Sacramento's K-ZAP

09/12/2023

TOMORROW!
Our beloved host of "Mick Martin's Blues Party" (Saturdays 10a-Noon, Pacific on K-ZAP) will be bringing the GIGANTIC sound of his BIG BLUES BAND to the Powerhouse Pub in Folsom this Sunday, December 10th. 3pm it all goes down.
Join K-ZAP as we will be out there with new and classic K-ZAP merch...and of course, our "Mick Martin Blues Party" shirts available for purchase. Details and tickets here:
https://k-zap.org/event/mick-martin-big-blues-band-sun-dec-10th-powerhouse-pub/

09/12/2023

The nonsense morse code hidden in the song ‘Astronomy Domine.’

In 1967, Pink Floyd dropped their debut album, “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn,” marking the band’s initial foray into the music scene and becoming a significant piece in the history of psychedelic rock.

With Syd Barrett at the creative helm, the band became a pioneering act in the emerging genre, thanks to the musician’s guidance along with his imaginative lyrics and unique musical style.

Perhaps one of the most psychedelic pieces of the entire album exists within the creative walls of their song ‘Astronomy Domine.’

Crafted by Barrett, it opens with a series of endearing notes before his discordant guitar slices through the arrangement. Amid a chaotic soundscape, Barrett and Richard Wright share vocal duties, conjuring an almost ethereal, Gregorian-like harmony that adds a magical layer to the piece.

One of the song’s most fascinating elements lies in the opening notes, resembling Morse code, which, intriguingly, aren’t actually what they appear to be at first listen. These opening moments instead feature an electronic simulation created by Wright using his Farfisa organ. Wright manipulated the organ’s settings to generate a series of electronic pulses that simulate the rhythm and pattern of Morse code. These pulses create an eerie and intriguing introduction to the song, setting a mysterious tone that contributes to its cosmic atmosphere.

Be sure to join Sacramento’s K-ZAP every Tuesday night at 8pm for Floydian Slip. A full hour of rarities, favorites, and all things Pink Floyd with host, Craig Bailey.

Craig works classic Floyd songs, deep album cuts, and Floyd’s unique brand of ambient segues into a seamless blend of music and sound best described as a “listening experience.”

Streaming at K-ZAP.org, the free K-ZAP app, and 93.3/Sacramento.

09/12/2023

How Prepared to Perform .

Joe Satriani will be charged with playing Eddie Van Halen’s guitar parts on the upcoming Best of All Worlds Tour in 2024. It’s a daunting challenge, but Satriani has experience filling in for legends.

In 1988, the guitarist joined forces with Mick Jagger for the singer’s first solo tour. Set lists included a helping of classics, which Satriani had to learn.

“I just put it to Mick one day in rehearsal, ‘I don’t play like any of these guys. What do you want me to do? How close do you want me to get?’” Satriani recalled. “And he went, ‘Oh, just forget about that. Just get into the song and do your thing. That’s all you got to do.’ And he was not looking for me to replace anything unless he thought I was really feeling it.”

What Satriani learned was to find a balance – honoring the original song, but still putting his distinctive spin on it.

Satriani will employ a similar approach to Van Halen’s material as he prepares for the Best of All Worlds Tour. The trek will see the guitarist re-team up with his Chickenfoot bandmates – and former Van Halen members – Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony, along with drummer Jason Bonham.

Satriani admitted it will be “really hard” to learn Eddie’s parts, and that he’ll need to “completely change the direction of [his] technique” to get it right.

The guitarist is well aware of how revered Van Halen’s material remains, which is part of the reason he’s taking his preparation so seriously.

“If you’re lucky enough to play music that has really had a big impact on society around the world, that really had a dent in culture, it’s an extra experience,” Satriani explained. “I learned that when I went out with Jagger and you play a Rolling Stone[s] song that everybody knows. A couple of generations of people know the song.

09/12/2023

The Day Finally Played With The Allman Brothers.

Eric Clapton had never been on stage with the Allman Brothers prior to 2009.

“People may find that hard to believe, but it had never happened,” says, regarding the meeting, which finally took place on March 19, 2009 at the Beacon Theatre in New York.

“Eric sat in with us two nights at the Beacon. I think one night we played six or seven songs and one night, we played seven or eight songs. It was just fantastic. He played great, he sang great. It was history.

“It happened because [the 2009 Beacon residency] was all dedicated to Duane Allman.

We rehearsed and we got finished with all of the stuff that we had discussed in advance that we were going to play.

Eric said, “Is there anything else we should think about?” We’re all looking around and he said, “What about ‘Little Wing’?” We all looked at each other and said, “Well, we’ve never played it, but we know it. Yeah, sure, we can do it.” So we did an impromptu rehearsal and played it that night and it was fantastic.

That was one of my best memories from that whole experience. But hearing him solo on “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” was amazing. He’d kind of reached a point where I think he thought he was done with his solo and was going to kind of end it.

But the rhythm section had other plans. [Laughs] They just kept going, so he was kind of forced to switch into gear six and it was amazing. It was a special thing for all of us to witness.

Check out Eric Clapton playing “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” with The Allman Brothers below:

https://bit.ly/3RBmCIm

08/12/2023

Hey K-ZAP Family!
Our nonprofit rock/blues radio station is seeking a local brewery to partner with to create a special “K-ZAP Tubby Ale” which could include creating a line of commemorative K-ZAP ale pint glasses, etc.
Own a local brewery? Let’s talk. Let’s get CREATIVE. Let’s ROCK. Please contact Peter Rizzo at [email protected].

08/12/2023

On this day, December 8th, former Beatle John Lennon was shot and tragically killed by an obsessed fan in New York City.

The 40-year-old artist was entering his luxury Manhattan apartment building when Mark David Chapman shot him four times at close range with a .38-caliber revolver.

Lennon, bleeding profusely, was rushed to the hospital but died en route. Chapman had received an autograph from Lennon earlier in the day and voluntarily remained at the scene of the shooting until he was arrested by police.
For a week, hundreds of bereaved fans kept a vigil outside the Dakota–Lennon’s apartment building–and demonstrations of mourning were held around the world.

John Lennon is memorialized in “Strawberry Fields,” a section of Central Park across the street from the Dakota that Yoko Ono landscaped in honor of her husband.

Every December 8th, a remembrance ceremony is held in front of the Capitol Records building on Vine Street in Hollywood, California. People also light candles in front of Lennon's Hollywood Walk of Fame star, outside the Capitol Building.

Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono places a lit candle in the window of Lennon's room in the Dakota every year on December 8th.

Every October 9th, Lennon's birthday, through December 8th, the date Lennon was shot, the Imagine Peace Tower in Iceland is lit.

Light a candle for John. 🥲
-McGregor

08/12/2023

Hot Tuna’s Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady electrify The Fillmore one last time.

Hot Tuna plan to continue touring as an acoustic entity but this week represents the last electric shows of their Going Fishing Tour.

Kaukonen explained the decision in a recent interview, saying, “I’m going to be 83 years old this year, and I’m fortunate because I’m very healthy, but an electric show just physically beats the p**s out of you. At the end of the evening.”

Formed as a bluesy side project in 1969, Hot Tuna soon became the main band of this dynamic duo after splintered.

They receive a genuine hero’s welcome when they hit the stage and ease into the show with Kaukonen fingerpicking on the easygoing “Hesitation Blues,” Trumpeter Steve Bernstein adds some New Orleans-style flavor with some jazzy fills, enhancing the band’s standard power trio lineup.

Special guest Larry Campbell joins the fun on fiddle, along with his wife Teresa Williams on vocals for “Highway Song.”

Casady is like a rock ‘n’ roll Godzilla here with his thundering bass bombs, while Kaukonen’s wah-wah leads are akin to the monster spitting atomic fire.

Campbell returns on Telecaster as Casady lays down the monster low end on “Bow Legged Woman,” and “Knock Kneed Man,” one of Hot Tuna’s heaviest jams. 

Watching Kaukonen and Campbell trade hot licks over the massive groove is rock ‘n’ roll ecstasy, with Bernstein adding a wah-wah trumpet solo that sounds like Miles Davis meets Marshall Allen for a cosmic jazz explosion.

The second set is a series of highlights, such as Campbell on fiddle to conjure the spirit of late former band member Papa John Creach for a rousing jam on “John’s Other.” The Fillmore’s flux capacitor fluxes in a big way during “Good Shepherd,” Kaukoken’s spotlight song on Jefferson Airplane’s landmark 1969 “Volunteers” album.

The traditional number always seems to have a transcendent effect, as Kaukonen sings of meeting up “over on the other side.”It features a magical vibe here, with Campbell and Bernstein adding to a gloriously extended jam and Williams providing the Grace Slick backing vocals.

08/12/2023

This coming Saturday 12/9/2023 on Sacramento's K-ZAP 93.3 FM and k-zap.org
* 1. Robert Finley: Livin' Out a Suitcase (Black Bayou)
* 2. Robert Finley: Miss Kitty (Black Bayou)
* 3. Robert Finley: Sneakin' Around (Black Bayou)
* 4. Robert Finley: Waste of Time (Black Bayou)
* 5. Dave Keller: Nothing Like Your Love (It's Time to Shine)
* 6. Dave Keller: I Wanna Go Back to Memphis (It's Time to Shine)
* 7. Dave Keller: Full Measure of Pleasure (It's Time to Shine)
* 8. Dave Keller: Paint a New Life Together (It's Time to Shine)
* 9. Harvey Mandel w/Steve Evans, Billy Johnson, Jose Najera & Pete Sears: Call My Job (Harvey Mandel and the Snakecrew Live)
* 10. Harvey Mandel: Boogie Your Cares Away (Harvey Mandel and the Snakecrew Live)
* 11. Harvey Mandel: Wade in the Water (Harvey Mandel and the Snakecrew (Live)
* 12. Shaun Murphy Lover Take It All (I'm Coming Home)
* 13. Shaun Murphy: If I Knew Then (I'm Coming Home)
* 14. Ghalia Volt: Every Cloud (Shout Sister Shout!)
* 15. Walter "Wolfman" Washington: Black Night (Feel So at Home)
* 16. Walter "Wolfman" Washington: Sufferin' Mind (Feel So at Home)
* 17. Walter "Wolfman" Washington: Along About Midnight (Feel So at Home)
18. Jimmy Smith feat. Barbara Morrison: Further Up the Road (Prime Time)
19. Muddy Waters: Let's Spend the Night Together (Electric Mud)
20. Muddy Waters: I Am the Blues (After the Rain)
21. R.L. Burnside: It's Bad, You Know (Come on In)
22. Howlin' Wolf: Evil (The Howlin' Wolf Album)
* 23. Mike Zito & Albert Castiglia: No Good Woman (Blood Brothers -- Live in Canada)
* 24. Mike Zito & Albert Castiglia: Tooth and Nail (Blood Brothers -- Live in Canada)
* 25. Mike Zito & Albert Castiglia: My Sweet Mama (Blood Brothers -- Live in Canada)
An asterisk (*) indicates a new release or premier. Thanks to Feisty Frank Farmer for being the WIZARD! Join me and Dennis Newhall 10 am to noon for a riotous, rocking house rent party!! Tip: those who don't have the K-ZAP app need to enter "K-ZAP" in the App search. Its the best way to locate the app.

08/12/2023

Holiday indecisions? The "what to get_____?"
Give the Gift of K-ZAP! Problem SOLVED!
All you got to decide is which K-ZAP gift card to give.
k-zap.org/product/gift-card/

08/12/2023

Happy heavenly birthday to born on this day December 8, 1943

Together with pianist Ray Manzarek, Morrison founded in 1965 in Venice, California.

The group spent two years in obscurity until shooting to prominence with their number-one hit single in the United States, "Light My Fire,” taken from their self-titled debut album.

Morrison recorded a total of six studio albums with the Doors, all of which sold well and many of which received critical acclaim. He was well known for improvising spoken word poetry passages while the band played live.

Morrison developed an alcohol dependency throughout his life, which at times affected his performances on stage.

In 1971, Morrison died unexpectedly in a Paris apartment at the age of 27, amid several conflicting witness reports.

08/12/2023

THE GIFT OF K-ZAP. GIVE IT. WEAR IT.
k-zap.org/shop

07/12/2023

"People that mostly know from “Free Bird” or “Sweet Home Alabama”: there's this heavier, less mainstream side to them." ’s reveals the five Lynyrd Skynyrd deep cuts that everyone needs to hear.

In a new interview for their official podcast, The Metallica Report, Metallica drummer and band founder Lars Ulrich has revealed the five Lynyrd Skynyrd deep cuts that have been on repeat for him recently. 

 "I've been on two things, which is Lynyrd Skynyrd, the heavier Lynyrd Skynyrd songs, most of them deep cuts," he reveals. "One called “On The Hunt,” one called “Cry For Bad Man,” one called “Workin' For MCA,” which may not be the deepest of cuts, “Saturday Night Special,” and a song called “Searching.”

Those five songs: incredible, deeper, heavier. People that mostly know Skynyrd from, say, “Free Bird” or “Sweet Home Alabama” there's this, sort of heavier, less mainstream side to them.

Great, great, mid-70s hard rock songs. Incredible drumming, singing, soloing. Those songs have definitely stood the test of time."

Skynyrd's first five studio albums, all released between 1973-1977, were instrumental in the Southern rock explosion of the 70s and were particularly inspirational for Metallica frontman James Hetfield.

In 2004, the singer/guitarist told Rolling Stone that he considered “Free Bird,” first released on Skynyrd's 1973 debut album (“Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd”) to be the greatest song ever written. "Nothing tops this workingman's ballad," he argued. "Free Bird” fit my life for the first 20 years on the road — not really getting too attached to stuff, living life for the moment and moving on." 

07/12/2023

K-ZAP Family, check out the images from last Sunday's Historic Folsom Christmas Craft Fair...K-ZAP made a few of the pics!! Thank you to Folsom Historic District Association and the awesome people of Folsom for welcoming us to our first year at this event!! See you again soon!!

Sullivan Images is the works of longtime photojournalist Bill Sullivan. For over 3 decades Bill Sullivan has worked has been an award winning photo journalist. His work has garnered over 28 professional awards, including those from the California News Publishers Association and the Society of Profes...

07/12/2023

Join Sacramento's K-ZAP and celebrate the Grateful Dead every Thursday night at 9pm on The Grateful Dead Hour. It features rare, live recordings every week when Host David Gans shares music from his cool collection of Dead music.
This week’s GD Hour features The Grateful Dead from 11/14/87 at Long Beach Arena performing MAGGIE'S FARM, CUMBERLAND BLUES.
Also Old & In the Way, Live at Sonoma State 11/4/73 (Acoustic Disc) with WHITE DOVE and LAND OF THE NAVAJO.
Plus more form The Dead from 11/14/87 Long Beach Arena with PLAYING IN THE BAND, TERRAPIN, and
DRUMS
It's The Grateful Dead Hour, Thursday night, 9 Pacific on Sacramento's K-ZAP.
Get out the tye-dyed K-ZAP shirt, burn some incense, click on the lava lamp, and kick back in the recliner for a full hour of Grateful Dead music on K-ZAP.
Streaming online at K-ZAP.org, the free app, and 93.3/Sacramento.

07/12/2023

It’s McGregor at Midday on Sacramento's K-ZAP. Noon-3pm Monday-Friday.
It’s a Throwback Thursday and I’ll throw back to 1993 with The Smashing Pumpkins, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, and Depeche Mode.
I’ll also have new music from Lenny Kravitz, The Pretenders, Glimmer, Patty PerShayla and the Mayhaps, Tribes, The Struts, Duff McKagan, and The Rolling Stones with Paul McCarney on the fuzz bass.
Plus, K-ZAP favorites from The Who, Beck, Grateful Dead, The Cars, The Beatles, Cage The Elephant, LED Zeppelin, Dire Straits, Green Day, David Bowie, Wilco, Garbage, Bob Dylan and more commercial free music at K-ZAP.org, the K-ZAP app, and 93.3FM.

07/12/2023

This week’s Rush Hour Blues features Koko Taylor awardee AND Austin Music Awards, 2023 guitarist of the year .

Join Sacramento’s K-ZAP this Friday, 5p as host Cale Wiggins digs into a chunk of her electrifying new album “Live in Austin Vol.1.”

RHB is sponsored 1313 C Street, Sacramento. “They can do stuff.”

Streaming online at K-ZAP.org, the free app, and 93.3/Sacramento.

07/12/2023

Guitarist has revealed the rule established following the demise of the .

Following Jerry Garcia’s death, surviving members of the Grateful Dead decided to retire the band.

They still toured and performed the group’s material under various names, including a rotating assembly of musicians known as Phil Lesh and Friends.

“I got a call from Phil Lesh in the late ‘90s saying that he had put together a list of musicians, quite a long list of musicians that he wanted to play with and that I was one of those people,” Haynes recalled.

The guitarist jumped at the opportunity. At the first rehearsal, the Grateful Dead bassist hammered home his number one rule.

“The thing that he told all of us was, ‘I don’t want anybody to play or sing like Jerry,’” Haynes recalled. “‘I want everybody to bring their own personality. And I don’t want to hear any of the signature stuff that he played.’”

As Haynes explained, the Lesh was focused on the group having its own sound.

“Lesh wanted to hear other musicians interpreting that music in a different way.”

After performing with Phil Lesh and Friends in the late ‘90s, Haynes was invited to join the Dead – an offshoot of the Grateful Dead featuring Lesh, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, and Bill Kreutzmann – in 2003.

“When I got the invitation to join the Dead, it was a little different because I felt like, well, now I should probably pay more attention to some of the classic Jerry stuff than I had when I was working in Phil’s band, because that audience expects some of that,” Haynes admitted.

“The guys in the Dead were giving me all the freedom in the world. They were saying, ‘You do it however you want. You interpret it your own way. You can pay as much tribute to Jerry as you want or don’t want from moment to moment,'" Haynes explained.

Be sure to listen to Sacramento’s K-ZAP for The Grateful Dead Hour every Thursday 9p featuring rare, live recordings every week with Host David Gans sharing music from his cool collection of Dead music.

Streaming online at K-ZAP.org, the free app, and 93.3/Sacramento. .

07/12/2023

On this day December 6, 1968 released “Beggars Banquet.”

“Beggars Banquet” marked a return to the band’s blues rock sound after the psychedelic pop of their previous two albums, “Between the Buttons” and “Their Satanic Majesties Request.”

“Beggars Banquet” was also the first Rolling Stones album produced by Jimmy Miller, whose production work formed a key aspect of the group's sound throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The album is among the most instrumentally experimental of the band's career, as they use Latin beats and instruments like the claves alongside South Asian sounds from the tanpura, tabla and shehnai, and African music-influenced conga rhythms.

“Beggars Banquet” was also the last album released during Brian Jones’ lifetime. Jones, the band's co-founder and early leader, had become increasingly unreliable in the studio due to his drug use.

Nearly all rhythm and lead guitar parts were recorded by , the Rolling Stones' other guitarist and the primary songwriting partner of their lead singer ; together the two wrote all but one of the tracks on the album.

Rounding out the instrumentation were bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts, though all members contributed on a variety of instruments.

As with most albums of the period, frequent collaborator Nicky Hopkins played piano on many of the tracks.

While the album lacked a hit single at the time of its release, songs such as "Sympathy for the Devil" and "Street Fighting Man" became rock radio staples for decades to come.

The album's original front and back cover art, photographs depicting a bathroom wall covered with graffiti, was rejected by the band's record company, which delayed the album's release for months.

“Beggars Banquet” has appeared on many lists of the greatest albums of all time, and it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.

06/12/2023

On this date December 6, 1969 The Altamont Speedway Free Festival took place outside of Tracy California.

Approximately 300,000 attended the festival with some anticipating that it would be a “Woodstock West” similar to the festival held in Bethel, New York four months earlier.

The concert featured (in order of appearance): Santana, Jefferson Airplane, the Flying Burrito Brothers and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSNY), with the Rolling Stones taking the stage as the final act.

were also scheduled to perform following CSNY, but shortly before their scheduled appearance chose not to because of the increasing violence at the venue.

The event is remembered for its use of Hells Angels as security and its considerable violence, including the stabbing death of Meredith Hunter and three accidental deaths: two by a hit-and-run car accident, and one by an LSD-induced drowning in an irrigation canal.

By the time the took the stage in the early evening, the mood had taken a decidedly ugly turn as numerous fights had erupted between Angels and crowd members and within the crowd itself.

Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger, who had already been punched in the head by a concertgoer within seconds of emerging from his helicopter, was visibly intimidated by the unruly situation and urged everyone to, "Just be cool down in the front there, don't push around."

During the third song, "Sympathy for the Devil,” a fight erupted in the front of the crowd at the foot of the stage, prompting the Stones to pause their set while the Angels restored order.

The Grateful Dead wrote several songs about, or in response to, what lyricist Robert Hunter called "the Altamont affair,” including "New Speedway Boogie" (featuring the line "One way or another, this darkness got to give").

Filmmakers Albert and David Maysles shot footage of the event and incorporated it into the 1970 documentary film titled Gimme Shelter.

06/12/2023

On this day December 5, 1969 headlined a show with at Sacramento’s Cal Expo.

05/12/2023

Join Sacramento's K-ZAP tonight and every Tuesday night at 8pm for Floydian Slip. A full hour of rarities, favorites, and all things Pink Floyd with host, Craig Bailey.
Craig works classic Floyd songs, deep album cuts, and Floyd’s unique brand of ambient segues into a seamless blend of music and sound best described as a “listening experience”.
Join us this week for a trip into the Floydian Slip vaults for episode #1078 — originally aired week of Dec. 5, 2016:
Floyd from A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987) and The Endless River (2014), Roger Waters with live “Wall” music from summer of 1990, BBC tape from 1972
And much more
Floydian Slip every Tuesday night at 8pm on Sacramento’s K-ZAP. Streaming at K-ZAP.org, the free K-ZAP app, and 93.3/Sacramento.

05/12/2023

Denny Laine, Moody Blues and Wings Co-Founder, Dies at 79 following a battle with interstitial lung disease.

Laine was a co-founder of the Moody Blues in 1964 and stayed with the band until 1966.

He was the lead singer on the band's first big hit, "Go Now."

After he left the British rock group in late 1966, Justin Hayward replaced him and the band took a turn toward more symphonic rock.

For the next few years, Laine played in the bands Electric String Band, Balls and Ginger Baker's Air Force.

He also launched a solo career during this period, releasing a pair of singles.

In 1971, Laine joined up with Paul and Linda McCartney to form Wings, the post-Beatles group that became one of the biggest acts of the '70s.

He remained with the band until it broke up 10 years later, performing on all of their albums, including “Band on the Run,” the 1973 chart-topper that was released in the U.S. 50 years to the day of his death.

During his time in Wings, Laine often wrote and sang lead. He also released some solo recordings in the '70s.

05/12/2023

Our beloved host of "Mick Martin's Blues Party" (Saturdays 10a-Noon, Pacific on K-ZAP) will be bringing the GIGANTIC sound of his BIG BLUES BAND to the Powerhouse Pub in Folsom this Sunday, December 10th. 3pm it all goes down.
Join K-ZAP as we will be out there with new and classic K-ZAP merch...and of course, our "Mick Martin Blues Party" shirts available for purchase. Details and tickets here:
https://k-zap.org/event/mick-martin-big-blues-band-sun-dec-10th-powerhouse-pub/

05/12/2023

In 1974 were struggling to break through: then they flew to LA to appear on The Midnight Special and it all changed.

In the first half of 1974 Aerosmith were struggling. “Same Old Song And Dance” had been released as a single in March but failed to chart.

The same fate befell two more singles, “S.O.S.” and their cover of Tiny Bradshaw's “Train Kept A Rollin'.”

The band ploughed on, hitting the road with Black Sabbath, Blue Öyster Cult, Kiss and Lynyrd Skynyrd. "We toured all of 1974 and nearly killed ourselves," wrote drummer Joey Kramer, in his memoir Hit Hard: A Story of Hitting Rock Bottom.  

Then the balance began to shift. And it all began in June, when the band flew to Los Angeles to film a segment for NBC's long-running music show The Midnight Special.  

The episode, which was hosted by Little Richard, was eventually broadcast on August 9, and Aerosmith were joined under the studio lights by Blood Sweat & Tears singer David Clayton-Thomas, Dutch rockers Golden Earring, R&B star Eddie Kendricks and funk outfit Kool & The Gang.

For many Americans, Aerosmith's performance of “Train Kept A Rollin'” was their first glimpse of the band, and they did not hold back.

Newly restored footage uploaded to The Midnight Special's official YouTube channel finds Steve Tyler and Co. looking like a youthful gang and in electrifying form, from Joe Perry's loose introductory solo to the song's clattering finale.  

Watch Aerosmith's career-changing performance of Train Kept A Rollin'

https://bit.ly/3RstYxt

05/12/2023

On this day December 4, 1971 Don McLean’s “American Pie” enters the Billboard charts at #69 on its way to hitting number one.

The single went on to sell more than three million copies in America becoming one of the most successful and debated songs of the 20th century.

The repeated phrase "the day the music died" refers to a plane crash in 1959 that killed early rock and roll stars Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens, ending the era of early rock and roll; this became the popular nickname for that crash.

The theme of the song goes beyond mourning McLean's childhood music heroes, reflecting the deep cultural changes and profound disillusion and loss of innocence of his generation – the early rock and roll generation – that took place between the 1959 plane crash and late 1970.

In 2017, ’s original recording was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant.”

To mark the 50th anniversary of the song, McLean performed a 35-date tour through Europe, starting in Wales and ending in Austria, in 2022.

05/12/2023

04/12/2023

On this day December 4, 1976 guitarist Tommy Bolin passes away at the age of 25.

Bolin is best known for his two-album stint in the James Gang and for replacing in . Bolin recorded one album with the band 1975’s “Come Taste the Band,” which he wrote or co-wrote seven of the record’s nine tracks.

Bolin later produced two solo albums; “Teaser,” and “Private Eyes.”

04/12/2023

On this day December 3, 1965 released “Rubber Soul.”

The title derives from the colloquialism "plastic soul" and was the Beatles' way of acknowledging their lack of authenticity compared to the African-American soul artists they admired.

After “A Hard Day's Night” in 1964, it was the second Beatles LP to contain only original material.

The songs demonstrate the Beatles' increasing maturity as lyricists, and in their incorporation of brighter guitar tones and new instrumentation such as sitar, harmonium, and fuzz bass, the group striving for more expressive sounds and arrangements for their music.

Lennon recalled that “Rubber Soul” was the first album over which the Beatles took control in the studio and made demands rather than accept standard recording practices.