Grand Funk: In Concert 1972

Here's a clip of GFR playing at Madison Square Garden in late 1972. This was part of the In Concert series. I have a bootleg of the show but it is not the best quality. Found this on You Tube.

Grand Funk Railroad - Flight of the Phoenix / Footstompin' Music

Dead Dog Express - From The Ashes

I have decided to resume writing on this page. It will be again somewhat different from it's initial inception. I will share some of my rock and roll stories from my playing days but will also add other snippets related to the music industry. I have a couple of music projects that I am launching and will share them as they develop.

Dick Clark rock'n'roll collection to be sold in NY

Dick Clark rock'n'roll collection to be sold in NY:

"Fifty years after Dick Clark first hosted the popular television show that came to be called 'American Bandstand,' he's ready to let go of some of the rock'n'roll items he's collected.

Thousands of pieces in Clark's memorabilia collection are set to be auctioned on December 5 and 6 by Guernsey's Auction House in New York.

One of the top items is the microphone Clark used for 31 years while hosting the live music and dance show featuring artists from Jerry Lee Lewis to L.L. Cool J.

'It was an extension of my right arm,' Clark told Reuters. 'I held onto it for several hours a day, every day.'"

Bullets Loaded

Pullenmyblog:

A spokeswoman for Bob Seger has confirmed just who will be in the Silver Bullet Band when the Bobster hits the road for the first time in 10 years Nov. 8 in Grand Rapids.

The lineup includes long time Bullets Alto Reed (sax), Chris Campbell (bass), Flint native Craig Frost (keys) and singers Laura Creamer and Shaun Murphy.

Rounding out the lineup: Grand Funk Railroad drummer Don Brewer, guitarist Mark Chatfield, percussionist Jim Brown and Detroit singer Barb Payton.

Seger's "Face the Promise" tour sold out three Michigan shows in less than 20 minutes last Saturday, including the Nov. 10 show at Saginaw's Dow Event Center (six minutes) and a second stop at Grand Rapids' Van Andel Arena on
Nov. 12.

Four more shows go on sale this weekend. Word has it the rumored Palace and Joe Louis stops in December could go on sale within the next two weeks.

Six Degrees Of Separation

It's not only who you know but it's who you know that may lead you to others. The path that lead us to Dead Dog Express began in the Spring of 1976.

Todd and I had gotten into some trouble in school that required us to get jobs to pay restitution. In our home town of Plymouth Michigan, a new dinner/dance club had opened by the name of Napoleon's where we found work in the dish room. As we got to know some of the wait staff, we met a girl named Amy. We found out that her brother, Bob, was a musician and had a small studio in the basement of the family home. She informed us that Bob would occasionally take on demo projects for other area musicians.

After exchanging the contact information, we contacted Bob and a few months later, we recorded our first demo at his studio. We would eventually record three different demo sessions at his place. These demos never really went anywhere but it did give us some valuable experience in developing our songwriting skills and gaining a better understanding of the recording process.

Several years later, as we were trying to reform the band, we were seeking a location for rehearsals. I had the thought that Bob might be able to assist in some direction. Once I contacted Bob, he mentioned that his mother had worked for local studio owner, Danny Dallas, who ran Sound Patterns DXM. He told me that Danny might be able to connect us with a situation that would work.

Gaining this referral, I called Danny to set an appointment. We met with Danny Dallas at his studio in Farmington Hills Michigan. He gave us a tour of his facility and we sat down and listened to some of his "war" stories. Initially, he had offered to let us rent place in an unused room within his building. As we began to discuss this option and negotiate an affordable rate, we all agreed that it would not work out.

Danny gave us a referral to his landlord, Gus, who owned several properties in the area. We contacted Gus McCreedy and arranged to look at some remote property he owned where he stored several pieces of construction equipment. There was an "out-building" on the property set off about 300 feet from the main road. We looked at the property and came to terms. Thus, we found what we would come to call - Dead Dog Express.

Back into the swing

For longer than I care to admit, I have not picked up my axe very often. I have been overloaded with business issues and not made time in my day to do much playing.

I have begun to clear my schedule a bit and have reconnected.

Put That Finger Down There!

For some reason, I am reminded of the expression -
"Those that can - do; those that can't - teach."

Whatcha think this guy gets for a half-hour?

Artist Spotlight

On one of my other pages, I write a weekly series that focuses on artists that have some tie to my home state, Michigan. This series has been running for about nine weeks now. This series has been a blast for me because it lets me explore some of the history of the selected artists. With my background in the music business, some of the focus artists I knew about previously.


I have opted to share information about the more obscure or lesser known artists. I have also tried to present a wide variety of artists by bouncing from opposite genre from one week to the next.

Through this experience so far, it has led me to expand the focus of this blog quite a bit wider than originally intended. I think it will make both pages a bit better - at least for me.

eric johnson: cliffs of dover

All I can say is....
damn! this guy can play like nobody's business.

Another favorite song of mine by Eric Johnson. Cliffs of Dover was on one of my "car trax" cassettes I used to keep in the car.

Warren Zevon Remembered

Warren Zevon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

"Warren Zevon was born to a Russian Jewish father and a Mormon mother and soon moved to California. By the age of 13, Warren Zevon was a regular visitor to the home of Igor Stravinsky where he, along with Robert Craft, would study music.

Zevon turned to a musical career early, including a stretch as part of a Sonny and Cher-type male/female duo called lyme and cybelle (a band whose correct spelling is all lower case), and he spent time as a session musician (notably as piano player and band leader for the Everly Brothers) and jingle composer. He wrote several songs for his White Whale label-mates the Turtles, though his participation in their recording is unknown."

Guitar Intonation and Setup

Guitar Intonation and Setup:

"As always, I'm tearing out what's left of my hair trying to keep guitars in tune. I'm from a small area and there is no “go to” guy for setting up guitars. I've got a few buddies who do a solid job, but I hate to keep bugging them to intonate guitars."

Music thing: eBay of the day: Amazing 60s Mosrite/Von Dutch guitars

Music thing: eBay of the day: Amazing 60s Mosrite/Von Dutch guitars:

"This kind of thing doesn't come along too often: These three guitars were made for the 60s psychedelic one-hit-wonders Strawberry Alam Clock by Semie Moseley of Mosrite (much more about him here) . As if that wasn't cool enough, Semie sent the surfboard-shaped guitars to Von Dutch to be painted. After the band played them in a film (possibly 'Beyond the Valley of the Dolls'), Semie got the guitars back."

You really have to see these guitars to believe it. They are beyond description. Very cool article.

The Gauntlet :: Porcupine Tree - Heavy Metal - Buddy Icons - Porcupine Tree Videos - Porcupine Tree Ringtones - mp3s - Tabs - Wallpaper - lyrics

The Gauntlet :: Porcupine Tree - Heavy Metal - Buddy Icons - Porcupine Tree Videos - Porcupine Tree Ringtones - mp3s - Tabs - Wallpaper - lyrics:

"Roadrunner Records is delighted to welcome epic rockers PORCUPINE TREE to our family.

Porcupine Tree is unquestionably one of the most difficult-to-categorise and innovative bands out there. The music is breathtaking, ranging from psychedelic trip-hop to progressive metal, and a compendium of other sounds in between.

Evolving from one man’s self-indulgent creative outlet back in 1992, Porcupine Tree has grown into a well respected major-label-signed four-piece who have released several albums. Their most recent, 2005’s ‘Deadwing’, served to further skyrocket the band's renown and they are currently hard at work on a brand new record - set for release on Roadrunner (excluding North America and Japan) in early 2007. "