What can you say about Eric Clapton that has not been said already? Clapton has been around seemingly forever. John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, Cream and Blind Faith were our introduction to his musical genius and propelled us toward his legendary solo career that continues to this day.

A lasting memory for me is a photograph that I saw in the newspaper of a clean shaven Eric Clapton at an airport wearing an overcoat and looking like a tired middle aged businessman. It was a shocking image of the rock and roll star and the article went on to say that Eric was heading to rehab as he was known to drink two bottles of vodka a day. That’s some serious drinking. Fortunately for all of us the great guitarist apparently faced and defeated his demons to provide us with decades of musical thrills and too numerous to mention memorable live performances.

On a Cream side note-
Catch the documentary “Beware Mr. Baker” about the great Ginger Baker. This is without a doubt the greatest rock and roll documentary ever produced. You will not be disappointed!

Clapton is God

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GQ

The great Dave Mason, former member of Traffic, is one of the great solo artists of the 1970’s and the studio album “Alone Together” and his “Certified Live” album are must owns for any record or CD collection . For those in the know, Dave Mason is an incredible musician who puts on a great live performance and for a time he headlined arenas like the Nassau Coliseum as a solo artist.

A couple of years ago, I caught Dave Mason opening a triple bill at the former Westbury Music Fair with Blood, Sweat and some replacement players and Eric Burdon and some very young Animals. While Dave Mason looks every bit his age now, he was in fine voice playing a low frills set with a second guitarist in tow. He chatted up the crowd between songs, spoke of playing with Jimi Hendrix, and lamented the state of the music industry that he could not get his new music heard.

Bob Welch was a former member of an early incarnation of Fleetwood Mac who had a monster hit as a solo artist with the song “Ebony Eyes”. Bob Welch apparently fell on some hard times in later years and reportedly committed suicide in 2012.

Only You Know and I Know

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GQ

The first album I ever bought on my own was Jethro Tull’s “Warchild” and my freshman year in high school the band was my favorite.
Ian Anderson’s wild eyed, long haired stage persona was right up my alley.

Jethro Tull’s Madison Square Garden shows were supposed to revolve around “greatest hits” which was fine by me. Somehow word got out before the first MSG concert that Ian Anderson was under the weather and was having some sort of throat issue causing them to shorten up the setlist.

I do not think that anyone was expecting one Livingston Taylor to take the stage that night; Livingston was only known for being James Taylor’s brother and he was put in the unenviable position of opening the show for a crowd who knew none of his solo acoustic music and only wanted to see Jethro Tull.

We were sitting midway up to the left of the stage when Livingston Taylor came out with an acoustic guitar and began his first song. The sea of people was angry that night. Boos drowned out his singing and about halfway through his first song objects started to fly toward the stage. Taylor could be seen ducking some near misses and he tried to continue but was driven off the stage by the onslaught. I have never seen an artist wave the white flag and literally run off the stage like that before or since. Although I felt kind of bad that he was seriously abused by the crowd, we were not disappointed that Taylor’s set had abruptly ended and we hoped this meant that Tull would hit the stage earlier (they did not).

A few years ago I was telling this story to a business acquaintance who said that he used to work as a vendor at Madison Square Garden when he was a teenager and he told me that he was there that night selling pretzels. When the crowd started throwing anything they could find toward Livingston Taylor he said that he sold out his entire pretzel supply to concert goers who immediately hurled them at the shell shocked musician.

Ian Anderson’s voice was not at its best and his hair was shorter than in his recent photographs but seeing my then musical hero play the great hits two nights in a row was a thrill.

Bungle in the Jungle

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GQ

Hot Tuna with the great Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady played at Hofstra University in the, for us, upscale Playhouse. Another night and another rock and roll road trip to Nassau County.

Jorma is one of the great guitarists in rock and roll history and Jack is just one of the coolest bass players on the planet. The two had played together with the seminal San Francisco rock band the Jefferson Airplane but Hot Tuna was a whole different animal.

The three piece band originally slated to be called HOT SHIT, until the record company intervened, was led by Jorma on vocals and they played acoustic and electric music with equal ferocity.

Hot Tuna was famous for playing two shows a night. The legendary lengthy performances were marathons ; the fans loved it and grew to expect it.

On this night at Hofstra only one set was on tap and for my first Hot Tuna show this was a great entree into a different sort of rock experience.

Two full sets a night for a three piece band? The drummer Bob Steeler with his long hair and receding hairline furiously pounded the drums for hours with Herculean stamina. By the end of its shows the band and its audience were both spent, having expended every ounce of passion and energy into the performances with a communal spirit.

My favorite Hot Tuba album to this day is the electric HOPPKORV named after a German hot sausage; there is not a bad song on the album and it is a powerful electric masterwork.

Hot Tuna ranks up there with some of the great three piece rock bands of our time while they periodically expand their lineup with confidence, ease, and the musical generosity of the great generational musicians who share the music and pass the torch.

A couple of years ago I attended a Hot Tuna Jorma Kaukonen 70th birthday celebration held at New York’s Beacon Theater; there were special guests and the crowd received posters that displayed Jorma’s smile with gold tooth commemorating the milestone.

Hot Tuna is still on the road and just celebrated Jack’s 70th. The band is still on top of its game and you should catch them while you can. You will not be disappointed.

HOT FUCKING TUNA!

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GQ

The Palladium in New York City was a theater venue where many of the best acts of the time would play. The Palladium was a beer soaked Beacon Theater where the music was king.

Rush’s first of several live double albums “All the World’s a Stage” is still my favorite and “A Farewell to Kings” is my favorite of their numerous studio albums. The band’s musical prowess is undeniable and Neil Peart is one of the great rock drummers of all time.

U.F.O. Is one of those bands that you knew was there and on the rock radar screen but never quite made the forefront of the rock elite.

Cheap Trick has seemingly been around forever. Cheap Trick, with catchy hooks and memorable songs, is a band to be seen and heard. They may go down as the world’s greatest opening act as they are still on the road and opened for Aerosmith a couple of years back.

The Palladium would be one of our favorite venues and a regular destination on our rock and roll journey.

Surrender

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GQ

The one and only time this Queens kid attended a show at the Suffolk Forum located in Suffolk County, Long Island was for a Robin Trower concert with a former New York City Police Officer Eddie Mahoney AKA Eddie Money opening.

The Suffolk Forum was a hockey arena with general admission on the floor. A friend from high school, Frank, a gentle giant, was up for taking a road trip and we found ourselves somewhat crushed in front of the stage for the solid double bill .

On its face, Eddie Money would seem to be an odd fit to open for Trower but one of the great things about 70’s rock shows was that you could catch disparate performers and expand your musical palate at affordable prices.

Somewhat recently, I caught Eddie Money at The Paramount in Huntington a couple of years ago. It was a lousy weather night and the venue was half filled making Mr. Mahoney a cranky front man that evening. Eddie is still working hard but was a shadow of his younger self making the show a melancholy affair.

For Robin Trower’s set at the low frills Suffolk Forum we were directly underneath the great guitarist who was one of several not quite Jimi Hendrix performers of the time (does anybody remember Frank Marino and the Mahogany Rush?).

Two Tickets to Paradise

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GQ

The glory days of hard rock and roll brought Boston based Aerosmith to Long Island with Styx in tow.

My buddies and I eluded Coliseum security for what it was worth and found ourselves about ten rows from the left side of the stage. “Toys in the Attic” and ROCKS are all time great albums and Aerosmith opened their set with “Back in the Saddle”. We were standing on top of the folding chairs in the orchestra when someone evidently threw a switch and turned Joe Perry’s guitar up to ELEVEN.
With that, Perry’s guitar wall of sound knocked me straight back on my chair and nearly into the row behind us.
ROCK and ROLL!!!!

Aerosmith ROCKS

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GQ

Radio City Music Hall is home to the World Famous Rockettes and the Radio City Christmas Spectacular.

Rick Derringer is one of those musicians that helped make the 1970’s a golden age of rock and roll. Rick was never considered a superstar act but “Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo” was his greatest and most recognizable hit and he had Edgar Winter’s White Trash on his resume so he had a level of name recognition and credibility amongst the rock and roll community.

The albums he produced with his band DERRINGER never sold big numbers but were solid basic rock and roll records popular to a small hard core audience.

The rock guitarist Robin Trower spent his early career with the great band Procol Harum and with solo efforts such as “Bridge of Sighs” and his outstanding LIVE album he developed a solid hard core fan base catapulting him to headliner status at venues like the historic Radio City Music Hall.

Robin Trower has had a long successful career and some of his best work was while later on playing with the late great Jack Bruce on bass. The excellent album B.L..T. had one of the more unusual covers you will ever see- a photograph of a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich.

Tasty and Delicious

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GQ

The Dr. Pepper Concerts at Central Park were a magical time; Woodstock for the 1970’s NYC rock and roll generation.

The Dr. Pepper sponsored concerts at Central Park’s Wollman Rink were primarily rock and roll shows at the outdoor venue where for the bargain basement price of $4.50 you could see some of the legendary acts of our time from the orchestra section or for $2.50 you could sit in the balcony or, if the show was sold out or you just did not want to spend the money that night, you could hang out on the rocks opposite the stage beyond the fence and listen to great live music for free with your friends in midtown Manhattan surrounded by the New York City skyline.

There has never been a concert series quite like it and it provided some of the great rock and roll of our lives.

The Heart show was one that we spent on the rocks taking in the atmosphere and just having a phenomenal time.
The Wilson sisters broke big with “Magic Man” and rocked out with some of best acts of that time.
While you could not actually see the stage from that vantage point it did not really matter ; the soon to be legendary venue was spread out in front of you and the sound was loud and clear for all to hear. Heart concluded their show with Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll”; a fitting finish to the first of many nights to be spent at Central Park.

I had the opportunity to attend a Sirius satellite radio event featuring Heart some time before their recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction; the ladies looked healthy, fit and sounded great. Shortly thereafter, I then had the good fortune to catch their show
at The Paramount in Huntington. Some thirty five years after hearing Heart play live in Central Park they were still bringing the hard rock kick ass sound that set them apart from the girl fronted rock bands to follow.

Ann Wilson still has the pipes while Nancy provides the guitar and harmonies that make the band unique in rock and roll history.

Been a Long Time

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GQ

Crosby, Stills and Nash still ranks as one of my all time favorite acts. I’ve seen the band in numerous combinations and incarnations through the years, with and without Neil Young, and they never disappoint. Not many bands can bring the acoustic and electric music with equal beauty, precision and intensity. Stephen Stills is hardly ever mentioned when the great rock guitarists are discussed but he ranks right up there with some of the best and he is under appreciated in that regard. The harmonies of David Crosby and Graham Nash, the unparalleled songwriting, the passion for music and civil activism all make the band members a fascinating ever evolving dynamic. To this day, songs like “Almost Cut My Hair” still provide chills.

While age and wear and tear have taken a bit of a toll on the elder statesman of rock, David Crosby’s voice remains as powerful as ever- a force of nature and a true gift as he proved once again that he still has chops with his latest solo album and a tour which landed at City Winery NYC.

Back in 1977, we left ourselves plenty of time to head in to Manhattan by subway to hang out before the CSN show as part of the MSG concert experience was bound to be all of the activity outside the building and we wanted to get in early. We jumped on the #7 train in Flushing, Queens to travel to Madison Square Garden for the highly anticipated concert expecting that a big night was in store.

Unfortunately our plans got somewhat derailed as the train stopped for an extended period mid trip and we found out that someone had decided to jump in front of a subway car on the train ahead of us. A crime scene was not something we could have anticipated and as the time passed we started to wonder if an apparently troubled soul was going to keep us from ever getting to the Garden that night. Troubled, maybe, but we had to admit that the thought crossed our minds that whoever it was could have been more considerate to the traveling public when choosing THIS night to take a tragic final leap. Fortunately we had enough beer to make the delay tolerable then at some point the train lurched forward and we began to move again. It was going to be close but we were going to make it! Our catastrophe was averted and our snapshot Woodstock moment with CSN would not be lost.

No one could have known then that any band could have the staying power so that I would eventually get to see the band IN Woodstock 37 years after the Madison Square Garden show. My wife and I drove to upstate NewYork this past July 5th to see the band at Bethel Woods- a beautiful outdoor venue with covered seating and a huge general admission lawn area . An added bonus to the trip was that Bethel Woods is home to the Woodstock Museum containing interesting artifacts, a movie about the event and historical perspective of the original Woodstock music festival that is different than any other- pretty cool stuff.

My wife’s Woodstock moment has always been being stuck in the legendary New York State Thruway traffic jam with her parents and sister on the way to an upstate family vacation.

Yes, she finally got to Woodstock.

Let Your Freak a Flag Fly
And Rock On

GQ