@Jim Morrison’s Grave & Nelson Vard

When I was led by fate to Jim Morrison’s grave at Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise in the 20th Arrondissment in 2014, I had no idea why I was being led there or what I was going to find. It was obvious to me the spirit of Morrison had something in mind as the spirit was working overtime to get me there. Relentless hounding from the moment I got off of the airplane, getting lost in MontMartre by the “Soul Kitchen” cafe, having my iPod get stuck on Doors’ songs to writing an ode to Morrison; there was no doubt that I had to go to Morrison’s grave.
When I finally found the internationally famous and much talked about grave of THE Jim Morrison, I found a beautiful young man and his mother there too. The young man introduced himself as Nelson Vard and show me evidence that he had just been selected by “Nouvell Star”, a French equivalent of “America’s Got Talent”, to compete on the show as a singer. He made it to the end, but did not win because he is rock n’ roll and France signs techno-pop.
Vard picked up his guitar and began to sing some of The Doors’ music and it sounded beautiful. I remember thinking that this kid has talent as I was listening. Vard was very helpful and hopped the fence around the grave to put my roses, my brother’s ashes and the ode that I had written to Morrison on top of the edifice there at the grave.
Over the years we have kept in contact and he has sent me links to his work and has kept me appraised of his musical progress. Last year I put him contact with an industry friend in London, England to help him get to the next level of his development. This kid has a great future. He reminds me of a 21st Century version of Donovan.
I am working on going back to Paris later this year to discuss with my friends how are we going to proceed with Vard now that he is an adult and his music is maturing.
In the mean time I would like it if you all would go to “SoundCloud” and look up Nelson Vard/GoGo Juice. I tried several times to post the link, but could not get it to work. Listen to it and then let me know what you think…PLEASE.

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Arctic Monkeys VS Stub Hub

After an absence of four years,the Arctic Monkeys announced that they were doing a gig at The Firefly Music Festival in Dover, Delaware in June. They had also listed some dates in Europe. This was exciting news because most fans thought that this day was never going to come. But, there weren’t many dates on the tour and only one in the entire USA. I thought about going to Delaware for a few minutes and giving up on my trip Paris, France later this year. Then I came to my senses and began sending messages all over the internet to the Arctic Monkeys begging for more dates and please have some in Los Angeles.
Happily the band complied and announced a show at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery (HFC) May 5, 2018. Tickets would go on sale at 10:00am, Friday March 16, 2018. Ok I thought. We can do this.
I took off work and was poised to pounce when 10:00am on March 16 rolled around.
But, almost as soon as I got there the 3,000 tickets were sold out. Reading the thousands of Arctic Monkeys’ fan responses to this occurrence was sad and pitiful because they all said the same thing…Shut out as soon as I got on. A few lucky fans did manage to purchase tickets, but not very many.
Almost 70% of the fans believed that something fishy was afoot and so the investigative journalist in me kicked in and I began to ask the “event” person at HFC questions about this travesty perpetrated upon the fans of the Arctic Monkeys.
I was informed that 40,000 fans were trying to purchase 3,000 tickets which is in itself a conundrum. 1 show with only 3,000 tickets and 40,000 all trying to purchase at the same time. Hmmmmmmmmmm.
At about this same time, fans started posting pages from “Stub Hub” which is a ticket resale site on the internet. Tickets were going for $325 to $2,500 on this site and we fans were all outraged. I went back to my contact at the “event” division and growled about “Stub Hub’s” rape and pillaging of the Arctic Monkeys’ fans.
I was told that they have asked “Stub Hub” to cease and desist selling their tickets, but according to my contact they have continued selling the scalped tickets anyway. Here is the very sad and pathetic part of this resale business;
there are very specific rules concerning this matter posted on HFC’s event page. In bold letters it states: THESE TICKETS ARE NON-TRANSFERABLE & NOT FOR RESALE! RESOLD TICKETS WILL NOT BE HONORED! THE ORIGINAL PURCHASER OF THE TICKETS MUST ARRIVE WITH THEIR PARTY, PHOTO IDENTIFICATION, CREDIT CARD USED TO PURCHASE TICKETS AND ENTER THE VENUE USING ONE OF THEIR TICKETS.
Also stated in smaller print is: Customers with more than 2 tickets will be automatically refunded without notice.
To me this reads as a very clear notice of their intent so that if a fan purchased a scalped ticket that they paid the $325 to $2,500 for, they will be not only out of the concert, but also out the money they spent on the scalped tickets.
This is so wrong on may levels and I think that “Stub Hub’ needs to be stopped because these poor desperate fans are going to ripped of.
I have been a fan of the Arctic Monkeys since 2010 when I moved back to Los Angeles from Santa Barbara, CA. Their alternative rock meets punk is awesome and my feet cannot keep still when I play them on my iPod. I have as many songs on by them on my iPod as I do The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. My most favorite song by these lads from Sheffield, England is “Do I Wanna Know.” Other songs are “Don’t Sit Down Because I Moved Your Chair,” “I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor,” and “Why Do You Only Call Me When You Are High.”
It was a great day when they performed a “Beatles'” medley at the 2012 Olympics in London. I was mesmerized. Beatles’ Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr enjoyed their performance as well and said so. This put me over the moon, because I had been working behind the scenes promoting them to “Rolling Stone Magazine,” “Spin Magazine,” and “Billboard Magazine.”
Their licks are hot and frontman Alex turner’s voice is something that I could easily fall in love with. I’ve said more than once that I would make love to Turner’s voice if I could.
The Arctic Monkeys have announced that they’ll be having a new LP release in May, 2018. I wait for that release with bated breath on pins and needles.
Still, it would have been nice to see them live for the first time ever since I first discovered them via Decca Records in France.
A journalist friend at an industry gig magazine told me that perhaps on Monday or Tuesday there will be an announcement that the Arctic Monkeys have added more shows in Los Angeles and that things happened the way they did because they wanted the frenzy and hype to gauge what the demand was. If that is true, and this person would know, there are still at least 40,000 fans clamoring for tickets to see them in Los Angeles.
Does Turner remind me of the incredible guitarist of Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page?
Well yes, sort of. They were both born in January and both have written a ton of music for their respective bands. But, Jimmy Page doesn’t sing and Alex Turner does. The fact that 32-year-old Turner has an estimated worth of $25 Million doesn’t hurt my impression of him either. In fact, anytime a musician can make that kind of money tells you he is something exceptional.

Randy Rhoads Revisited

I recently wrote a column about Randy Rhoads and his music school where he began taking classes at age 6 and taught classes up to his tragic death in an airplane crash. It’s at http://www.nohoartsdistrict.com at L A Music Scene.

I have enough info to write another story on Rhoads, but I am wondering what you readers would like to see.  Rhoads’ music? His penchant for learning new riffs and learning new techniques?

One fan of Rhoads wrote a comment  at the end of story where he asserts that Rhoads’ estate is badly managed by Rhoads’ older brother Kelle Rhoads.  I’ve put out feelers concerning that burning issue. Is it another case like Jimi Hendrix’s

I would love to see a film documentary done on Rhoads and I have the perfect person picked out for it.  This person has a strong background in filming music acts for AOL’s Behind The Scenes, MTV and Fremantle Media.  I enjoy his current work.  It’s not sentimental, sappy, idolish and done in a choppy manner.

Problem is that in order to do that, the Randy Rhoads estate needs to be managed by someone who knows what they are doing…such as Jeff Jampol/Jampol Management.  Jampol manages dead acts and makes them profitable. Jampol’s client list includes The Doors, Janis Joplin and Michael Jackson.  This is the most logical choice.  I cannot help but feel that the people running Rhoads’ estate are looking at thousands of dollars instead of generating millions of dollars.

There is so much more that could be done.

Want to make the school a historic landmark?  Would you like to see Randy Rhoads stamps?  How about a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame?  The possibilities are limitless.

I cannot get a lead on where Rhoads’ guitars and equipment are from his brief stint with Ozzy Osbourne.  This really bugs me…where the hell are they?  Wouldn’t they better serve Rhoads’ fans in the now in the process of being restored and refurbished Randy Rhoads Museum at Musonia?

As I’ve stated, I am in the process of hashing out some of my burning questions, what do you all think?

Is Ringo a Hare Krishna?

When I attended Ringo Starr’s birthday party in front of Capital Records on July 7, I noticed a holy man in the VIP area next to Ringo and began to scrutinize this person’s attendance at this “Peace & Love” shout out at Noon.

Who is this person and is Ringo a Hare Krishna?

After arriving home I began searching and asking after this orange clothed person that was definitely a member of Hare Krishna.  Surely he must have been important…a VIP if you will.

I received an answer on Facebook.  His moniker is Radhanath Swami.

Since my first answer to my first question was answered on Facebook, I figured that mayhaps there was more to find out on Facebook

than elsewhere.  I found the Swami on Facebook and sent a message to him asking the big question…Is Ringo a Hare Krishna?

It took a few months to receive an answer, but finally a number on the “message”  icon on my laptop version of Facebook appeared announcing that I had an answer from the page manager.   The person on the other end apologized to me for taking so long to respond.  I’m thinking thank you for reminding me of my question as I had forgotten all about it.

The responder had to check on the answer to my question before answering it which is why it took so long the page manager explained.

“Ringo and Radhanath Swami have been friends for some years and he was also invited to the 2016 birthday party as well.  Ringo is not a Hare Krishna devotee and he has his own spiritual practice.  Radnanath Swami describes Ringo as  very inquisitive and philosophical.”

There it is folks, there is the answer from the Swami himself via his Facebook page manager.

My curiosity stems from the fact that I used to sing and dance on Hollywood Blvd. with the Hare Krishna devotees when I was teen ager.  I really enjoyed their love and joy for their religion as well as humankind. I remember going to the Newport Pop Festival and hanging out in Laguna Beach where my posse met up with them and invited us to their compound up in the hills.

That was quite an experience.

Seems that in order to eat, one must sing and dance for quite a while which is what we did.  The dancing and singing/chanting put us into a type of trance, but not meditative state.   It is quite a spiritual experience and a chance to connect to a higher power and even tho exhausted, you are in a state of euphoria.

I remember even taking lunch with them in the front parking lot at Pierce College during this time frame.

Back in those early days of self exploration I also discovered the Self-Realization Fellowship and Lake Shrine quite by accident when I took off from the beach and went for a walk up Sunset Blvd.  I still go there now when I need to clear my head and get down to a deeper meditation. It is through  Meditation that  I always receive the best answers.

I was never a Hare Krishna devotee, but I have always enjoyed them and their philosophy.  Not always answers to my thoughts, but answers to what is important to the Universe.

Now Hollywood is over run with doomsday Bible thumpers equipped with microphones to shout, rant and hammer tourists and inhabitants alike with their need to save those damned to Hell for not believing the same way they do.

I think I preferred the Hare Krishna devotees.

RIP Tom Petty

Let’s face it, it’s been a shitty 2017 thus far and since it’s already October I don’t think that we’ll be experiencing a reprieve anytime in 2017.  Hurricanes, earthquakes, flooding, fires, several terror attacks, a mass shooting in Las Vegas and then Tom Petty died.

Petty was found unconscious and in full cardiac arrest at his beach city home and to top it off, he had a DNR which is do not resuscitate.  Petty’s passing at 66-years-of-age was a bit of a surprise because he seemed alright at his recent performance at the legendary Hollywood Bowl. But, we mustn’t forget his proclivity toward drugs.  He had been clean for quite a while and his wife I hear is in large part the reason for that.  By all accounts he was doing well.

Who doesn’t have a favorite Tom Petty song or two on their play list, set list or iTunes iPod list. I have several.  His slower songs were good to warm up to and then the harder ones really launched me into dance mode.

And there it is….the dance mode.

When I had my own nightclub I could go into the club during the day when it was dark and turn on the PA which was connected to the radio/tape/LP player and jam till I got what was bugging me out.  I could then pack up and go home and be a nice person.  Of course, I always danced at night when I went out.

That is a problem now.  I have no place to go to where I can jack up the sound system with whatever music I want and dance.  It’s a bit difficult to go out dancing these days because so many places don’t really have a dance floor and the ones that do have females that cannot handle the competition and get downright rude.  Can’t we all just along?

People stare and laugh when I dance/walk down the street with my  iPod headphones on or wait in line somewhere and crank up my iPod to make the time pass.  Hmmmmmm what to do?

The cord on my iPod headphones makes it next to impossible to dance on my wood floors at home.  I keep the floor slippery so I can move easily as I dance, but like I said the cord to my headphones aren’t long enough.  I have a system that I plug the iPod into or another with Blue Ray tech, but the length is not long enough.  I cannot hold the iPod or put it into a pocket as the strength of my moves are forceful enough to jar the player or throw it out of a pocket.  Yes, my moves are THAT strong.  Once I gave myself whiplash and a concussion when my back gave out in mid gyrate and I slammed my head into my kneecap. LOL Boy was that one for the books.

Does anyone have a private space with polished wood floors and a great stereo system that I can link up my iPod to?  I do not need mirrors, but if they are there that’s ok too.

My iPod holds songs by Judas Priest, Gene Loves Jezebel, Golden Earring, Pet Shop Boys, New Order, The Stones, Beatles and you get the picture?  There aren’t too many slow songs and most are hard rocking tunes meant to dance to.  My motto has always been “If you want to see what your music looks like, watch me dance.”

I remember going to see a fairly well-known drummer at Club SASH to see him play.  I wasn’t much into his jazz as  grist for my dancing so I sat through the whole set.  When the DJ began playing music that was more to my liking and began my schtick.  By the time the Dj put on the long version of “Desire” by Gene Loves Jezebel the place was standing there watching me dance…I had the floor to myself.

In retrospect, I remember a few females in the bathroom saying how no one could dance just before I did that.  Was that the Gauntlet?

When I finished my “set” and walked off of the floor it was to applause.  My Jazz friend and his band just kinda looked like…..

So, keeping that in mind friends and rocking’ readers do you have such a space or know of one?  Email me at musicmaven9@gmail.com…..PLEASE.

Moody Blues @Hollywood Bowl 6/17/2017

 

The Moody Blues wowed it’s capacity audience with an assortment of signature songs as well as music from the “Days Of Future Passed” LP on Saturday June 17, 2017.  The event marks the 50th Anniversary of the famed LP that as Justin Hayward, lead guitar and vocals, stated “changed our lives forever.”

Attendees were singing along with the Moody Blues and were howling with a great deal of exuberance.  Young people as well as senior citizens attended the concert and all had a rousing good time.  An ocean of happy singing people is always a good indication of success in my book.

The Moody Blues had the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra playing behind them led by conductor Thomas Wilkins whose leadership added to a flawless performance by the band as well as the orchestra. For the Moody Blues’ record label, this was the first recorded concept LP and considered a masterpiece as well as a ground breaking effort.

Who knew when Decca Records asked the band to record an album to test “stereo recording” that history would be made?  Decca had been known primarily as a classical music label and the decision was made to fuse rock with classical music and viola “Days Of Future Passed” was crafted and was a success.

Sadly, “Go Now” , a tune that had been originally recorded by Bessie Banks, was not included in the first part of the show, but they came blasting onto the stage with “I’m Just A Singer” which made the crowd clap loudly with glee and forget about the rest of world.  The Moodies also performed the classic “Say It With Love” from their LP “Keys To The Kingdom” which hints at the greatness that the Moodies have become.

There were times that I kept getting distracted by Norda Mullen, Flute, guitar and vocals, as she  was dressed in some pretty awesome “Steam Punk” gear, but had a forehead that reminded me of a Klingon from “Star Trek”.  The other backup members : Julie Ragins, keyboards, guitar, sax and vocals; Allen Hewitt, keyboards and vocals; Billy Ashbaugh on drums performed exceptionally well and rendered up an absolutely flawless performance and were able to not be crushed by the Moodies as well as the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.

During the intermission I was able to recall the first time that I had seen the Moody blues so many years ago.  It was November 30, 1968 at the Shrine Auditorium and they shared the bill with Jeff Beck, The Faces with Rod Stewart.  10 Years After and Mint Tatoo were also on the bill, but I cannot remember anything  about their paticipation in that show.

The bands were level to the audience and I was right in front of all of them and was totally enjoying the Moodys when someone handed me a joint and I took a huge hit and promptly passed out and fell backwards.  When I came to Hayward was looking at me like “WTF?”  That was 49 years ago and the Moodys have only gotten better if that’s possible.  Their voices are right on the mark and are live as well as their musical prowess.

As the Moodys broke into “Days Of Futrue Passed” I began wondering if any of the three of them had read Robert Graves’ “White Goddess or “The Battle of The Trees” for starters as so much of the lyrics kept harkening back to a time that I am well acquainted with now that I am older and wiser.

 

The first time I saw the Moodies I was only 17-years-old and quite ignorent of so much of what I was going to learn.  I think that the Moodys helped usher me into that new realm of understanding and knowledge.

Throughout their performance there was quite an eclectic “light show” going on behind them with so many wonderful images, including that commanding voice that opens up the LP with images of the man behind the voice with orbs behind him.  It was surely a space odyssey to behold.  Drifting in space while listening to the lilting tunes of “Days Of Future Passed.”

An interesting aside to the song “Knights In White Satin” is that it found a home on the soundtrack of Johnny Depp’s 2012 film “Dark Shadows.”

The Moody’s encore song was “Question” which goes into “A Miracle In My Life” which always brings a lump to my throat as it reminds me of a time long ago where I had a love and he was lost to me.

All this on the season opener of Hollywood Bowl  2017…an iconic place with an iconic rock n’ roll band!

Dawn is a feeling…this day will last a thousand years if you want it to.

 

 

“8 Days A Week” Arrives In Time

Just in time to watch instead of the new president elect’s inauguration, my DVD “8 Days A Week, The Touring Years” arrived with little fanfare or mailbox watching.  In fact, no trumpets blared when I gingerly opened the mailbox or when this fan opened the DVD…but there it was to rescue me.

This wasn’t to be the first time that I had seen the carefully curated Ron Howard film, I had also viewed a Universal Studios screening, they own Capital Records, and hosted by KLOS 95.5 “Breakfast With The Beatles”host Chris Carter in Hollywood, CA early on as well as a screening in Santa Monica, CA.  I like that first screening in Santa Monica as we got to sip wine while watching the film.  It was a bit marred by one attendee who thought it a good idea to bring their chatty two-year-old with them.  At that point I needed the wine.

“8 Days A Week, The Touring Years” is the latest addition to a very large Beatles’ collection which sports several Beatle films from “A Hard Days Night” and”Help” to Beatle’s related films such as “The Magic Christian and “Across The Universe.”  One of the collection was produced by my friend John Slot’s, a well known poet,  brother  Andrew Slot…ah “Imagine.” The collection includes many books, some written by John Lennon such as “A Spanard In The Works” and “In His Own Write” as well a little book titled “Japan Through The Eyes of John Lennon” which is full of Lennon’s art. There’s also a bit of Beatle jewelry.

There’s buttons, playing cards, bubble gum trading cards, posters, a special mounted photograph of the lads at a news conference in LA by Lord Tim, lots of special issue magazines, music and a few collages assembled from my magazine collection.  5 collages have been assembled in all of which I only have 2 with me.

As for “8 Days A Week,” it’s a very well crafted Beatlementary about the Fab 4 and their cheeky life on the road and in the studio from 1963 to 1966 and they show footage of their last, rooftop “concert” on Abby Road Records which was shut down by the police. Stunning examples of their famous, sold out shows with screaming , crying and fainting fans.  It also is great for footage of their very off the cuff interviews, how well they worked together and just The Beatles in general.

An amazing fact that this Beatle fan had not known until just prior to this film being first seen, is that they refused to play before segregated performances.  The concerts had to be inclusive and as Ringo Starr put it “We weren’t playing for this gruop of people or that group of people. We wanted to play for everyone.”  Paul McCartney added that there had to be a collective vote of 4 in order to move on an idea, so this concept of no segregation had been agreed upon by all members. It did appear in their signed contacts.

Did I see The Beatles live at anytime? Why yes, yes indeed I did.  The Hollywood Bowl show in August 1964  where Jackie DeShannon opened, with my brother.  Our mother had made him take me.   The whole experience was amazing and left a lasting impression upon my music soul.  At one point I owned all of their LP’s.  I did manage to ware them all out.

Hats off to Ron Howard for this wonderful piece of Beatles history and a day in the life of  attitude.  The reminiscences of the interviewees was a compliment to this film and the fan footage blended with news footage provides a marvelously woven story which ends with the rooftop concert.  The background narrative added to the pieces of the puzzle and brings to light the dissatisfaction that The Beatles had been developing toward touring and how they could not hear themselves above the roar of the crowds’ screaming.

Who is my second favorite band…Led Zeppelin.  Be warned though that there isn’t nearly the amount in that collection as there is for The Beatles.

Many thanks to my bank’s credit card for giving me monthly bonuses which I can use to purchase items such as “8 Days A Week.”