John Fogerty – Born on the Bayou (in California)
Like a lot of people, I once assumed that John Fogerty really was “born on the bayou” somewhere in the Deep South. After all, that’s what he sang, and it also explained his gritty vocals.
Music
Rolling Stones: Exile on Main St. – Extreme Trivia Edition
I’ve officially hit rock-bottom trying to find something new to write about the Rolling Stones. While perusing the collage on the back cover of Exile on Main St for only the millionth time, I wondered about the photo of the newspaper headline that appears to read: “Father of Five Aids Rescuer.”
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Down and out with the Beatles in Liverpool
Who was the “Fifth Beatle” — George Martin? Billy Preston? Neil Aspinall? I would posit, a little poetically, that the Fifth Beatle is Liverpool herself. As Mecca is for Muslims, so is Liverpool an obligatory pilgrimage for discerning music fans.
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Artimus Pyle Band hits the West Coast
It’s not often that Artimus Pyle performs on the West Coast. Based in North Carolina, the former Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer plies a thriving trade along the eastern seaboard with his astonishingly adept and clean-cut band.
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Artimus Pyle’s Lynyrd Skynyrd Memoir
AUGUST 2021 – Because of a cease and desist letter sent by a lawyer for the Skynyrd organization*, this book is unlikely to be published. While we are confident the legal hurdles can be overcome, the legal bills would render it a Pyrrhic victory.
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Someone tell Cameron Crowe that Florida has no hills …
… and that Lynyrd Skynyrd had a drummer (two of them).
While it was refreshing to see Lynyrd Skynyrd get its own episode of the recent Showtime series Roadies, the show’s creator Cameron Crowe made a couple of boo-boos.
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Free Rolling Stones tickets …
… for the boys’ first visit to the Emerald City, on Dec. 2, 1965. But you had to be a parent accompanying your screaming teen, and you were placed in a special section where you were forced to hear Mick, Keith & pals play new songs like “That’s How Strong My Love Is” and “Get Off Of My Cloud.”
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Prince: “I don’t believe in contracts”
It took me a while to unearth this report that I wrote after attending a small press gathering with Prince at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on December 13, 2005.
Read moreAhmet vs. Dweezil Zappa
It’s sad to see the two sons of Frank Zappa engaging in a bitter public battle over money and birthright. The New York Times detailed the feud in April, sparking an open letter from Ahmet to his older brother, and an angry response [both links fixed; the brothers deleted their posts] from Dweezil.
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