Trower, formerly of Procol Harum. The band Derringer had a relatively small but enthusiastic following in the late 1970’s. Rick’s biggest “hit” was the catchy “Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo” and his band had some nominal fringe success as a good hard rock band.
Robin Trower does not sing. Now when your band is named for a lead guitarist who does not sing at all, a la Jeff Beck, you know he has got chops. Robin Trower’s “Bridge of Sighs” and “Robin Trower Live” are two great albums. The man stands front and center and just plays guitar; and he plays it very well. Robin Trower later on collaborated with Jack Bruce of Cream with a project called B.L.T. and yes the cover art was a delicious looking bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich.
Too Rolling Stoned
Rock on!
GQ
Future Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Heart headlined the Dr. Pepper Concert series at theWollman Rink in New York’s Central Park in August, 1977. It was my first foray into the outdoor music venue and although the tickets were always notoriously inexpensive, we hung out on the boulders beyond the tall fence opposite the stage where you could hear the shows just fine, enjoy the summer atmosphere st the end of a midtown Manhattan workday or NYC weekend and party with like minded people. Heart was an interesting band especially back then; a hard rocking group led by Ann Wilson on vocals and Nancy Wilson on guitars. The song “Magic Man” was a radio hit putting Heart on everyone’s radar screen and they cranked out catchy hard rock songs Through the late 70’s until the music landscape changed in the mid eighties and they began to dabble in an adult contemporary vibe keeping the career momentum moving forward. Ann Wilson is a freak like David Crosby in that their voices are durable, amazing, and they can sing everything and anything to this day. My buddy Sandy and I had the good fortune to see the Wilson sisters at a SiriusXM event a few years back where there was a meet and greet with a photo op after an intimate performance in the Sirius plexiglass cube. The ladies could not have been nicer and it was surreal to meet them just prior to the Hall of Fame announcement and well deserved induction; Heart are true trailblazers and rock and roll originals.
Little Queen
Rock on!
GQ