http://www.spin.com/articles/phish-covers-stones-stoned-halloween

Help support Rock Minutes - Add to social bookmarking site:

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/10/29/epic-moments-at-the-rock-hall-25th-shows-the-countdown-begins//

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/10/30/hall-of-fame-anniversary-rocks-on-with-second-all-star-night/

Check out “Gimme Shelter” from Saturday night.

Help support Rock Minutes - Add to social bookmarking site:

Elvis

The first movement I think of is the arrival of Elvis Presley.  In 2009 it is easy to think of the fat bloated Elvis wearing rhinestone jumpsuits or some of his horrible movies.  I like to think of the young Elvis that changed music forever.  The Elvis that could not be filmed from the waist down on TV because his moves were to sexual for America.  The Elvis that mixed country music, gospel and blues into something so exciting and dangerous it still inspires young musicians today.  The Elvis that made teenagers realize how silly it was to watch Pat Boone rip off artist like Little Richard.  That is the Elvis I think of and I wish I could have witnessed it happen.

The British Invasion

In the mid to late 1950′s when America was producing artists like Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Little Richard, Bill Haley and the Comets, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and Bo Diddley there message was being heard across the Atlantic and would inspire an invasion nobody could have ever predicted.  Bands surfaced in the early to mid 1960′s that would forever change the world of music.  The Beatles started it all.  Is there one adult over the age of 55 that does not know where they were the Beatles were on The Ed Sullivan Show.  The Beatles were just the beginning.  The sixties saw bands like The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Animals, The Kinks, The Dave Clark Five, The Spencer Davis Group, The Yardbirds, The Hollies, The Troggs, Cream and many more.  These bands took what American musicians were doing in the 1950′s to a level that may never be matched again.  I cannot imagine hearing Satisfaction, My Generation, Wild Thing or Love Me Do as they were being released for the 1st time.  If there is one period in music that I regret not being around for this is it.

Motown/Stax-Volt/Atlantic Records

This movement really is incredible.  During a time where most artists making this music could not even eat in the same restaurant,use the same bathroom or go to the same school as a white person they made music that would cross all racial borders and made the whitest of white kids get up and dance.  The soul movement of the late fifties and sixties came from Memphis, Detroit, Philadelphia and even the deep south in places like Muscle-Shoals.  The list of artists is jaw dropping to say the least.  Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, The Temptations, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Jackie Wilson, The Four Tops, Martha and the Vandellas, The Supremes, Marvin, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Jr. Walker and the All Stars, Booker T and the MG’s and many many more.  If you need proof about the amount of hits you can buy 202 Motown Songs: The Complete #1s.  That is right 202 #1 songs, and that is just from Motown.

Dylan

Bob Dylan is the man.  There is no 2 ways about it.  He is a bad Mother Fucker.   Dylan started out as guy who wanted to be the next Woody Guthrie.  He was a guy that played acoustic folk music.  He was the savior of the 1960′s folk movement.  He started out on the east coast coffee house circuit.  He graduated to playing folk festivals with the likes of Pete Seeger and Joan Baez.  He was loved in that scene, he was hailed for being an acoustic alternative to the loud rock music of the time and then on July 25th 1965 he changed the world.  At the Newport folk Festival he went ELECTRIC.  The hard core folk audience hated it but once Dylan went electric he changed all the rules and went from being a folk legend to an American treasure.  He released Highway 61 Revisited later that year which included the classic Like a Rolling Stone and he never looked back.  Dylan going electric was truly a moment in time that will never be matched.

Grunge

I would like to start out by saying God bless Nirvana.   They are not my favorite band from that era but they were the 1st and I give them credit for putting all of the shitty hair bands of the 1980′s out of business.  If you think back to the music of 1991 there are not a lot of good memories, until Nirvana released Nevermind.  Once Smells Like Teen Spirit hit the airwaves everything changed.  All of the sudden bands like Poison, Motley Crue, Warrant, White Lion and Winger seemed cartoonish.  Smells like Teen spirit took over MTV and rock radio.  The album Nevermind climbed the charts eventually knocking, of all people, Michael Jackson out of the #1 slot.  All of the sudden the center of the musical universe was Seattle and they were not only delivering us Nirvana but also Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Mother Love Bone who would eventually become Pearl Jam and Screaming Trees.  The music not only changed the way people thought about music but it changed the way kids dressed.  Kids identified with this music it seemed to be talking directly to them. It seemed more important than singing about Cherry Pie, Girls Girls Girls or Talk Dirty To Me.  It truly was a pivotal moment in music.  Looking back at that time I am dissapointed that I did not immerse myself in that music.  I love that music and own all of the albums but I gravitated toward it much later in life.  I was 20 years old in 1991 and let that movement slip through my fingers, truly dissapointing.

Those are just a few of the moments in music that I think changed things forever.  I am now closer to 40 than 30 and wonder if I am too old to even see the next movement when it comes.  Maybe it has come and gone and I missed it.  I know that I love music and I want something to happen that changes all of the rules, something that none of us are expecting, something that we will be talking about in 20 years.  I fear with the state of music these days it may be impossible but I will keep hoping and listening.

Later,

Nick

Help support Rock Minutes - Add to social bookmarking site:

1.  Warpaint- The Black Crowes

It is imposssible for the Black Crowes to make a bad album.  They have added Luther Dickinson from The North Mississippi Allstars to the band and it paid off.  Great mix of Rock, Country, Americana, and Blues.

Feature Track: Locust Street

2. The Raconteurs- Consolers Of The Lonely

The second album from Jack White’s “side project”.  Great album full of huge riffs courtesy of Jack White.  It is great to hear him in a full band setting with a second guitar player(Brendan Benson).  I suggest listening to this album at a very high volume.

Feature Track-Consoler Of The Lonely

3. The Black Keys- Catch and Release

This is the first album that the Black Keys have actually recorded in a real studio not to mention it was produced by Danger Mouse.  Their is definitelty a lot more production done on this album compared to their past albums, you even get some banjo on a track, but they still kick out the jams as only they can do.

Feature Track- I Got Mine

4. Mudcrutch-Mudcrutch

Before the Heartbreakers Tom Petty had a band called Mudcrutch.  They broke up in the 70′s and never actually made an album until now.  Well worth the wait.  Imagine a mix of The Heartbreakers with The Flying Burrito Brothers.

Feature Track- The Wrong Thing To Do

5. R.E.M.- Accelerate

I have been waiting for this band to make this album for about 10 years.  They finally made a rock record.  It is great to hear them make an album that does not put you to sleep by the 3rd song.

Feature Track- Supernatural Superserious

6. Shine A Light- The Rolling Stones

Go ahead and make your jokes about the Stones being 100 years old.  They are better at 100 than 95% of the bands out today.  This live album proves that they really are the greatest rock band ever.

Feature Track- Loving Cup featuring Jack White

7. North Mississippi Allstars- Hernando

When Luther Dickinson is not playing guitar for The Black Crowes he is the leader of The North Allstars. Hernando was released in January and it finds the Allstars doing what they do best which is creating authentic blues music featuring Luther’s phenomenal slide guitar along with his brother Cody on drums, and Chris Chew’s funky bass.

Featured Track- Shake

8. Gary Louris- Vagabonds

Gary Louris is one of the founding members of the recently dispanded Jayhawks. Gary released his first solo album in February with friend and Black Crowes frontman acting as producer. This album is a sparse acoustic album with great vocals and harmomies.  Chris Robinson and Susanna Hoffs(from the Bangles) even  provide back up vocals on the title track.

Feature Track- Vagabonds

9. My Morning Jacket- Evil Urges

MMJ has been critically acclaimed for years but I have never really been in love with the stuff they have put out until now.  They are all over the place on this album and it all sounds good.  One minute they sound like Neil Young and Crazy Horse and the next they sound like Prince.  There are huge guitar sounds all over this album.  Sounds even better when you listen to the album through headphones.

Featured Track- I Believe

10. Counting Crows- Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings

I know they wrote the them song from Shrek but I cannot hold that against them.  I have always liked this band.  They make 3 minute pop songs that are get stuck in your head and you cant get them out.  This album is no different.  I know that Adam Duritz’s lyrics are a little over the top and he tries to make being a pop star sound like he is digging ditches but I always seem to like the music they put out.  This album is a good listen that has everything from the guitar haevy opener “1492″ to the made for radio “You Can Count On Me”.

Featured Track- You Can Count On Me

Those are my top ten albums from the first half of 2008.  I highly reccomend checking them out and even adding them to your collection.  I look forward to updating this list in December, especially with new releases by The Kings of Leon, Ray Lamontagne, and John Mellencamp in the second half of the year.

Later,

Nick

Help support Rock Minutes - Add to social bookmarking site: