Katiie’s Beer

Dr. Gene Edward Veith, at his Cranach blog, asks, “Do you have any notable concerts as milestones in your life?”

1970’s

• Todd Rundgren’s Utopia tour
• Peter Frampton
• Bruce Springsteen
• Pablo Cruise/Eagles/Boz Scaggs
• Dan Fogelberg
• Hall and Oates
• Electric Light Orchestra
• Cheap Trick
• Poco

My “I’m a born-again Christian” years:

• Amy Grant
• Scott Wesley Brown
• Second Chapter of Acts
• River

In past ten years:

• James Taylor - what a legendary talent!
• Styx - amazing, Tommy Shaw is also a legend. Years of clean living shows on his face.
• REO Speedwagon - good, but scary to see what years of partying truly makes you look like.
• Little Memphis Blues Orchestra with Taylor Hicks, Elliot Yamin, Ace Young and Bucky Covington - this concert started at midnight and went to 2am, good loud music in a small bar. It remains one of my favorites.

Concerts I took my kids to:

• N’Sync - took my 10 year old. Actually a very good show!
• Christina Aguillera - when she was still a sweet teen pop star
• Aaron Carter - not too good, lots of screaming tweeners though

Upcoming concert memory:
40th anniversary tribute concert for The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper album in its entirety. Big names singing their own hits and the album:

* Todd Rundgren
* Lou Gramm of Foreigner
* Bo Bice
* Christopher Cross
* Denny Laine of The Moody Blues/Wings

Taylor Hicks was supposed to perform, but has bowed out for his Broadway commitment as Teen Angel in Grease. I most likely will not be going because my daughter’s opening worship service for college is that same weekend. I just stare at the tickets and imagine being there. Actually, I’ve misplaced the tickets and hope to find them. If I do, they are up for grabs for anyone in the Washington DC area on August 23rd.
Then there’s every single choir, orchestra and band concert my children have participated in. Those concerts are true works of beauty and effort with no expectation of monetary reward. I don’t believe any of my above listed concerts evoked a tear. These concerts did many. My favorite: the Christmas concert at our church’s school. All 200 children , from distracted preschoolers to slightly bored or embarrassed 8th graders, loudly proclaiming God’s truths. True catechism, set to music, aimed at all ages of hearts. That is my favorite concert and I get to attend every year!

What’s your favorite concert memory?

Tags: Music by TK
9 Comments »

This morning I found a thread on MNSpeak that pointed out a great YouTube video clip of an all-star tribute rendition of While My Guitar Gently Weeps, featuring George’s son, Dhani Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Prince and others (if you can help me name them, that would be great). Few commenters seem to “get” the historic value of the performance (historic for modern times, at any rate). Prince shines! He provides the highlighted guitar work and seems to be showing Dhani that he can still do one of his signature moves (laying back while playing), albeit with a little assistance (this was a few months before his reported hip surgery, to be fair). Dhanni responds with delight and a big grin. It is eery how Dhani looks just like his father, especially when singing. To me, the star of the performance is Jeff Lynne and he provides the highlighted vocals for the tribute. He’s played this song many times and can sing it like no other. Here he sings with with George, Elton, Ringo, Paul, Phil Collins, Eric Clapton and others in 1987,

The remaining Beatles, with Eric Clapton, performed the song at the Concert for George in 2002. Clapton, in this version, provides both the guitar and vocal highlights, though Jeff Lynne is there to play along. Dhani Harrison, Billy Preston and many others are on stage.
You can download a much better version of the VH1 tribute here. Some people claim this is the better version, but I disagree.

Tags: Music, You Tube by TK
1 Comment »

Yes, SpongeBob has a great version of the F.U.N. song, but here’s an even funner song. Funner is a word…right?

Tags: Music, You Tube by TK
1 Comment »

It was 40 years ago, and the city of Memphis didn’t want the band to play. At least that was the official stance the mayor and Board of Commissioners took in a unanimous resolution passed August 10, 1966, to express “official disapproval” and “advised The Beatles that they are not welcome in the City of Memphis.” The Blue Meanies didn’t stand a chance. On August 19, 1966, Britain’s Beatles - Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison and John Lennon - performed two concerts at the Mid-South Coliseum, at 4 and 8:30pm. Tickets were $5.50.

The Memphis date was the eighth in a 14-city tour that would be the last ever for the band that remains the most influential in rock history. For each Memphis show, the Beatles performed 11 songs in about 28 minutes, after almost two hours of music from an interesting roster of opening acts: the Ronettes; Boston garage greats the Remains; Pennsylvania bubblegum popsters the Cyrkle (”Red Rubber Ball”); and Nashville R&B singer Bobby Hebb (”Sunny”). The first show attracted 7,589 fans; the second, 12,539. Disc Jockey George Klein and Johnny Dark acted as master of ceremonies.

When The Beatles took the stage, “It kind of reminded me of the movie “King Kong” when all the flashbulbs started going off,” Dark later remembered. “There were so many flashbulbs it was almost like a strobe light.” Onstage, the Beatles - wearing “modish dull/grey suits” in the afternoon and “dark green creations with chartreuse shirts” at night, according to the local newspaper - exchanged such familiar hits as “I Want To Hold Your Hand” and “A Hard Days Night” for mostly newer material. The songs performed in Memphis apparently were “Rock And Roll Music”, “She’s A Woman”, “If I Needed Someone”, “Day Tripper”, “Baby’s In Black”, “I Feel Fine”, “Yesterday”, “I Wanna Be Your Man”, “Nowhere Man”, “Paperback Writer”, and “Long Tall Sally”.

The Commercial Appeal reported in a front-page story the next morning: “The musical performance of the long-haired Englishmen was hard to judge as the shrieks and screams of the paying guest almost drowned them out.”

During a between-shows press conference, McCartney noted that “little things like money” had prevented the Beatles from recording what would become the album “Revolver” at Stax in Memphis. Lennon said The Beatles admiration for the guitar playing of Steve Cropper was one of the reasons they wanted to record in Memphis. However, Atlantic Vice President Gerald Wexler told The Commercial Appeal that Beatles manager Brian Epstien cancelled tentative plans for a two-week studio session at Stax because “he was not pleased with the security and housing plans he found during a one-day visit to Memphis.” The anti-Beatles resolution which described Memphis as “a City of Churches” was inspired by Lennon’s then much-publicized remark that The Beatles were “more popular than Jesus now. …I don’t know which will go first, rock and roll or Christianity.”

In the days leading to the Memphis shows,The Commercial Appeal reported on several “Beatle burnings” in reaction to Lennon - protest rallies in which Beatles records were broken and burned (”Foot in Moptop’s Mouth Is Hot One,” stated a headline). Eighty police officers worked the show “I’ve never had so much security at an event, even Bob Hope,” promoter Early Maxwell said.

By John Beifuss from The Memphis Commercial Appeal.

Published in the Tennessean, Aug 20, 2006

Tags: Music, Taylor Hicks by TK
1 Comment »

For those who believed the media hype that Taylor Hicks became a has-been once J-Records dropped him from their label, let me assure you that it is the start of many beautiful projects to come. In fact, Taylor Hicks’ next album will feature collaboration with Steve Cropper, member of Stax Records, Guitarist, A & R man, engineer, producer, songwriting partner of Otis Redding, Eddie Floyd and a so many other involvements and accomplishments it would be impossible to list them all here.

More on Steve Cropper and some of his music here: http://www.playitsteve.com/

Source: Sirius radio interview

Tags: Music, Taylor Hicks by TK
4 Comments »

Just last Saturday, I ventured to Down in the Valley to see if I could find CD’s of artists still not available on iTunes.  One specific group I was looking for was Led Zeppelin.  I did find their music, of course, but was confused by the album titles and songs.  I was never a huge fan, but I want a couple of favorites. Which did I want?  Which was live?  Why are their complilations so expensive???

I left with used copies of City of Angels and Huey Lewis and the News.  Always the bargain shopper, I figured that used CD’s are cheaper than buying the songs outright on iTunes.  No Led Zeppelin, though.  I decided I needed to do some research before plunking down so much money.  But how?  Nothing is available online, at least legally.

Good news came yesterday.  Beginning November 13th, I will be able to download Led Zeppelin songs from iTunes.  I’m happy!  Should I be sad?  Did a 60’s giant fall with a thud to corporate America?  I don’t think so.

Led Zeppelin’s decision to sell its music online coincides with the end of a fierce bidding war over the rights to administer the band’s catalog of songs, which includes the classics “Stairway to Heaven” and “Rock and Roll.” Under a separate deal the band is to receive an estimated $60 million in exchange for extending its ties to its longtime music publisher, Warner/Chappell Music, for at least 10 years

60 million dollars.  Now that’s a good retirement fund!

Source:  New York Times

Tags: Music by TK
5 Comments »

Words of wisdom from Chris Sligh to those aspiring to American Idol season 7:

So, auditions for season 7 of America’s favorite show have started up already. Crazy, right?! A year ago on July 28, I had my first audition in Birmingham, Alabama, singing “Sweet Home Alabama” 37 times (yes, the same song that later got me death threats…my stupid mouth). Anyway, it’s strange to think that someone’s Idol experience is starting before mine is even done…read his long post…I’d like to give you a list of songs not to do:

Anything by Aretha Franklin
Anything by Whitney Houston
Anything by Michael Bolton
Anything by BoyzIIMen
Anything by Mariah Carey
Anything by Celine Dion
Anything by any singer who sings better than you

Tags: Music, American Idol 6, American Idol 7, Chris Sligh by TK
2 Comments »

Go ahead. Google “Butterscotch”. Or search for it on Wikipedia. You might find one entry for the MySpace page of a young girl from Sacramento, California, Antoinette “Butterscotch” Clinton. Her MySpace page says she is an internationally recognized beatbox artist and that may be so, but a web search brings only one or two hits for her name. That is surely soon to change. A bright star on America’s Got Talent is Butterscotch.

A classical-piano major at California State University-Sacramento, the 21-year-old Clinton hopes to teach beatboxing and see it offered as a university major. A winner at the 2005 Hip Hop World Challenge, she now works with Verizon’s new online beatbox mixer (www.beatboxmixer.com).

“One of my biggest idols growing up was Michael Jordan,'’ says Clinton, whose love for basketball almost matches her love for music. “I always wanted to be in the NBA, the first girl in the NBA. Then they made the WNBA.'’ Clinton says that angered her at first because it meant that she would not be allowed in the NBA, but she later felt the WNBA allowed women to be empowered. (source)

It will be fun watch this summertime hit and see how well she does. So far, she’s managed to add to each performance. She’s got something special and I think she made a wise decision to showcase her talents on this show.

Update:

Public Radio interview back in 2005 and replayed on 7-13-07

June 2007 comment by Chris Macias, Sacramento Bee’s pop music critic, at his blog, BeatNonStop.  Seems he’s known about her talents for a while: