WOODSTOCK , N.Y. — Chicago was only the labor pains. With a joyous three-day shriek, the inheritors of the earth came to life in an alfalfa field outside the village of Bethel, New York. Slapping the spark of life into the newborn was American rock and roll music provided by the Woodstock Music and Art Fair. And Dylan’s Mr. Jones, who has, indeed, been aware of what is happening, but has preferred to denounce the immorality of fucking around with his values, is now forced to acknowledge both the birth and its legitimacy. The New York Times , which had given the story front-page coverage for three days running, thundered on its editorial page the Monday-after that it was “an outrageous episode” and demanded to know “what kind of culture it is that can produce so colossal a mess?” But, in a reversal astounding for that Establishment journal, a second editorial Tuesday sheepishly allowed that the gathering was “essentially a phenomenon of innocence . . . they came, it seems, to … [Read more...] about Woodstock: ‘It Was Like Balling for the First Time’
Popped up band
John Burks, Rolling Stone’s First Managing Editor, Dead at 83
John Burks , Rolling Stone ’s first managing editor who helped guide the rock magazine’s coverage of political issues, died earlier this month at the age of 83. Burks’ wife Deborah Nagle-Burks confirmed her husband’s death to the San Francisco Chronicle , adding that he died at their Pacifica home on February 17th from heart disease. “He was a true journalist and an excellent editor, both in guiding stories into print and in coming up with ideas that helped expand the parameters of Rolling Stone ,” longtime Rolling Stone editor Ben Fong-Torres, who Burks hired, told the Chronicle . Burks is also credited with recruiting photographer Annie Lebovitz for the magazine. Related Stories Jimi Hendrix: An Appreciation In the Aftermath of Altamont Related Stories 15 Metal Christmas Songs for Unsilent, Unholy Nights Jerry Jeff Walker's 'Viva Terlingua': Inside the Fringe Country Album While at Rolling Stone , Burks led the incisive, … [Read more...] about John Burks, Rolling Stone’s First Managing Editor, Dead at 83
I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama!
Janis herself has never sounded better on record, but it took me four full listenings to the LP before I could hear her. That’s how bad her band is. When (and if) you get hold of this record, my suggestion is that you listen really hard to how awful the backup is — everything from the arrangements to the level of musicianship. Those sons of bitches can’t do anything really right. The only answer is to get super-familiar with what they’re doing so you can ignore it. And then dig Janis. They can’t be that bad, you say? On “Try,” they stutter along like Stax rejects, thudding out a 16-to-the-bar quick-step so metronomic it defies you to pat your foot, let alone get up and dance. Janice sounds great, but — “One Good Man” contains perhaps the only instrumental blessing on the whole record, wherein Sam Andrew plays a tolerable bottleneck introduction and obbligato to Janis’ vocal. At least the rest of the band is relaxed on this track, even if they add nothing. (Disconcerting … [Read more...] about I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama!
Hendrix: The End Of A Beginning, Maybe
I t was a New York winter day, frozen and gray and violently blustery. Indoors, out of the fearful cold, people seemed somehow gentler toward one another – strange in New York City – as if it was enough to battle the elements, no need to battle each other. Inside his manager’s neo-turn-of-the-century apartment, on a sofa near the radiant fireplace, sat Jimi Hendrix , in a gentle, almost reticent frame of mind. The light snow had begun to fall. You could see that through the narrow slits where the curtain allowed the merest sliver of daylight and streetscene to penetrate into the gloomy dark room. On the same sofa, and on a richly upholstered chair next to it, sat the members of Jimi Hendrix ’s new band. He had broken up the old Experience (Noel Redding on bass, Mitch Mitchell, drums) at some indeterminate point during the Fall. He had been living and jamming with an all-purpose crew of musicians – everything from older black gentlemen from the South who played blues guitar, to … [Read more...] about Hendrix: The End Of A Beginning, Maybe
In the Aftermath of Altamont
I t was perhaps rock and roll’s all-time worst day, December 6th, a day when everything went perfectly wrong. Altamont remains Topic A among the musicians who were there. After all, it’s not every day that a rock and roll band’s performance, let alone the Rolling Stones ‘, is accompanied by a knifing, stomping murder within a scream of the stage. “The violence,” Keith Richards told the London Evening Standard , “just in front of the stage was incredible. Looking back I don’t think it was a good idea to have Hell’s Angels there. But we had them at the suggestion of the Grateful Dead . “The trouble is it’s a problem for us either way. If you don’t have them to work for you as stewards, they come anyway and cause trouble. “But to be fair, out of the whole 300 Angels working as stewards, the vast majority did what they were supposed to do, which was to regulate the crowds as much as possible without causing any trouble. But there were about 10 or 20 who were completely … [Read more...] about In the Aftermath of Altamont