Grammy Nods for Arctic Monkeys & Greta Van Fleet

Imagine my excitement when two of my most favorite bands from this century were nominated for Grammy Awards for 2019…I’m still screaming!  I am glad that my instincts about these two stellar acts were spot on; now lets just hope that they can keep up the momentum and win a few Grammy Awards for their efforts.

Greta Van Fleet are relatively new to the mainstream rock world, but they are by no means new to the world of rock as they were weaned on Rock N’ Roll and carefully educated in the realm with their parents extensive vinyl collection.  These young men have thoroughly impressed me with their stage presence, musical/lyrical abilities and stamina.  The minute I heard them from Mr. Lee at Mark Skin Radio I knew these guys were the real deal.

I’ve been to two of their shows in LA in 2018 and each show was excellently curated for the most bang.  Wish I had known about their show at The Viper Room as I probably would have gone to that one too. Their carefully honed fusion of blues, soul and rock blow my mind each and every time I hear them. And to think, it all started with “Highway Tune” for me with many thanks to Mr. Lee at Mark Skin Radio.

Their Grammy nods are: Best New Artist; Best Rock Performance/Highway Tune and Best Album for “From The Fires.”  which I have on my iPod as well as “Anthem Of A Peaceful Army” which is also a really great release; their 4th Grammy nod is for Best Rock Song/Black Smoke Rising.

As an added bonus friends, Greta Van Fleet will be hitting the stage of Saturday Night Live on January 19 on NBC Channel 4 at 11:30pm.  Don’t change the channel after their 1st song as acts on SNL have two performance spots.  Cannot wait to see what they play and what they wear.

What can I say about the Arctic Monkeys that I haven’t said before?

It was a tough few years when they went on hiatus and I almost lost faith more than once.  I said ALMOST.  I would post little things on their Twitter account in hopes of reaching them and would scan Google for any news tidbit that the fates would allow.  Each day I prayed for more Arctic Monkeys.

Alex Turner did not let me down with “Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino” when it came early in 2018.  It has garnered rave reviews and was met with critical acclaim although I am not sure how much of this was lost on a lot their fans.  I say this because at both of the Arctic Monkeys’  Hollywood Bowl shows in October the audience for the most part did not sing along with any of the tunes from this conceptual album. At one point Turner flung his guitar around the stage and I wondered what that was about…was it because the audience sang louder and more to “Don’t Sit Down Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair” than they did with “Four Out Of Five”?

Indeed, the audience seemed to respond better to the older tunes than they did to “Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino.”  I don’t think what the Arctic Monkeys played mattered,  as long as it was the ARCTIC MONKEYS.  If you have read what I wrote about their shows at the Hollywood Bowl at nohoartsdidtrict.com/lamusicscene then you know my opinion about this effort.  If you want to know my overall opinion then please read it at nohoartsdidtrict.com/lamusicscene. In fact, please do read it if you haven’t so you can see what friend I bonded with over the sweet “talents” of Alex Turner.

Today, January 6, is Turner’s birthday and I want him to enjoy his birthday no matter where he is on this Earth.  I don’t think he is at his Hollywood, CA place and think he’s overseas will his pal Miles Kane partying like crazy.  Those two dudes are very close and seem to have some sort of cosmic connection that goes beyond brotherhood.

Anyway, the Arctic Monkeys received two Grammy nods: Best Rock Performance/Four Out Of Five; Best Alternative Music Album: Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino.  Congrats guys and my fingers are crossed for you.

*Alex, please allow your hair to grow out.

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In Search of Gram Parsons…Joshua Tree

Hanging out in JT for the Thanksgiving holiday and have begun to consider Gram Parsons and all that entails here in JT.  Is he a spirit?  Is he a legend?  I’ll be going on a journey to find him here in JT and this is day 1.  Hmmmmmm lets see what we can dig up and out.

Today is November 21, 2018 and our beginning point is the Joshua Tree Saloon where April Yats and I go for breakfast and to do some intel recon on Parsons.  After asking a few “old-timer” looking dudes some questions, I saw a few people at a table that my instincts say have something to say.  And they did.  Both moved to JT because of Parson’s legend. One has a friend that hung out with Parsons in JT during his tenure here and the other is a musician  that does a few songs by Parsons to pay homage to him.

A Gram Parsons Festival t-shirt.

Then it was over to the owner of the saloon to see what he has to say…plenty.  Turns out that the left side of the saloon was another bar where Parsons would drink and shoot pool.  The saloon reinstated the Gran Parsons Festival in September of 2018 for the first time in years. Thy are planning on an even bigger event next year which will last a whole weekend instead of one day.

Next, it was over to the Joshua Tree National Park visitors center to see if they have a map of the park so April and I can find our way to Cap Rock which is a Monument Landmark geological formation there.  This is where those freaky friends of Parsons brought his corpse and set it on fire because “that is what Gram wanted.”

At some point it was decided that I would try to touch base with Johnette Napolitano of Concrete Blonde and hear her story of her horse rescue efforts. We went over to the MDLM office and did that.  This was my son Ethan’s idea and it seems like a good one.

Almost forgot to mention that yesterday while on the train to come here on the first leg of my journey I tried to download “Wild Horses” by The Flying Burrito Brothers several times and it would not work.  There are several files of “Wild Horses” on iTunes and each one was corrupted.  Caused me lots of irritation and iTunes tried to bill me for downloads that never completed because they were corrupted.  I’m beginning to wonder if that is a sign from Parsons that he is out there.

While I was in Paris the first time it was through my iPod that The Doors’ frontman Jim Morrison used to contact me and kept freezing it up on his music. So this wasn’t too farfetched and far-flung to think that perhaps Parsons was using my iPod to garner my attention…it worked. I’ve been coming here for quite a while now and this would be the first “sign” I’ve had from him.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I am not sure if we’ll go over to the JT National Park and check out Cap Rock or not.  A guide at the visitors office drew up a line of how to get there from where we come in.

Today is November 22, 2018 and we went to Joshua Tree National Park today and drove to Cap Rock and took in the energy of it all.  This place is unreal with an almost extraterrestrial  like landscape.  Came to clearing where the event took place and Gram let me know he was there by giving me two rusty bottle caps.  Bottle caps at (bottle) Cap Rock is a very subtle way for a spirit to allow its self to be heard.

April and I played Gram’s music and then a Native American blessing song.  An offering of sage was left behind to say thank you and cleanse the area.  There were so many tourists there today it was hard to do what needed to be done to finalize the deal. The pass is good for a week so we will return before I leave.

November 24 drove over to the JT Inn to look around and see what could be seen.  Office was closed, but decided to look around anyway if there was a way.

November 24  we went over to the Joshua Tree Inn and did some snooping around the building.  The office is only open from 3pm to 8pm so we decided to  come back another day.  Found a few rusty bottle caps so I know Gram is with us.  Also made contact with a wonderful alcohol ink artist to purchase a beautiful card with a horse on it for Johnette Napilatano in order to reach out.  Contemplating the concept of “Vortex”.  Another bottle cap artist I met last month at the HWY 62 Art Tour was selling his creations at a farmers market in JT and he told April and I that the JT Inn is booked ages in advance…oh my.

November 25 drove back over to the JT Inn to interview whomever was there to speak to and get answers to my questions. Upon entering the office I was greeted by a lovely young woman named Dee Dee. She knows so much about Gram and his story that I am inclined to call her the encyclopedia of Gram Parsons.

The office is practically a shrine to Gram with photos, news clippings, guitars and what not.  It is impressive.  The mirror in Gram’s room is still the same one and there is a shrine memorial in front of room 8.  There is a huge guitar adorned with tributes to Gram as well as items on the bottom of the guitar.  Lots of things are there including the sage that I put there for April and I.  Dee Dee tells me that the most popular item to be left are guitar picks and that she is using them in a collage she is constructing as a tribute to Gram.

I mentioned that the Arctic Monkeys had been in JT and had recorded there as well as play at Pappy & Harriet’s.  Her sweet face lit up and she told me that they had stayed there and that there is a recording studio up the street.  Hmmmm I was sort of hoping that they had used Johnette’s studio.

Never made it into #8 because it was occupied, but did make a reservation to stay there in January 2019. That day is now fast approaching friends and I am so excited.  I’m really feeling like something is going to offer up a breakthrough.  Joshua Tree National Park is closed because of the Governemnt’s shut down (curses) but there are a strong group of committed volunteers that are cleaning it up.  They are asking for donations to help defray the cost of this nobel effort.  Try Coyote Corner on Instagram or other related shops in the area.

Over the moon that I heard from Greta Van Fleet  today ,January 7, 2019, and they have told me that they will be appearing on Saturday Night Live on January 19, 2019.

Gram did offer up info that I was curious about in his cosmic chatter, but I’m saving that for my column.  He explained about one of the incidents that keeps occurring in #8 which when I think about it makes perfect sense.

Dee Dee gave me information that doesn’t quite go with what someone else had said so I need to verify it with Phil Kaufman.  There is one scene from Gram’s passing that still haunts me and it involves an ice cube…seriously.

Dee Dee wants all to know that this was no suicide and that his overdose was an accident.

The ZOMBIES @The Troubadour 9/11/18

The British Invasion band The Zombies “brought it” to their second night gig at the Troubadour which brought to mind a Zombie Apocalypse of a musical kind. Kind of an Apocalypto if you will with an experimental nature that resonated with the sold-out crowd. The band was animated, chatty and performance driven as they totally rocked up the club.

The Zombies were formed in St. Alban’s in 1961 and by 1964 had a hit titled “She’s Not There” followed up with “Tell Her No.”  I first discovered them in a film titled “Bunny Lake Is Missing” in which they had three songs including my favorite “Just Out Of Reach” in 1965.  The song is featured in television scene in the film.  The Zombies had me at “Just Out Of Reach” and it was the beginning of a great fandom for me.  I even own a copy of the film.  The Zombies performed all of these gems at their Troubadour show. Real toe tappers for this former Go Go Dancer.

Around six months ago there was a very conceptual milk commercial that aired on television that featured a song that got me thinking how do I know this song?  I grabbed my cell phone and hit the SHAZAM app and voila there it was “The Zombies/I Love You.”  I have Zombie songs in my iPod queue,  but not “I Love You” and I quickly added it.  It was truly a blessing to me that the band played that tune at the show and did so in such a way that I could not stand still.  I was dancing all around the aisle in a 2 -foot space. I happily kicked up my heels and offered up my apologies for elbowing my neighbors and stepping on more than a few toes with my boot heels.

Perhaps one of the best known songs associated with The Zombies is “Time Of The Season” which is from their 1968 album “Odyssey and Oracle” and is in itself quite an enigma as it originally did not garner much attention, but developed a “cult” like following during the fifty plus years they have been The Zombies.  It still ranks at #100 on RollingStone Magazine’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 9 of the 12 songs on the psych-pop ear candy were recorded at the infamous Abby Studios and they used the “Studer 4 Track Machine” that The Beatles used to record their “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”  It came in at 113 which was just under the  U.S. Hot 100 list.  This song sounded amazing live and is the first time I have ever heard it performed.  Colin Blunstone’s voice is still full-bodied with a  range of a much younger vocalist. The vibrato is strong and constant and not weak and wavering as some singers newest work seems to be. This song is truly a treasure to hear.

Argent writes most of The Zombies’ material, but the stand out song of the night was “Hold Your Head Up” which Blunstone told his adoring fans was actually penned by former member Chris White and performed originally by Argent’s band “Argent.”  This song provided quite a “jam” and included a potpourri of rifts from many other tunes. “Hold Your Head Up” came off slick, polished and oozing with Argent’s adept musicianship upon his organ.

When I was a Go Go Dancer at The Teen Fair’s at The Palladium in Hollywood there were many bands that performed covers of The Zombies’ hits and I did get to experience the thrill of dancing to their tunes, but this is the first time that I’ve ever been lucky enough to dance to them live.  The last time I was at The Troubadour I had told staff person Mike that when I returned it would be without the cane I was hobbling around with due to a fall down a flight of stairs at a Ringo Starr concert. His answer was “And I’ll bet you were dancing in the aisle…right?”  Wink, wink.

The Zombies are professionally trained musicians that have an experimental bent woven into the tapestry that is their body of work.  It is beyond this music lover how they could be eligible for The Rock N’ Roll Hall Of Fame since 1989, be nominated in 2014, 2017 and 2018 and not selected.  I voted for them every time as did the legion that comprise their faithful “Zombie Cultist” force.  Not exactly an Army, but definitely a perpetually moving train heading your way and telling you to get on board.

 Many thanks to Facebook gal pal Michele Coombe, Siren Artist Management, for making this night possible as we celebrated her 39th birthday…wink, wink.

It was nice to catch up with The Zombies’ road manager, Chris Tuthill, and hearing that The Zombies are on their third consecutive tour.  Tuthill also added that touring with Uriah Heep seemed logical.

The Zombies are slated to join British Rockers Uriah Heep on October 27th for a European tour.   Uriah Heep have 25 studio albums, 13 live albums, 16 compilation albums, 27 UK singles and 17 videos under their respective belts and feature heavy organ orchestration in their body of work.  Tunes that one might recognize them by are “Wizard,” “July Morning” and “Stealin.”

Uriah Heep are touring in support of their current release “Living The Dream” which is set to drop on September 14, 2018.

 

John Lennon “Forever” Stamp Set For Release By USPS

The new John Lennon “Forever” 50 cent postage stamp released on 9/07/18. There are: sheets of stamps at $8.00 each, set of four digital color postmark which features a peace sign at $6.60 and first day of issue covers at $3.76. This release is part of the Music Icon series by the USPS.
The release coinsides with the October 9 release of a new remastered boxed set of Lennon’s work titled “Imagine-The Ultimate Collection.” The 6 disc set will have 4 CD’s and 2 DVDs and a 120 page book. October 9 would have been Lennon’s 78th birthday.
Lennon’s son Sean Ono Lennon and widow Yoko Ono Lennon were in attendence at the unveiling of the colorful stamp’s unveiling and Yoko was involved in all aspects of the remastering.
The Unlimate Collection is ready for pre-order on Aamazon for $99.98.

I am a big John Lennon fan.  I own lots of books, magazines, photos, CD’s, DVD’s and I have collages of him hanging in my apt as well as a poster from the Grammy Museum and a large framed photo of him in front of the Statue of Liberty.  I’ve even made friends with Andrew Solt’s brother John.  John Solt is a lovely poet that i met through a mutual poet friend named Morgan Gibson.  As big of a fan as I am, I’m not so sure that I want to shell out $100 for the new ultimate collection boxed set that will be realesed on Lennon’s birthday.  Purchasing stamps dedicated to Lennon’s memory is not a stretch for me since I have collected the Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin releases.  I also collect stamps when i like them.  I have a large collection of Bicentennial stamps in my collection which I am proud of.  But…….. $100 for stuff I already own seems redundant.  Who knows, maybe I’ll change my mind.  Hopefully, I’ll make up my mind Lennon’s birthday on October 9.

50th Anniversary of The Doors’ “Love Street” Photos

 

I’ve added photos from the 6th annual Love Fest on the legendary Laurel Canyon where music found it’s creative groove. You can go to http://www.nohoartsdistrict.com/lamusicscene to see the full column about this awesome event.  Unfortunately videos cannot be posted to this blog site….hmmmmmmm. So glad that I was able to see Krieger perform as well as Johnny Echols of LOVE and Micky Dolenz.  All were flawless sets of sweet memory producing music from my youth.

Included in the photos are: Robbie Krieger and John Densmore of The Doors presiding over the renaming of a portion of Rothdell Trail to LOVE Street by City Councilmember David Ryu; Former Monkey Micky Dolenz; Fem Zeppelin Led Zeppelin Tribute band; Love co-founder Johnny Echols and friends; Get The Led Out DJ Jim Ladd; Henry Diltz autographing my “Morrison Hotel” t-shirt which Robbie Krieger also autographed; a verse from “Love Street”; Jim Morrison’s house and Music Maven with Ms. Mindi Muse.
Love-In 2018 is slated for next Sunday, August 12 by the merry-go-round at Griffith Park. Photos from that event will be posted here at News From The Front.

Greta Van Fleet

It is always a treat to see fresh young talent and that is what Greta Van Fleet is. They are ear candy of the highest degree. I like these 4 kids and have nothing but praise for them and wish them well on the their current path to success.
What I find disturbing is those that do not agree with my opinion making threats to me via some obscure cult that calls themselves “The White Rose Resistance Group”. Curious enough to look this group up, I found out that they were a group of intellectuals and scholars formed in 1942 to fight the Nazis. This group is said to HAVE been non-violent and was situated in Munich, Germany.
This resistence group is suppossed to no longer be active, but Judith Phipps told me that they still exist and are very secretive. Phipps is the fan that roared by threatening me with untold nonspecific consequences. All this because I dare to like Greta Van Fleet.
Phipps’ spelling was hard to make out in the private message she sent me on Facebook. And it made me wonder what was going on with her spelling and the use of too many commas and periods.
I am going to write what she said to me. I think she is slandering the group myself. Maybe you can decide.
“Greta Van Fleet was the name of a Nazi sympathizer who Robert (Plant?) disliked. She is the heiress to the Van Zeppelin fortune and is no longer alive. The Van Zeppelin family used Zeppelin for the Nazis to destroy many people. Thus developing a fortune, they had to meet with her to use the name Zeppelin. Then to be rude to Robert and others by refusing acknowledgement any repetition of Zeppelin style in their music…outragious. Rude little guys will never be a fan.
I am a (member)-I could not make out the word that was spelled paet. This group is also secrative. Activly fights inhumanity against fellowman. Started during Nazi Germany.”
I am guessing that Phipps is insisting that Greta Van Fleet are Nazi’s and that this group is anti-Nazi and will terminate them. I did a lot of reserach to write my next column and never did I come upon anything that would indicate that they are anything more than young guys from from a Baviarian town in Michigan where they heard someone mention the name of local resident Greta Van Fleet. She is in her 80’s and recently met up with the guys at a concert.
The band acknowledges Led Zeppelin’s influence upon their craft. There is no disrespect coming from them.
There does come a point when some less than diligent “reporters” asking them the same thing that has been already been asked or stated over and over again when a person will rebel. If that is the case, I am willing to overlook it.
It would seem that Page and Plant are getting tired of hearing it. Even though the remaining members have moved on from Led Zeppelin, except to remaster to reissue and sell, and have their own projects going. They all seem pretty happy.
If this nonsense was started by some misguided super-fan in an attempt to stir up trouble or maybe get Led Zeppelin to regroup and start touring…let it go because it isn’t going to happen. Their 50 year anniversary is coming up and who knows what they’ll be doing. Look at Plant’s agenda as well as Page and Jones to see what those say.
Not everyone is going to like or care for Greta Van Fleet and that is ok and is normal. But, please leave the juvinile threats behind and grow up.

The Hitch-Hikers Guide To The Galaxy: A Review

Must confess that ever since Penny gave Leonard a first edition copy of “The Hitch-Hikers Guide To The Galaxy” on “Big Bang Theory” I’ve been curious. This last Sunday, June 17, 2018 my curiosity was cured when I was able to go to the “Wallis Annenberg Center For The Performing Arts” and a live performance of it at “The Lovelace Studio Theater”.
A lot of the times I do not enjoy plays as the scenery doesn’t allow for spelling it out and I have to stretch my imagination to envision the sight
that the actors are trying to project. I am lazy.
Having said that, I must confess that although the scenery was sparse and I needed to really exercise my imagination I got it. I got it so well that I understood the “in-jokes” and I found myself laughing at some of the humorous
lines when no-one else appeared to get it.
When I announced my intention to go to see this play, I had a few comments that were related to this play: #42 and “Marvin.” When I asked my friend James shen what the #42 meant, he said it was the answer to the meaning of life. Big question mark in my popped up and I quipped up that I thought it was 73 as that was Sheldon’s answer to the best number in the universe.
The friend that mentioned “Marvin” had chosen wisely as her favorite character, I kept wondering if “Marvin” was going to be like “Marvin The Martian” of cartoon fame. Nope, “Marvin” was a robot in the play. A very serious character that had bursts of concern.
The play was written by Douglas Adams and directed by Madeline Dahm and featured a cast of multitalented people: Trecey Dory, Jayde Lief, Matt Macguire, Kelvin Morales, Mauricio Morazon, Madelina Nastase, Jo Rodriguez, Helya Salarvand, Alex Shelton and Siera Williams.
The lead characters are Martha Dent and Ford Perfect played by Siera Williams and Mauricio Morazon. These two actors held my interest and are pivotal to the cohesiveness of the play. The two meet on Earth and are swept up into a space ship that is working on the destruction of Dent’s homeland. Perfect gives her a copy of “Don’t Panic” which she tends to not get its significance during the play; that changes at the end of “The Hitch-Hikers Guide To The Galaxy.”
The cast are a gender-bending ensemble that play multiple roles one of which is Alex Shelton that had a variety of roles that displayed his ability to go from actor, to puppeteer to musician in a matter of seconds. Loved his flow in the character that he was at any given moment. After the performance, I grabbed the unsuspecting actor to hug him and to tell him how awesome the cast was, how they blew my mind and how the ending song was a showstopper for me.
Kelvin Morales and Helya Salarvand played the character of “Zaphod”. This two-demential character required the to move and speak as if they were one and really had engaged. Jo Rodriguez played the robot “Marvin” to a tee in a cosmic costume that made me take notice, especially the helmet with the robot from “Lost In Space” on the top.
Working together this ensemble brought me though their adventure and got me to understand the hitch-hiking part of this play.
This play is the second production for this season for “The Wallis Studio Ensemble” and “The Hitch-Hikers Guide To The Galaxy” was selected because they were looking for a robust, absurd and funny with a social conscience. I think that they chose well with “The Hitch-Hikers Guide To The Galaxy” as it does make a statement about the world we live in today as well as when the story was first written back in 1978.
At the end of the show a song by “Portugal, The Man” titled “Feel It Still” which had the cast all dancing and also enticed some audience members to jump in and add to the experience. This song keeps turning up for me. It’s a song from “Coppertone” and I first heard it by “Portugal, The Man” on the recent “Grammy Awards Show.”
Thank you to this talented ensemble for putting on a such a wonderful enterpitation of this lively play.