John Lennon's Death 31 Years Ago Today

John Lennon was killed 31 years ago today and, shortly afterward, Roxy Music added his song "Jealous Guy" to their set while on tour in Germany, as a tribute. They recorded and released it a few months later... just a beautiful remembrance of John.

'Young Americans'

I had to run into the office yesterday morning to pick up my jacket, which I'd forgotten on Thursday. Here's The Sound L.A. Friday morning on the drive back home. I'm on a Bowie jag, so here you go, "Have you been an un-American?":

9:38 - It's Only Rock And Roll by Rolling Stones

9:50 - Boys Are Back In Town by Thin Lizzy

9:55 - My My, Hey Hey by Neil Young

9:58 - Somebody To Love by Jefferson Airplane

10:02 - Young Americans by David Bowie

10:08 - Life In A Northern Town by Dream Academy

10:12 - Shooting Star by Bad Company

'Under the Bridge'

More music, with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, from yesterday's afternoon playlist at The Sound L.A.:

2:30 - Radar Love by Golden Earring

2:36 - 25 Or 6 To 4 by Chicago

2:41 - Changes by David Bowie

2:48 - Somebody To Love by Queen

2:53 - Clampdown by Clash

2:57 - Magic Carpet Ride by Steppenwolf

3:01 - Feel Like Makin' Love by Bad Company

3:06 - Witchy Woman by Eagles

3:10 - Under The Bridge by Red Hot Chili Peppers

3:18 - Darkness Of The Edge Of Town by Bruce Springsteen

3:23 - Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd

3:32 - Knockin' On Heaven's Door by Bob Dylan

Thanks to all of my awesome readers. More blogging tonight.

'Stay'

Well, I'm in the mood for more Bowie. For years he was my favorite artist and I think I've been neglecting him here at the blog. Check back for more blogging this afternoon:

'Diamond Dogs'

Okay, back on the grid.

I laughed when I hopped in the van for the round trip back home. Stevie Ray Vaughan popped on the radio, at The Sound L.A. I had SRV posted this morning for my placeholder entry, so I'll pick it up for some evening blogging with the next in the queue, David Bowie in 2004. My wife and I caught this show at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheater:

4:22 - Crossfire by Stevie Ray Vaughan

4:26 - Diamond Dogs by David Bowie

4:32 - American Girl by Tom Petty

4:36 - Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix

4:39 - Bad Company by Bad Company

4:49 - Band On The Run by Paul Mccartney And Wings

4:55 - Boys Are Back In Town by Thin Lizzy

5:02 - You Might Think by Cars

5:05 - You Can't Always Get What You Want by Rolling Stones

5:18 - Black Friday by Steely Dan

5:21 - Rock And Roll Band by Boston

5:25 - You Really Got Me by Kinks

5:27 - Baby Hold On by Eddie Money

5:30 - Have A Cigar by Pink Floyd

'Couldn't Stand the Weather'

Lighten it up here, with Stevie Ray Vaughan:

Passin' through this business of life
Raisin’ sand if I'm needed to
Ain't so funny when things ain't feelin' right
Daddy's hand helps to see me through
Sweet as sugar, love won't wash away
Rain or shine, it's always here to stay
All these years you and I've spent together
I guess, we just couldn't stand the weather

Like a train that stops at every station
We all deal with trials and tribulations
Fear hangs the fellow that ties up his years
Entangled in yellow and cries all his tears
Changes come before we can grow
Learn to see them before we're too old
Don't just take me for tryin' to be heavy
Understand, it's time to get ready for the storm

'Because the Night'

Some music until later, Patti Smith:

'Pushin Too Hard'

The Seeds, from my afternoon drive time on Tuesday:

2:01 - American Woman by Guess Who

2:01 - Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds by Elton John

2:07 - Pushin Too Hard by Seeds

2:17 - Dangerous Type by Cars

2:21 - Light My Fire by Doors

2:28 - Under Pressure by Queen & David Bowie

2:32 - D'yer Mak'er by Led Zeppelin

2:36 - In The Midnight Hour by Wilson Pickett

2:39 - Take It On The Run by Reo Speedwagon

2:49 - Life's Been Good by Joe Walsh

2:57 - Lookin' Out My Backdoor by CCR

And speaking of pushing too hard, I hope Tania doesn't. See: "Chasing 26.2." Just go nice and easy, my friend.

'I Won't Back Down'

This is really cool. The second album sides request yesterday at The Sound LA was Tom Petty's, Full Moon Fever, Side 1. And guess who makes an appearance at this old MTV-style video clip:

PREVIOUSLY: "Oh! Darling (I'll Never Do You No Harm)."

Oh! Darling (I'll Never Do You No Harm)

It's album sides by request all weekend long, at The Sound LA. Pretty fitting that Abbey Road was up first, and here's "Oh! Darling":

Scorsese's George Harrison Documentary Was on Again Last Night...

Hey, HBO's been showing it pretty regularly if you've missed it: "'George Harrison: Living in the Material World'."

And Wikipedia has the background on this video:

"In 2004, George Harrison was inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist. 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' was played in tribute by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Steve Ferrone and Dhani Harrison, along with fellow inductee Prince."

If You Think You Gonna Leave Then You Better Say So...

Tom Petty, "I Need to Know."

From yesterday morning's drive time, at The Sound LA:

8:01 - Roxanne by Police

8:04 - Before You Accuse Me by Eric Clapton

8:17 - In Your Eyes (new Blood) by Peter Gabriel

8:22 - Hey Joe by Jimi Hendrix

8:26 - School's Out by Alice Cooper

8:29 - Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd

8:38 - For What It's Worth by Buffalo Springfield

8:48 - Rough Boys by Pete Townshend

8:52 - I Need To Know by Tom Petty

8:54 - Silly Love Songs by Paul Mccartney And Wings

9:00 - Who Do You Love by George Thorogood

Martin Scorsese Discusses the Making of 'George Harrison: Living In the Material World'

I like how he notes that George's spirituality was an "intellectual spirituality."

Paul McCartney Married Nancy Shevell on John Lennon's Birthday

I guess I'm not that big of a Beatles fan, because I didn't realize that McCartney remarried on Lennon's birthday. I was listening to Larry Morgan at The Sound during yesterday's drive time and he was celebrating McCartney's wedding and mentioned Lennon's birthday.

Speaking of Lennon, there's a review of Tim Riley's, John Lennon: the Man, the Myth, the Music — The Definitive Life, at New York Times: "John Lennon’s Primal Screams."

Give Me Love: Thoughts on the George Harrison Documentary

German photographer and Beatles groupie Astrid Kirchherr is interviewed at Part I of "George Harrison: Living in the Material World." She said that George Harrison was kind to everyone he met. And that sense of Harrison is expressed again and again in interviews throughout the documentary. My personal policy is to avoid meeting stars and celebrities, to avoid the disappointments, but I would have never missed the chance to meet George Harrison. Part II was perhaps better than Part I, in that it focuses on Harrison's post-Beatles life and legacy. The New York Times stresses these disparate aspects as well, "A Life of Guitars, Girls and Gentle Weeping."

"Give Me Love" is one of the George Harrison songs I often forget about, but it came to me out of the blue while I was in the car yesterday, and parts of it are played in Part II, during the coverage of Harrison's commercial successes as a solo artist. And that reminds me, the Phil Spector interview is one of the more amazing segments of the film. And Olivia Harrison is a fascinating woman as well. She has an interesting manner of speech, and her affection for George is almost scholarly in its expression. I'm watching an encore broadcast on HBO as this post goes live. Try to catch it if you can.

'George Harrison: Living in the Material World'

I watched Part I last night.

And the day before, Los Angeles Times had this: "Documentary examines George Harrison."

When Martin Scorsese and Olivia Harrison first sat down about five years ago to strategize about a documentary on the life of George Harrison, both quickly zeroed in on a letter the young Beatle wrote to his family at the height of Beatlemania.

"It was a letter George had written when he was not more than 22," Harrison said of the man to whom she was married for 23 years before his death from cancer a decade ago. "It was in 1965, and the Beatles would have been really cresting at that point. He was writing home and told his family, 'I know that this isn't it. I knew I was going to be famous, but now I know I can reach the real top of what man can achieve, which is self-realization.' He knew then that [material reward] wasn't it."

That letter figures into a pivotal moment in Scorsese's film, "George Harrison: Living in the Material World" (taken from the title of Harrison's 1973 album), which premieres on HBO over two nights Wednesday and Thursday to accommodate its 31/2-hour length.

In the scene, George says how lucky the Beatles were to acquire so many of the material goods early on that most people spend their entire lives yearning for, because they learned relatively young how hollow such things ultimately ring.

Olivia Harrison gave Scorsese and his team virtual carte blanche access to home movies, family photos, audio recordings and other items from her husband's estate for use in the film, which paints a richly detailed and unvarnished picture of the man initially pigeonholed as "the quiet Beatle."

A more accurate sobriquet might have been "the spiritual Beatle" to reflect the inward quest that seemed to capture Harrison early in a life about which he once famously said that his biggest break had been getting into the Beatles; his second biggest, getting out.

More at the link.

Also, "TV review: 'George Harrison: Living in the Material World'," and "George Harrison: A video miscellany."

Flyin' Saucers Rock 'n' Roll

Here's the live clip with Brian Setzer:

But listen to Robert Gordon's version, with the incredible Link Wray on guitar. The song was first recorded by Billy Lee Riley and His Little Green Men, and here's this from Wikipedia:

In the early 1970s, Riley quit music to return to Arkansas to begin his own construction business. In 1978 "Red Hot" and "Flyin' Saucers Rock 'n' Roll" were covered by Robert Gordon and Link Wray, which led to a one-off performance in Memphis in 1979, the success of which led to further recording at Sun Studio and a full-time return to performing.

Rediscovered by Bob Dylan in 1992, who had been a fan since 1956, Riley played rock and roll, blues and country-blues.

His album Hot Damn! (Capricorn, 1997) was nominated for a Grammy Award.

That is so cool.

Don Henley Plays 'Everybody Wants to Rule the World'?

My wife and I both looked at each other and said, "Tears for Fears?"

That was really cool. I had no clue it was a Henley cover. I'm not seeing a review from the Harrah's gig, but the O.C. Register reports on Henley's concert the previous weekend, from the Greet Theater: "Don Henley tosses surprises into Greek set." And the playlist:

Main set: I Put a Spell on You / Dirty Laundry / Everybody’s Famous / Sunset Grill / Everything Is Different Now / New York Minute / The Last Worthless Evening / One of These Nights / It Don’t Matter to the Sun / The End of the Innocence / Everybody Wants to Rule the World / The Heart of the Matter / Guilty / You Don’t Have to Believe Me / Funky Stuff / I’ve Been Loving You Too Long / The Boys of Summer / All She Wants to Do Is Dance / Life in the Fast Lane

First encore: Hotel California / Desperado

Second encore: I Will Not Go Quietly / The Long Run

Henley opened with "Dirty Laundry" at Rincon, and he did just the first encore. The band was tight and Henley's mellow. The concert was outside at the Sky Theater, and we had good seats. They played "One of These Nights." Lead guitarist Steuart Smith tours with both The Eagles and Don Henley. He's seen here at the clip:

Quantifying the Price of Sex

Sex is cheap these days.

See Neo-Neocon, "Getting the milk for free."

I don’t know about you, but I feel sad when I read things like this. And it’s not a women vs. men thing for me; I think both sexes are losing a lot in terms of love, joy, and commitment in these transactions...

Yeah, society's just getting sluttier all around.

That said, I'll admit I wonder sometimes if I shouldn't have been so proper back in the day, remember? I think I was 20. Kathleen was the love of my life. She wanted to jump my bones. I wanted to get married. Only make believe, I guess. That, or go for the cheap sex and forget those dreams. (Although, if I'd have married Kathleen I wouldn't have the wife and kids I do now, so what can you do?)

Don Henley Harrah's Rincon San Diego, September 25

My birthday's coming up and my wife scored some tickets. So, we'll be heading out on Sunday for Don Henley live, Open Sky Theater at Harrah's Rincon. Recall, my wife and I saw The Eagles April 25, 2010. At the clip is "Dirty Laundry," from the same tour:

And see "Don Henley extends solo trek of western U.S."