When I think of Richie Havens, I immediately flashback to The Woodstock movie. Richie opened the 3-day festival and mesmerized the group with his hyper-acoustic performance. During the song, "Freedom" you can see the crowd gradually getting into the groove and the vibrations and smiling faces indicate that the audience was gearing up for a transcendent musical event. The following passage from Rolling Stone describes Haven's magical performance:
Havens wasn't supposed to be the first act to open the festival; that slot originally was intended for the band Sweetwater, but that band wound up being stuck in traffic. Backstage, co-organizer Michael Lang approached Havens and practically begged him to go on instead. "It had to be Richie – I knew he could handle it," Lang later wrote.
After performing a half-dozen songs, Havens ran out of material – until, he later said, he remembered "that word I kept hearing while I looked over the crowd in my first moments onstage. The word was: freedom." Havens began chanting that word over and over, backed by his second guitarist and conga player, and eventually segued into the gospel song "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child," which he had heard in church as a child. The combined, surging medley wasn't just a crowd-pleaser; it later became a highlight of the Woodstock movie. "My fondest memory was realizing that I was seeing something I never thought I'd ever see in my lifetime – an assemblage of such numbers of people who had the same spirit and consciousness," he later recalled of Woodstock to Rolling Stone.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Record Store Day and 4-20 together at last....A wacky combination of record stores, music and pot. There may be a connection there..we will have to look into this later. Record Store Day is geared toward obsessed collectors like myself. RSD features limited-edition/ 1-day only releases of vinyl collectibles. The experience can be a rough gig that entails waking up early on a Saturday morning and waiting in slow-moving long lines.
My journey to Lunchbox Records in Charlotte started way too early (6am) but as they say.."No Pain...No Gain!". My friend, Frankie McL. recently picked up some great CD's at the flea market (Time/Life series..The Rock and Roll Era..1960) and these vintage rock and roll tunes provided the soundtrack for my morning ride to uptown Charlotte. The tune that grabbed my attention was, Walk Don't Run- The Ventures . This instrumental classic seemed like my custom-made theme song to a hip 60's TV show involving a cool and mysterious private detective. I cranked up the volume and was cruising on my way to Record Store Day.
I arrived at Lunchbox Records at 7:00am and the store opens at 9:00am. You would think I would be in decent shape time-wise but there were already 35-40 people in line. What time did these maniacs get here?!! And so the waiting begins...
After a 3-hour wait in the colder-than normal temperatures, I was almost inside the house of wax! A store employee handed out a 1-page info sheet with updates on the availability of certain sought-after releases and another tidbit that blew my mind!. There was something called a mystery 7-inch single with a plain black sleeve. The featured artists and songs are kept secret until the stores open and the collectors enter the magic kingdom. The tip sheet informs me that the mystery single for 2013 is: The Grateful Dead- IKO IKO. What!!!??
Are you freakin kidding me?!! One of my favorite songs and one of my favorite bands. I figured the mystery tune would be from a hipster/ indie artist that the youngsters dig but no!..This release is just for me!. I feel my blood pressure rising. Oh crap!..maybe they are already gone! Damn those freaks who got in line earlier than me!...Settle down dude!..It is my time to enter. I try to not make a spectacle of myself. Record Store employees can be slightly judgemental and elitist so the last thing I need to do is burst into the store with my tye-dye and screaming, "Where is the Grateful Dead mystery record?!! Where? Damn you!! Where??!!!, you condescending hipster freak!!!! Ahhhrrrrgggg!!!
Everything was cool. The staff was patient and nice and I quickly found the section with 7-inch singles and the mystery single was in the first box! Nice! I picked up 2 other singles (Willie Nelson- Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die on green vinyl!! and Bob Dylan- Wigwam). The only problem I have with RSD is that there is so many awesome collectibles available but they are not cheap. I had to limit myself to 20 bucks or so and move on out of there to let some people into this tiny record box..I mean store..doh!
Before I drive home, I think I will check out this mystery single. Let's open this bad boy up......WTF!! This single is on tye- dye freakin vinyl!! Yessssssssssssss!!!!! Grateful Dead...IKO IKO...tye-dye vinyl!! I could not have dreamed up this scenerio any better if I tried!! What a blast!..good times, indeed!
Monday, April 8, 2013
Annette Funicello R.I.P
I was a few years too young to remember very much about Annette's days as a Mousekateer but I remember the beach movies and Skippy commercials. For me, Annette represented wholesome fun and youth. In these cynical times, her genuine appeal almost seems hardcore and cutting edge in this cluttered digital age. I remember finding the vinyl single pictured below in the 80's during my record collecting heydey. I was immediately hypnotized by the picture sleeve , a retro relic from days gone by...
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Come On Everybody! Let's celebrate the 1-year anniversary of Music Slices
Sometime in early March 2013, a milestone was reached. One full year of my music blog. It may still be too early to measure the cultural impact of this musical revolution. Music Slices launched to combat the cultural, spiritual, political and musical oppression running rampant in the heartland of this fractured nation...
Ahhh..actually, that is not true..
My friend Rich Burke suggested to me that a music blog could be a healthy alternative to jamming up the hard drives and email accounts of friends and family. The blog medium provides a fresh online option that people can use to ignore my rantings. My very patient daughter, Michelle, created the basic template for my new blog and I will never forget her insightful words of advice..."Papa, don't do anything stupid or illegal!"
From those humble beginnings, it is mind-boggling to me that we recently welcomed our 2 millionth visitor to the Music Slices wonderland!
Ahhh..actually, that is not true..
While no hard data is available at this juncture, a conservative estimate of 40 or so hits on the site is not outside the realm of possibilities, although 20 or so hits would be me checking in to see if anyone else is reading...doh!... Hello!..Is this thing on?..Hello!! Is anybody out there??. Despite the modest fan-base, I find the Music Slices to be a cathartic experience and it keeps me off the streets and on my medication! Thank you for all that you do!
As we forge ahead together into the uncharted territory of year 2, the only request that I have is...
