Continental

The Death of a Garage Band

Life is constantly evolving and so is music.   The memories will always remain.The future will always hold endless possibilities. So we move on now. Still a garage band in spirit.  Still carrying the Torch –

Rick Barton                                                                                                                                                        

Rick Barton was the original guitarist for the Dropkick Murphys from 1996 to 1999. He performed on several EPs as well as full length discs Do or Die and The Gang’s All Here. After that initial success, Barton backed away from the scene for a few years before jumping back in with both feet to form Continental in 2009. In a curious twist of fate Barton’s son listened to a rough version of  a song entitled Curious Spell and then encouraged his father to put a band together and get back on the road.  Barton was ready to go and felt that that he could help his son pay some dues and learn what it’s like to be touring musician. The road can be a harsh mistress as well as forgiving headmaster. This is a story of fathers and son; a search for the holy in the den of the profane.  Death of a Garage Band is the perfect name for the disc. Barton plays it rough and ready without overdubs. He doesn’t do pretty. This is a whiskey drenched soliloquy from a man who knows the truth. This is one of the gutsiest musical documents along with Modern Times by Dylan or Johnny Cash’s work with Rick Rubin.

Life is Just One Hard Broken Dream

Despite the overt pessimism in the title, Barton paints this song with subtle strokes that conveys a bit of Mose Allison irony. He sings it like a pissed off Steve Earle shouting about the FCC and the CIA and making it with Condoleezza Rice. Barton hasn’t lost a step. This is the real deal from a working class musician who creates honest music. This is a supersonic high speed punk rocker with a touch of roots rockabilly. He keeps up the harrowing tempo right through to the coda.

C’mon baby let me hold you

Wrecking Ball

This song opens with several bars of just Barton and his acoustic guitar. He sings about waking up on the wrong side of the bed and it is a downer for sure. The tempo picks up and Barton bangs out the chords like Green day before they got famous and pretty. The drummer is rock solid and pounds out the beat with atomic powered lightning strokes. The chorus is repeated several times just so you don’t miss it. She’s got 99 reasons to leave. There is a brief accapella vocal, don’t bring out the wrecking ball followed by a neat little bass to E-string riff with impeccable stop & go timing. Barton shouts out, “Let’s Go!” and the song slams shut with 99 reasons to leave. WHEW!

Monday Morning

The song begins soft and quiet , with a nice melodic touch then gets loud and frantic  as Barton spits out the lyrics like he’s choking with anger. He has the voice of the everyman but has an otherworldly banshee scream when he spits out the lyric, “You know it isn’t true.”  This is a breakup song yet Barton is more than a little ambivalent;

I called you up Monday Morning
To say that we’re through
Thought about it for the weekend  
And how much I’d miss you
It’s a strange situation  to 
wake up with someone new

It sounds a bit like a booze-soaked vision but it comes off a little like hedging on a bet. He’s holding a deuce but acting like he’s got an ace in the hole. He’s playing  for keeps with nothing to back it up. He wonders if he should fold or continue the bluff.

No Reservations

Barton may be middle-aged but he shows no signs of slowing down. Performing with his son must be energizing, fulfilling. Now he can give his son a real education, the wisdom of the ages and a glimpse of why he’s been hard or soft, remote and loving. Now Barton’s heart is wide open as he tells a story of fathers and sons. The band is tight and Barton’s guitar is a machine gun. The lightning riffs help define the message. It’s an honest take no prisoners approach to hard drivin’ punk rock reminiscent of the music the MC5 and Stooges created in the late sixties.  Rick Barton is unable to fake sincerity. He’s not cut from that cloth. He’s growing old but he will make things right with his son, the people he loves. This is a heartfelt treatise on living by the eight fold path through love and integrity.

Great Big Sun

The sweet melodic guitar trills at the beginning opens a lyrical path a wistful longing for…acceptance, normalcy or even steady income. But this is a life of a touring musician who also creates and records new music. Barton references the public’s preoccupation with passing fads, some forgotten. He could be talking about  popular music – big band, blues, jazz, rock, punk have all had their time in the spotlight; all fell from mass popularity only to resurface in small pockets across the globe. The verses speak of honest home grown values

We can build a house

we can plant some seeds

we make the neighborhood just a little bit more green

we carve our names in the tree out back 

we can live together in our tiny little shack

The shouted chorus says it all:

WE LOVE HOW WE LIVE
NO ONE CAN SAY WE’RE WRONG

….CAN’T SAY WE’RE WRONG

Truth

This is Barton chiding his friends/fans/lovers about truth and integrity even when it hurts his relationships. It could be about anyone or everyone, even be his old chums in the Dropkick Murphy’s. Barton has a fine radar for bullshit. He admits to his own wrongdoing and vows to change. It took him over three years to bring it back around and form Continental. The lyrics have some venom:

It’s all black or white to me  
I don’t know what the hell it means
Now you took my picture off the wall 
didn’t know you had me up there at all

Stay with Me

This is a hard rockin punk song a middle eight that has a musical structure similar to NRBQ’s  C’Mon Everybody and buddy holly’s Not Fade Away…only speeded up and punk’d. Barton’s guitar work is simply inspired. He kicks it in with incredibly nimble fingering and a great tone. He’s playing like Dave Edmunds whacked out on speed and nailing Sabre Dance like he’s the reincarnation of Khachaturian whacked out on the juice. This may be the hardest rocking track on then disc. This is a high volume, speeded up feedback-soaked masterpiece.  Barton sings from the heart

Help me now I’ve come undone 
lived all my life under our hot sun
I’ve been told this night ‘s about to come
I’ve pulled the trigger on this loaded gun

Don’t leave me now  
Stay with me
Don’t leave me now

A great closer.

A Great New CD By Brody & The Busch Rd Trio

Brody & the Busch Road Trio

We’re Just Visiting

Brody and his band are maturing artists with a definite vision for their evolving craft. They are flexing their musical muscle like a tri-athlete looking for the gold. They are full of energy and ideas and are testing the outer limits of their endurance. They are pushing back at a tawdry scene that’s teetering at the abyss, throwing a lifeline to music and art and reeling it all back in to the mother ship. This is an incredible body of work, honest and bold. Brody and the Busch Rd Trio are not hesitant to sing about truth and live with the consequences. This  is a pure triumph,  one of the best discs of the year. Take a listen

Stay is an introspective piece that recalls Michael Stipe in his early days with REM. Brody has a mic friendly voice with just enough quiver and nuance to show his vulnerability and make it his own. The basic premise is love and loneliness and the musical backdrop supports the breadth of emotional expression. The music segues from quiet to loud to match the emotions expressed by the singer.  Brody’s voice rises and the tempo picks up. A fuzz-tone slide adds a little punch to the despair in the lyric. The guitar work is incredible. Burk plays it like ringing a bell, loud yet melodic.

She left me in the sad mid-morning 
With nothing but the cup of coffee I was holding 
Said she’d get back to me someday 
The fog lifted slowly I prayed for rain 
Dark cloudy skies to conceal my pain 
But the rain washed them all away 
What to do now but go back inside 
Curse the bed where we lied and cry 
Babe why don’t you stay

Murphy Lake Road Interlude

Opens with Jangly guitar and a marching beat right outta Sousa. The guitarist plays some big fat notes and gives the song a great hook. Brody spits out the words like venom from a snake bite. His rapid fire gunshot vocals have a husky Jack Daniels on a Friday night when you stay just a little too long and you wake up with a headache and your underwear down at your ankles and you wonder when she left and what you did to her. At this point Burk heats up the guitar until it gets louder and louder until the distortion and feedback almost hurts. The discordance is a statement . The song ends with the guitarist striking a loud sustained open chord .

Me and Marie used to ride down Murphy Lk. Rd. in my old Caprice

Cooler in the back Seger and Springsteen in the summertime

She’d smile and take the wheel while I lit my cigarette

When the stars came out we’d lie on the hood and plan out our lives

She used to sing to me I’d write poetry

She’d smile and say hey that’s beautiful

I’d say hey babe it’s all about you

You don’t know what I go through

Every time you walk into a room

Juliet’s Got the Blues

This is a stoned rootsy earth anthem with a flavor of dylanesque harp and a slurry laconic vocal perfect for the sedative/hypnotic crowd. The drummer has a strong backbeat and provides some neat syncopation to breaks through the bluesy self-absorption of the protagonist. This title would fit neatly into the Mumford & Sons catalog if Brody would only curse more often and portray the confidence and sensibility of a drunkard or longshoreman. Still, all-in-all this is a love song that didn’t work out too well. She didn’t buy it and he felt the sting. The echoed guitar riff comes in to the mix like a choir of bagpipes. It’s like a banshee howl, a cry of despair - great song!

I finally gone and lost her for good this time

I write a letter everyday, but she won’t change her mind

Can’t recall what I did wrong Lord send me a sign

I finally gone and lost her for good this time

She said she’d love me for the rest of my life

I lost my poor children and I can’t find my wife

Forgive me my mistakes Lord I swear I’ll make em right

She said she’d love me for the rest of my life

Can’t Burn Vern

This is a hats off to Dave Grohl’s hats off to Kurt Cobain who begat the Foo Fighters who begat the saving of rock & roll through the ghost of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The thrashing thunderous guitars provide the rhythmic overtone while the bass and drums give the bottom real depth. The guitarist has a melodic touch that pulls it all together. Brody’s powerful vocals give the message a clip on the chin like Ali teasing Frasier at the Thrilla on Manila. The guitarist rocks mercilessly at the coda, hitting the E-string like samurai. This is Brody’s cry for help; a scream for salvation. Brody sounds more like Anthony Kiedis on this cut. Another hard rockin’ gem – anyone for Californication?

The way you look right through me

Baby thought you knew me

But you were mistaken

Now the change is takin

Over I can’t be you

But I will remain true

So don’t try and change me

I am all I can be

 So see me

Through your blindness

Kill me

With your kindness

  
Give it Away

Is the perfect vehicle to highlight the band’s fine-tuned musicality. The song has some neat syncopation and a tricky hesitation on the third beat of the verse with a sustained chord on the chorus. The timing is razor sharp. These cats can play. The lyrics have a heavy irony. He can forget and forgive all but his own sins. He could be reeling from a broken heart or some other addiction

Help me back Lord, to this life 
I have lived no, I have died 
Tell me how they did it those who came before me 
Followed footsteps, I fell shortly 
Can’t give it away 
Give it away 
Can’t give it away 
No I can’t get it back now

TN

This is down home country folk with primitive harp layered over top signaling like a freight train. The drummer keeps it going with a solid syncopation. The economical country rock guitar and those tasty full bodied notes allows the song space to breathe. The acoustic guitar helps drive the rhythm.

Livin too fast can’t catch up walk, crawl or run

60 hours won’t fill my pockets just a back ache and a heart gone numb

90 miles an hour down that road but you’ll never finish 1^st

Don’t wanna get there anyhow rather go in reverse

Hey babe let’s move to the southland I hear it’s an easy going place

Slow down catch our breath and I finally get to see your face

Yeah we get a little time but we don’t get quality

I think I made up my mind what to you think about Tennessee

Cat in the Rain

The minor chord colors the musical canvas. The guitarist sustains the fuzz-toned riff and it sails above the music like a ghostly banshee wail. The unison low harmonies give body Brody’s REM vocal. He sings like he’s in a trance, as if he’s chanting a mantra that is embedded in the hurricane pain of love gone bad.

It’s raining outside won’t you let me in 
Take my boots off no mud on your carpet 
Won’t you lay me down in your bed 
Turn the lights out over my head 
My feet are cold, my clothes soaking wet 
It’s coming down too hard to light a cigarette 
I know you locked me out won’t you let me in

Full Frontal

This is a rage against the machine, the clicks and clacks of the star maker machinery that has rusted and withered and left musicians, songwriters and singer holding the bag. Nobody can make money through the arts when our society is unhealthy and we are frozen in fear with no hope to make the good fight. It may give artists and poets something to rail about but playing for nothing is not the answer. The guitarists descending line and the drummers pounding beat underscore the bands anger.  Burk plays more notes in two bars than Jimmy Page.  The decibel level is ear-splitting loud and right on the mark. The anger is palpable. More please…fight the power

Caught in the same monotonous refrain 
Doesn’t help to turn the dial 
You know what they’re trying to do play us for fools 
While we remain docile 
Bored impatient and pissed 
I want you to listen to this

Lady Breathless has a knockout hook that gallops along at a nice pace. The acoustic refrain and strummed elecrtic chord take a back seat to Brody’s up-front vocal. Love the big hook in the middle 8. The melodic foundation of the music is a perfect vehicle for this sensuous sonnet; an imperfect love song. This is Brody’s search for something more than moderate happiness

Lady I, I’ve been thinking our love’s seen better days

How can that be when we never gave it a chance in the first place

Tell me how it is after all these years we can still ignore

Our buried feelings tortured emotions that heart under the floor

Your crooked smile

Perfect complexion

Baby I can’t sleep

Angelic voice

Your soul’s reflection

Haunts me in my dreams

Drive Toward Me

The quiet/loud construction is another tip of the hat to Kobain and grunge. The drummer sets up the rhythm by riding the high hat and cymbals. By the second verse the drums and guitar join together and machine gun the tempo. There are several slick tempo changes in the song. The guitarist’s slide becomes a powerful statement and sets the pace for the driving beat on the bridge. It sounds like a plea for help

I wish we could find some common ground

Instead of falling and stalling and spinning around

I know now I’m stuck out here

Graying and fading and wasting the years

So this is what it’s like to be alive staring at life

See your face in a dusty mirror

Lord help me out I’m dying here

Room 221

A slowed-down tempo and foreboding minor key colors the musical landscape. The band takes on several tricky tempo shifts that help the music assert itself and gives Brody the platform to explore and expand his unique vocal blend of intonation, bent notes, breathing, sustained notes and moaned and garbled asides. This is an incredible prescient look at aging and necessary losses. Great song!

These old wrinkled hands

Used to hold so many plans

Too late to regret

Only got one vacation left

Now she’s dying here all alone

Dying here all alone

What Went Wrong

This is morality tale about making bad choices and the stranglehold of addiction. It is a death knell; a ringing warning. Beware, you never pick up that first glass of cider thinking you’ll get hooked. It can kill your soul.

Now my life is so empty

Just like all those bottles of whisky

No hope for me anymore

I think it’s time to settle the score

I choose the booze

Can’t Breathe

This is a pastoral sepia-toned ode to a devastating loss. The guitar is a virtual wall of pain. It sounds like a punch in the chest and a stranglehold on your throat. The pain takes his breath away. The tempo slows down, the music quiets and Brody sings from the heart. But he’s standing inside himself and feels all of it. The strummed chord at the end seems like an act of defiance. He knows he  will not wallow in sorrow forever.

Burned your picture erased your number

Sat outside with the rolling thunder

Beauty turned to ashes your voice is long gone

Just me and the raindrops falling till dawn

A Slice of Saginaw History

The State & Bay corridor has been a thriving business district since the late 1920's when the Koinis family built the Strand Barbecue Restaurant. It was immediately popular and helped anchor business development in the area including the Granger & Nitz Pharmacy, Rupprechts Grocery store, Shaler's Party Store (where Tony's Restaurant is now), Trudeau's Gas Station, and an apartment house right next door to the State & Bay Tavern (eventually renamed White’s Bar in the forties). Here’s a photo of an almost forgotten era in Saginaw History. You can clearly see the Strand at the far right of the photo. On the left is the Ice Cream Parlor that would become a rental house. The building that would become White’s Bar is not depicted but it would be just left of the Parlor. It was a cohesive business community; the owners and patrons mingled freely and were socially active in the State & Bay Bowling League. God save our village

Peace

Bo White

Here's a photo of a bygone era. You can clearly see the Strand at the very right of the photo. On the left is an Ice Cream Parlor that would become the rental house. The building that would become White's Bar is not in the photo but would be just to the left of the Ice Cream Parlor. It was a cohesive community that supported each others businesses and even met each other socially through the State & Bay Bowling League. God Save our Vil

 

n (now known as White's Bar). Here's a photo of a bygone era. You can clearly see the Strand at the very right of the photo. On the left is an Ice Cream Parlor that would become the rental house. The building that would become White's Bar is not in the photo but would be just to the left of the Ice Cream Parlor. It was a cohesive community that supported each others businesses and even met each other socially through the State & Bay Bowling League. God Save our Village

 

Nick Piazza

Only A Northern Thing

Nick Piazza is a transplanted Michigander, now residing in Texas. He hooked up with Andy Reed in 2009 to record his very first song, Summer Moon  - and he’s never looked back. He was bitten by the bug and got a major dose of rockin’ pneumonia and the boogie woogie flu. He completed Evolution, his first full CD, in May 2010 and continued to write and record the music for what became Only A Northern Thing. Piazza gathered together a cast of mid-Michigan’s musical aristocracy for the project and they jumped at the invitation. Andy Reed, Ray Torres, Donny Brown, Jeff Wiles and James Piazza contributed their incredible talent and vision to the recording sessions. This is certainly a triumphant musical reunion for our home grown singer/songwriter. A true believer.

Downtown Woman is good old fashioned rock & roll with a big backbeat and solid guitar work mixed back in the groove. Piazza’s slender tenor is ready willing and able. He sounds like Gerry Rafferty after he took a fistful of black beauties after a two day bender of rock & roll, booze and broads only without the attitude. The background vocals are exquisite and ray Torres guitar work is breathtaking.  Great track

Houston is a hot little rocker with Beach Boys harmonies and a big backbeat. This is dance music with hooks galore. It rocks hard but never loses its melodic sensibility thanks to super-producer and melody man Andy Reed. Piazza has a malleable voice and he sounds a bit like Alan Wilson (Canned Heat) going Up the Country. This song is smooth as silk yet it makes you want to smile and get up on the dance floor

Movin’ On  is an acoustic shuffle with plenty of energy and good vibes. There is sly reference to “Sexy Sadie” but with Reed onboard and twirling the dials you gotta know there will be at least one overt reference to the Beatles. Reed provides a melodic slide that brightens the sound and fills out some spaces in the musical landscape. There is an overarching sense of hope even as Piazza sings about struggling on his own. Movin’ On is what young adults do as a matter of course; a rite of passage. It doesn’t matter that there are problems wherever you go. You can buy the illusion of Southern California or the banshee death wail in Saginaw.

Traffic Jam opens up with truncated piano chords reminiscent of Nilsson’s Gotta Get Up. The lyrical line conveys a weary wisdom, discovery that life is not quite like it seems. Young men and women pick up and leave their roots behind. They follow the light of promise but the tunnel goes on forever like a black hole in the universe. And they never really live the dream. It doesn’t quite exist but it does; only it’s different. When they discover that the natural state for a thoughtful person is melancholia, there is nothing left to say.

On the Road. The jangly guitar washes over the song like Southern California sunshine. It creates an upbeat vibe despite the underlying loneliness in the lyrics. Piazza sings with a smile in his voice. It’s convincing to even when you’re stirred by his ambivalence. Underneath the good cheer are doubts that speak to his ennui;

I hitched a ride on a one way train

Never got a chance to tell you my name

It’s the same old story

Just a different day

Leaving Here: The moan of Reed’s slide guitar colors the song’s sense of resignation. Piazza is singing outside himself almost dissociated from his surroundings, He views the world from his own psychological window. Hope and despair co-mingle as he watches the world go by. He’s not afraid and he needs no friends. It’s as if he gets too close, he will lose himself and fall into the stasis of the status quo. They say goodbye; he says hello.

Working Man Blues: Opens with some tasty chops fired off like holy gunfire courtesy of guitar wizard Ray Torres with help from Saginaw’s rock & roll attorney Jim Piazza. This is old time boogie woogie rock & roll barbecue music. It sounds sweet and tasty. Piazza is singing his ass off and drummer extraordinaire Donny Brown (Verve Pipe, American Underdog) knocks it outta the park with his powerful backbeat. He keeps time like a water clock. Keep it flowing, brother. Another great track!

It’s Only a Northern Thing Opens with a half borrowed riff from Van “The Man” Morrison. It jumps and jives and so did Morrison only in all the fifty years he’s been performing onstage Van never smiled, not once. But Piazza does and his honey toned voice reflects his balance. He’s not a tortured artist and he would cut off his ear to make a statement like a love you, sorta. This is a rock & roll ballad about love and reminiscing. His lyrics are a dialectical delight; “I think with my heart because I’ve lost my mind” – Perfect.  Reed’s keyboard work is pure genius. The sounds ring and moan like an ancient mellotron used by the Moody Blues

Another Wasted Saturday: This is a standout track that hops and bops to a swinging rockabilly beat and a cool walking bassline. It has a tricky stop & go time and some tasty sax-on-the-beach courtesy of Jeff Wiles. Reed was able to sneak in another Beatle reference, the “shoo be-do-wop” background on the partially live version of Revolution from a 1968 promotional film. Reed creates a full and crisp sound in his studio and brings out the best in everyone.  The song itself is a sonic blast of perfection from the saxophone, guitar, bassline, and backbeat to Piazza’s singing and the background Beatles.

Last call is a sweet acoustic goodbye; A last farewell. Piazza is able to breathe life into his stories with a great sense of melody and harmony and his natural facility for pathos and irony. This is a hard won lyrical coming of age for Piazza - a perfect ending for a heartfelt piece of music created by the everyman.

 

Film Rerview : Louder Than Love

Louder Than Love

Hell’s Half Mile Film Fest

10/7/12

The State Theatre

This is a film that has gone places, it’s got legs and a lot of mile sand even more accolades. It’s been to Detroit, Chicago, Traverse City, Las Vegas, Ann Arbor, Nashville and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Now it’s been to the jewel of Bay City, the legendary State Theatre. The modest turnout was no doubt due to it being on a Sunday evening near dusk. The director Tony D’Annunzio was missing in action having been called back to his day job covering the Detroit Tigers playoff games. It’s tough living a dream when you need to make a buck. There were a few folks in attendance that had actually attended shows at the Grande Ballroom. I was not part of that memory elite though I was able to brag to no one in particular that I did trek down to the East Town Theatre in 1970/71. It was located on the corner of Harper & Van Dyke, lovely neighborhood…for crime, dope, random hijinks and other high crimes and misdemeanors. I saw the Kinks (twice), the Rascals, Bob Seger, Steve Harley & the Cockney Rebel, Rita Coolidge and a few others.

We settled in and looked around at each other. Hmm, there were some old timers here for sure, those long-in-tooth sixty somethings like me but there was a good mix of other generations. I had an impulse to jump up and disavow any connection to those old farts but I just sat quietly. I didn’t have the gumption or energy to reveal how stupidly vainglorious I could be. All things considered the next two hours was one helluva roller coaster ride. The story was well paced and the rhythm of the images on screen kept me on the edge of my seat, wanting more. The audience seemed to be as one; a psychedelic protoplasm with a shared vision of a moment in time when life was fresh and new sounds were alerting our minds and bodies of another world. We were witness to a film that helped document an era of great music, sexual freedom, and political activism. Louder Than Love was able to capture the camaraderie of young people exploring an alternate life style. I was enthralled by the images portrayed in this historic film.  It can never be repeated

The story begins with a televised address by LBJ declaring a State of Emergency and scenes of Detroit engulfed in fire, a raging inferno that captured the rage of its forgotten residents. The year was 1967 and the riots had started. There was fire everywhere, looting, violence and police brutality. One young black man was asked why he didn’t torch the Grande Ballroom. His response was simple and direct, “we didn’t burn the Grande ‘cos they have music there, man.” Rock & Roll Music, the old chestnut by Dick Wagner & the Frost was the first song of a twenty song soundtrack that accompanied all those glorious images. There were period photographs, music and footage of live performances as well as current interviews with the musicians such as Roger Daltry (the Who), Wayne Kramer and Machine Gun Thompson (the Mc5), Dick Wagner (the Frost), Ted Nugent (The Amboy Dukes), John Sinclair, Alice Cooper and others.

Russ Gibb, a former school teacher, got the idea for the Grande after a trip to the West Coast where he met Bill Graham and visited the Fillmore West. The Byrds were playing that night and there was a psychedelic light show. It was truly an eye opener for the somewhat parochial Gibb. The music was too loud. Everything was wrong. But it was alive and real. Freedom of expression, alternate lifestyles and the incredible music co-existed in total harmony. He brought the Fillmore to Detroit and put his own stamp on it – thanks to the influences of John Sinclair, The Fifth Estate (alternate newspaper) and the counterculture that swirled around them. Before the Grande the only music you heard in Detroit was the symphony. The balance was changing like a runaway avalanche. It was vital but for only a short time 1966-70. John Sinclair developed an alternate community at Wayne State before moving to Ann Arbor. Sinclair explained (tongue-in-cheek but profoundly accurate and honest), “It was the only place for people to come and enjoy themselves. We were weirdos with long hair and we would listen to blues and jazz all the time. This was the only place to experience psychedelia except for San Francisco.”

It was also apparent that the war raging in Vietnam gave kids the idea that you might not be able to trust the government. Wayne Kramer honed in on the connections between love, sex and also thoughts and convictions. “It was part of Detroit’s industrial consciousness. We work hard; we play hard. The music rocked HARD. The Grande was the Petri dish.”

John  Sinclair gave credit where credit was due;

”Bob Seger’s Heavy Music - that is what Detroit is all about, Rob Tyner was a visionary, a genius.”  Sinclair picked the NMc5 for the Grande. They were the first band to play the Grande and the Last. They had a sheet of sound that signaled to Grande folks to march in the streets and get political. Music, art and politics were equal. The music was the pearls that held it together. It happened for the good of the world.”

For many the Grande was the Holy Grail. Everyone wanted to play there. The Who performed Tommy for the first time in America at the Grande. In an unexpected moment of truth, their road manager Tom Wright was offered a job managing the Grande. When Wright took the job, the Who thought he moved up, far surpassing them. Hell, the Who wanted to work for the Grande too! They had never seen such a responsive crowd that actually knew the lyrics to their somewhat obscure deep album cuts.

The Grande was a supercharged sensory overloaded environment with peculiar sights and sounds that promised every Dionysian delight this side of paradise. The music and light show were a pure psychedelic aphrodisiac. It was freedom without violence. Wayne Kramer put it perfectly,”There was no violence, just a lot of loving – it was sexy.”

Louder than Love: The Grande Ballroom Story is more than a movie. It is an historic document about a time and place that no longer exists. It is the soundtrack for a cultural zeitgeist in America that lasted for only a brief candle of time. It needs to be preserved. For Tony D’Annunzio, It was a labor of love. There was no guaranteed pay off or possibility of fame and notoriety. It is heartening to see a great movie that deserves the accolades given. It was lovingly directed and produced by Tony D’Annunzio and expertly edited by Karl Rausch. A great team

Before the Grande the only music you heard in Detroit was the symphony. The Grande is gone; the symphony’s still here. There is room for both. If only…

Peace

Bo White

                                                         

 

 

The Legendary Locals of

BAY CITY

Michigan

 

 

Arcadia Publishing has developed a series of history books that gives voice to long ago ancestors who created the conditions for change as well as more recent individuals who have served and shaped their local communities in distinct ways. These individuals are who have created an impact on their community that ripples like a pebble thrown into still water, it is felt for generations. It is a backwards Ponzi scheme that pays it forward and resonates for future generations.

Ron Bloomfield has authored a diverse and honest account of the shakers and movers that have inhabited the very fabric of community life in what we now call Bay City. Boomfield originally compiled a massive list of around five hundred names that was narrowed down to a more manageable cross section of the architects of Bay City’s continued ascendance as a musical, commercial and cultural mecca in mid-Michigan.

The Introduction is a good read and sets the tone for the rest of the book. Bloomfield’s research is incredibly deep for such a modest volume of 125 pages. He begins with a modern description – “where the thumb meets the mitt of Michigan.” He characterizes Bay City as a small but vibrant city of 34,000 residents, in the middle of the top 100 cities in the state. He then steps back in time  to paint a picture in sepia tones describing Lower Saginaw (as Bay City was known in the 1830’s) as “swampy , mosquito infested  and prone to harsh winters and hungry wolves.” He writes about settlers like William R. McCormick who recorded much of the early history and folklore of the local Chippewa tribe. Bloomfield cited the rise of the lumber barns and the wealth of Henry Sage and John McGraw who reportedly owned the largest lumber mill in the world. Also during this time of explosive growth James Davison started the first wave of world-class shipbuilding.  He goes on to explain that during  the lumbering heyday there were five distinct villages that eventually  became the Bay City we know of today. The author segmented these brief historical sketches into seven chapters that included photos and narrative.

The first chapter provides an incredible body of old photographs, including a photo of a memorial dedication to honor the burial place of Chief Ogemaw, who was the Chief Speaker of the Chipewas at the 1819 Treaty of Saginaw. Chief David Shoppenagons was an equally intriguing figure in Bay City’s early history. He was a direct descendant Ojibwe (Chippewa)chiefs. He was so respected that a Masonic basedf organization was named in his honor. William McCormick was an early historian who chronicled the Native Americans oral traditions and created early written records and historical sketches of local pioneers. The visionary role of the Trombley family was given three full pages with period photographs. Other notables included Albert Miller who was a probate judge, justice of the peace, postmaster, and state legislator; James Shearer, a notable architect; Bay City Mayor George H. Shearer.

 

Chapter Two: Community Leaders

The author begins the chapter with a quote by William R. McCormick dating back to 1874 that speaks to the “unselfish spirit” of the pioneers who settled in the area. Early leaders included the Hon.Sydney Campbell (settler, business man, probate justice) , Oscar Baker (law), John Weadock (lawyer). Horace Tupper(MD). George Butterfield represented three generations of his family that became notable educators. Bob Traxler, James Barcia and Tom Hickner were noted for their contributions from the political arena

Chapter Three: Soldiers, Sailors, and Survivors

A quote sums up the tone of this chapter…

Hundreds sleep in our cities of the dead, whose achievements in war and peace equal and perhaps surpass these isolated service records, but these will suffice to preserve for the perusal of their surviving comrades, and as an indication to posterity of the character and service of the veterans we delight to honor

-Augustus Gansser, 1905

The author chronicles the heroism of our young men and women who served our country. It starts with a photo a Civil War Monument at Pine Ridge Cemetery and segues to series of old photographs  of several of our early heroes including;  Capt.  Augustus Ganseer who served in the Spanish-American War at San Juan Hill 1898,the 128^th Ambulance Company at Waco Texas in 1917, and Thelma Johnson, a tireless Red Cross volunteer from the Vietnam era in 1966.

Chapter Four: Business and Industry

In Chapter Four the author traces the decline and fall of the lumbering industry. The speculation about its decline began in the 1890’s and the post lumbering era of business and wealth went on unabated without a flinch or a blink of an eye. Defoe Shipbuilding ascended to the top of the throne along with Aladdin Homes Company, Sugar Production (Henry Vallez) and Carl Gladen’s toy and plastics company to name a few. Business was booming and many of the business leaders gave back to the community through their leadership and  good deeds, much like it is today with business both small and large. Peg and Paul Rowley had special mention as integral to the clarion call of the arts. They supported Studio 23, the Bay Arts Council, the Riverwalk pier, the Bay Music Foundation and the glorious State Theatre. The Rowleys led an exemplary life of giving and commitment. Their sixty year marriage defines love and commitment that transcends the ordinary.

 

Chapter Five: Musicians, Entertainers and Artists

My favorite chapter.  It begins with a tribute to the maestro Leo Najar and local musician Jerry Marcet. I met Leo Najar during the Remember the Child Project that involved local rock & roll legend Dick Wagner in collaboration with Najar’s Saginaw Symphony Orchestra. My friend Scott Seeburger organized this massive event that raised tens of thousands of dollars to organizations that fight child abuse and neglect. From that time on I chanced upon Leo on several occasions. He was open and honest, the real deal and a musical bohemian who would experiment freely with musical forms. A genius! Another notable performer is comedian/musician Harry Jarkey. I had seen him a few times during a few brief moment in the seventies when I was a Shriner. He was alright indeed. Of special note is the Burdons one of the greatest rock & roll bands from the Great Lake Bay region of Michigan. They formed back in 1981 and tore the town apart. They rocked hard and would combine elements of punk with pop songs.  They  had a sixth sense about music and they cultivated “sound.”  They could take a  cover song and make it their own whether it was Last Train to Clarksville by the  Monkees or What I Like About You from the Romantics catalog. There debut album, The Burdons, was a garage rock masterpiece. Hail to the Burdons!

Chapter Six: Sports Notables

The list includes Olympian athletes such as Doug Sharp (bobsled, 2002), and speed skaters Terry McDermott (1964) and Izzy Izykowski (2006). George “Kid” Lavigne was a world class lightweight champion. He earned the title in 1896. Not bad for a southpaw. Football was one of my favorite sports and Hi Becker from Bay City Handy and Elmer Engel from Bay City Handy were two of my favorite coaches along with Paul Nestor who took the helm for only one year at Arthur Hill (1967/68) and to this day comes back to Saginaw to meet with his team. These are men who set a level of excellence that few could ever duplicate. Art Dore is one of the great shaker and movers in mid-Michigan. I’ve met him several times and like his direct no nonsense approach to business and to his own life. He is a remarkable force of nature.

Chapter Seven: Community Figures

The final chapter pays tribute to community figures such as sisters Mary and Helen Macgregor who together gave 109 years to service to Bay City schools. Leo and Bette Jylha were radio pioneers. Leo was a radio engineer while Bette was an on air host doing programs like “The Stork Reporter” and engineered broadcasts of all-women big bands (which were popular during WWII). Leo became the general manager of WBCM from 1956 until his retirement in1973. Their son Eric also devoted his career to broadcasting. He filmed the Delta Pops Festival in 1969 which featured Michigan Rock Legends such as the Mc5, Bob Seger, The Stooges, Amboy Dukes and the Rationals. He worked as a disk Jockey and a news reporter for WSGW, WGER, WXOX and others before landing a gig as reporter and weekend anchor for WNEM TV-5. Eric is a one-of-a-kind talent with a quiet dignity and a homespun charm. He’s one of the best

This fine book is dedicated to the memory of Leo Najar and Jerry Marcet; can’t think of two people more deserving of such a loving tribute.

 

The Legendary Locals of Bay City is available at Barnes & Noble Bookstore

3311 Tittabawassee

Saginaw 48604

989-790-9214

 

Book Review - Gregg Allman. My Cross To Bear

Book Review

Greg Allman

My Cross to Bear

Greg Allman is a tried and true southern-bred hell-raising redneck hippie who scaled the heights of stardom only to fall precipitously from his ill-fitting pedestal. Allman is a throwback to the old rhythm and blues masters he emulated from Patti Labelle and Jackie Wilson to Otis Redding as well as blues legend Muddy Waters. Allman wasn’t built for superstardom. He often seemed more at home doing the Chitlin Circuit or letting others lead. Initially his brother was the leader and he wore the mantle without vanity or threat. He lead by example – and his instincts were always on the mark. After Duane’s death in 1972, Greg became the de-facto front man. It was an uneasy truce as the surviving Allman Brothers agreed to soldier on without naming the next leader. Greg’s incredibly soulful voice and down home compositions seemed to position him for a leadership role in the Allman Brothers  yet time and again Greg deferred to others – either management types  such as Phil Walden from Capricorn Records or musical partner Dickie Betts. Despite considerable obstacles such as death, drugs use, alcoholism, and infighting and even though the Allman Brothers disbanded (twice), their legacy continued. The brotherhood that was forged at the Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon Georgia in 1969 continues to this day, 43 years later.

September 2011 Greg Allman was code blue, bleeding inside, drowning in his own blood. He went to sleep and he dreamed an incredible dream. He heard beautiful music as he stood near a bridge. It was twilight and someone was on the other side of the bridge. He wasn’t motioning, he was just looking at Greg. The message was clear don’t come across the bridge. All Greg could see was a silhouette; it appeared to be his brother Duane. He was telling Greg not to cross the bridge.

It wasn’t his time yet.

Prologue; January 1995. The Allman Brothers are inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. Allman writes “It should have been the greatest week of my life but instead I hit an all-time low.” Allman admits that he was drunk during the entire Hall Of Fame week. He decided to enter a treatment center when the week concluded. On the way to the facility Allman loaded up with bottles of vodka, valium, and mini-bottles from the mini-bar in his hotel room. He entered rehab stoned out his gourd.

Allman owns up  to his lifetime addictions to almost any substance that could get him high – heroin, barbiturates, sedative/hypnotics, psychedelics such as  psilocybin, LSD, and peyote and perhaps the worst addiction of all – alcoholism. It was the bottle that rendered him almost recognizable on Lettermen during the week-long Rock & Roll Hall of Fame celebration.

So strap-in and get ready for one helluva ride. The story of Gregg Allman

Allman’s father Willie Turner Allman was murdered in 1949 when Greg was only two years old. His mother never remarried. Despite this early primal loss, Greg was scaffolded by a loving no nonsense mother and an extended family of grandparents, and uncles. Life in Nashville was fine but mother moved the family to Daytona Beach in 1959. Worth noting is the role of maternal grandfather. Alf was a bit of a lout – a drunk, a saloon rat.  Grandma divorced him and whenever she heard his name she would mutter shi…never quite saying shit. His grandfather made whiskey all his life, even sold it to the state police. He was a man of homespun wisdom. One time he took Greg aside and said, “there’s two things that get you in trouble and one of ‘ems your mouth.” Another time Alf let another one fly, “let me tell you about love. If I squeeze tighter and tighter on this ball, it might pop out of my hand. But if I keep a nice, easy grip, it’ll stay with me forever.” Greg was 5 years old.

The early part of the story is fascinating when Greg and older brother (by one year) Duane begin their career in music. They met Hank Moore, a cat with the hottest band in town. Hank Ballard and the Midnighters were his backup singers! The young Allman upstarts pooled their money and Moore came over to their house to teach them some “good music”. Moore told them of the importance of the bottom end as nobody wanted to play bass guitar in the Allman’s garage band. He took the young band through “Done Somebody Wrong.” It was life a life-altering epiphany. Greg could now see the structure of music. He got the baptism.

Allman’s first successful band was the Allman Joys. They were gaining ground despite the dismal recordings they were forced to make. They hadn’t found their sound yet. It was 1966 and they were only a few years from mega-stardom. But for now the country was embroiled in the Vietnam debacle and young men across the country were being drafted by the military. When Greg was called up, he decided to have a “foot-shooting party.” All of his friends were there. Everyone was drinking and Greg was ready to do it …except they didn’t have a gun… oops. They headed over to the other side of town, bought a Saturday night special and Greg completed the dirty deed. He was deferred.

The only other notable band in Daytona was the Nightcrawlers. There was some fierce competition between the two bands. For a brief moment the Nightcrawlers ascended to the top of the heap on the strength of their big national hit The Little Black Egg, a bubblegum masterpiece. The Allman Joys were finding their voice, playing old ethnic songs and the blues. One of the songs Trouble No More would eventually be recorded by the Allman Brothers band. The influences were coalescing. It was at this time that Greg wrote the rough outline for one of his most cherished songs, Melissa. It was during this formative period when Greg met John Loudermilk who wrote Tobacco Road, Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye and hundreds of other songs. Loudermilk taught Greg the process of songwriting. Greg talks about writing love songs that are more nuanced and poetic. He cites an article he read about Lauren Bacall and what it was like for her when Humphrey Bogart died, she said, “Well, one day I noticed I didn’t go up the stairs so fast.” It was vague, poetic – perfect.

The story picks up speed when Greg gifts Duane with the first Taj Mahal album with Jesse Ed Davis playing slide guitar.  Duane was hooked and became proficient almost immediately.  In March of 1969, Greg was in Los Angeles fulfilling contractual obligations (from the Hour Glass sessions) to Liberty Records. Duane called from Jacksonville instructing Greg to return to Florida. Now it gets hot. Duane hand-picked each of the members and he had a complete vision of their roles within the band – two drummers, two guitarists. It was an unusual formation envisioned by this 23 year old musical genius. At the time nobody realized just how gifted he was – a modern day Tchaikowsky

The classic lineup of the Allman Brothers is now in place, Greg is writing the first album and the band chips in to purchase him a brand spanking new 1969 B3 Hammond organ.  It cost $1,883 and another $1,295 for the 122RV Leslie.  According the Greg, the Hammond helped him finish Black Hearted Woman and Every Hungry Woman, Mountain Jam, Hoochie Coochie Man and others.  There is an unwritten law amongst musicians, “Don’t ride my Harley, don’t mess with my wife, and no, you can’t play with my Hammond.” Greg reveals that he learned to play a Vox organ from a laminated plastic card that read A, B, C, D, E, F, G and major, minor, augmented, third, ninth, fifth and there was a little picture in each block with red dot showing where your fingers go.

Naming the band was a big sticking point. Beelzebub (Greg’ idea) and something from Lord of the Rings was offered up but the four other musicians Dickie Betts, Butch Trucks, Jaimoe,  and Berry Oakley were had another idea. It was unanimous - the Allman Brothers.

Phil Walden was an experienced music broker that had been around the block more than a few times. He knew how to make a buck for his clients as well as for himself.  He managed both Percy Sledge and Otis Redding and they did quite well. The Allman Brothers were sitting ducks. He wooed them and won their trust. Right away he took 100% of the publishing - to cover expenses. Greg signed away his lucrative publishing rights to get his foot in the door. He didn’t like it but capitulated at the advice of his brother. The first album was released at the end of 1969 and reached #188 in the charts - an inauspicious debut to be sure. But the band soldiered on and gained momentum from their incredible performance at the Fillmore East in December that year. From that point on Bill Graham became a champion of the band and allowed them to play original compositions not just the Top 40 hits that most club owners required. In this context Greg learned to relax in the beauty of Idlewild South, a cabin in the woods (that also became the title of their second album) and create Midnight Rider, his own personal masterpiece.

Chapter Nine. Duane Allman died on October 29^th, 1971.He was only 24 year old. By all account Berry Oakley had a total collapse following Duane’s death. Greg said, Berry Oakley’s life ended when my brother’s life did. He died a bout year after Duane on November 11^th, 1972. It I said that Oakley crashed his bike straight head first into a bus, on purpose. He was drunk when it happened but he would not get into the ambulance. Instead he went back to the Big House, the communal house of the Allman Brothers Band and later died of a brain hemorrhage.

Allman talks frankly of his problems with women. He was married six times and has fathered six children, one with each of his wives. Cher was the most famous spouse and they stuck it out for three years. He credits his last wife, Stacey Fountain, for saving his life by helping him gain long lasting sobriety and helping him through his battle with Hepatitis C.

Allman recalls the several reunion tours, all of which were successful and all of which failed to keep the Allman Brothers from imploding. Alcohol and drugs were always at the bottom of the misdeeds of the band members. This is what led to Dickie Betts to leave the Allman Brothers acrimoniously and permanently.

Allman describes a successful solo career based on his great catalog of music especially the terrific I’m No Angel – a great song and the title of his solid gold LP.

In 2006, Allman’s health deteriorated and Dr. Ira Jacobson, a hepatologist determined that a pot on his liver was cancerous. In 2010, Allman underwent a successful transplant. A few months after the transplant, an LP Allman had been recording was finally released under the title Low Country and it ended up at No. 5 on the charts with a bullet. And to top it off the Grammy organization gave the Allman Brothers a Lifetime Achievement Award.

To this day Allman continues to record and perform solo shows a well as performances with the Allman Brothers. It is his destiny.