Simon and Garfunkle

Simon and Garfunkel (originally called Tom and Jerry) started their career together playing for spare change throughout Europe. They remained struggling musicians until their music was featured in the film The Graduate. After rapidly achieving fame the duo split in 1964 due to the pressure of their success, a few year later they reformed only to break up again in 1969. Despite their struggles, they have left an enduring print on the music world.

Celtics

Van Morrion is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best have been heralded as "transcendental and inspired;" while some of his recordings, such as the Astral Weeks, Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely viewed as among the greatest albums ever made. Not since William Butler Yeats has such inspired and moderately sober words graced the lips of an Irishman. Here is some Morrison followed by some Yeats. 






Love Poem / A Drinking Song by William Butler Yeats
Wine comes in at the mouth
And love comes in at the eye;
That's all we shall know for truth
Before we grow old and die.
I lift the glass to my mouth,
I look at you, and I sigh.

Seu Jorge

Seu Jorge is a fairly famous artist from Brazil who made his mark on American culture when he performed a large number of David Bowie covers for the movie "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou." As a fan of David Bowie, Bill Murray, and the uncle of a half Brazilian fetus; I feel obligated to share some of his tunes.

More Gregory Brothers

I still think these guys are brilliant.

The Boss was as displeased as any when his hit song "I'm on fire" transformed from a song about extra martial lust into an alleged anthem for pedophiles.

Steven Tyler

Few people know that Aerosmith was a band before Guitar Hero came into popularity. In fact, their hit, "Dream On" which was first released in 1973 was sung by Steven Tyler when he was only 17. Watching Aerosmith play makes me think that in the great UK vs. US battle of rock bands (that is constantly raging in my head), the US stands a chance.

Auto Tune the News

Creating music today is a far easier process then it was back in the day when you needed instruments - all you need is an autotuner and a midi keyboard. If you don't have these things just make an ass of your self on National TV and the Gregory Brothers will take care of the rest.

The ease with which The Gregory Brothers seem to make these tunes should not be used to belittle the music in anyways. It requires a great deal of originality and talent to do this, particularly in such a unique way. In doing so The Gregory Brothers introduced a double threat of satire that I adore. First, they edit already absurd news stories to poke fun of our 24/7 conglomerate news corps. Second, autotuning these stories and making them sound impressively good. Showing everyone just how much talent you need to sing these days, you don't even need to know you are singing. In some of these clips there seem to be additional levels of satire, but when its not actors but actual politicians making me laugh - it's not satirical, its real life. And then I get sad...

More classic / rock: "Show Down "

The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) lead by singer, guitarist, producers, song writer, and composer Jeff Lynn was a giant success of the 70s and 80s. ELO began right as the Beatles fell off, picking up from the walrus. During their tenure, ELO accumulated 27 Top 40 hit singles in both the UK and the US despite reviewing dismal reviews. You may remember this song from the movie King Pin.

Knights in White Satin

The Moody Blues actually make the term "classic rock" makes sense. Their fusion of classical and rock music is often attempted but rarely pulled off. Other artists try to overtly combine the two but fall short of a full incorporation of the two. For example ELO's "Roll of Beethoven" which sounds more like Chuckberry then a symphony.

Eminem

It was brought to my attention that I have little rap on my blog. I began my pursuit by typing the artist Eminem into my youtube search bar when the auto complete suggest Emerson, Lake and Palmer, the British super group from the 70s. I was stuck with a very difficult decision: either finish misspelling Eminem's name or go with what fate has offered...

Aqualung

Jethro Tull forever changed rock and roll by incorporating the single most bad ass instrument known to man. Prior to their ingenuity this instrument was rarely seen out side of conciertos and recitals but, thanks to Jethro Tull, the flute took its rightful place amongst the electric guitar, massive drum sets, and other mildly demonic instruments of rock.

Florence and The Machine

Florence and the Machine is a relatively new band whose live performances have really impressed me. You are probably familiar with their recent performance at the VMAs... unless you were still out cold from when you fainted during Justin Bieber's performance.


This is "Howl" and "Drumming Song" off of their album Lung, not to be confused with Aqualung

Three Dog Night

The name Three Dog Night originates from a story about indigenous Australians who would bring wild dogs (dingos) into their dug out dens into order to provide heat during particularly cold night. The number of dogs they would bring in would go up as the temperature went down. So a "three dog night" was a very cold evening.

The sunshine bores the daylights out of me

Some of the best lyric writing I have ever heard....

Exams

I have a few exams coming up so I won't be posting until after them. So in the mean time: http://grilledcheeseacademy.com/

King of Spain

Elvis Presley is an artist that has undeservingly been left out of much of the rock conversion. Most people under the age of 30 don't realize just how influential he was. We spend our days rocking out to Led Zeppelin, The Who, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, and a handful of other artists that have managed to transcend the generations, but not Elvis. I blame this, largely, on the legends surrounding his death. Even the most naive music fan would tell you he died on the toilet trying to pass a couple hundred deep fried Twinkies. That same person may not be able to tell you a single song he song or movie he starred in. The incredible rumors that have surrounded his death and late life seem to have turned a large portion of the population away. Much in the same way we see people shy away from Micheal Jackson.

In the end he was just as, if not more, important then any of the artists named above and he has a discography that would impress some of the more prolific artists - except maybe Bob Dylan.

Try dedicating your some of your slacking off time to listening to Elvis today. I think you will be surprised at just how hard he rocks.

When The Saints Go Marching In

I've always enjoyed religious songs, primarily outside the confines of a church. Something about being repeatedly damned to hell prevented me from relaxing and enjoying the music. This is a song from Bruce's trip to Dublin with The Sessions band, an excellent show. If you ever see the DVD, I highly recommend you buy it. You are probably familiar with the song if you have ever been to a christian church.

Let there be drums

Here are a few of my favorite drummers. They are in no particular order, I think ranking them is a bit tough since they have such different styles...

More Than A Petty Face

Tom Petty may look like a thin lipped Appalachian but he can sure rock some mean tunes. It's hard to find a Tom Petty song that you don't know all the lyrics too. Tom Petty wasn't always with the heart breakers. His first band was The Epics, followed by Mudcrutch (possibly the best band name ever). Mudcrutch eventually ended and Tom Petty joined up with The Drunks - After that they where Tom Petty and NIGHTRO, then Tom Petty and The King Bees, followed by Tom Petty and Heart Breakers. Thankfully they stopped there.

"American Girl" was one of the Tom Petty songs I covered in college and it was always a crowd favorite. I think everyone liked it so much because it offered something to each listener. The girls had a relatable character and the brief fantasy of being the American girl in the song. The boys had that same character to remind them about the girl next door to accompany a different fantasy of theirs. And the inbreed Appalachians had the sweet eye candy that is the mildly androgynous Tom Petty.

"Chips Ahoy" The Hold Steady

The Hold Steady is often cited as being a lyrically heavy version of Bruce Springsteen and the E-street Band.
The first time I heard them I thought they sounded a bit sloppy, but after a few more listens they quickly grew on me and became a favorite of mine. Their songs are shockingly honest recounts of experiences they had growing up. They can be a bit gritty but very relate-able, especially if you know any one who never made it out of their hometown.

The Beatles

"Rocky Raccoon" is one of my favorite Beatles songs, particularly because of Rocky's interaction with the doctor:

"The doctor came in stinking of gin
And proceeded to lie on the table
He said Rocky you met your match
And Rocky said, Doc it's only a scratch
And I'll be better I'll be better doc as soon as I am able."

The River

The first time I heard "The River" it was playing on the radio and the negligent DJ failed to mention the name of the song and the artist. I was much younger and unfamiliar with Bruce Springsteen so I was unable to associate his unique voice with his name. I tried tirelessly to find the song so that I may commit copyright infringement and have it forever. It took nearly a year of searching before I found it. I bought the album and was hooked on The Boss ever since then. "The River" is still one of my favorite songs.

Johnny Cash "Hurt"

In 2003 someone at MTV was sober enough to nominate this spectacular video for the coveted "Video of The Year" award. I certainly did not except the video to get nominated but I was thrilled none-the-less. For awhile it even seemed like it could even win, but it had some "stiff" competition. Also nominated were: 
50 Cent "In Da Club"
Missy Elliot "Work It"
Eminem "Lose Yourself'"
Justin Timberlake "Cry Me a River"

Johnny Cash was clearly the odd man out in the group.

I remember the night vividly. I sat down to watch the VMAs for the first and last time. As they announced that "Work It" was winner, my stomach dropped and I lost all faith in MTV. Missy Elliot accepted the trophy and Madonna kissed Brittney all while a weathered Johnny Cash and his wife sat in horror next to Cortney Love. It was a sad moment for the music industry and it only got worse when Johnny Cash passed away later that year.

My faith in MTV was eventually reaffirmed when I saw snookie get sucker punched in the face on the show "Jersey Shore." I like to think Johnny Cash is watching "Jersey Shore" right now in heaven, appreciating more and more his defeat at the VMAs.

Symphanthy for the Devil

A rolling stone gathers no moss. Similarly you can avoid moss, death, and achieve world wide fame by making a deal with the devil.