Musical palate cleanser, never looked back edition

This was sad to hear yesterday.

Tina Turner, the earthshaking singer whose rasping vocals, sexual magnetism and explosive energy made her an unforgettable live performer and one of the most successful recording artists of all time, died on Wednesday at her home in Küsnacht, Switzerland, near Zurich. She was 83.

Her publicist Bernard Doherty announced the death in a statement but did not provide the cause. She had a stroke in recent years and was known to be struggling with a kidney disease and other illnesses.

Ms. Turner embarked on her half-century career in the late 1950s, while still attending high school, when she began singing with Ike Turner and his band, the Kings of Rhythm. At first she was only an occasional performer, but she soon became the group’s star attraction — and Mr. Turner’s wife. With her potent, bluesy voice and her frenetic dancing style, she made an instant impression.

Their ensemble, soon renamed the Ike and Tina Turner Revue, became one of the premier touring soul acts in Black venues on the so-called chitlin’ circuit. After the Rolling Stones invited the group to open for them, first on a British tour in 1966 and then on an American tour in 1969, white listeners in both countries began paying attention.

Ms. Turner, who insisted on adding rock songs by the Beatles and the Stones to her repertoire, reached an enormous new audience, giving the Ike and Tina Turner Revue its first Top 10 hit with her version of the Creedence Clearwater Revival song “Proud Mary” in 1971 and a Grammy Award for best R&B vocal performance by a group.

Mick and Keef always had good taste in music.

It’s a little strange, but Tina’s career after she ditched that rat bastard Ike never connected with me like she did when they were an act together.  They could hit a funky groove and roll with it like nobody’s business, as this obscure single shows.

All in all, a helluva career.  You will be missed, lady.

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Musical palate cleanser, upon request edition

I have been reliably informed by a reader that the B-52s’ Kate Pierson recently celebrated a birthday.  The info was coupled with an MPC request.  I admit to never having been much of a fan of the group (back in the day, I penned a review of “Rock Lobster” for a new, local music rag that the editor spiked because he felt it was too negative), but, what the hey, it’s her birthday!

Maybe the poppiest thing they ever recorded, here’s “Roam”.

Musical palate cleanser, a little more edition

From a Les Paul tribute tour a little over a decade ago, here’s Jeff Beck absolutely shredding the intro to the Shangri-Las’ old hit Remember (Walking in the Sand):

Wooo!

Musical palate cleanser, old farts keep goin’ edition

Holy shit!  This is from 2019 and it’s a thousand times better than it has any right to be.  Maybe more.

I can’t believe how much power remains in Daltrey’s voice.  Townsend can still crank out the power chords with the best of ’em.  No, Ringo’s boy isn’t Keith Moon, but he’s a helluva lot better match for the music than Kenny Jones ever was.  Even the orchestal accompaniment adds some richness.

The concert album they’re releasing in April ought to be a blast.

Musical palate cleanser, preachment edition

I was listening once again to the Nuggets compilation and this tune popped up, a Southern-fried homage to mid-60s Dylan:

In 1967, that bad boy actually made it all the way to number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100.  Let it all hang out, indeed.

Musical palate cleanser, survival edition

You should read this fantastic interview with Roger Daltrey here.  It’s worth a read just for this quote alone:  ” I survived with three bloody addicts in a group.”

And this is a pretty touching remembrance of Keith Moon, where Roger talks about the song that reminds him of the drummer:

“Who Are You.” Mainly from the video we did with him for the song. We were obviously having a lot of trouble with Keith at the time when we made that album. He wasn’t in the best of shape. He was indulging in quite a lot of naughties. It was a difficult time, but when we came togetherRecorded in May 1978 and now available in beautiful HD, Moon died four months later. to do that video to promote the album, Keith joined in on the backing vocals and he was hysterical. There’s something about Keith that he … no matter how naughty he was, you’d have to love him. You’d just have to love him. He was a rascal. He used to rope his drum kit up. In the ’60s, when he first joined us, he would bring a length of rope and tie them all together because he would just go crazy. Then, once we started using backing tracks and the headphones, he had to tape them to his head because it could fly off.

Musical palate cleanser, trivia question edition

What was the only number one hit played at Woodstock?

(Answer in the comments.)

Musical palate cleanser

It was Janis Joplin’s birthday last week (she would have turned 80) and I don’t think she’s ever been the subject of an MPC before, so here’s her remarkable cover of “Ball & Chain” at the Monterey Pop Festival:

Man, that voice and that delivery…

Musical palate cleanser, another passing edition

One of the iconic musical figures from my youth is gone.

David Crosby, the outspoken and often troubled singer, songwriter and guitarist who helped create two of the most influential and beloved American bands of the classic-rock era of the 1960s and ’70s, the Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, has died. He was 81.

Patricia Dance, a sister of Mr. Crosby’s wife, Jan Dance, said in a text message on Thursday evening that Mr. Crosby died “last night.” She provided no other details.

Mr. Crosby was inducted twice into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, as a founding member of the Byrds and as a founder of CSN&Y.

The number of people who could make a claim like that make up a short list.  David Crosby was one of rock music’s great harmonizers.  Together, that’s a remarkable resume.

Unfortunately for David, his personal shortcomings were just as big as his musical influence.  CSN&Y were pretty much a constant soap opera and his ego and substance abuse were major contributors to that.  (When Neil Young thinks your drug and alcohol use is excessive, buddy, you’ve got a real problem.)  He was fired from the Byrds by McGuinn and Hillman, again for being a colossal dick, and fifty years later, when Crosby asked the two if he could join them on their Sweethearts of the Rodeo tour, they told him to fuck off.  Now, that’s how you hold a grudge.

This is how you manage to deliver your own epigraph:

“All the guys I made music with won’t even talk to me,” he said. “I don’t know quite how to undo it.”

At least the music will last.  That’s not nothing.

RIP David Crosby.
You gave me my favourite song of all time. pic.twitter.com/OVUJdl7VYx

— Ron Baumann (@DocB__) January 19, 2023

Musical palate cleanser, a giant passes edition

Man.

Jeff Beck, one of the most skilled, admired and influential guitarists in rock history, died on Tuesday at a hospital near his home at Riverhall, a rural estate in southern England. He was 78.

The cause was bacterial meningitis, Melissa Dragich, his publicist, said.

Skilled and influential is right.

Along the way, Mr. Beck helped either pioneer or amplify important technical innovations on his instrument. He elaborated the use of distortion and feedback effects, earlier explored by Pete Townshend; intensified the effect of bending notes on the guitar; and widened the range of expression that could be coaxed from devices attached to the guitar like the whammy bar.

Drawing on such techniques, Mr. Beck could weaponize his strings to hit like a stun gun or caress them to express what felt like a kiss. His work had humor, too, with licks that could cackle and leads that could tease.

And two great quotes from the article that sum up the man:

“Everybody respects Jeff,” Mr. Page said in a 2018 documentary titled “Still on the Run: The Jeff Beck Story.” “He’s an extraordinary musician. He’s having a conversation with you when he’s playing.”

“I’ve never made the big time, mercifully,” Mr. Beck told Rolling Stone in 2018. “When you look around and see who has made it huge, it’s a really rotten place to be.”

So many great songs, but I’ll pick this one, because its melancholic tone seems appropriate.

Also, this.

With the death of Jeff Beck we have lost a wonderful man and one of the greatest guitar players in the world. We will all miss him so much. pic.twitter.com/u8DYQrLNB7

— Mick Jagger (@MickJagger) January 11, 2023

Rest in peace, brother.