This bird LOVES Ray Charles.
It’s not what you expect. Actually kind of funny that the bird is shaking its tail feathers when Ray is singing… “Shake your tail feathers.” Just plain fun.
It’s Friday. Time to take a little rest. Smile a bit. Enjoy.
Salvation Army Band circa 1910
Ready to rock.
Paula Deen shoulda been a rapper!
Remember my post a few days ago (here is the link) about the double standard in today’s society where a Caucasian lady who cooks on TV admitted to making use of the N word in the course of her work as a TV personality and celebrity chef and got fired for it You know, Paula Deen.
I happened to hear references to marijuana, and use of the N word blaring out of a teenage girl’s iPhone 4 music player yesterday and stopped to ask her. “Hey, cool song, who is the artist?” She said “Wiz Khalifa“. I asked. “What song? “It’s Let’s get medicated.” And what station? “Pandora.” I said, “Never heard of it. Cool! Thanks.”
Here I go with the double standard crap again. I don’t care if you don’t care. For the record. I don’t use the N word ever. I can’t say it out loud even in private. It is completely offensive to me. People who know me will attest. I am not going to change the world.
Just hear me out. Then you decide.
You do the research.. Look up the lyrics to the song ” Let’s Get Medicated” Identify the record label who produces the artist known as Wiz Khalifa. There is a gentleman who owns the label. Make note of this gentleman’s race.
Look up the senior management of the Food Network and Pandora. All of the names and backgrounds of the senior executives are published. Fine. Make note of race while we are at it since most of the executives who are making $ from this artist and similar artists are Caucasian.
If Paula Deen is a racist for using the N word aren’t these record company people too. Or am I missing something.
Finally, print out the lyrics for Let’s get medicated and carry them with you. Next time you are in line at the supermarket, the bank, or getting a haircut. Pull them out and sing them word for word in front of others. Watch for the reaction. Are you entertaining them or offending them. All I am doing here is asking a question. Not judging.
I know I am out of my mind… but you are still reading.
I am not picking on anybody. Double standards aren’t fair anywhere, why are they ok here?
Hundreds of people read my last post. No one liked it or commented on it. Let me know what you think. There is a form for that at the bottom of the page.
I was having a discussion with a guitar playing friend of mine the other night and we hit on Led Zeppelin‘s first album. We were saying that the first time most of the general public ever heard Led Zeppelin was from the radio.
English: Robert Plant (left) and Jimmy Page (right) of Led Zeppelin, in concert in Chicago, Illinois Italiano: Robert Plant (sinistra) e Jimmy Page (destra) dei Led Zeppelin durante un concerto a Chicago, Illinois (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Back then of course, the world made its way to the record store, in my case, National Record Mart in South Hills Village, to buy an album. Harking back, I think they were $5.99 or something. Getting home with new vinyl, the first song, “Good Times Bad Times“, foretold of things to come. It is still one of my all time favorites. 2 years. 4 albums, and 32 songs later, the other fab four Led Zeppelin gave us “Stairway to Heaven.”
That got me thinking about first tracks on debut albums.
I thought I would share with you a list I made.
| Rolling Stones | Route 66 | 1964 |
| Jimi Hendrix | Foxy Lady | 1966 |
| Eric Clapton | Slunky | 1970 |
| Beatles | I Saw Her Standing There | 1963 |
| Janis Joplin | Bye, Bye Baby | 1967 |
| The Who | Out in the Street | 1965 |
| Led Zeppelin | Good Times Bad Time | 1969 |
| Elvis Presley | Blue Suede Shoes | 1956 |
| Eric Burdon & The Animals | House of the Rising Sun | 1964 |
| Stevie Ray Vaughn | Love Struck Baby | 1983 |
| Doobie Brothers | Nobody | 1971 |
| Allman Brothers | Don’t Want You No More | 1969 |
| Deep Purple | And The Address | 1968 |
It is surprising that some of the first tracks were hits right away and some artists took a while before they became firmly rooted in the Rock/ Blues explosion of the 60’s.
I was surprised that Elvis’ first track was Blue Suede Shoes. I guess you have to start somewhere. Some first tracks of big name artists don’t register with us right away.
Can anyone hum the first part of Slunky? Thought so!
Do you have a favorite to add to my list? Don’t be shy. I would love to hear from you!
The Essential Elvis Presley (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Ray Manzarek
Ray Manzarek, a founding member of the 1960s rock group The Doors whose versatile and often haunting keyboards complemented Jim Morrison’s gloomy baritone and helped set the mood for some of rock’s most enduring songs, has died. He was 74.
Manzarek died Monday in Rosenheim, Germany.
The Doors’ original lineup, which also included drummer John Densmore and guitarist Robbie Krieger, was only together for a few years and they only made six studio albums.
Next to Morrison, Manzarek was the most distinctive-looking band member, his glasses and wavy blond hair making him resemble a young English professor more than a rock star, a contrast to Morrison’s Dionysian glamour — his sensuous mouth and long, dark hair.
The Doors were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.
Manzarek is survived by his wife, Dorothy; his son Pablo and two brothers, Rick and James. Funeral arrangements are pending.
Police Find Pot, Stun Gun on Justin Bieber Tour Bus
Justin Bieber hit a speed bump on the Swedish leg of his Believe World Tour. Police
raided his tour bus after suspecting the pop star’s entourage was hiding drugs. They found a small amount of narcotics along with a stun gun. No one was arrested and Bieber fired off to critics on Twitter denying that he has a drug problem.
Swedish police said they found suspected marijuana and an unlicensed stun gun when they raided singer-songwriter Justin Bieber‘s tour bus, but plan no arrests.
“We found a small amount of alleged narcotics and an electroshock weapon,” Stockholm police spokesman Lars Bystroem told the Aftonbladet newspaper after the Wednesday night incident.
The suspected marijuana was sent to a lab for testing, he said.
No one was arrested because no one could be tied to the drug.
The raid occurred after the star entered the tour bus outside central Stockholm’s five-star Grand Hotel, opposite the Royal Palace and the hotel normally used for Nobel Peace laureates.
One of the police officers keeping an eye on a crowd of “hysterical” fans noticed a smell of pot when the bus door opened to let the 19-year-old heartthrob in, Bystroem told the newspaper.
The bus was searched a half-hour after Bieber entered the stage, Bystroem said.
Aftonbladet said cited a source close to Bieber’s crew as saying panic broke out when police raided the bus. U.S. celebrity website TMZ said no one was on the bus when the raid took place.
No one will be charged, police told TMZ, because police have no idea who was in possession of the drug or who brought it.
Police did not mention any charges for the unlicensed stun gun.
Bieber’s manager had no immediate comment.
Bieber posted on Twitter Thursday: “some of the rumors about me….where do people even get this stuff. whatever…back to the music.”
Bieber is now in Helsinki, Finland, for a Friday concert in his “Believe” tour promoting his studio album of the same name.
He will then travel to Russia and Turkey, before going to the United Arab Emirates and South Africa and returning to the United States
10 Members of Mexican Band Die in Car Crash. Police say that 10 members of the musical group La Reyna de Monterrey have been killed and five injured in a road accident in northern Mexico.
A police official says the driver of the vehicle that was carrying the band dozed off Saturday morning, causing the vehicle to strike the side of a truck then cross over into the other lane and crash head on with a tractor-trailer. The official spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
The official said the impact was so powerful that many band members were thrown from the vehicle onto the highway connecting Nuevo Laredo and Monterrey.
La Reyna de Monterrey played the musical genre known as Banda music. It had played in a bar in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas on Friday night.
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Yep! That’s right! It’s time for a little Q & A around here. Got something on your mind? DP@Large wants to help. Ask us anything and we will try to give a little advice. Not, you know, real advice like medical or legal or anything.
We mean the offbeat, humorous, semi-factual kind. You know, the kind you can’t take to the bank. Or, let’s suffice it to say if you do try to take it to the bank, the branch manager will have you removed kind of advice.
So what troubles you? Got issues? Don’t be shy! Post your questions in the comments section and we’ll get on it. Should be fun!
Looking forward to hearing from you!
DP@Large
Steven Tyler (left) on American Idol with fellow judges Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The voting is over. The elimination show is over. Joshua is out. Amazing talent to end up in third place overall. That leaves Jessica Sanchez to square off with Phil Philips who Stephen Tyler called the next Bruce Springsteen.
SO what to expect at the next and final show? I predict more of the same. Super teen Jessica will belt out a few torch songs and Phil will get down and funky with his own brand of melody missing singing. Run what you brung!
It figures that they won’t deviate too far from what has taken them from a cattle call audition into millions of homes every week.
Let’s be fair to Jessica. She is without doubt the better of the two singers. She is 16 and from a close knit family from Chula Vista. Critics are saying as a singer she is a mimic. I keep hearing this word, mimic. When you sing, don’t you want to sound good? At least get close what the song is supposed to sound like? Well isn’t that being a mimic. J Lo commented that when Jessica sang “I’ll be there” she was looking for young Michael on stage. What’s wrong with nailing a song?
The next complaint I have is that since she is only 16, Jessica doesn’t have all the life experience she needs to sing “Proud Mary” or something by Etta James. Give me a break. She is 16. One comment that I thought was so unfair to her was that “probably she hasn’t even been with a boy her own age.” Seriously? We started this competition with rules. Why are now adding layers that question the extent of the contestant’s life experience. I didn’t hear this in previous years that a singer should not have chosen that song because they don’t have the life experience to interpret it. This requirement would stop most artists in their tracks.
Phil Philips has his style dialed in. The gruff, growly, rasp of the blues. The funk of off the beaten track interpretations of some pretty decent song choices. Phil is much more limited since his style and limited vocal ability force him into a certain sound song after song. By the way, Scotty McCreary won last year with the same limitations. McCreary is country through and through, any song he took on last year sounded like country no matter what he did to change it. Wednesday is that last chance to influence voters.
Who will win? Jessica with her big sound and little body? Or will it be Phil hammering out a Grateful Dead style no melody groove? The decision is yours. iPhones or Andriods, iPad or tablet, laptop or desktop.
You have the power. You have the vote. The choice is yours.
Good luck contestants!
Steven Tyler (left) on American Idol with fellow judges Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
American Idol logo 2008–2011 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
American Idol picks its number one next week. Who will it be? It has been a good competition. The top 10 were predictable to a point. The weaker performers went out as predicted. The judges saved Jessica Sanchez and rightfully so.
Who will win? My guess is Phil Phillips. He seems to have the most potential support although it is clear he is not the best singer. Phillips benefits from youthful good looks and a unique style where he often forgets the melody and comes up with a gritty groove style that reminds you a little of Joe Cocker. The thing though, older fans of the show aren’t going to vote Jessica Sanchez or Joshua Ledet without a greater connection, a feeling that they have something more in common. Jessica is a 16 year from Chula Vista and Joshua comes from Louisiana. Both places where great performers have come from before but a little too nichy to be mainstream. Phil it is. That’s my prediction.
Who is the best singer. Hard to say. Jessica can belt out a song like ringing a bell. Joshua is more soulful with some grounding in the Southern Gospel sound we know and love. My vote for best is Jessica. My vote for most likely to revive the blues and maybe a little Junior Wells, Joshua. I would love to see Buddy Guy take him under his wing. And inject his soul with some sweet rock n roll, followed by some rhythm and blues! Joshua, please do a delta blues songbook.
One more thing. Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, and Stephen Tyler got a lot of help this year from Jimmy Iovine. The judges usually give sound advice. I would like to see them disagree more. Jimmy, with his extensive record production background, gives the competitors a new perspective and sometimes priceless advice. Good job all around including the ever present Ryan Seacrest.
Should be an interesting next week on American Idol. Twitter and Facebook are burning up with messages. iPhones and Androids are working overtime. Voter are busy. I am rooting for Jessica, the nation will be voting for Phil.
Good Times Bad Times album cover by Led Zeppelin (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I was having a discussion with a guitar playing friend of mine the other night and we hit on Led Zeppelin’s first album. We were saying that the first time most of the general public ever heard Led Zeppelin was on the radio. Then of course, the world made its way to the record store, in my case, National Record Mart at South Hills Village, and bought the album. I started looking at first tracks on debut albums and was surpirsed.
Getting home with new vinyl, the first song was “Good Times Bad Times”, still one of my all time favorites. LZ then made us wait 32 songs over 4 albums and 2 years to hear “Stairway to Heaven.” That got me thinking about first tracks on debut albums. I thought I would share with you a list I made.
| Rolling Stones | Route 66 | 1964 |
| Jimi Hendrix | Foxy Lady | 1966 |
| Eric Clapton | Slunky | 1970 |
| Beatles | I Saw Her Standing There | 1963 |
| Janis Joplin | Bye, Bye Baby | 1967 |
| The Who | Out in the Street | 1965 |
| Led Zeppelin | Good Times Bad Time | 1969 |
| Elvis Presley | Blue Suede Shoes | 1956 |
| Eric Burdon & The Animals | House of the Rising Sun | 1964 |
| Stevie Ray Vaughn | Love Struck Baby | 1983 |
| Doobie Brothers | Nobody | 1971 |
| Allman Brothers | Don’t Want You No More | 1969 |
| Deep Purple | And The Address | 1968 |
It is surprising that some of the first tracks were hits right away and some artists took a while before they became firmly rooted in the Rock/ Blues explosion of the 60′s. I was surprised that Elvis’ first track was Blue Suede Shoes. I guess you have to start somewhere. Some first tracks of big name artists don’t register with us right away. Can anyone hum the first part of Slunky? Thought so!
If you want to add your band’s first track to my list, just add a comment.
Thanks and Cheers!
DP
dp@large 