Here's something you might be interested in.
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Your Week — Daily event picks
Why Al Kooper Hates Local Writers (But Loves San Diego), plus Metallica Loves San Diego Too, Local Public Access Music Show History, more
Also Local Public Access Music History
Press to play the Overheard song!
Cathryn Beeks: Vocals www.myspace.com/cathrynbeeksordeal
Sven-Erik Seaholm: Vocals, Guitars, Bass www.svensongs.com
Bill Ray: Drums www.billraydrums.com
NEW COMPREHENSIVE LOCAL MUSIC DATABASE IS LAUNCHED
IT'S DONE!!!! And growing every hour....
If you wanna see a list of over 1,5000 San Diego bands, with links to full profiles, photos, discographies, articles, MP3s, etc, checkout http://www.sandiegoreader.com/bands/search/
Believe it or not, you can click on ANY LOCAL MUSICIAN'S NAME (around 4,500 musicos listed!) and bring up bios of every notable band they've ever been in! Try it here with Rob Crow ---
AND, if that wasn't cool 'nuff, click on an instrument, say like this here link to "Drums" - BAM, a list of EVERY DRUMMER IN SAN DIEGO!!!
We've been working on this massively cross-linked Local Music Database for over two years now, covering a century of San Diego history --- if you're a local performer who wants to add or edit a page, go to http://www.sandiegoreader.com/band/edit/
More anon!!!! JAS
WHY AL KOOPER HATES LOCAL WRITERS (BUT LOVES SAN DIEGO)
The legendary Al Kooper makes another appearance tonight at the old Normal Heights church that hosts the Acoustic Music San Diego series. Our own William Crain wrote an excellent Of Note about the man himself – go ahead and checkitout, I’ll wait - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2009/jan/07/al-kooper
Another Reader contrib, Josh Board, attended a 2005 Kooper show at AMSD and wrote about it for our Blurt column. As I found out when I later contacted Mr. Kooper, he wasn’t at all happy with Josh’s piece. www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2005/jan/27/when-i-asked-al-kooper
Two things in particular seemed to irk him – Josh wrote “The sold-out show started more than half an hour late,” a claim disputed by venue operator Carey Driscoll. Josh also related some questions he asked Kooper before the show, apparently with Kooper assuming him to be just another patron rather than a reporter. But the biggie, apparently, was Josh’ toss-off comment in Blurt that “Anyone's got to sing better than Kooper.”
So fast forward to October 2005 – I contacted Kooper through AMSD to see if he’d care to contribute a capsule to a Reader article asking people where they were and what they were doing on the day John Lennon was killed. Kooper, it turns out, was actually recording with George Harrison at the time of Lennon’s murder – however, it didn’t look good for the Reader getting Kooper to tell the tale, once I got this email:
AL KOOPER: “IF I am not mistaken, Josh Board is a writer for your magazine. He has insulted me in print and very unprofessionally ‘interviewed’ me. That has really soured me on your publication. If I am wrong and he does not write a column in your paper, I am interested.”
Well, he was not wrong, and he sent me further clarification on his position:
AL KOOPER: “Y'know, Jay when it says ‘....the worst singer in the world...’ - San Diego Reader, it really doesn’t matter who does what. And when he interrupts my soundcheck just to get his personal stuff signed (which I do because he knows Carey), and he misquotes me in what he claims in print, is an interview, it all reflects on the San Diego Reader, whether you know him or not. So tell Josh the guy that spent that day with George Harrison wouldn’t do the piece because of Josh's underhanded assassination job. Maybe it will improve his style. It wasn’t that he said bad stuff about me – it’s that he interrupted me to get his personal stuff SIGNED BY ME, and then assassinated me claiming he interviewed me. Bad journalism hurts us all. Hopefully, this time it hurts him. I am truly sorry because it’s certainly not YOUR fault.”
Now, to be fair, Kooper has long had an adversarial history with journalists. Including other locals.
The late, great musician/writer/all-around-great-guy Buddy Blue wrote a piece for his Blue Notes column that also seemed to take potshots at the man (photo courtesy buddyblue.net):
BUDDY BLUE: “As a lifelong advocate of the vastly under-appreciated Kooper, I was quite disappointed to find him personally somewhere between stand-offish to downright butt-headed when we met a few months ago at his local concert. Still, I can't deny the man his props: this, the first real Kooper solo album in 30 years (!!), is also his very best; 70 minutes of amalgamated pop/blues/jazz/soul triumph nearly the equal of his unconquerable Blood Sweat & Tears masterpiece, Child Is Father To The Man. The songs, performances, arrangements, production; all approach something frighteningly close to perfection. Welcome back. Butthead.”
Kooper actually took the time to write Blue a lengthy thought-out email, which I don’t think Buddy would mind me sharing with you now:
AL KOOPER: “Sorry I couldn’t live up to your expectations, or be the man you'd hoped I'd be. I was certainly happy to meet you. But I'm just another slug getting ready to play a two hour show and clear my head out to do the best I can for people who went out of their way to come see me. Then I sit in a corner and sign every possible piece of memorabilia that people bring for an hour, pack up all my own sh-t (no roadie or posse, Jack) and then travel two hours to my next hotel. Surely, you've been through this dude - Maybe you were never the prince people hoped u might be when they encountered you b4 or after a show. I don’t recall treating you badly at all. You're one of my heroes, fer chrissakes - for writing that DCT piece.... so let me pass on a little advice to you. It’s actually my mantra that has kept me virtually sane for the last 47 years of my professional life – ‘If you don’t expect anything, you're NEVER disappointed.’ Try it on, bud. It fits great - in biz and in life."
"Your friend in words & music, Al Kooper."
I have to side with Kooper in both instances ----- I can see why he felt unfairly maligned, without having actually done any specific thing to justify the published commentaries (surely there are far worse singers, making much more money for their warblings – Kooper may not be Caruso, but I’VE never heard him sing a note that I’d call a bum one).
So, anyway, thanks to an assist from Carey at AMSD, Al Kooper did finally agree to tell me about the day he heard John Lennon had been murdered.
Here’s Kooper’s commentary, which is, as he requested, presented exactly as he wrote it ----
AL KOOPER: “I was born an insomniac. Tests later revealed that when I eventually fell asleep, I would immediately descend into the deepest sleep there is; one that takes normal folks 3 to 6 hours to reach; the filet mignon of bedtime. I usually only sleep two to four hours each evening.”
“On the evening of December 8th, I was living in London in the UK and had just returned from George Harrison's home, where I was helping to record Somewhere In England, his latest album-in-progress. I had a bit of a nap on the two hour drive home in fellow musician Ray Cooper's Rolls Royce, so I was kinda up for the night. The TV usually went blank at midnight and I would switch the radio on routinely so that I had company in the wee hours.”
“The news in London because of the time change came about 2:30 AM. It started with news that John had been shot.”
“I was aghast. It quickly followed that he was dead. Stunned, I went back and forth optioning calling George as I'm sure I was one of a handful of Brits who HAD this info. I couldn’t be the one to tell him, I reasoned. He's gonna need that sleep he's getting now, I surmised knowing the British media.”
“At 9 AM, I called Ray Cooper who was co-producer of the album, and after a lengthy chat, we decided to go ahead with the session - that it might keep George from dwelling in sadness all day. Armed with a few bottles of excellent wine, we arrived there about noon. A gaggle of reporters greeted us at the main gate standing in the English rain. We sidestepped their enqueries, locked the gate and drove up to the house.”
“George was white. He hugged us both and we began the days work. We stopped three times during the next ten hours. Phone calls from Ringo, Paul & Yoko. He began rewriting lyrics to a track we had just cut the day before. In ensuing days, McCartney put backing vocals on, joining George & Ringo on that track and oh yes, the insomniac Wurlizer pianist from New York who was one of the first to purchase 'She Loves You' approximately 16 years before.”
“That track soon evolved into an honest musical tribute to John, and became a #1 single in the US scant months later. By ten PM, he was exhausted and a bit inebriated. He thanked us both for coming and headed for the arms of Morpheus. Ray & I headed back to London, glad we had done what we could for George that day.”
“I shall never forget that 24 hour period as long as I live.”
Catch Al Kooper tonight at Acoustic Music San Diego, at 4650 Mansfield Street, Normal Heights - (619) 303-8176. And, if you like the show, be sure to tell him so ------
Concert Pick-o-the-Week: CROSSFIRE - STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN TRIBUTE, SATURDAY JAN 10
Alan Iglesias and Crossfire perform a Stevie Ray Vaughan tribute. “A lot of guitarists find his music very hard to play,” says Iglesias. “If any of his songs were actually extremely hard for me to play, then it would be arguable that I have no business doing a tribute to him. I think perhaps a better way of saying this would be that the more improvising I need to do on a particular song, the more I must extend myself and make sure that I do a credible job of bringing back some of the feeling that people got from listening to Stevie ‘go off’ on that particular song.”
His influences, however, don’t begin and end with Vaughan. “I’ve been listening to a lot of original Delta blues in the past few years,” he says, “not only to soak up the history, but also because I’d like to take and cover some of that music with a more energized, electric approach. Anyone who loves the blues owes it to themselves to get Alan Lomax’s ‘The Land Where the Blues Began’ book and CD.”
“Believe it or not, I don’t listen to music on a regular basis. I find it so distracting that I can’t get anything else done, so most of my listening is to songs that I’ll be learning to play. I do listen to certain CDs sometimes, and there are some I look forward to [hearing], like the Eric Clapton and JJ Cale Escondido CD…inspiration is important, whether for original music or for doing cover songs.”
Iglesias says his Vaughan tribute is more a “recreation” than a tribute. “Looks, appearances, and body language are extremely important if you want to present a world-class act,” he says, “but never at the expense of musicianship. Actually, the two are entwined, I think. I explain it this way: It’s perhaps not so important that I try to look and sound exactly like Stevie looked and sounded — although I certainly give that a lot of effort — but, rather, to strive for a situation in which I am feeling some of the same things that Stevie was feeling when he played a live show.”
While interviewing Iglesias, I point out that some musicians resent his ability to sell out shows on the strength of SRV’s reputation, while all-original bands have difficulty landing gigs.
“On one level,” he replies, “I don't blame them a bit. But these days, the people you describe are going to be typically a lot younger than me, and are already considering me a musical fossil anyway. They have a wonderful chance, like I once had, to break into an industry in which the vast majority of current popular music speaks to them and the material that they are creating. This will never again happen for me. So I say to them ‘fight the good fight’ and, if they’re lucky, they will have wonderful, soulful music like Stevie’s, and perhaps an audience who cares, to play when they are old and washed up.”
Alan Iglesias and Crossfire; a Tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan, appears Saturday, January 10, at Patrick’s II.
http://alaniglesias-and-crossfire.com
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/bands/alan_iglesias_crossfire_a_tribute_to_stevie_ray/
Stevie Ray Vaughn Painting by Ken Meyer jr
NEED A [PRO]SHOT OF METALLICA FOOTAGE FROM COX ARENA 12-15?
Lars likes us! He really likes us! Well, unless you download his musical illegally, or publish an unauthorized comic book bio about him.........
Most major local concerts end up on YouTube or elsewhere, in snippets or their entirely, often before the drums have been loaded out the venue’s back door. Rare, tho, are the clips with decent sound OR vid ----
The Metallica San Diego footage streaming on the band’s website, however, is top-notch, pro-shot, and fairly impressive – I can take or leave Death Magnetic, but it looks like they still command and destroy on stage. They’ve been such cartoons of themselves, for too very long now – I still wince at recalling Lars gnashing his daddy issues throughout Some Kind of Monster (=shudder=) ----
The backstage San Diego meet-n-greet alone is well worth a gander – dig the guy who drove 27 hours from Mexico City, just to hear James Hetfield say “Right on!”
Blabbermouth reports: Official Metallica.com footage from METALLICA's concerts in San Diego (Dec. 15, 2008) and Los Angeles (Dec. 18, 2008) can be viewed on YouTube and on the band's website. The clips include footage from meet-and-greet sessions, backstage jams and the actual performances.
The band issued a new nine-minute video for the song "All Nightmare Long" from its latest album, Death Magnetic.
The clip, which premiered at Metallica.com, is a weird and creepy mix of animation and what is made to resemble old stock footage. It tells an alternate history story of mutant spores discovered by the Soviet Union and used as a biological weapon to turn U.S. citizens into zombies during the Cold War.
The band performed the song itself live for the first time on December 5 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Yep, it's archived online:
Frontman James Hetfield told Sun Media that the lyrical content of "All Nightmare Long" was "an attempt to get back to the H.P. Lovecraft mythos" which Hetfield referenced on the band's classic 1986 track "The Thing That Should Not Be".
The Cox Arena footage on the band website includes the Meet-And-Greet, and three songs - The Call Of Ktulu, Fade To Black, and No Remorse.
The band has had a long friendly history with San Diego, with many local concert recordings – both authorized and underground – turning up.
And of course there were several locally-produced unauthorized comic book biographies about the band...
(Revolutionary Comics)
When Metallica arrived at the Arena back in December, their 14-page backstage rider assured that they would put aside their widely chronicled differences long enough to play a full set, barring "sickness, inability to perform, accident, fire, failure of means of transportation, failure of power and technical difficulties, Act of God, riots, strikes, labor disputes, epidemics or any other act or order of any public authority" outside Metallica's control. "General liability" insurance must be purchased against the performance for $5 million.
Other requirements: Ten backstage or on-site rooms must be provided, including the band's dressing room, a "Food & Schmooze" room (with three banquet tables, a sofa, loveseat, and 12 chairs), a "Tuning Room" with four padded folding chairs ("no arms"), a separate "Wardrobe Room," a "Tech Room," offices for "Production," "Management," and "Accounting," and a "Pyro Room" for the fireworks crew ("no carpeting, if possible").
Metallica's dressing room needs two one-liter bottles of Schweppes diet tonic water ("please no two-liter bottles"), six 20-oz. bottles each of Glaceau brand "Revive" fruit punch mineral water and "Energy" tropical citrus vitamin water, six bottles of Hi-O-Silver oxygen water, six cans of Red Bull ("sugar free"), and 12-packs of Heineken, Corona, and Coors Light ("must be in cans, please"). Five "small containers" of yogurt must be provided ("1 raspberry, 1 blueberry, 1 strawberry, and two vanilla") as well as a bowl of fresh hummus, a bag of miniature chocolates, two bars of "good dark chocolate candy," and two boxes of "cube shaped" tissues. Guitarists Kirk Hammett and James Hetfield request side-stage refreshments: four 20-oz. bottles each of lemon-lime "original flavor" Gatorade.
At least 38 security guards must police the barricade between band and audience. And finally, "There shall be no announcements, no emcee, no welcoming speeches" from the stage before Metallica plays.
PEPPER & SUPERVILLAINS & PASSAFIRE AT HOUSE OF BLUES: 1-2-09
Nearly-famous former neighbors Pepper returned to San Diego for a homecoming set at the downtown HOB on Friday night, January 2, backing up their buddies in the Supervillains. Awhile back, Pepper relocated to Kailua Kona, Hawaii, but many locals still consider Pepper to be hometown heroes. The show was open to all-ages.
[NOTE: Pepper publicist Bari kindly sent this correction to above - apologies for getting it wrong: "Pepper relocated FROM Hawaii to the mainland over 10 years ago and is still currently living in Southern California (Orange County to be exact). I have attached a copy of the band’s full bio to this email so you have it for reference. We do thank you for giving some backstory to the band and their journey, but hopefully this will be able to give you more up-to-date information."]
“The first leg of the Law Records Tour was insane every night, and this one is shaping up to be even crazier,” emailed Supervillains singer/guitarist Scott Suldo shortly before the show. “Supervillains are direct-supporting Pepper, and our horn players make cameos all over Pepper's set. Being Slightly Stoopid’s hometown as well, there's a chance we might bring out Kyle [McDonald] because he appears on our new album [Massive], but I don’t know if they're gonna be in town or not.”
Our freelance photog-on-the-spot Sage Robinson (www.myspace.com/yourmoneylady) reported live from the concert, along with her friend Sylvia Snyder, though she says they didn’t think much of Pepper.
“Pepper’s drummer’s girlfriend made him take away our photo pass, apparently because she was jealous of us taking pictures,” according to Sage. “Pepper was not friendly to help us at all…they were complete a-holes! We were not even allowed to take photos of them!”
“Supervillains rocked, though Kyle from Slightly Stoopid didn’t show to play with them. Passafire opened the show, and they rocked. They were very down to earth, with great music!”
As this report was coming in, just after the show, Sage and her friend Sylvia were hanging out with Passafire backstage, and then at Sage’s place.
“I asked them if they Overheard in San Diego anything funny or dumb for your comic, and they said not until they got to my place!! Anyway, they were dancing prom style like a penguin with my girlfriend Sylvia. She is wasted right now…at the moment, she is singing Boys II Men’s ‘Legacy’ while dancing penguin style with Cliff (lead guitar for Passafire), who happens to play white reggae with the band.”
Pepper landed its first big break several years ago, when L.A. DJ "Jed the Fish" got his station (KROQ-FM) to play the reggae/rock trio's "Give It Up." That airplay spurred other stations across the country to play the song, which in turn launched a label bidding war over the band (which includes guitarist Kaleo Wassman and bassist Bret Bollinger).
"There were, like, five labels," Pepper drummer Yesod Williams told Blurt (June 30, 2005). "Columbia, Interscope, Maverick...we went with Lava/Atlantic because they only release, like, 13 records a year. Capitol releases, like, 300." Lava gave the band a three-album deal.
"Nowadays, no one gets huge advances," admits Williams. "But we're happy with the deal, to say the least."
Pepper moved to Vista from Hawaii in 1999, eventually landing a deal with Volcom Entertainment. They started working with Matt Phillips of Silverback Management (Slightly Stoopid, Fishbone) in 2003. Phillips took "Give It Up" -- originally released in 2002 -- to KROQ.
"It was similar to 'Date Rape' by Sublime," says Phillips. "That song was around for three years until it took off [via radio airplay]." The 2007 Warped Tour included Pepper and fellow locals As I Lay Dying.
In their ten-year existence, the Supervillains have taken their resurgent ska and reggae sound from Oakland CA to all over the world. Since the 2006 release of their debut album Grow Yer Own on Law Records, the band has logged over 400 shows.
Their patented sound is generated by a rock-solid rhythm section including two vocalists in band founders Scott Suldo (guitar) and Dominic Maresco (drums). Bassist Daniel Grundorf provides the low-end super-glue that paves the way for the fiery horn section of Jonathan Cestero (tenor sax) and Ricardo San Jose (trumpet). Their "anything goes" live performances give way periodically to their onstage musings and commentary, which often times is as memorable as the music. Capitalizing on the many different musical influences of the band members, their sets usually volley between Operation Ivy-style speed-punk and Studio One-era reggae punctuated with southern harmonies and Latin brass.
The Supervillains’ newest album Massive was released November 25 on Law Records, in conjunction with Silverback Entertainment's new umbrella Controlled Substances SoundLabs (Sony RED).
Famous Former Neighbors - The Article: Underground With The Celebrity Dead - Local gravesites of the rich and famous
Do It Yourself Music Television - A history of local public access music TV shows
Weird Beatles Merchandise - WTF were these licensors (and bootleggers) thinking... http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2008/feb/06/my-brunch-with-yoko-plus-weird-beatles
My Brunch With Yoko - Brunch with a Beatle bride... http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2008/feb/06/my-brunch-with-yoko-plus-weird-beatles
Yoko Ono Comics and Stories - When Johnny Met Yoko, with dialogue and captions paraphrased from published Lennon interviews. Plus John Lennon: A Life in the Day
Snotley Crue Comics and Stories - spoofing U-know-hooey
When Your Love Is Locked Up - On California women's prisons and the families and loved ones of prisoners. Focus is on my good friend Danielle Barcheers, the 2nd youngest female ever convicted of a capital crime in CA state history (now ten years into a 20-to-life sentence). Plus 100 Rockin' Local Lawsuits....
Like this blog? Here are some related links:
OVERHEARD IN SAN DIEGO - Several years' worth of this comic strip, which debuted in the Reader in 1996: http://www.sandiegoreader.com/photos/galleries/overheard-san-diego/
FAMOUS FORMER NEIGHBORS - Over 100 comic strips online, with mini-bios of famous San Diegans: http://www.sandiegoreader.com/photos/galleries/famous-former-neighbors/
SAN DIEGO READER MUSIC MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/sandiegoreadermusic
JAY ALLEN SANFORD MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/jayallensanford
Here's something you might be interested in.
Previous article
For its pilsner, Stone opts for public hops
"We really enjoyed the American Hop profile in our Pilsners"
Why Al Kooper Hates Local Writers (But Loves San Diego), plus Metallica Loves San Diego Too, Local Public Access Music Show History, more
Also Local Public Access Music History
Press to play the Overheard song!
Cathryn Beeks: Vocals www.myspace.com/cathrynbeeksordeal
Sven-Erik Seaholm: Vocals, Guitars, Bass www.svensongs.com
Bill Ray: Drums www.billraydrums.com
NEW COMPREHENSIVE LOCAL MUSIC DATABASE IS LAUNCHED
IT'S DONE!!!! And growing every hour....
If you wanna see a list of over 1,5000 San Diego bands, with links to full profiles, photos, discographies, articles, MP3s, etc, checkout http://www.sandiegoreader.com/bands/search/
Believe it or not, you can click on ANY LOCAL MUSICIAN'S NAME (around 4,500 musicos listed!) and bring up bios of every notable band they've ever been in! Try it here with Rob Crow ---
AND, if that wasn't cool 'nuff, click on an instrument, say like this here link to "Drums" - BAM, a list of EVERY DRUMMER IN SAN DIEGO!!!
We've been working on this massively cross-linked Local Music Database for over two years now, covering a century of San Diego history --- if you're a local performer who wants to add or edit a page, go to http://www.sandiegoreader.com/band/edit/
More anon!!!! JAS
WHY AL KOOPER HATES LOCAL WRITERS (BUT LOVES SAN DIEGO)
The legendary Al Kooper makes another appearance tonight at the old Normal Heights church that hosts the Acoustic Music San Diego series. Our own William Crain wrote an excellent Of Note about the man himself – go ahead and checkitout, I’ll wait - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2009/jan/07/al-kooper
Another Reader contrib, Josh Board, attended a 2005 Kooper show at AMSD and wrote about it for our Blurt column. As I found out when I later contacted Mr. Kooper, he wasn’t at all happy with Josh’s piece. www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2005/jan/27/when-i-asked-al-kooper
Two things in particular seemed to irk him – Josh wrote “The sold-out show started more than half an hour late,” a claim disputed by venue operator Carey Driscoll. Josh also related some questions he asked Kooper before the show, apparently with Kooper assuming him to be just another patron rather than a reporter. But the biggie, apparently, was Josh’ toss-off comment in Blurt that “Anyone's got to sing better than Kooper.”
So fast forward to October 2005 – I contacted Kooper through AMSD to see if he’d care to contribute a capsule to a Reader article asking people where they were and what they were doing on the day John Lennon was killed. Kooper, it turns out, was actually recording with George Harrison at the time of Lennon’s murder – however, it didn’t look good for the Reader getting Kooper to tell the tale, once I got this email:
AL KOOPER: “IF I am not mistaken, Josh Board is a writer for your magazine. He has insulted me in print and very unprofessionally ‘interviewed’ me. That has really soured me on your publication. If I am wrong and he does not write a column in your paper, I am interested.”
Well, he was not wrong, and he sent me further clarification on his position:
AL KOOPER: “Y'know, Jay when it says ‘....the worst singer in the world...’ - San Diego Reader, it really doesn’t matter who does what. And when he interrupts my soundcheck just to get his personal stuff signed (which I do because he knows Carey), and he misquotes me in what he claims in print, is an interview, it all reflects on the San Diego Reader, whether you know him or not. So tell Josh the guy that spent that day with George Harrison wouldn’t do the piece because of Josh's underhanded assassination job. Maybe it will improve his style. It wasn’t that he said bad stuff about me – it’s that he interrupted me to get his personal stuff SIGNED BY ME, and then assassinated me claiming he interviewed me. Bad journalism hurts us all. Hopefully, this time it hurts him. I am truly sorry because it’s certainly not YOUR fault.”
Now, to be fair, Kooper has long had an adversarial history with journalists. Including other locals.
The late, great musician/writer/all-around-great-guy Buddy Blue wrote a piece for his Blue Notes column that also seemed to take potshots at the man (photo courtesy buddyblue.net):
BUDDY BLUE: “As a lifelong advocate of the vastly under-appreciated Kooper, I was quite disappointed to find him personally somewhere between stand-offish to downright butt-headed when we met a few months ago at his local concert. Still, I can't deny the man his props: this, the first real Kooper solo album in 30 years (!!), is also his very best; 70 minutes of amalgamated pop/blues/jazz/soul triumph nearly the equal of his unconquerable Blood Sweat & Tears masterpiece, Child Is Father To The Man. The songs, performances, arrangements, production; all approach something frighteningly close to perfection. Welcome back. Butthead.”
Kooper actually took the time to write Blue a lengthy thought-out email, which I don’t think Buddy would mind me sharing with you now:
AL KOOPER: “Sorry I couldn’t live up to your expectations, or be the man you'd hoped I'd be. I was certainly happy to meet you. But I'm just another slug getting ready to play a two hour show and clear my head out to do the best I can for people who went out of their way to come see me. Then I sit in a corner and sign every possible piece of memorabilia that people bring for an hour, pack up all my own sh-t (no roadie or posse, Jack) and then travel two hours to my next hotel. Surely, you've been through this dude - Maybe you were never the prince people hoped u might be when they encountered you b4 or after a show. I don’t recall treating you badly at all. You're one of my heroes, fer chrissakes - for writing that DCT piece.... so let me pass on a little advice to you. It’s actually my mantra that has kept me virtually sane for the last 47 years of my professional life – ‘If you don’t expect anything, you're NEVER disappointed.’ Try it on, bud. It fits great - in biz and in life."
"Your friend in words & music, Al Kooper."
I have to side with Kooper in both instances ----- I can see why he felt unfairly maligned, without having actually done any specific thing to justify the published commentaries (surely there are far worse singers, making much more money for their warblings – Kooper may not be Caruso, but I’VE never heard him sing a note that I’d call a bum one).
So, anyway, thanks to an assist from Carey at AMSD, Al Kooper did finally agree to tell me about the day he heard John Lennon had been murdered.
Here’s Kooper’s commentary, which is, as he requested, presented exactly as he wrote it ----
AL KOOPER: “I was born an insomniac. Tests later revealed that when I eventually fell asleep, I would immediately descend into the deepest sleep there is; one that takes normal folks 3 to 6 hours to reach; the filet mignon of bedtime. I usually only sleep two to four hours each evening.”
“On the evening of December 8th, I was living in London in the UK and had just returned from George Harrison's home, where I was helping to record Somewhere In England, his latest album-in-progress. I had a bit of a nap on the two hour drive home in fellow musician Ray Cooper's Rolls Royce, so I was kinda up for the night. The TV usually went blank at midnight and I would switch the radio on routinely so that I had company in the wee hours.”
“The news in London because of the time change came about 2:30 AM. It started with news that John had been shot.”
“I was aghast. It quickly followed that he was dead. Stunned, I went back and forth optioning calling George as I'm sure I was one of a handful of Brits who HAD this info. I couldn’t be the one to tell him, I reasoned. He's gonna need that sleep he's getting now, I surmised knowing the British media.”
“At 9 AM, I called Ray Cooper who was co-producer of the album, and after a lengthy chat, we decided to go ahead with the session - that it might keep George from dwelling in sadness all day. Armed with a few bottles of excellent wine, we arrived there about noon. A gaggle of reporters greeted us at the main gate standing in the English rain. We sidestepped their enqueries, locked the gate and drove up to the house.”
“George was white. He hugged us both and we began the days work. We stopped three times during the next ten hours. Phone calls from Ringo, Paul & Yoko. He began rewriting lyrics to a track we had just cut the day before. In ensuing days, McCartney put backing vocals on, joining George & Ringo on that track and oh yes, the insomniac Wurlizer pianist from New York who was one of the first to purchase 'She Loves You' approximately 16 years before.”
“That track soon evolved into an honest musical tribute to John, and became a #1 single in the US scant months later. By ten PM, he was exhausted and a bit inebriated. He thanked us both for coming and headed for the arms of Morpheus. Ray & I headed back to London, glad we had done what we could for George that day.”
“I shall never forget that 24 hour period as long as I live.”
Catch Al Kooper tonight at Acoustic Music San Diego, at 4650 Mansfield Street, Normal Heights - (619) 303-8176. And, if you like the show, be sure to tell him so ------
Concert Pick-o-the-Week: CROSSFIRE - STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN TRIBUTE, SATURDAY JAN 10
Alan Iglesias and Crossfire perform a Stevie Ray Vaughan tribute. “A lot of guitarists find his music very hard to play,” says Iglesias. “If any of his songs were actually extremely hard for me to play, then it would be arguable that I have no business doing a tribute to him. I think perhaps a better way of saying this would be that the more improvising I need to do on a particular song, the more I must extend myself and make sure that I do a credible job of bringing back some of the feeling that people got from listening to Stevie ‘go off’ on that particular song.”
His influences, however, don’t begin and end with Vaughan. “I’ve been listening to a lot of original Delta blues in the past few years,” he says, “not only to soak up the history, but also because I’d like to take and cover some of that music with a more energized, electric approach. Anyone who loves the blues owes it to themselves to get Alan Lomax’s ‘The Land Where the Blues Began’ book and CD.”
“Believe it or not, I don’t listen to music on a regular basis. I find it so distracting that I can’t get anything else done, so most of my listening is to songs that I’ll be learning to play. I do listen to certain CDs sometimes, and there are some I look forward to [hearing], like the Eric Clapton and JJ Cale Escondido CD…inspiration is important, whether for original music or for doing cover songs.”
Iglesias says his Vaughan tribute is more a “recreation” than a tribute. “Looks, appearances, and body language are extremely important if you want to present a world-class act,” he says, “but never at the expense of musicianship. Actually, the two are entwined, I think. I explain it this way: It’s perhaps not so important that I try to look and sound exactly like Stevie looked and sounded — although I certainly give that a lot of effort — but, rather, to strive for a situation in which I am feeling some of the same things that Stevie was feeling when he played a live show.”
While interviewing Iglesias, I point out that some musicians resent his ability to sell out shows on the strength of SRV’s reputation, while all-original bands have difficulty landing gigs.
“On one level,” he replies, “I don't blame them a bit. But these days, the people you describe are going to be typically a lot younger than me, and are already considering me a musical fossil anyway. They have a wonderful chance, like I once had, to break into an industry in which the vast majority of current popular music speaks to them and the material that they are creating. This will never again happen for me. So I say to them ‘fight the good fight’ and, if they’re lucky, they will have wonderful, soulful music like Stevie’s, and perhaps an audience who cares, to play when they are old and washed up.”
Alan Iglesias and Crossfire; a Tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan, appears Saturday, January 10, at Patrick’s II.
http://alaniglesias-and-crossfire.com
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/bands/alan_iglesias_crossfire_a_tribute_to_stevie_ray/
Stevie Ray Vaughn Painting by Ken Meyer jr
NEED A [PRO]SHOT OF METALLICA FOOTAGE FROM COX ARENA 12-15?
Lars likes us! He really likes us! Well, unless you download his musical illegally, or publish an unauthorized comic book bio about him.........
Most major local concerts end up on YouTube or elsewhere, in snippets or their entirely, often before the drums have been loaded out the venue’s back door. Rare, tho, are the clips with decent sound OR vid ----
The Metallica San Diego footage streaming on the band’s website, however, is top-notch, pro-shot, and fairly impressive – I can take or leave Death Magnetic, but it looks like they still command and destroy on stage. They’ve been such cartoons of themselves, for too very long now – I still wince at recalling Lars gnashing his daddy issues throughout Some Kind of Monster (=shudder=) ----
The backstage San Diego meet-n-greet alone is well worth a gander – dig the guy who drove 27 hours from Mexico City, just to hear James Hetfield say “Right on!”
Blabbermouth reports: Official Metallica.com footage from METALLICA's concerts in San Diego (Dec. 15, 2008) and Los Angeles (Dec. 18, 2008) can be viewed on YouTube and on the band's website. The clips include footage from meet-and-greet sessions, backstage jams and the actual performances.
The band issued a new nine-minute video for the song "All Nightmare Long" from its latest album, Death Magnetic.
The clip, which premiered at Metallica.com, is a weird and creepy mix of animation and what is made to resemble old stock footage. It tells an alternate history story of mutant spores discovered by the Soviet Union and used as a biological weapon to turn U.S. citizens into zombies during the Cold War.
The band performed the song itself live for the first time on December 5 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Yep, it's archived online:
Frontman James Hetfield told Sun Media that the lyrical content of "All Nightmare Long" was "an attempt to get back to the H.P. Lovecraft mythos" which Hetfield referenced on the band's classic 1986 track "The Thing That Should Not Be".
The Cox Arena footage on the band website includes the Meet-And-Greet, and three songs - The Call Of Ktulu, Fade To Black, and No Remorse.
The band has had a long friendly history with San Diego, with many local concert recordings – both authorized and underground – turning up.
And of course there were several locally-produced unauthorized comic book biographies about the band...
(Revolutionary Comics)
When Metallica arrived at the Arena back in December, their 14-page backstage rider assured that they would put aside their widely chronicled differences long enough to play a full set, barring "sickness, inability to perform, accident, fire, failure of means of transportation, failure of power and technical difficulties, Act of God, riots, strikes, labor disputes, epidemics or any other act or order of any public authority" outside Metallica's control. "General liability" insurance must be purchased against the performance for $5 million.
Other requirements: Ten backstage or on-site rooms must be provided, including the band's dressing room, a "Food & Schmooze" room (with three banquet tables, a sofa, loveseat, and 12 chairs), a "Tuning Room" with four padded folding chairs ("no arms"), a separate "Wardrobe Room," a "Tech Room," offices for "Production," "Management," and "Accounting," and a "Pyro Room" for the fireworks crew ("no carpeting, if possible").
Metallica's dressing room needs two one-liter bottles of Schweppes diet tonic water ("please no two-liter bottles"), six 20-oz. bottles each of Glaceau brand "Revive" fruit punch mineral water and "Energy" tropical citrus vitamin water, six bottles of Hi-O-Silver oxygen water, six cans of Red Bull ("sugar free"), and 12-packs of Heineken, Corona, and Coors Light ("must be in cans, please"). Five "small containers" of yogurt must be provided ("1 raspberry, 1 blueberry, 1 strawberry, and two vanilla") as well as a bowl of fresh hummus, a bag of miniature chocolates, two bars of "good dark chocolate candy," and two boxes of "cube shaped" tissues. Guitarists Kirk Hammett and James Hetfield request side-stage refreshments: four 20-oz. bottles each of lemon-lime "original flavor" Gatorade.
At least 38 security guards must police the barricade between band and audience. And finally, "There shall be no announcements, no emcee, no welcoming speeches" from the stage before Metallica plays.
PEPPER & SUPERVILLAINS & PASSAFIRE AT HOUSE OF BLUES: 1-2-09
Nearly-famous former neighbors Pepper returned to San Diego for a homecoming set at the downtown HOB on Friday night, January 2, backing up their buddies in the Supervillains. Awhile back, Pepper relocated to Kailua Kona, Hawaii, but many locals still consider Pepper to be hometown heroes. The show was open to all-ages.
[NOTE: Pepper publicist Bari kindly sent this correction to above - apologies for getting it wrong: "Pepper relocated FROM Hawaii to the mainland over 10 years ago and is still currently living in Southern California (Orange County to be exact). I have attached a copy of the band’s full bio to this email so you have it for reference. We do thank you for giving some backstory to the band and their journey, but hopefully this will be able to give you more up-to-date information."]
“The first leg of the Law Records Tour was insane every night, and this one is shaping up to be even crazier,” emailed Supervillains singer/guitarist Scott Suldo shortly before the show. “Supervillains are direct-supporting Pepper, and our horn players make cameos all over Pepper's set. Being Slightly Stoopid’s hometown as well, there's a chance we might bring out Kyle [McDonald] because he appears on our new album [Massive], but I don’t know if they're gonna be in town or not.”
Our freelance photog-on-the-spot Sage Robinson (www.myspace.com/yourmoneylady) reported live from the concert, along with her friend Sylvia Snyder, though she says they didn’t think much of Pepper.
“Pepper’s drummer’s girlfriend made him take away our photo pass, apparently because she was jealous of us taking pictures,” according to Sage. “Pepper was not friendly to help us at all…they were complete a-holes! We were not even allowed to take photos of them!”
“Supervillains rocked, though Kyle from Slightly Stoopid didn’t show to play with them. Passafire opened the show, and they rocked. They were very down to earth, with great music!”
As this report was coming in, just after the show, Sage and her friend Sylvia were hanging out with Passafire backstage, and then at Sage’s place.
“I asked them if they Overheard in San Diego anything funny or dumb for your comic, and they said not until they got to my place!! Anyway, they were dancing prom style like a penguin with my girlfriend Sylvia. She is wasted right now…at the moment, she is singing Boys II Men’s ‘Legacy’ while dancing penguin style with Cliff (lead guitar for Passafire), who happens to play white reggae with the band.”
Pepper landed its first big break several years ago, when L.A. DJ "Jed the Fish" got his station (KROQ-FM) to play the reggae/rock trio's "Give It Up." That airplay spurred other stations across the country to play the song, which in turn launched a label bidding war over the band (which includes guitarist Kaleo Wassman and bassist Bret Bollinger).
"There were, like, five labels," Pepper drummer Yesod Williams told Blurt (June 30, 2005). "Columbia, Interscope, Maverick...we went with Lava/Atlantic because they only release, like, 13 records a year. Capitol releases, like, 300." Lava gave the band a three-album deal.
"Nowadays, no one gets huge advances," admits Williams. "But we're happy with the deal, to say the least."
Pepper moved to Vista from Hawaii in 1999, eventually landing a deal with Volcom Entertainment. They started working with Matt Phillips of Silverback Management (Slightly Stoopid, Fishbone) in 2003. Phillips took "Give It Up" -- originally released in 2002 -- to KROQ.
"It was similar to 'Date Rape' by Sublime," says Phillips. "That song was around for three years until it took off [via radio airplay]." The 2007 Warped Tour included Pepper and fellow locals As I Lay Dying.
In their ten-year existence, the Supervillains have taken their resurgent ska and reggae sound from Oakland CA to all over the world. Since the 2006 release of their debut album Grow Yer Own on Law Records, the band has logged over 400 shows.
Their patented sound is generated by a rock-solid rhythm section including two vocalists in band founders Scott Suldo (guitar) and Dominic Maresco (drums). Bassist Daniel Grundorf provides the low-end super-glue that paves the way for the fiery horn section of Jonathan Cestero (tenor sax) and Ricardo San Jose (trumpet). Their "anything goes" live performances give way periodically to their onstage musings and commentary, which often times is as memorable as the music. Capitalizing on the many different musical influences of the band members, their sets usually volley between Operation Ivy-style speed-punk and Studio One-era reggae punctuated with southern harmonies and Latin brass.
The Supervillains’ newest album Massive was released November 25 on Law Records, in conjunction with Silverback Entertainment's new umbrella Controlled Substances SoundLabs (Sony RED).
Famous Former Neighbors - The Article: Underground With The Celebrity Dead - Local gravesites of the rich and famous
Do It Yourself Music Television - A history of local public access music TV shows
Weird Beatles Merchandise - WTF were these licensors (and bootleggers) thinking... http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2008/feb/06/my-brunch-with-yoko-plus-weird-beatles
My Brunch With Yoko - Brunch with a Beatle bride... http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2008/feb/06/my-brunch-with-yoko-plus-weird-beatles
Yoko Ono Comics and Stories - When Johnny Met Yoko, with dialogue and captions paraphrased from published Lennon interviews. Plus John Lennon: A Life in the Day
Snotley Crue Comics and Stories - spoofing U-know-hooey
When Your Love Is Locked Up - On California women's prisons and the families and loved ones of prisoners. Focus is on my good friend Danielle Barcheers, the 2nd youngest female ever convicted of a capital crime in CA state history (now ten years into a 20-to-life sentence). Plus 100 Rockin' Local Lawsuits....
Like this blog? Here are some related links:
OVERHEARD IN SAN DIEGO - Several years' worth of this comic strip, which debuted in the Reader in 1996: http://www.sandiegoreader.com/photos/galleries/overheard-san-diego/
FAMOUS FORMER NEIGHBORS - Over 100 comic strips online, with mini-bios of famous San Diegans: http://www.sandiegoreader.com/photos/galleries/famous-former-neighbors/
SAN DIEGO READER MUSIC MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/sandiegoreadermusic
JAY ALLEN SANFORD MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/jayallensanford
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