Gary Robert Strickland

 Gary Robert Strickland

Several years ago, I had a student come up to my desk and tell me, “My brother is playing guitar at the event in Jenks. He said you should come see him.”

His older brother is Gary Strickland. I had Gary as a junior high student at Sapulpa Junior High.

I am always up to see former students, and the fact that he was playing music at a stage there was even more reason to go. 

So, that Saturday, I drove to the Jenks Main Street festival and walked to the stage area. I got there just in time to see Gary play.

The first song I heard him play was ‘in The Beginning” by Emerson, Lake and Palmer. It was impressive. I sat and listened to his set and spoke to him after the set was over.  I enjoyed the set and his play.

Gary didn’t stop there. He played in clubs and began recording his original songs. I have been able to see him play a couple other times and sadly missed a couple other opportunities. 

He has been a busy guy. Not only does he have a day time job teaching in St Louis, but has been pretty prolific writing and recording.

Just yesterday (Oct. 6, 2026), I listened to his newest album on Spotify. It’s called “Breaking Down in Stereo.” It’s a great album. In fact, it’s my favorite of his albums so far.  I believe he has something like eight albums of music available on Spotify, and I imagine on other services as well.

Gary is a great guy who makes good music! I really hope he can play the “Tunes at Noon” at THe Church Studio in Tulsa. That would be perfect. 

Rock on Gary!

Adam Hernandez sizzles on guitar

 It all started with the lunch lady!

 I had the privilege of teaching a great guy, Adam Hernandez.  He was a high school student of mine. Witty. Intelligent. A good athlete. He basically had a lot going for him.

One of the best things he had going was his musical talent. 

Adam can play guitar.

Adam can play guitar really good!

The first time I saw Adam play was at the senior assembly Adam and another senior, Josh, decided to reproduce the Adam Sandler Saturday Night Live skit, “The Lunch Lady."  Sandler had done the skit with Chris Farley. Farley dressed as the lunch lady and danced around while Sandler played and sang
“The Lunch lady Song.”

SO, Adam Hernandez and Josh did the same. Josh is a big guy. A high school lineman who was willing to get silly on stage . He donned a wig, a dress and  an apron to reenact the SNL skit.

They were great! The hit of the assembly.

Adam eventually made his way to Nashville where he scored some session work playing guitar. He has toured with  a diverse group of musicians including Alan Jackson.

For the past decade or so, Adam has been the lead guitarist and music director for country singer Lauren Alaina. With Alaina, he has traveled the world. From the Grand Ole Opry to Europe and beyond making that guitar of his talk. He has played in front of huge  crowds of people.

Adam has even been featured as a spotlight artist at the Grand Ole Opry museum shows. He played guitar for the CMT televised Christmas show. 

A while back, Alaina played in Tulsa. Adam gave my wife and I tickets to the show.

 We were seated in the second tier. Good seats. Good sound.

Adam was sizzling in front of the home crowd.

During the show, I suddenly felt something hit me in the chest. I looked in my lap and it was one of Adam’s picks! In the dark I know he couldn’t see me, and I doubt that usually a pick would sail that far, but it was pretty cool to get the pick from Adam’s playing. 

One of my favorite things is this… Often when Adam comes to town, he will call my great friend Larry Vandiiver and we three will meet for a beer. We get to hear Adam’s adventures and hear about his career.

I don’t know about other teachers, but I always thought of my students as my kids. My interest in them didn’t stop when they left the door. I wanted to see that their life was going well and hoped for the best for them.

Adam is getting to do what he loves. 

He makes that guitar sing in front of thousands!

Rock on, Adam!

Susan Herndon sings

 Our Friend Susan Herndon. 

 

I taught at one high school and my wife taught at another. It was the start of another year when I received a call from my wife, Ashley while I was getting my classroom ready.

“I think we hired Aphrodite,” she relayed over the cell. “She’s our new French teacher.”

Ashley and “Aphrodite “ hit it off right away.  Ash told me later that during a break , Susan, the news Aphrodite, came to her and asked “Where can a person take a shit around here?”

Ash said, “I think we will get along well.”

 They did. They became friends and in turn I became friends with Susan as well. 

The thing about Susan was , she was also an aspiring musician. 

Susan had been in France, working on two things…. Her French and her guitar. 

She lived for a while in a Buddhist monastery where she practiced nonstop. She stayed in the monastery where the well known Vietnamese Buddhist monk, Thich Naht Hahn lived. 

Susan also took guitar lessons from Oklahoma hall of famer Tommy Cook. 

So, while teaching, Susan would also play local gigs at restaurants and clubs, 

She did a lot of covers  and we would often go to hang out with her during and after the gigs. Susan had a pretty loyal following. There were obviously many men that followed her because , after all, she is Aphrodite. 

Susan eventually added another person to our friend circle. She and Deedee would write together. DeeDee was there and became a very good friend of ours too. 

It was pretty cool to be around a group of people who were drawn together for creative reasons.

Ashley is a heck of a writer and poet, too. She was a top literature masters student at TU, scoring a Phi Betta Cappa. She and Susan would collaborate too.

Susan would put on happenings where she played some of her music and others read poetry, etc. Susan and Ashley sang a song together that had been penned by Ash and put to music by Susan.  Susan also played us an instrumental she had written inspired by Ashley’s China set that had once belonged to her grandmother.. It was called “Grandma’s China.’  It was a sweet gesture. 

My favorite story of their friendship took place in our back yard.  I wasn’t there at the time. 

Susan has produced several CD’s of her music over her career. For this particular CD, she had a vision for the cover. 

She came to our house with a waterproof camera. She wanted to have some pictures taken underwater. So, Ashley and Susan spent some time drinking wine, before shedding their clothes and jumping into the  pool in the back yard. 

Ashley took several shots, one of which ended up as her cover photo.

But while they swam, lounged and drank, my mother drove to our house.

Mom walked into the back yard to find two naked women tipsy by the pool.

I’m sure my mom was a bit shocked.

Susan left teaching to follow her music dream full time. She has created at least nine Cd’s of her original music and is working on a tenth . She has played the Woody Guthrie festival several times.  She became part of several different musical gatherings, including one of all women. 

Susan eventually left Tulsa and moved to Texas where she continues to play, write and record.

Her music is on Spotify and I imagine other streaming services. 

Most recently, we got to see Susan again when she played at the Tulsa Church Studio “Tunes at Noon.” Ashley was glad to get some talking time with her when she came.

You have to admire someone who gave up the security of a teaching job to pursue their art.

Susan is well worth a listen.

Music in the dark

  During my time in college, the stereo played constantly.

I had a big record collection and my buddies also had some LPs that we played often. 

Mo always wanted to hear Robin Trower's "Bridge of Sighs " or Todd Rundgren's "Something Anything." Both great Albums. Don loved Pete Townshend's "Pure and Easy" because of the hand claps. He was always a kinetic person. Don had me record an 8 track tape with that song repeated over and over. Larry had an album with a song "Music" by John Miles that he loved to play. 

 Music was always a part of our day. Sometimes it was Stick's :Year of the Cat" by AL Stewart or Jean Michael Jarre's weird music. I never figured out the draw to his music. A strong memory was of Mack sitting with headphones on and kind of  intermittently singing the Cars "My Best Friend's Girl." There was the day Scott bought his first LPs from someone in the dorm. It was a unique selection of Rush's "2112" and two albums by the Runaways. 

Sometimes we would put on Ted Nugent's "Free for All " or "cat Scratch Fever" and bounce and ju8mp around the room playing air guitar to burn off all the energy we young guys always had. 

 Rundgren, Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," The Beatles, Trower, Blue Oyster Cult, ZZ Top,  etc. always blasting out of our doorways. 

But, there were two special songs that required a dark room and absolute silence to listen to. The first was "The Prophet's Song" by Queen from the "Night at the Opera" album. The other, "Funeral for a Friend/ Love Lies Bleeding" by Elton John from "Goodbye Yellow Brick Riad."

Both songs are epic in both length, dramatic and haunting. 

Someone would say "Let's listen to so and so with the lights out!' So, we sprawled around the room in chairs and across the bunk beds as one of us cued the LP and switched off the lights. We waited in hushed silence for the first notes to come forth. 

In the dark, those two songs, building and growing  would wash over us as we listened in awed silence. Queen's elaborate vocals and soaring guitars, Elton's rising instrumental topped off by his vocals and piano in "love Lies bleeding."  No one spoke. No one joked. There was only the dark and the song. 

When the songs ended, we lay around the room in silence, relishing the concentration of the music outside of any other distraction. 

 We had a lot of special moments, but those were some of the best. 

Zen moments Queen and the Arkansas Rive r

 Outside of the small college town I went to ran the Arkansas River.  Being from Oklahoma, I always pronounced it "Ar-kan-saw." The Kansas people were quick to tell me it was pronounced "Ar'Kansas."  The river, regardless of what you call it, was a location for a lot of students on adventure time. 

Since the college was a religious school, the river was a good place for drinking and letting loose. 

In the spring, when the weather was warmer and most of us were free from our sport responsibilities, we would often go to the river.  We would buy some beer and head to the banks of the river.  I never drank any alcohol until I finished my last college game, but after that and then the following extra year I put in at Sterling, I found that liked wine, So I would also bring a bottle of wine.

We had a lot of fun doing stupid things, mostly harmless.  The river wasn't deep, but after spring rains, the current could get pretty stiff.

So, there we were, several guys out splashing in the river in our underwear. Yelling and laughing, splashing and sometimes sitting on the shore talking trash to each other. 

On this particular trip, Mo had been knocking back several cans of beer.  It seems like a lot of our stories always started with the words "Mo."

For some reason, he trad to walk across the river. The current was pretty swift, so he had to kind of walk upstream to avoid being pushed downstream. But, he was also drunk. 

Mo got to the middle of the river and was trying to trudge upstream. Bu for every step he took , he was pushed back two. . 

Mo kept yelling at us to rescue him and so of course, we sat on the shore and made fun of him. Much good natured swearing was exchanged along with laughs. Mack would yell, "What's wrong, Sheppie?  Are you stuck?"

Finally we helped Mo stagger   to shore. 

We brought our sleeping bags to sleep under the spring time stars on the banks of the river. We finally wore out the day and crawled in bags to sleep. Gossip and good natured ribbing died down and we fell asleep to the sound of the river passing by. 

Late that  night, even though the day had been clear and without clouds, there was thunder.  I was wakened by a few drops of water hitting my face as low thunder rumbled in the distance.  Laying in the bag next to me, Larry sang lowly, "Thunderbolts and lightning..."

I and  a few others joined in ."Very, very Frightening me... Galileo, Galileo, Figaro, magnifico!'

Finally, our singing died down and the last few drops of rain ceased. We went silent once more, rolled over and  fell back into sleep till the next morning. 

Here in Oklahoma, I still live a few miles from the Arkansas River, I'ev been to the river a few times, but those guys made the river trips. 

. 

Deep dives in Spotify

   I always like finding new music. It's always a cool thing to listen to a new tune that moves something in you.  It's like finding a hundred dollar bill on the sidewalk. It's a surprise and it's  a reward. 

 I take deep dives.  I used to do this on you tube, but I do it on Spotify now.

Here's how the deep dive works.

Let's say IK see a new song listed on Spotify as a suggestion, or an older tune I haven't heard in a while.  SO, I click on the tune to give it a listen.

Near the end of the song, good or bad, I scroll down to the bottom where Spotify has a category of "If you like this artist, you might like these."

I pick one of those and listen to a song by them. If it's a song or musician I find I like, I make a note of them for future listening. Then, I continue on the same pattern until I finally wear out or run out of time.

I may start out on something like, say J J Cale and by the time I have followed suggestions to whatever end, I may have ended up with a song by Black Flag or \Mastodon. I tend to pick the most esoteric of the choices given because I think it reveals a lot more music I'm not used to. 

Another thing Ashley and I have done before is do a tune exchange. She might play a song she wants me to hear. So,  then I respond with a song for her.  We will go back and forth sharing songs we like that the other may not be familiar with.

I often take music suggestions from my sons, Fletch and Corwin. Also from my friend Zach. Each ahs a slightly different twist on their tastes. 

Sometimes in my Deep Dive, I may choose a theme.

Today it's punk. Next time its prog rock and so on. 

I think the deep dives are a good thing. It's way too  easy to only listen to the same music over and over for comfort. But, there's other good music out there too. The 70's may be my favorite era, but even that era has a lot of music I may not have heard.

Put on the scuba gear and take a deep dive.

The water is fine. 

Yesterday.... the movie

 Yesterday

I JUST FINISHED WATCHING THE MOVIE “YESTREDAY”..... AGAIN.

 This 2019 film is about a local musician, jack Malik, who is having very little success. Then, a strange worldwide event happens in which several things common to life disappear as if they never happened. No Coca Cola. No Cigarettes. No Harry Potter….. And no Beatles. 

They never existed.

But, a few people remember   them. Jack is one.

He begins to play Beatles tunes and everyone thinks he wrote them.

Everyone loves his music and he skyrockets to fame.

I admit, the first time he played “Yesterday,” tears came to my eyes.Those tears rep[eated several times throughout the movie. 

I can’t imagine a world where the Beatles never existed.  My life would have been less without them.

I grew up with the Beatles.

When I was a young kid, I was sneaky and bought my first Beatles album, “Something New”, an American release over my Dad’s objections to the Beatles. He had heard that John Lennon had quipped “we’re more popular than Jesus.” That was enough for my Southern Baptist deacon dad to ban the Beatles from our house. 

 And I bought other albums. As a young kid, I hunted down anything that had to do with the Beatles. My cousin Sharon gave me copies of “16” Magazine with Beatles stories. We had an old car in the pasture that ended up being the storage palace for old newspapers. I tore through the stacks looking for stories about Beatles tours and news. 

My walls  were covered in Beatles.

I never missed the Beatles Saturday morning cartoons and sand along with the tunes. When the TV announced a new Beatles promo  video was going to be on the Ed Sullivan show, I pretended to be sick so I could miss Sunday night church and see it.  Dad saw through my act. I missed the premiere of “The Ballad of John and Yoko” much to my chagrin. 

I saved money to get the white aum which was a little more expensive since it was a double album, but when I did get it, I wore out the grooves. 

Somehow, my dad eventually forgot about John’s Jesus comment and actually told me once, “ I kinda like this band. I can understand what they're saying.”

I did manage to talk Dad into tracking me to see the animated “Yellow Submarine” at the local Sapulpa theater. (1968)

In 1969,I quit the boy scouts because of the Beatles. 

We had boy scouts on Thursday nights. A new show, “The Music Scene” started and one of their big premiere events was a new Beatles video on the show. I begged my mom to skip scouts and stay home and watch the show. Shows with live music were rare, especially rock music. The Music Scene had that and the Beatles.

My family was always big on finishing what you start. Mom told me , “Either you be a boy scout and go to the meeting or quit if you going to e a rock and roller.”

I never went to another scout meeting and did see the Beatles video. 

In 1970, I talked mom and dad into taking me to see the movie “Let It Be.” That movie was a little distressing since it kinda showed them falling apart.

When news came out that they had broken up, I was heartbroken . 

At that time, I could tell you what order the songs were on every album( the American Releases), the length of the song and who wrote them. 

There was no one like the Beatles to me.

That never changed.

I still get emotional after 60 years of listening to the Beatles. Their music still moves my soul. It energizes me. It soothes me. 

I did love all of their solo projects. I still listen to those too. But, in 1995 when the Anthology came out, I was elated. Most of the “unheard “ songs on the anthology I had found over the years on bootleg recordings. It was cool to hear them back together  using John’s demos to make “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love.”   I feel the same about the recent “Now and Then.”

I’ve been lucky to see Paul in concert and Ringo and his All Stars. I relished the shows letting the old Beatle vibes wash over me.

In recent years this movie, “Yesterday” and “Across the Universe” were the best films ever at the use of Beatles songs. They celebrated the music of the Fab Four. 

I jst turned 70.

I still celebrate their music and it is still a big part of my life.

I can’t imagine a ;life without their music.

Church Studios home of Leon Russell

This spring, I retired after 47 years of teaching and coaching. 

Tough decision to leave something you have always loved.

Our good friend, Shannon came by the house with a gift for me.  She said she knew I wasn't really ready to retire and needed to have something to do. She gave me a gift card to buy a year's membership at Church Studios i n Tulsa.  

What great and cool gift ! I love it and I am very grateful to Shannon.

Church Studio is the recording studio that was built by Leon Russell in the early 70s.  I have been a Leon fan since I heard his first music. He was always the cornerstone of the Tulsa  Sound.  In the early 70s, he went together with Denny Cordell and they purchased an old church building ion Tulsa and built a modern recording studio there. 

The studio was famous. Besides Leon, it also served as a studio for anyone who signed to Leon and Denny's label, Shelter Records. Dwight Twilley band, Freddy King, J.J. Cale, The Gap Band, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers all signed and recorded there. 

Other famous musicians made the pilgrimage to record there including Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and Eric Clapton.  Even Ringo Starr and George Harrison have been there. 

Now, the studio is till an active studio, but it has become a land mark. They built on to the building and have added a gift shop, a bar and  a  small concert hall. The Church offers weekly music for member (free) and non members (a small fee) where local musicians can coma play.

I love live music and plan to go see someone play every week. I've been to three shows already and plan on being there often.

The Church is like a shrine to the local music scene.

Wikipedia link to the Church

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Church_Studio

The Church Studio link

https://www.thechurchstudio.com/

Alice Cooper finally

 I read that Alice Cooper is going on his final tour. 

Why do all of  my favorites have to get old?

I do  too, but the music I have listened to for decades never seems to age. Why should the player?

The first time I heard Alice was in 1971. I heard the song :"Eighteen" on the local radio station. The song spoke to me as a teenager. "I'm 18 and I don't know what I want!"  So, it was the first Alice album I bought.  The band had put out two previous LPs, but thye hadn't gotten airplay near me. 

 

By the time I graduated high school, the  Alice Cooper band had released several albums. "Killer," "Billion Dollar Babies," "School's Out," and "Muscle of Love."  There was a delicious edginess in those albums that were slightly diabolical and especially attractive to a teen boy who loved Horror and sci fi. Plus, they were rocking albums! The cvery guitar I loved to hear.

Thing was, I never got to see Alice. 

If he came to Tulsa, it was at a time I couldn't see him. I was an athlete through high school and college and that often cut into opportunities to see bands I liked.

I continued to buy Alice's albums. When he went solo and did "Welcome to my Nightmare" and the series of themed albums to follow. "Goes to Hell" and "lace and whiskey." I knew part of his stage persona was a always a bottle of whiskey, but when he went to rehab and emerged with the "From the inside" album, I thought it was one of his best,

For some reason, I lost track of Alice for a while. I was teaching and coaching full time. I eventually married and we had two sons.

But, Alice's albums were always a part of my play list.

I finally had the opportunity to get back in touch with Alice's music. In 2011, the sequel to "Welcome to my nightmare' came out. Plus, streamed music made it convenient to listen to all the Alice music I had missed. 

TA last, I got the chance to see Alice live. He appeared at "The Old lady on Brady" (recently renamed the Tulsa Theater). I was excited to see him live ! The theater is intimate and there are no bad seats . I took my ticket and looked for my seat. Turned out it was in the middle of a row. The seats there are old and made for skinnier people. Ironically, my seat was between two fairly big long haired older fans. I'm not a small guy either and we were squeezed in and cozy.

But, when the show started , it was great. You couldn't tell if Alice was 60 or 25! he was rocking the night away and playing his big hits. I left that night satiated and smiling.

Luckily, I got a second chance just a couple years ago. A friend of mine had a friend who got free tickets to casino concerts.  I think you have to spend a lot of money at the casino to get those perks, but he gave them to my buddy Cris , who took me. 

We got to sit in box seats with free food and drinks. That was great, but even better was the show. Alice was till putting on a great show. The music was rocking and he was in great form. he rocked us for the evening and once again, I left with a smile on my face. 

I may never get to see Alice in concert again, but I did get to finally. I loved every note.

If Alice truly retires, he deserves it for 57 years of making music for the fans. 

AUM My favorite music

 AUM     my favorite songs

 A few years ago ,when the thing was to have an IPOD, I named my IPIOD AUM. That had also been the name of a series of CD’s I burned that included all of my favorite songs. The CDs were before the IPOD came along and changed things. 

 I burned CDs for other people often since I have a pretty large music selection. My music collecting days went way back to the purchase of my 1st Beatles album (“Something New.” An American release of early Beatles tunes) After that, over the years, I built a collection of a few thousand LPs.   

  After LPs, I did Cassettes and 8 Track since they could be plated in a car.

My wife and Mom pitched in to buy  my first CD player. Ash wasn’t sure I’d like the switch from LPs to CDs, but once again, they were more easily transported and car ready. Even before they bought the player, I had won my very first music CD off of a radio program. It was Pete Townshend’s “Iron Giant,” based on a book  that would be turned into an animated movie (Townshend producing.)

Anyway, back to the series of “best of “ CDs. I started building playlists of the songs I loved or meant something to me. I stopped after I had filled 16 CDs with tunes. 

I love a lot of songs.

But, why “AUM?”

AUM is the Sanskrit version of the western OM. AUMM is the sound of creation in the Hindu story of creation. It is the sound that rolled across the universe and  brought order to chaos. It is the powerful sound that permeates all things in the universe. It is what George Lucas made into the Force in Star Wars.

I first came in touch with AUM through a song by Pete Townshend. On  his first solo album, “WHO Came First,’ there was a song called ”Pure and Easy.' In the song, he sings “There once was a note, Pure and Easy, playing so free like a breath rippling by. The Not if eternal, I hear it, It sees me. Forever we blend and forever, we die.”

At one point in the last half of the song, the music stops and Townshend plucks a single note on the guitar (AUIM)  and then the song continues. 

I loved the song. It spoke to me and my love of music. Later, I learned that song was supposed to be part of the Who’s second rock opera following “Tommy.” The opera was to be named :”Life house.” Townshend had this huge vision of everything united by this common note and wrote  some of his best songs related to it.

It apparently became too big for the WHO to finish and they decided to take selected songs from the effort and release them as a normal album. That gave birth to one of their greatest, in my opinion, "WHO's Next.:”  Songs like “Behind Blue Eyes,:” Won’t Get Fooled Again,” Join Together,” “Baba O’Reilly” and “The Song is Over.” 

“Pure and Easy,” The WHO’S version, did not make the original album. It would make its first appearance on Pete’s solo. 

The Beach Boys had gone through a similar effort a couple years earlier. Brian Wilson had a vision of a work called “Smile,” that the rest of the band found too big and clunky. The songs they released off of it would become their “Pet Sounds “ album. 

So, why AUM and Townshend?

Pete had become a disciple of Meher Babar, a Hindu holy man. Many of his songs reflected the teachings of Meher Babar. On the solo album, songs like “Pavardigar,” “Nothing is Everything,” and “Time is Passing” show the effect of Townshend's search for meaning.

The rock opera “Tommy” may seem like a fun story about a Pinball Wizard, but it had a deeper meaning of a person unaware of reality, unable to see, hear and speak, who suddenly reaches a state of enlightenment. (“I’m Free!”)

Townshend would later release a 6 CD set of his work on "Life house" through Eel Pie Music. Ashley got it for me as a gift. He was finally able to perform it as a solo artist and it even played as a radio play in England.

Today, In the car with my wife, I had “AUM” playing on the car stereo now streaming on a playlist I made on Spotify. It doesn’t have all 16 CDs worth of songs on it yet, but it's a work in progress. Plus, there are more songs I have fallen in love with since the original was burned.

The song that played as we drove home was "The Song is Over” from “WO’S NEXT.” When we pulled into the drive way, I sat in the car till the song finished. 

That song was the theme for the Who’s final concert tour this past year. I was lucky enough to get to see them live a few times, but sad that I never will again.

But, as my wife said, the song isn’t really over because I can always listen to the music. There is always AUM.

MAGIC MAN HEART 2024

 

HE’S A MAGIC MAN, MOMMA!

 In the summer of 76’, my brother Tim brought home an album called “Dreamboat Annie.” I had heard the first song of that LP getting some air play on our local FM station. “Magic Man” had some great guitar and lyrics that appealed to the nerdy sowed and sorcery guy inside of me.

 A lot of the progressive rock of the 70’s had themes of the Medieval, magic and wizards. But Magic man had something different. It was recorded by Heart which was fronted by two sisters, Ann and Nancy Wilson. Their two faces were emblazoned on the cover of the LP. While so much of 70’s rock was dominated by male singers, Ann Wilson could wail with the best of them.

  The album was diverse and captivating. It rocked and then drifted into dreamy poetic cuts like “Dreamboat Annie.”  I was hooked and became a Heart fan.

  It took 48 years, but this year I finally got to see Heart in concert. Concerts have gotten so expensive that a person must be pretty selective.  As a young man, I went to lots of concerts. But time, expense and other responsibilities limited that later.

 This show did not disappoint. Cheap Trick blew the roof off as an opening act, and Heart followed with a great show. The switched back and forth between rocking and soft ballads. Ann’s voice, even at the age of 73, rocked the arena.  Nancy’s guitar was furious and dynamic.

 We left the show satisfied and happy. There’s nothing like a great live music show.

NIGHT MOVES NOSTALGIA

 

Night Moves

 

   Music has a way of waking memories.

   A familiar tune plays on the radio or pops up next on a playlist and suddenly, you are transported…. to a place, to a feeling…to a memory.

 

   This week, I was driving home from Tulsa. It was a cloudy day that appeared to be pregnant with rain.

   Gray clouds, cooler breezes and the hum of tires on the road had my mind drifting when “Night Moves” by Bob Seger crept from the speakers. Its first guitar chords transported me back to 1976.

     I was a junior at Sterling College in Kansas. The college occupies the small farming town of sterling, situated in the geographic center of Kansas. It surrounded by miles of flat land and field after field of farmer’s crops.

 The song was released in November. We had hung up our pads and cleats for another completed football season. Fall was in the air and cool breezes now replaced the hot Kansas winds that brought the smell of wheat fields and harvest wafting across the campus.

  AT night, we sat behind the dorm, listening to music and talking. The edge of campus and our dorm lay next to a large field often covered in wheat. We could see taillights of cars driving off for long moments across the country roads that stretched out from the college.

 It was then, that song came on the radio.  We fell silent. The song seemed to strike a chord within us. We were young. Summer was ending, and Autumn closing in.

“I woke last night to the sound of thunder
how far off i sat and wondered
started humming a song from nineteen sixty two
isn’t it funny how the night moves
when just don’t seem to have as much to lose
strange how the night moves
with autumn closing in”

 

Music transports us. It reminds us.

TODD IS GODD 024

 

Todd is still Godd.

  Friday, June 14, Todd Rundgren returned to Tulsa with a live show at the Had Rock. He and his band sizzled through a 2-hour set of tunes mostly pulled from the later half of his catalog.

   I’m sure there were people in the crowd that came for “hello It’s Me” or “can we still be friends,” and that haven’t kept track of his career since their teen years. He did give them a carrot in his encore with a medley of a couple oldies. There were also a couple of cuts from his Utopia years, but the bulk of the show seemed to come from “Liars”, “No World Order,” and “The individualist.”

  I’ve been to a lot of Rundgren’s shows. I’ve never been disappointed.  I’ve seen Utopia at an outdoor show at the Oklahoma City Zoo Amphitheater, at Cain’s Ballroom, at the brady Theater, and the “RA” show with the 20 ft. pyramid and sphinx in Lawrence, Kansas. That was a mind-blowing show highlighted by the 18-minute electrified fairy tale” Singring and the Glass Guitar.”

  His solo shows have always been unpredictable and surprising. I’ve been to several, either with a band or a solo show at Cain’s Ballroom. He once brought his “Individualist” tour to Tulsa, playing from under the overpass that ran north of the Cain’s.

   Friday was no different. He arrived on stage to the sound of “How About A Little Fanfare” before launching into “I Think You Know.”

  We had great seats, thanks to my wife, Ashley. Fourth row, center stage. A great view. I was kind of excited that the 2 seats in front of us were empty as the time for the show arrived.

  But, as the lights went down and Todd began to enter the stage, three people sidled into the gap, blocking our view and trying to argue with the couple to their left that they had their seats.  The guy, already seated, told them to check the seat number, but they continued to argue. It was getting frustrating, and FINALLY, they looked at the seat numbers and found they were wrong and sat down.

  There was little conversation from Todd as they slipped from song to song. Todd showed some gunslinger moves on guitar, sizzling through some hot solos. Despite his recent forays into more electronic music, he can still make the guitar scream.

  I knew two songs were coming up at the end of the show that might challenge some listeners in the Oklahoma crowd.  “God Said” from the “Liars” album and “fascist Christ” from “No World Order” might have been a little hard for a religious person to swallow. AT the end of “Fascist Christ” Todd led the crowd in an ironic singalong chorus of ‘Gimme That Old Time Religion.”

  IT reminds me of a review I read on Amazon of the Neil Young album “Living With War>’ The reviewer was upset because Neil had gotten all political and obviously not to the reviewer’s side. I thought “Where have you been? Did you never listen to his lyrics?” This was the guy who wrote “Ohio” years agio.

  Same with Todd. His earlier works were filled with these questions. In “Eastern Intrigue” his lyrics asked the question “Will the Real God Please Stand Up?”

 The regular part of the show wrapped up with a powerful version of “World Weide Epiphany.”  The older crowd was on their feet begging for more as the band left the stage. We didn’t wait long. Todd returned to a medley of “I Saw The Light, Can We Still Be Friends, and Hello It’s Me.”  He wrapped up the night with “Fade Away.” A great song to end the show.

  Todd’s band was hot. He recently lost a guitarist, Jesse Grass. He passed away this past year. Two of his band are constants by his side, drummer Prairie Prince and Bassist and fellow Utopia member Kasim Sulton.

  Todd didn’t seem like a man about to turn 76 years old. He moved constantly onstage.

 I always dread the idea that my favorites ae all getting older and someday will decide to retire. Tom Scholtz of Boston, about the same age as Todd, has been silent for years. Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and the Rolling Stones, in their 80’s but still touring.    SO, who knows? I did read in a recent interview that Todd is already planning his new album.

 All in all, I’d still say this musical chameleon is still Godd.

 

the Time Machie

THE TIME MACHINE I’ve read a lot of science fiction and there is a frequent theme of time travel in the books and movies. There is always the question of whether or not traveling to the past would cause problems or a paradox. I say that time travel has been available for years. It has taken the shape of many things over the years depending on the technology. So far, it has not disturbed the3 past, nor caused ripples of change into the present, I consider myself to be a Chrononaut, since I travel through time each day on this vehicle. In my early years, the time machine took the shape of a transistor radio or small record player. Years later, it was a stereo system with huge speakers spinning vinyl records. Soon, it was replaced by tapes, 8 track and cassette. Digital discs came next, compacting the time machine and making it easy to carry with me. Recently, the time travel engineers have made it possible to pump it into my car, my cell phone, or home stereo through the airwaves. I hear the song “Wild Thing” by the Troggs and I am transported back to 1967. There I am, an 11 year old boy who convinced his mom and dad to join the RCA record club so we could get the introductory offer of a small record player and 20 45 rpm records. The record player is rarely silent when I am around. I play “Wild Thing” often, along with “Ring of Fire “ and “The End of the World.” Another trip may find me listening to “Back in the USSR” by the Beatles in 1968. Having just peeled the clean white double album free of its plastic covering to open the foldout LP and find the folded poster and lyrics inside. I reverently put record one, side one on th turn table and lowered to needle to intently scrutinize each new offering from the Beatles. I made notes about each song by the lyrics. My favorite Beatles tune of all time, “Hey Jude” transports me to a warm fall day at Kiefer High School. It is homecoming and my senior class is in the parking lot lazily working on a float for the parade. I am wearing a letter jacket, and laying on a hay bale when the radio plays “Hey Jude.” I lay in the warm sun, feeling like all is well with the world while the Beatles serenade me. My time machine, on shuffle, sends me “I Know I’m Losing You” by Rod Stewart. It carries me to 1976, soon after a surprise break up call from the girlfriend back home. My college buddies and I are in the car when the song comes on the radio. Mack reaches into the front seat and grabs my shoulder. “Hey, Charlie. This is de3dicated to you!” “You asshole!” I reply, but it is only the hell I get from these close friends that helps to soften the broken heart. Later, we will go to the dorm to play Ted Nugent’s “Free For All” at top volume while jumping around the room playing air guitar. This month is the 40th anniversary of John Lennon’s death. His songs and stories played on TV and radio. When “Just Like Starting Over” comes on the air, I am carried to December, 1980. Lennon’s death was announced on Monday Night Football where Bud Sexson and I sat watching the game. I got two calls from people who knew I would be upset by this. Cas called from Kansas U and the girl that would be my future wife, Ashley Peck, called to tell me too. Cas came to visit me the week before school let out for the Xmas break. I had to drive a substitute bus route that morning before school. It was cold and icy as I wheeled the bus through the rural route. Cas rode along, sitting in the front seat. It was then, “Just like Starting Over” crackled over the bus speakers. I looked over my shoulder at cas and we smiled. It warmed the bus to hear the song. Ashley plays her 80’s playlist and The Buggles “Video Killed the Radio Star” plants me in 1981. Bud has convinced me to get cable TV by telling me there is a new music television called MTV. Music 24 hours a day. I am sold. I spend hours watching the new music and music videos. MTV changed the face of music and for a time, was the best way to see new music. Electric Light Orchestra’s “Telephone Line” pulls me back to the fall of 1986. I sat patiently in front of the cassette recorder creating the perfect playlists which I would mail to Ashley Peck at Oklahoma University. I labelled them “Stuff Tapes.” I made a series of them with the intent of wooing her from a distance. I could catch her by long distance calls at the right time, but the playlist was always there with her. “Telephone Line” was the perfect explanation of how I felt if I couldn’t reach her. It I 1987, and Leon Russell has called me with “Roll Away the Stone.” The summer sun beats down on Ashley and I. We were married in January and now expecting our fist child. We crowded into the river Amphitheater in Tulsa to get close to the stage to see Leon and Edgar Winter together. Leon is rocking the stage that night, but the bass vibrations from the band are making the unborn Fletcher do somersaults in the womb. We get up and move the very back of the venue so we can still hear, but Baby One is now settled down. I am still convinced that those vibrations made Fletch love music. My Grunge playlist sends Evanescence to “bring Me back to Life.” It places me with Corwin at an outdoor concert in 2003. We see Evanescence and 12 Stone. It is Cor’s firt concert and he is pumped. The darkness falls and I let the music wash over me. I am happy just to be sharing this moment with him. “Layla” carries me to Dallas in summer of 2004. Fletch and I have tickets to the Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar fest. Fletch will be a senior in the fall. He shared a love of classic rock with me and the festival is chock full of great players. Wen roast in the hot Dallas summer sun as act after act fills the stage. The amazing musicians that come and go keep us transfixed. Neil Shon, James Taylor, Jimmy Vaughn, BB King, John Mayer, Buddy Guy, Bo Oddly, Joe Walsh, Vince Gill, Booker T, Santana and finishing with home town favs, ZZ Top. Clapton played with everyone. It was an astounding display of musicianship. A time well worth traveling to. And the time travel continues. Even as I type this, Ta Todd Rundgren playlist echoes in my empty classroom. His songs carry me to so many places, from “Just One Victory” while getting ready to play a college football game or “One World” as I stood in a crowd at Cain’s Ballroom watching him perform with Utopia. The same with the Beatles, with Neil Young, with McCartney, Boston, on and on. I know there are many Chrononauts out there, tiptoeing through the years but leaving undisturbed the things that could alter the future. Safety first in time travel.

Growing up with singers

Growing up with singers

When I was a kid, music was always around me. But, not where you’d think. We never had a record player till I begged for one from the RCA record club at the age of 10. There was very little music available on the 3 channels we got on TV. Dick Clark’s BandStand on Saturdays and an occasional lip sync on variety shows. I had a variety of transistor radios over the years. But, the majority of music I grew up with was the acapella voices of my mom and dad.
Mom and dad sang all the time. Mom was the song leader at the Baptist Church. Dad was the deacon. When we were in the car, or at home, mom and dad would often sing hymnal songs together.
Mom would sometimes sing non religious songs to us… such as “Mary Ann, down by the seashore sifting sand…” and dad had a collection of old 78 RPM records including “Wabash Cannonball” that I never saw him play, but did sing out loud occasionally.
It was not unusual to find dad sitting alone on the porch, singing a gospel song out loud to no one.
Mom and dad would sing special music at church occasionally. Sometimes as a solo, often as a duet and one song I remember in particular with my Aunt Bonnie. “Surely, Goodness and Mercy.” So, we decided that they were the title. My mom is named SHirley (Surely), and dad was goodness and Bonnie was mercy.
There is one song that still sends chills up my spine. MY dad, did not read music, but loved to sing. He would often sing a solo of “How Great Thou Art.” He would stand at the front of the church, beside the podium, his glasses held in one hand, while his gurff, deep voice sang out the words that were the basis of his faith. Dad and mom sang the songs because they believed the songs.
My family wasn't a family that played musical instruments, even though my little sister Jo, finally became the first real musician in the family. My family’s instrument was their voice. A good voice is not something I share with them.
ALthough, in my lifelong love of music, to this day, when I am outside, looking at the night time sky, I still hear my dad’s voice singing out “I see the stars. I hear the rolling thunder. Thy power throughout, the universe proclaim.”
That is the music present in every night of stars or in every storm.

Becoming a Guitar God

Becoming a Guitar God


I had always wanted to play guitar.
From a very early age, I idolized the rock bands I loved so much. I wanted to be that lead guitarist out front, Leaning back, hair flying out , sweat drenched, making that instrument wail!
Music lessons really weren't a priority with so much going on in our family anyway. After my 2 older brothers and sister were out of the house, there was still the 5 of us from the second batch of kids. Between the sports we all played, being in church every time the door cracked open and just life, there was never really the time, or the money to do that.
At one point, I managed to get an old guitar that had only 4 strings. I used to twang about on it, most likely tuned to some imaginary tone and pretend I was making music. I’m sure it sounded pitiful and made my mother cringe.
I was jealous when my best friend, Larry, began to take guitar. Larry was an only child who lived with his mother, and grandmother. LArry and I would sit around listening to Beatles albums and he would strum the guitar and talk about what he learned in lessons. Larry and I played baseball and basketball together… and eventually football, but as an only child, he had a lot more free time than I. I spent a lot of time with my brothers and sisters out on our hilltop home in the countryside. A lot of my free time was spent in the pasture… or listening to my albums on a tiny, tinny record player.
Larry got to playing pretty good. By the time we were in high school, he and a couple guys formed a band. They played at some school dances. I would sit at Larry’s house while he played riffs from “Spirit in the Sky” and “Long Cool Woman.” All the time, I wanted to play too.
Finally, after graduation I went to college on an academic and football scholarship. It took me two years, but I soon realized that I could take guitar lessons as a class for a humanities grade. I found what I thought was decent guitar at a pawn shop, with all 6 strings, and prepared for rock stardom.
I signed up. The first day, I met my instructor…. A small lady who also taught violin. Mrs. Powers. She was the wife of my chem professor. She was more interested in classical style music and was a bit perplexed by my desire to learn rock and blues.
The first year of lessons started off well, but then I broke a couple fingers on my left hand in a football game. A fracture. It was never casted, but wrapped for the games. It was painful to use on the frets. I could hardly depress the strings and and Mrs. Powers, who was not a football fan, was miffed that it affected the lessons. In fact, she gave me a “C” for the semester.
My guitar plating improved and I spent time doing scales and runs she had shown me. My roommate, Scott, one day said”when are you going to actually play a song?” I could strum some elementary songs.
I wanted to be a guitar hero, but life kept getting in the way. MY senior year, I reinjured that hand and played games and practice with it basically wrapped like a club. Once again, my lessons suffered.
Finally, spring semester rolled around. MY hand was better. I was working on the guitar. Mrs Powers and I selected a song that I would pick out at the spring recital. It was “Michelle” by the Beatles. With her help, I was working hard to master the tune.
Two weeks before the recital, I was walking back to my 2nd floor dorm room, guitar strapped across my back as the traveling guitar troubadour I imagined myself becoming. As I walked up the stairs, the strap at the top attached to the neck of the guitar broke, and the guitar crashed down on the stairs, neck first, cracking the neck.
I grabbed the guitar, inspected the damage and let out a wail of anguish in the stairwell. I didn't have the kind of money to go out and get another guitar.
I tried gluing the neck together while I had the guitar bound to the bedposts with belts to hold it in place over the weekend and hopefully, hold together. When the weekend passed, I unstrapped the guitar, and the tension of the strings immediately pulled the neck into a crooked position. Distraught
I went to see Mrs Powers. We decided that at this close date to the recital, I would play her guitar. The trouble was, my guitar was a full size instrument with steel strings. That's what I had been playing. Mrs Powers was a diminutive woman with a smaller size guitar and nylon strings. It was like trying to adjust to a completely different instrument. Her hands were small… mine large. The practice time I got was frustrating.
When he day arrived, I sat on the front row of the auditorium with the other performers. I sat there, sweating, compulsively fingering the fretboard over and over to make my hands more familiar with the smaller guitar. Nervous nervous
Beside me sat this guy, also ready to perform with a much nicer guitar than my pawn shop special. He was the kind of guy you always pictured as the “I’m better than you” smartass. He just had that look, and that bothered me even more.
Finally, my turn arrived. I grudgingly climbed the stage steps and took a seat mid stage. I placed the guitar on my lap, placed my hands on the strings and frets and scanned the crowd. I have never hated a Beatles song, but at that moment I dreaded that song more than anything in the universe.
What my rendition sounded like to the audience...I don’t know. But to me, I heard every muffled note, every missed string, every over lapped fret on the neck as I plodded through history's worst version ever of “Michelle.”
Drenched in sweat, mercifully, I finally reached the last note. I gathered Mrs Powers guitar under my arm and descended the stairs to my seat. There, the smartass guy sat with a smirk on his face, obviously enjoying my ineptness. I was both embarrassed and angry as I plopped into my chair.
The only redeeming feature of the recital was that smartass guy was up next. He and his expensive guitar proceeded to produce the worst version of “Classical Gas” that I had ever heard. I smiled. It was much easier to share failure and I was glad to see his smirk disappear.

I did get another guitar. I played with Larry that summer. We even played , at my mom’s request, a few tunes at her church…..including Clapton’s reggae version of “swing Low” and “we’ve Been Told.”
A couple years later, I bought Larry’s electric guitar, that I would pound around on less and less as my coaching career took more and more time. Larry struggled a lot, and was down on his luck. I gave him back his guitar because I knew playing was one of his real joys.
I never became a guitar hero. But, I am still a fan of that wailing, blues lick. In my vivid imagination, I still stand at the front of the stage, wild hair blowing as I make my guitar scream! I’m sure it entertains the other drivers at stop lights while I play air guitar in my car.

Yes or no? Mother nature says no.

I was really excited when I heard the news.
Yes was scheduled to appear in Oklahoma City at the Zoo Amphitheater! Recently (and about time) inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, they finally were coming back to town.
I had been to their concert once before... several years ago. It was at the Brady Theater in Tulsa. But, Ashley suffered an asthma attack midway through the show and we had to leave. Ash was so apologetic, but it was unavoidable.
The band had gone through a few changes. Chris Squire had passed away. he was the only member of the ever fluctuate
ting membership of the band that had been a constant. Jon Anderson sang on most Yes Lps, but had recently left again. Rick Wakeman had gone for a long time and the band's keyboard are now in the hands on the previous member of the Buggles (Video Killed the Radio Star) geoffrey Downes. Downes had been a member of Yes once before when both hwe and fellow Buggle Trevor Horn were Yes for one LP.
Steve Howe had been on most Yes LP's. When gone, he was replaced by Trevor Rabin. Howe had played with GTR and Downes also played with Asia.
The extra bonus of this show was Todd Rundgren. Todd has been touring like mad the past couple years and released several LPs. I saw him with Ringo a couple years ago, but it was not a Todd show. All of these tours missed Oklahoma. One person told me ir was because there were too many Trump voters here.
But, Todd is my fav, right behind the Beatles. He's the chameleon, changing with every album.
The show was rounded out by the Emerson Lake and Palmer Legacy show. Palmer is the only surviving member with he recent death of Lake and suicide of Emerson.
Jackie Caseboldt and I drove to OKC. The weather was great... in fact, I was whining because I had forgotten my sun glasses. We got there early.. got a parking place cheap across the street from the Amphitheater. We were there at least an hour before showtime, so we went in, sat and ordered a beer. I brought a blanket for our tickets on the lawn, but turned out the blanket stunk! Probably from the last flood that hit our house! So, we sat on a ledge.
The crowd trickled in slowly. The shade grew and I began to sweat less. Finally, Carl palmer came on stage with a couple guitarists. No keyboard. I had read it was in honor of Emerson...,. and they did have some recorded keyboard.. which I assume was Emerson's from the lps
During the set, the clouds began to roll in, followed by a cool breeze. First a few drops during "Knife's Edge" and by the next song, rain started to fall. Palmer's set was completely instrumental. It was pretty good, but unusual to hear ELP dongs with no vocals. They had started their set with one of my favs, "Karn Evil Number 9."
The rain fell in sheets. Jackie said he was heading for the shelter of the trees. I was optimistic. I took the stinky blanket and covered my head to wait for the end of the cloud burst. After all, the weather said it was only a 20% chance.


It didn't stop. It got worse. The thunder literally shook the ground like Palmer's bass player. The lightning put on a better light show.. intense and scary as the rain soaked my stinking blanket and everything under neath. Finally I retreated to the cover of trees as even the people in the front reserved seats fled the rain. While there, a flash of lightning crackled light all around us, and the accompanying thunder shook the trees. "How close was that?" One lady screamed@ I left the copse of trees to take shelter near a bathroom, already packed with smarter people. After a few moments of rolling thunder and sheets of rain, an official looking man raced by screaming that the show had been cancelled!
I was ready to wait out the storm. I came to see Todd and he was supposed to be up next, by god!
cancelled??
I tried to text Jackie to find him. It was complete chaos with most people not really sure what was going on. I made my way to the front hoping Jackie was near there. By then, blanket or nor, there was nothing dry on me. I called him, but the pounding rain was so loud I couldn't hear his reply. I decided to gather myself and my now 20 ton wet blanket (but no longer stinking) blanket and head back to the pickup and hope Jackie was there .
Dragging my self in small crowds of nearly drowned people, amidst the fivers of rain water up to my ankles, and the repeated rash of thunder and flashes of lightning... no end in sight...I trudged to the parking lot. No Jackie.. so, finally able to find shelter under a nearby church porch, I called and got him. He made his way to the pickup and we two drowned rats trode wet and cold the hour plus back home with only a large order of McDonald fries to warm us.
I am disappointed to miss Yes since they just got in the Hall of Fame. I am also sad to miss a chance to see Todd. I never know if he will come to our red state on his own.
So, the next day ar school... Todd playlist on the IPOD all day

sigh

Ringo Peace and Love

Yesterday Ringo Starr turned 77 years old. The man is still touring with his All Star Band and is about to release another album. THe man is the proverbial Energizer Bunny.
Ringo had requested that on his birthday, July 7th, at noon, everyone was to tell others “Peace and Love.” I posted a picture of me giving the Peace sign on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter along with the “Peace and Love.”

A Little over a year ago, Ash and I saw the All Star Band at the Tulsa Joint. They puts on a great show. Ringo was in great form and plays the crowd really well. There was a lot of sing Help.a long in the song choices. His band is a collection of great musicians. It includes Steve Lukather of Toto, Gregg Rolie Of Santana and Journey, multi talented Todd Rundgren and Richard Page of MIster Mister.Ringo’s All Star band over the years has featured everyone from Joe Walsh, NIls Lofgren, Sheila E, Levon Helm, Billy Preston, etc., etc. Somehow, on his tours and on his albums, Ringo Starr is the nice guy of rock and roll who draws these people to him.

In 1963, Ringo, or Richard Starkey, replaced then Beatles drummer Pete Best before they started their recording career for EMI. Ringo had net and chummed with the Beatles in Hamburg when they were playing the Star Club. Ringo was there on tour as drummer for Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. When it was decided they needed a stronger drummer, Ringo was John Lennon’s first choice.

Ringo, the drummer with the big nose, made his way into notoriety with his comedic performances in both Beatles films, “A Hard Days Night” and “Help.” He gained other movie roles from those performances including “Candy,” “The Magic Christian” with Peter Sellers and after the break up, “Cavemen.”

Ringo released two albums the same year the Beatles broke up. The first was an LP of standards and the 2nd a country album Ringo had always been a country fan, even recording Buck Owens song “Act Naturally” on a Beatles LP and another country themed song, “Don’t Pass Me By” On the Beatles White Album. IN ‘732 he released his biggest LP, “RingO” that featured appearances by the other ex-Beatles. Ringo even released a song “early 1970” in which he stated he wanted to see all three Beatles together.

Ringo released a series of fairly well received LP’s but none reaching the status of "Ringo.” IN ‘82, an LP he recorded with Joe Walsh producing was not picked up by any US distribution and floundered in overseas markets. The companies thought it was subpar. Later, Ringo left sessions of a proposed country LP in Nashville. It wasn’t much longer till he entered a 90 day alcohol rehab program along with his actress wife, Barbara Bach. His increased alcohol use had been affecting his work. Ringo claimed to be missing years of himself.

A new sober Ringo Starr started the All Star Band In 1989 to tour for the first time since 1966. Different incarnations o the band have toured for nearly 28 years producing several live LPs. Meanwhile Ringo continued to record his solo work with such co-writers players and producers as Dave Stewart, Mark Hudson, Jeff Lynne of ELO, Don Was, Peter Asher, David Gilmour, DEric Clapton, Peter Frampton and more.
Ringo is also a spokesperson for a meditation organization formed by David LYnch. He was joined by Paul McCartney in the production.

So far, Ringo shows no evidence of slowing. It is now July, and the All Star Band is slated to hit the road in October.
As Ringo sang, “I think, therefore, I rock and roll.”
Apparently, it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy

"Where's the Meat?' The music of Jim Steinman

In the fall of 1977, I was having a great time. I was in college, playing football and a late night DJ on campus radio- KJSC. The radio station had been brought back to life after a dormant period by a friend, Lyman Bowling. Lyman gave DJ slots to a bunch of we willing people. Got to say, it was one of the great fun experiences I have had. I have Lymsn to thank for that. He went on to a career in radio.

That fall, I was in a record store and saw an LP cover that struck me. A dramatic, demon looking motorcycle exploding into the air from an ominous cemetery! I was intrigued by the cover, and bought the LP. Only two other times had I purchased an LP based on the album art, and both had been winners. When I put the album on my dorm room turntable, I was met with a rock and roll that muddied the lines between hard rock, ballad and Wagnerian opera! The sing, a huge man named Meat Loaf, had the big voice that shook walls, rattled windows and soared to the sky. The songs he sang were epic, complex, and metaphoric vignettes of teenage angst, rebellion and unrequited love.

Meat Loaf, or Marvin Aday, was the voice I had never heard in rock music. A Texas school boy dubbed Meat Loaf because of his huge size, eventually moved to Los Angles and started his first band. H recorded an album for Motown before joining a production of “Hair” in New York. There he auditioned for a play called “More than You Deserve” written by Jim Steinman. This was the first meeting of a future ground breaking collaboration.
Meat went on to film the role of “Eddie” in “Rocky Horror Picture Show.” His big voice and girth earned the role. He also re cored the vocals for Ted Nugent’s “Free For All” album. Bit, most importantly, it was during this time that Jim Steinman and meat began the work on what would become the “Bat Out Of Hell” LP.

When the LP hit my turntable, I was breathless. I typically had a feature LP on each of my radio broadcasts that I would play selective cuts from, mixed with other rock tunes from a variety of artists. My friend Stick, Dave Brigden, had a show on after mine. We would post notices in the cafeteria / Student Union for our shows. Stick posted the ads for my show advertising “Bat Out Of Hell” mainly to shock students at our Presbyterian College. Stick, who is now a very devote, religious person, was good at that. After all, both his parents were ministers!

With that album, I fell in love with eh writing of Jim Steinman. The “Bat Out Of Hell” LP was a giant. Not only did it feature Steinman’s writing, which straddled rock concert and Broadway play, but it was produced by pop genius Todd Rundgren. Rundgren also played guitars, sang back ground vocals and was aided by other members of his band, Utopia and Roy Bittan and Max Weinberg of the Bruce Springsteen band. The album was loaded for success. Ellen Foley (also of “Night Court”) appeared as female vocals. Her role was taken by Karla Devito on tour due to Foley’s TV show contract.
The B”Bat…” Lp has been certified Platinum 25 times over by the American Recording Industry and spent nearly 500 weeks on the British Charts. The title cut ran nearly 10 minutes. It contained a mini opera “Paradise by the Dashboard lights, and a collection of dramatic ballad and pop music.

Jim Steinman has a way with words. His song titles are often plays on words and twisted meanings. His songs rang of leather clad motorcycle gangs form Marlon Brando’s “Wild Ones” to James dean cool rebellion in “Rebel Without a Cause.” He captured the feel of youth yearning to break free and the burning longings on hot summer nights.

Steinman cut his musical teeth on musical theater. He wrote an original musical called “Dream Machine” while attending Amherst College. It foreshadowed his future work with the story of a rebel named Baal who led a gang called the tribe. It was performed there in 1969.

He also contributed music to several New York theater productions. There was a short work in progress called “Neverland”, based on “Peter Pan” that was never completed. But, it was music from that production, that Steinman and Meat Loaf, who were touring with the National Lampoon Radio Road Show, decided would be the basis of a collaboration.

How many people have sung along with the lyrics of “Paradise BY The Dashboard Lights?” The after party of my niece’s wedding resulted in a loud, drunken, frenzied rendition which the males on one side of the dance floor and the women on the other, shouting the lyrics to each other!

After the success of “Bat Out of Hell,” Steinman had prepared a follow up for Meat to record. Meat Loaf, following the exhaustion of the demanding touring show of Steinman’s music, drugs and stress caused Meat to have a break down and lose his voice. Todd Rundgren encouraged Steinman to record the album himself, with Rundgren’s assistance and production. The result for an album called “Bad For Good” that contained most of the core performers from the “Bat…” LP. The LP spawned several videos for the new MTV, including “Dance in MY Pants,” and “Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through.”

Steinman went on to pen all the tunes for the follow up Meat Loaf LP, after his recovery, called “Dead Ringer.” That same year, Steinman was producer on Bonnie Tyler's album Faster Than the Speed of Night.” He composed two of the songs on the album: "Total Eclipse of the Heart" and "Faster Than the Speed of Night". In 1983, two songs written by Steinman held the top two positions on the Billboard singles chart- "Total Eclipse of the Heart" at number one, and "Making Love Out of Nothing at All", by Air Supply, at number two. “Total Eclipse.” aired on MTV months before it became available as a single in stores.

In 1984, a “Rock and Roll fable” directed by Walter Hill was released featuring two Steinman compositions. Diane Lane lip synched two songs performed by a collection of musicians assembled by Steinman. Several of these performers, including vocalist Rory Dodd, Laurie Sargent and Holly Sherwood, who were on many of Steinman’s projects. They are credited as “Fire Incorporated” on the “Streets of Fire” movie. The songs “Nowhere Fast” and “Tonight is What It Means to be Young” follow Steinman’s theme of disaffected youth.

Steinman wrote other hits for Bonnie Tyler, including “Holding Out For a Hero” and the duet with Todd Rundgren “Loving You Is A Dirty Job.”

IN ’89, Steinman assembled a band called “Pandora’s Box” that featured the vocals of Ellen Foley, the female vocalist on the “Bat Out OF Hell” LP. They recorded “Good Girls Go To Heaven,” and the album title cut “Original Sin.” Meat Loaf would re-record a few of these tunes on his next collaboration with Steinman “Bat Out OF Hell II.” That Meat LP also featured the hit “I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That),”

Steinman’s songs were recorded by artists as diverse as Celine Dion, Barry Manilow, Sisters of Mercy, and he collaborated with Andrew Lloyd Weber on a musical version of the book “Whistle Down the Wind.” Several of Steinman’s songs were featured in Roman Polanski’s play “Dance of the Vampires” based on his 1967 movie “The Fearless Vampire Killers.” It was performed in German in Vienna.

Prolific. Dramatic. Operatic. Whatever terms you use to describe the music written by Jim Steinman, it is quickly recognizable. I remember sitting at home with the radio on the first time I heard “Making Love Out Of Nothing At All” play and said “That sure sounds like Jim Steinman.”
Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman have a new release scheduled for mid-September of 2016. “Braver Than We Are.” In it, Meat sings a collection of 10 songs penned by Steinman. Ellen Foley and karla Devito reprise a role there, and Kelli Clarkson adds vocals to one song. The original musicians behind “Bat Out Of Hell” aren’t there… but there’s still that bigger than life voce from that Texas high school tackle and the word play and teen angst themes of Jim Steinman.

In 2012, Jim Steinman was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.