A.A. RockBlog

Well today is Sunday, which means yet another blog posting by me. Today Rick Davies of Supertramp fame turns 74, and as such we will take a ride through his career. Personally, I've been a great fan of Supertram ever since my father turned me on to them in my teens. It started back in 1969 when Dutch millionaire Stanley August  Miesegaes (also known as "Sam") approached Rick Davies and decided to support Rick financially so that he could start his own band. After placing an ad in Melody Maker, Rick Davies recruited Roger Hodgson and the two were soon joined by Keith Baker (percussion) and Richard Palmer (guitars). Their 1970 self-titled debut was very lackbuster and nothing like the sound of Supertramp shown on later records. After a tour, the band came back in 1971 with "Indelibly Stamped." The record was even less received than their debut and featured Robert Miller on drums (Keith Baker joined Uriah Heep), and flute/saxophone player David Winthrop. After an

While many who read my blog will argue that "Some Kind of Wonderful" is Grand Funk's signature song, the truth is that "We're an American Band," the title track from their album which is 45 years old today, is the ultimate signature! Anyway, the song began when Grand Funk was on tour with their new keyboardist, Craig Frost, who sat in for the 1972 "Phoenix" record, which generated a minor hit with "Rock'n'Roll Soul." The band was forced to write a more radio-friendly hit, and so drummer Don Brewer picked up a guitar and worked out the basic chord progression. (It should be noted that Brewer admitted that he is bad at guitar and can only play two-finger chords). Neveretheless, the track shot straight to number 1. Also noteworthy is that this is one of the few songs on which Brewer actually sings. He sang on "Walk LIke a Man," while Mark Farner sang the most lead vocals. Farner and Brewer both traded lead vocal duties

With the Fourth of July being this week, I have been hearing Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" one too many times on the air not to mention on TV during the city's fireworks show. To this day it appears to me that many people think that "Born..." is a happy song about American patriotism (and mind you the opening melody seems to throw people of so I understand). However, if you read between the lines (or rather lyrics), you will see that this is not entirely true. Let's examine the lyrics one phrase at a time: "Born down in a dead man's town.  The first kick I took was when I hit the ground.  You end up like a dog that's been beat too much   'Till you spend half your life just covering up." Just by listening carefully to this opening verse, one can easily see that the narrator did not enjoy living the dream. That "first kick," could infer that the narrator is a black man and is being beaten by cops, or that

Elton John was one of the biggest music stars of the 1970s. As a pianist and vocalist, he had a string of hits in the 70s and partially in the 80s. EJ took many approaches to life and made a name for himself quickly. The star that would become Elton John was actually born Reginald Kenneth Dwight and joined this world on March 25, 1947 being born in Pinner, Middlesex (which now is a neighborhood of London). His father was almost always out of town, and so EJ was raised by his mother, grandmother, and aunt in what the Brits call a "council house." John took to the piano as early as age three when he played "The Skater's Waltz," which he taught himself. At seven, he began taking piano training formally. When his father, Stanley Dwight was home, there would often be quarrels on the direction EJ should take. EJ quickly immersed himself in the world of rock'n'roll when his mother picked up records by the likes of Elvis, Bill Haley and His Comments, and Jer