VAN HALEN

Van Halen

Michael Anthony (bass, vocals; born June 20, 1954), Sammy Hagar (vocals; born October 13, 1947), David Lee Roth (vocals; born October 10, 1955), Alex Van Halen (drums; born May 8, 1953), Eddie Van Halen (guitar, synthesizer; January 26, 1955)

Van Halen formed in 1974 but emerged in public view with the 1978 release of their self-titled debut album, which quickly established them as the hottest American hard-rock band since Aerosmith. Van Halen reinvigorated hard rock during a period of doldrums by bringing youthful, West Coast bravado and blistering virtuosity to the genre. Much of the latter was provided by Eddie Van Halen, who exhibited blinding speed, control and innovation on the guitar. His two-handed fretboard-tapping was just one technique that he introduced to legions of young guitarists. Counterpointing Eddie’s musical genius was vocalist David Lee Roth, a flamboyant extrovert whose gruff voice, salacious wit and gymnastic moves sparked Van Halen’s live shows. Rounding out the quartet were Alex Van Halen (Eddie’s brother), a thunderous and inventive drummer, and bassist and harmony singer Michael Anthony.

Van Halen came together in Pasadena, California, where all four lived and went to school. Born in the Netherlands, the Van Halen brothers were the sons of a classical musician who relocated the family to Southern California in 1962. Roth’s opthalmologist father moved the family to Pasadena from Indiana. Anthony hailed from Chicago. Members of rival high-school bands, all four of them wound up attending Pasadena City College, where they combined forces as Mammoth and then dropped out to pursue their rock and roll dreams. Eventually, Warner Bros. offered the group a contract. Because there was already another Mammoth, the group renamed itself Van Halen, at Roth’s suggestion.

Released in 1978, Van Halen’s self-titled album opened with a virtuosic blast of energy from Eddie entitled “Eruption.”



It included a hard-rock remake of the Kinks’ “You Really Got Me” and such powerhouse originals as “Running with the Devil” and “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘bout Love.” Van Halen peaked at Number 19 but stayed on the charts for more than three years. After 30 years and 11 studio releases—four of which reached Number One—Van Halen remains the band’s top seller, with U.S. sales of more than 10 million. The band’s other blockbuster, 1984, has also surpassed the 10 million mark. To date, Van Halen has sold more than 56 million records in the U.S., which places them among the top 20 best-selling artists of all time.

Van Halen followed up its initial success with a string of dependably hard-rocking albums on a yearly timetable: Van Halen II (1979), Women and Children First (1980), Fair Warning (1981) and Diver Down (1982). In concert, the group delivered its self-described “big rock” with deafening intensity and bacchanalian abandon. Roth derived inspiration from such pre-rock entertainers as Al Jolson and Louis Prima, and the combination of his showmanship and the Van Halen brothers’ musical acumen proved irresistible.

The band hit a pinnacle with 1984, which was issued in that portentous year. The album had little to do with George Orwell’s novel of the same name, except for implicitly debunking its dire prophecies with some of the year’s hardest-rocking party music. 1984 contains three classics—"Jump," “Panama” and “Hot for Teacher"—that became staples of both Van Halen’s live show and MTV.




However, interpersonal strains between Roth —who cut a successful solo EP (Crazy from the Heat) and began eying a film career— and his band mates resulted in what Roth later termed a “bitter and ugly divorce” in the wake of their 1984 world tour.

However, Van Halen bounced back strong following Roth’s departure. The group recruited Sammy Hagar, who sang and played guitar. Hagar had started out with the hard-rock group Montrose and had a highly successful solo career. He fit well with Van Halen, with whom he was more personally compatible than his predecessor. In fact, the newly harmonious group scored its first Number One album with 5150, on which Hagar handles lead vocals.




It was the first of four consecutive chart-topping studio albums—the others being OU812, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge and Balance—from the reconfigured lineup. Even the 1993 double-disc Live: Right Here, Right Now made the Top Five. Meanwhile, the second incarnation of Van Halen often found itself on the singles charts with such hits as “Why Can’t This Be Love” (Number Three),

“When It’s Love” (Number Five),




“Top of the World” (Number 27) and “Can’t Stop Lovin’ You” (Number 30).

Much less successful was Van Halen III, the sole Van Halen album recorded with former Extreme vocalist Gary Cherone after Hagar’s ouster in 1996. Despite that commercial lapse, the Van Halen catalog has otherwise displayed remarkable consistency, with all 10 studio albums from the Roth and Hagar eras having been certified multi-platinum (more than one million copies sold). Although the merits of each vocalist’s tenure have been hotly debated, it should be noted that both halves of Van Halen’s career succeeded for different reasons. The first era worked because of the band members’ differences with Roth, while the second half worked because of their similarities with Hagar.

TIMELINE

October 13, 1947: Vocalist Sammy Hagar is born in Monterey, California.

October 10, 1953: David Lee Roth is born in Bloomington, Indiana.

May 8, 1953: Drummer Alex Van Halen is born in Niijmegen, Netherlands.

June 20, 1954: Bassist Michael Anthony of Van Halen is born in Chicago, Illinois.

January 26, 1955: Guitarist Eddie Van Halen is born in Niijmegen, Netherlands.

1962: Eddie and Alex Van Halen move to America with their family.

1977: Van Halen is signed to Warner Bros. after label executives catch one of their performances at Los Angeles’ Starwood Club.

March 11, 1978: Van Halen’s self-titled debut album enters the album charts, where it will remain for 169 weeks and peak at #19.

April 24, 1978: Six weeks after its release, Van Halen is certified gold (500,000 sold). Eighteen years later, it will be certified 10 times platinum (10 million sold).

July 14, 1979: “Dance the Night Away,” from Van Halen II, becomes the group’s first Top Twenty single, reaching #15.

April 11, 1981: Guitarist Eddie Van Halen marries actress Valerie Bertinelli.

April 3, 1983: Michael Jackson’s “Beat It,” which features a ripping solo from guitarist Eddie Van Halen, hits #1.

May 28, 1983: Van Halen performs at the second US Festival in California for the highest fee to date for a concert performance: $1 million. That works out to $12,500 per minute.

February 25, 1984: “Jump,” by Van Halen, reaches #1 on the Billboard singles Top 100, where it will remain for five weeks.

January 28, 1984: 1984, the sixth and final Van Halen album to feature vocalist David Lee Roth, debuts on the charts, where it will stay for a year and a half and peak at #2. Hit singles: “Jump” (#1), “Panama” (#13), “I’ll Wait” (#13), “Hot for Teacher” (#56).

April 26, 1986: 5150, the first Van Halen album with vocalist/guitarist Sammy Hagar, tops the chart for the first of four weeks. It will sell 6 million copies and launch three hits: “Why Can’t This Be Love” (#3), “Love Walks In” (#22) and “Dreams”



(#22).

June 25, 1988: OU812 becomes the second consecutive Van Halen album to top the album chart.

July 6, 1991: Van Halen’s For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge enters the album chart at #1, where it will remain for three weeks.

June 1996: Vocalist Sammy Hagar leaves Van Halen. His replacement is Gary Cherone, formerly of the progressive-rock group Extreme.

November 9, 1996: The Best of Van Halen, Volume 1, is released. The retrospective includes two new songs recorded with original vocalist David Lee Roth. It becomes Van Halen’s fifth #1 album.

November 1997: Van Halen III - the first and last album to feature the group’s short-lived third singer, Gary Cherone - is released.

February 8, 1999: 1984, by Van Halen, receives multi-platinum certification from the RIAA for 10 million copies sold.

July 20, 2004: The Best of Both Worlds, a double-CD Van Halen compilation, is released. It includes three new songs recorded with vocalist Sammy Hagar.

February 2, 2007: Van Halen announces that original vocalist David Lee Roth is rejoining the group for its 2007 world tour and that Eddie Van Halen’s son Wolfgang is bassist Michael Anthony’s replacement.

March 12, 2007: Van Halen is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the 22nd annual induction dinner.

poundcake




love walks in

Neil Young

(vocals, guitar, banjo, keyboards, harmonica; born November 12, 1945)

Neil Young is one of rock and roll’s greatest songwriters and performers. In a career that extends back to his mid-Sixties roots as a coffeehouse folkie in his native Canada, this principled and unpredictable maverick has pursued an often winding course across the rock and roll landscape. He’s been a cult hero, a chart-topping rock star, and all things in-between, remaining true to his restless muse all the while. At various times, Young has delved into folk, country, garage-rock and grunge. His biggest album, Harvest (1972) , apotheosized the laid-back singer/songwriter genre he helped invent. By contrast, Rust Never Sleeps (1979), Young’s second-best seller, was a loud, brawling masterpiece whose title track, an homage to Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols, contained the oft-quoted line “Better to burn out than it is to rust.”

Several of his more modest-selling titles - for example, Tonight’s the Night, Comes a Time and Trans - contain some of his most trenchant performances. It is typical of Young that he followed his most polished and popular album, Harvest, with one of his most raw and uncommercial, Time Fades Away. While he’s avoided sticking to one style for very long, the unifying factors throughout Young’s peripatetic musical journey have been his unmistakable voice, his raw and expressive guitar playing, and his consummate songwriting skill.

In the early 1960s the Canadian-born Young performed as a self-accompanied folksinger on the Toronto scene. As a budding rock and roller, he hooked up with such groups as the Squires and the Mynah Birds; the latter was briefly signed to Motown and also included budding funk-rocker Rick James. Buffalo Springfield came together in 1966, inaugurating a collaboration between Young and Stephen Stills that has been intermittently revived down the decades. As a member of Buffalo Springfield, Young contributed lead guitar and a raft of bittersweet folk-rock originals that included “Mr. Soul,” “Broken Arrow” and “Expecting to Fly.”

Young’s solo career took flight in 1969 with Neil Young, an album of pretty, brooding songs that included “The Loner.” This singer/songwriter debut was one of the first solo albums by a rock and roll figure, and it quietly presaged a major direction that music would take in the Seventies. In the more than 30 years since that album’s appearance, Young has recorded and toured tirelessly, releasing 35 albums. In addition to his prolific solo output, Young has undertaken occasional liaisons with Crosby, Stills and Nash (1970’s Déjà vu, 1988’s American Dream, 1999’s Looking Forward) and with Stephen Stills (1976’s Long May You Run, credited to the Stills-Young Band).

More lasting has been Young’s association with Crazy Horse, his steadiest backup band since 1969. Crazy Horse first turned up on Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Young’s second album, which contained the lengthy, jam-filled “Down by the River” and “Cowgirl in the Sand” and one of Young’s most memorable songs, “Cinnamon Girl.”






The group provided a solid, rocking base for Young’s songs and solos, and they’ve played with him on albums ranging from Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere and After the Gold Rush (1970) to Ragged Glory (1990) and Broken Arrow (1996). The mellower, more acoustic and folk-flavored side of Neil Young has surfaced on numerous albums, notably Harvest (1972) and its sequel, Harvest Moon (1993). He has also made detours into country music (1985’s Old Ways) and big-band blues (1988’s This Note’s for You). The one entity that Neil Young has come back to again and again, however, is Crazy Horse.

The original Crazy Horse included guitarist Danny Whitten, bass player Billy Talbot and drummer Ralph Molina. Whitten died of a heroin overdose in 1972, and his loss inspired much of the material on Young’s tempestuous and biographical Tonight’s the Night. Its release was delayed until 1975 out of fear it was too raw for the market Young had courted so successfully with Harvest (1972) and its #1 hit, “Heart of Gold.” Frank Sampedro joined Crazy Horse on guitar in 1976, making his debut on Young’s Zuma album. Young has termed his association with Crazy Horse “the essence of my musical life. This is the core, the smoldering thing I come back to over and over again....If I had never done anything else, the Crazy Horse stuff would just stand on its own.”

Over the years, Young has made his mark as an incorrigible artist with a distinctive, unvarnished style on electric guitar. His long, feedback-filled solos owe a debt to Jimi Hendrix, in spirit if not strictly in style. Young attributes his uncompromising approach to his early taste of success. The mass popularity he attained with “Heart of Gold,” a #1 hit in 1972, caused him to balk. “This song put me in the middle of the road,” he wrote in the liner notes to his retrospective Decade anthology. “Traveling there soon became a bore so I headed for the ditch. A rougher ride, but I saw more interesting people there.”

Nonetheless, one of his most successful albums, Rust Never Sleeps, was also one of his most uncompromising. Released in 1979, Rust Never Sleeps became an instant favorite of fans and critics. Mixing acoustic and electric numbers, it was largely inspired by the punk-rock insurgency – especially its anthemic title track, “Rust Never Sleeps (Hey Hey, My My [Into the Black])






. Rust Never Sleeps was followed by a concert video and double live album, Live Rust. At this point, Young was at a peak of popularity rivaling that of the early Seventies, when he was on top with After the Gold Rush and Harvest. Displaying no interest in repeating a formula, however, he followed Rust with the quiet, acoustic Hawks & Doves (1980) and the squalling, electric Re-ac-tor (1981).

Young’s ride became particularly bumpy during the Eighties, following his move from Reprise to Geffen Records. He veered somewhat recklessly from style to style, moving from computerized music made with sequencers and samplers (Trans) to backward-looking neo-rockabilly for the Reagan era (Everybody’s Rockin’) to a return to roots on the countrified Old Ways. In 1985, Young performed at the Live Aid fundraising extravaganza and then became one of the organizers and participants in Farm Aid, a yearly concert and consciousness-raising event. Young and his wife, Pegi, also founded San Francisco’s Bridge School, a learning center for handicapped children with communication disabilities.

After his checkered tenure at Geffen Records, during which Young was actually sued by the label for allegedly releasing non-commercial records, Young returned to the Reprise label. Like a man unshackled, Neil Young released the buoyant, bluesy and horn-stoked This Note’s for You, which found him backed by the ten-man Bluenotes. The title track mocked corporate sponsorship and MTV. Ironically, though it had been banned by the music channel upon its release in 1988, “This Note’s for You” won MTV’s Best Video award a year later.

Young’s career became more clearly focused, though no less given to willful shifts in style, mood and volume, with the release of Freedom 1989. Considered a return to form and his most vital work since Rust Never Sleeps, it included acoustic and electric versions of “Rockin’ in the Free World.” From there, Young entered the Nineties full of fire and drive. He kicked off the decade with Ragged Glory, which reunited him with Crazy Horse, and collaborated with alternative-rock heroes Pearl Jam on 1995’s Mirror Ball. He also nodded to his most popular album, 1972’s Harvest, by releasing a sequel, Harvest Moon, in 1992. Songs like “From Hank to Hendrix” and the title track assessed a generation’s coming of age and paid tribute to the enduring verities of friends, family and unconditional love. In the Nineties, Young’s studio releases were often followed by tours, live albums and video documentaries, revealing his relish for the energy and spontaneity of the stage.

Throughout his self-described “bumpy ride,” Young has consistently demonstrated the unbridled passion of an artist who understands that self-renewal is the only way to avoid burning out. For this reason, he has remained one of the most significant artists of the rock and roll era.

TIMELINE

November 12, 1945: Neil Young is born in Toronto, Canada.

January 23, 1969: In the wake of Buffalo Springfield’s demise, Neil Young releases his self-titled first solo album, which fails to make Billboard’s Top 200 album chart

May 27, 1969: Only five months after his debut album, Neil Young releases ‘Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere,’ the first of many with Crazy Horse.

March 17, 1970: ‘Deja Vu,’ by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, is released. With the addition of Neil Young giving the band a more electric edge, the album goes to #1 and sells more than 7 million copies.

September 16, 1970: Neil Young’s third solo album, ‘After the Gold Rush,’ is released. It peaks at #8 and yields a major hit, “Only Love Can Break Your Heart.”

March 11, 1972: Neil Young’s fourth solo album, ‘Harvest,’ tops the album charts for the first of two weeks. Having sold more than 4 million copies, it remains his best-selling album.

March 18, 1972: “Heart of Gold,” by Neil Young—and featuring Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor on harmony vocals—tops the singles charts.

May 3, 1972: “Old Man,” by Neil Young, peaks at #31 on the pop chart. It is the third and last time Young will crack the Top Forty

October 14, 1973: ‘Time Fades Away’, the first of three consecutive Neil Young albums that break with the mellow sound of the best-selling ‘Harvest,’ is released.

August 15, 1974: Neil Young taps into the spirit of Seventies malaise with ‘On the Beach,’ which ‘Rolling Stone’ calls “the most despairing album of the decade.”

July 16, 1975: Neil Young’s ‘Tonight’s the Night,’ an inspired by and dedicated to a pair of musical acquaintances who died of drug overdoses, is released.

November 25, 1976: Neil Young performs “Helpless” at ‘The Last Waltz,’ the Band’s farewell concert.

December 17, 1977: ‘Decade,’ a triple-album Neil Young retrospective personally assembled by the artist, is released.

October 18, 1978: ‘Comes a Time’, by Neil Young, is released.





One of Young’s most personal and intimate works, it peaks at #7 – a chart showing surpassed only by 1972’s Harvest (#1) and 1995’s Mirror Ball (#5)

July 19, 1979: ‘Rust Never Sleeps,’ by Neil Young, is released. It peaks at #8 and is certified platinum (one million sales) a year later.

November 19, 1981: ‘Re-ac-tor,’ Neil Young’s 16th and final album for Reprise Records – until his return to the label in 1988 – is released.

January 13, 1983: Neil Young kicks off his association with a new label, Geffen Records, with ‘Trans,’ an album of heavily synthesized, computer-generated songs interspersed with breezy love songs. It reaches #17, his best showing until ‘Harvest Moon’ peaks at #16 in 1992.

September 20, 1985: ‘Old Ways,’ a straightforward country-flavored album by Neil Young, is released.

April 21, 1988: Marking his return to Reprise Record, Neil Young releases ‘This Note’s for You,’ a bluesy, swinging album featuring a full horn section.

September 6, 1989: MTV presents “The 1989 MTV Video Music Awards” live from the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles.” Arsenio Hall is the host the Neil Young’s “This Note’s For You” takes home Video of the Year.

September 22, 1989: Neil Young releases ‘Freedom,’ his best album in a decade. A blistering performance of the opening track, “Rockin’ in the Free World,” on ‘Saturday Night Live’ is regarded as one of that show’s best performances.

September 23, 1990: ‘Ragged Glory,’ an electric return to form by Neil Young and Crazy Horse, is released.

October 24, 1992: Twenty years after the release of his milestone ‘Harvest,’ Neil Young issues a sequel, ‘Harvest Moon.’ It becomes his first million-seller since 1979’s ‘Rust Never Sleeps.’

July 15, 1993: Neil Young’s ‘Unplugged’ CD and video are released. Recorded on February 7th in Los Angeles and first aired on MTV in March, it is an all-acoustic 14-song set.

March 21, 1994: Neil Young’s Grammy-nominated “Philadelphia,” from the AIDS-themed movie of the same name, loses to Bruce Springsteen’s “Streets of Philadelphia’ (also on the soundtrack), for Best Song from a Motion Picture.

July 25, 1994: Neil Young releases ‘Sleeps With Angels,’ whose harder-edged sound nods to Seattle grunge-rockers and pays tribute to the late Kurt Cobain.

January 12, 1995: Neil Young is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the tenth annual induction dinner. Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam is his presenter.

May 26, 1995: Neil Young’s ‘Mirror Ball,’ an album recorded in Seattle with Pearl Jam, is released.

May 27, 1996: ‘Broken Arrow,’ which reunites Neil Young with Crazy Horse, is released.

April 25, 2000: Neil Young releases ‘Silver & Gold,’ one of his most intimate and personal albums.

November 21, 2000: ‘Road Rock Volume 1,’ a live album credited to Neil Young, Friends & Relatives, is released.

LED ZEPPELIN

...are....John “Bonzo” Bonham (drums; born May 31, 1948, died September 25, 1980), John Paul Jones (bass, keyboards; born January 3, 1946), Jimmy Page (guitar; born January 9, 1944), Robert Plant (vocals; born August 20, 1948)

Combining the visceral power and intensity of hard rock with the finesse and delicacy of British folk music, Led Zeppelin redefined rock in the Seventies and for all time. They were as influential in that decade as the Beatles were in the prior one. Their impact extends to classic and alternative rockers alike. Then and now, Led Zeppelin looms larger than life on the rock landscape as a band for the ages with an almost mystical power to evoke primal passions. The combination of Jimmy Page’s powerful, layered guitar work, Robert Plant’s keening, upper-timbre vocals, John Paul Jones’ melodic bass playing and keyboard work, and John Bonham’s thunderous drumming made for a band whose alchemy proved enchanting and irresistible. “The motto of the group is definitely, ‘Ever onward,’” Page said in 1977, perfectly summing up Led Zeppelin’s forward-thinking philosophy.

The group formed in 1968 from the ashes of the Yardbirds, for which guitarist Jimmy Page had served as lead guitarist after Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck. Page’s stint in the Yardbirds (1966-1968) followed a period of years as one of Britain’s most in-demand session guitarists. As a generally anonymous hired gun, Page performed on mid-Sixties British Invasion records by the likes of Donovan (“Hurdy Gurdy Man”), Them (“Gloria”), the Kinks (“You Really Got Me”), the Who (“I Can’t Explain”) and hundreds of others. Page assembled a “New Yardbirds” in order to fulfill contractual obligations that, once served, allowed him to move on to his blues-based dream band, Led Zeppelin.

Bassist John Paul Jones also boasted a lofty session musician’s pedigree. His resume included work for the Rolling Stones, Donovan, Jeff Beck and Dusty Springfield. Singer Robert Plant and drummer John “Bonzo” Bonham came from Birmingham, England, where they’d previously played in the Band of Joy. Page described Led Zeppelin in a press release for their first album with these words: “I can’t put a tag to our music. Every one of us has been influenced by the blues, but it’s one’s interpretation of it and how you utilize it. I wish someone would invent an expression, but the closest I can get is contemporary blues.” Integrating Delta blues and U.K. folk influences with a modern rock approach, Led Zeppelin’s symbiosis gave rise to hard rock, which flourished in the Seventies under their expert tutelage. Such classics as “Whole Lotta Love” were built around Page’s heavyweight guitar riffs, Plant’s raw, half-screamed vocals, and the rhythm section’s deep, walloping assaults – all hallmarks of a new approach to rock that combined heaviness and delicacy.

In Jimmy Page’s words, the band aimed for “a kind of construction in light and shade.” The members of Led Zeppelin were musical sponges, often traveling the world –literally traipsing about foreign lands and figuratively exploring the cultural landscape via their record collections – in search of fresh input to trigger their muse. “The very thing Zeppelin was about was that there were absolutely no limits,” explained bassist Jones. “We all had ideas, and we’d use everything we came across, whether it was folk, country music, blues, Indian, Arabic.”

The group’s use of familiar blues-rock forms spiced with exotic flavors found favor among the rock audience that emerged in the Seventies. Led Zeppelin aimed itself at the album market, eschewing the AM-radio singles orientation of the previous decade. Their self-titled first album found them elongating blues forms with extended solos and psychedelic effects, most notably on the agonized “Dazed and Confused,” and launching pithy hard-rock rave-ups like “Good Times Bad Times” and “Communication Breakdown.” Led Zeppelin II found them further tightening up and modernizing their blues-rock approach on such tracks as “Whole Lotta Love,” “Heartbreaker” and “Ramble On.” Led Zeppelin III took a more acoustic, folk-oriented approach on such numbers as Leadbelly’s “Gallows Pole” and their own “Tangerine,” yet they also rocked furiously on “Immigrant Song” and offered a lengthy electric blues, “Since I’ve Been Loving You.”

The group’s untitled fourth album (a.k.a., Led Zeppelin IV, “The Runes Album” and ZOSO), which appeared in 1971, remains an enduring rock milestone and their defining work. The album was a fully realized hybrid of the folk and hard-rock directions they’d been pursuing, particularly on “When the Levee Breaks” and “The Battle of Evermore.” “Black Dog” was a piledriving hard-rock number cut from the same cloth as “Whole Lotta Love.” Most significant of the album’s eight tracks was the fable-like “Stairway to Heaven,” an eight-minute epic that, while never released as a single, remains radio’s all-time most-requested rock song. Houses of the Holy, Led Zeppelin’s fifth album, was another larger-than-life offering, from its startling artwork to the adventuresome music within. Even more taut, dynamic and groove-oriented, it included such Zeppelin staples as “Dancing Days,” “The Song Remains the Same” and “D’yer Mak’er.” They followed this with the Physical Graffiti, a double-album assertion of group strength that included the “Trampled Underfoot,” “Sick Again,” “Ten Years Gone” and the lengthy, Eastern-flavored “Kashmir.”

Led Zeppelin’s sold-out concert tours became rituals of high-energy rock and roll theater. The Song Remains the Same, a film documentary and double-album soundtrack from 1976, attests to the group’s powerful and somewhat saturnalian appeal at the height of their popularity. The darker side of Led Zeppelin – their reputation as one of the most hedonistic and indulgent of all rock bands– is an undeniable facet of the band’s history.

In the mid-to-late Seventies, a series of tragedies befell and ultimately broke up Led Zeppelin. A 1975 car crash on a Greek island nearly cost Plant his leg and sidelined him (and the band) for two years. In 1977, Plant’s six-year-old son Karac died of a viral infection. The group inevitably lost momentum, as three years passed between the release of the underrated Presence (1976) and In Through the Out Door, their final studio album (1979). On September 25, 1980, while in the midst of rehearsals for an upcoming American tour, Led Zeppelin suffered another debilitating blow. Drummer John Bonham was found dead due to asphyxiation following excessive alcohol consumption. Feeling that he was irreplaceable, Led Zeppelin disbanded.

Robert Plant launched a solo career, Jimmy Page formed The Firm with former Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers, and John Paul Jones returned to producing, arranging and scoring music. There were brief reunions at Live Aid and for Atlantic Records’ 40th anniversary celebration. Something of the old power was rekindled in 1995 when Page and Plant reunited to record an album (No Quarter) and tour with a large and diverse ensemble of musicians.

Meanwhile, the Led Zeppelin legend endures and grows long after their demise, much like that of the Doors and Elvis Presley. The lingering appeal of Led Zeppelin is perhaps best summed up by guitarist Page: “Passion is the word....It was a very passionate band, and that’s really what comes through.” At the dawn of the new millennium, Led Zeppelin placed second only to the Beatles in terms of record sales, having sold 84 million units. Led Zeppelin IV is the fourth best-selling album in history, having sold more than 22 million copies, and four other albums by the band – Physical Graffiti, Led Zeppelin II, Houses of the Holy and Led Zeppelin - also rank among the all-time top 100 best-sellers. Fittingly, Led Zeppelin is tied with the Beatles (five apiece) for the most albums on that esteemed list – a mark of both bands’ impact. In their ceaseless determination to move music forward, Led Zeppelin carved out an indelible place in rock history.

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN





OVER THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY





SINCE IVE BEEN LOVING YOU






THE RAIN SONG






MOBY DICK





SINCE IVE BEEN LOVING YOU






Kashmir

JIMI HENDRIX

Widely recognized as one of the most creative and influential musicians of the 20th century, Jimi Hendrix pioneered the explosive possibilities of the electric guitar. Hendrix's innovative style of combining fuzz, feedback and controlled distortion created a new musical form. Because he was unable to read or write music, it is nothing short of remarkable that Jimi Hendrix's meteoric rise in the music took place in just four short years. His musical language continues to influence a host of modern musicians, from George Clinton to Miles Davis, and Steve Vai to Jonny Lang.

Jimi Hendrix, born Johnny Allen Hendrix at 10:15 a.m. on November 27, 1942, at Seattle's King County Hospital, was later renamed James Marshall by his father, James "Al" Hendrix. Young

Jimmy (as he was referred to at the time) took an interest in music, drawing influence from virtually every major artist at the time, including B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Buddy Holly, and Robert Johnson. Entirely self-taught, Jimmy's inability to read music made him concentrate even harder on the music he heard.

Al took notice of Jimmy's interest in the guitar, recalling, "I used to have Jimmy clean up the bedroom all the time while I was gone, and when I would come home I would find a lot of broom straws around the foot of the bed. I'd say to him, `Well didn't you sweep up the floor?' and he'd say, `Oh yeah,' he did. But I'd find out later that he used to be sitting at the end of the bed there and strumming the broom like he was playing a guitar." Al found an old one-string ukulele, which he gave to Jimmy to play a huge improvement over the broom.

By the summer of 1958, Al had purchased Jimmy a five-dollar, second-hand acoustic guitar from one of his friends. Shortly thereafter, Jimmy joined his first band, The Velvetones. After a three-month stint with the group, Jimmy left to pursue his own interests. The following summer, Al purchased Jimmy his first electric guitar, a Supro Ozark 1560S; Jimi used it when he joined The Rocking Kings

In 1961, Jimmy left home to enlist in the United States Army and in November 1962 earned the right to wear the "Screaming Eagles" patch for the paratroop division. While stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, Jimmy formed The King Casuals with bassist Billy Cox. After being discharged due to an injury he received during a parachute jump, Jimmy began working as a session guitarist under the name Jimmy James. By the end of 1965, Jimmy had played with several marquee acts, including Ike and Tina Turner, Sam Cooke, the Isley Brothers, and Little Richard. Jimmy parted ways with Little Richard to form his own band, Jimmy James and the Blue Flames, shedding the role of back-line guitarist for the spotlight of lead guitar.

Throughout the latter half of 1965, and into the first part of 1966, Jimmy played the rounds of smaller venues throughout Greenwich Village, catching up with Animals' bassist Chas Chandler during a July performance at Caf‚ Wha? Chandler was impressed with Jimmy's performance and returned again in September 1966 to sign Hendrix to an agreement that would have him move to London to form a new band
Switching gears from bass player to manager, Chandler's first task was to change Hendrix's name to "Jimi." Featuring drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Noel Redding, the newly formed Jimi Hendrix Experience quickly became the talk of London in the fall of 1966.

The Experience's first single, "Hey Joe," spent ten weeks on the UK charts, topping out at spot No. 6 in early 1967. The debut single was quickly followed by the release of a full-length album Are You Experienced, a psychedelic musical compilation featuring anthems of a generation. Are You Experienced has remained one of the most popular rock albums of all time, featuring tracks like "Purple Haze," "The Wind Cries Mary," "Foxey Lady," "Fire," and "Are You Experienced?"

Although Hendrix experienced overwhelming success in Britain, it wasn't until he returned to America in June 1967 that he ignited the crowd at the Monterey International Pop Festival with his incendiary performance of "Wild Thing." Literally overnight, The Jimi Hendrix Experience became one of most popular and highest grossing touring acts in the world.

Hendrix followed Are You Experienced with Axis: Bold As Love. By 1968, Hendrix had taken greater control over the direction of his music; he spent considerable time working the consoles in the studio, with each turn of a knob or flick of the switch bringing clarity to his vision.

Back in America, Jimi Hendrix built his own recording studio, Electric Lady Studios in New York City. The name of this project became the basis for his most demanding musical release, a two LP collection, Electric Ladyland. Throughout 1968, the demands of touring and studio work took its toll on the group and in 1969 the Experience disbanded.

The summer of 1969 brought emotional and musical growth to Jimi Hendrix. In playing the Woodstock Music & Art Fair in August 1969, Jimi joined forces with an eclectic ensemble called Gypsy Sun & Rainbows featuring Jimi Hendrix, Mitch Mitchell, Billy Cox, Juma Sultan, and Jerry Velez. The Woodstock performance was highlighted by the renegade version of "Star Spangled Banner," which brought the mud-soaked audience to a frenzy.

Nineteen sixty-nine also brought about a new and defining collaboration featuring Jimi Hendrix on guitar, bassist Billy Cox and Electric Flag drummer Buddy Miles. Performing as the Band of Gypsys, this trio launched a series of four New Year's performances on December 31, 1969 and January 1, 1970. Highlights from these performances were compiled and later released on the quintessential Band of Gypsys album in mid-1970 and the expanded Hendrix: Live At The Fillmore East in 1999.

As 1970 progressed, Jimi brought back drummer Mitch Mitchell to the group and together with Billy Cox on bass, this new trio once again formed The Jimi Hendrix Experience. In the studio, the group recorded several tracks for another two LP set, tentatively titled First Rays Of The New Rising Sun.

Unfortunately, Hendrix was unable to see this musical vision through to completion due to his hectic worldwide touring schedules, then tragic death on September 18, 1970. Fortunately, the recordings Hendrix slated for release on the album were finally issued through the support of his family and original studio engineer Eddie Kramer on the 1997 release First Rays Of The New Rising Sun.

From demo recordings to finished masters, Jimi Hendrix generated an amazing collection of songs over the course of his short career. The music of Jimi Hendrix embraced the influences of blues, ballads, rock, R&B, and jazz a collection of styles that continue to make Hendrix one of the most popular figures in the history of rock music.


FIRE








HEY JOE






PURPLE HAZE






ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER






THE WIND CRIES MARY






BACKSTAGE WITH HENDRIX

rock on

ONCE UPON A ROCK
LIVED TWO RADIO DUDES WHO LOVED TO ROCK
SO THEY WENT ON AIR AND ROCKED !
...the end