Music

I need to respond to a couple of comments from Tom from the last few weeks. They're both music-related (which is not a huge surprise, knowing Tom).

First, Tom saw the pciture in my last post and requested that I play "Free Bird," Lynyrd Skynyrd's guitar-driven masterpiece. I was actually late for class a few years ago because Free Bird came on the radio as I was pulling into the lot at work, and I felt compelled to listen to the whole 16 minute live version.

After reading Tom's request, I went to a fantastic web site called Chordie, which includes guitar chords for thousands of songs, organized by song title and author. "Free Bird" isn't actually all that tough -- only six chords to learn, as long as you confine yourself to the really easy version. A couple of my chord switches need work (moving to a D from anywhere is hard, and I still slip off my F major), but I sang a passable mini-concert fort Isabel and Strudel, who howled her appreciation.

(Strudel, I mean. Isabel just clapped.)

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Second was Tom's suggestion that I take up some neglected band or artist's cause to get into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, now that my guy Jim Rice has been elected to the Baseball Hall. My immediate suggestion was to plug the Moody Blues, mostly because I had heard "Nights in White Satin" (a song as old as I am) a day earlier and it was still in my mind. I made a very quick trip to the Rock Hall site to confirm that they weren't in.

But afterwards, I thought more about which acts haven't made it to the Hall, and there are a ton of deserving candidates. I Googled "Not in the Rock Hall" and came up with a remarkable number of sites dedicated to the topic, mostly from bloggers who needed something to write about (oh, how I pity them!), but also a few sites dedicated to the topic. One in particular stood out.

I can't give you a link, because the banner photo is rude and the langauge is raw (like rock n' roll itself), but you can go look for the site on your own: "The Great Rock and Roll (Hall of Fame) Swindle." Enter at your own risk.

The author has a major beef with the RaRHoF, as many people do. Given the criteria for enshrinement, he thinks some acts are more deserving than those who are already in (he accuses the voters of "overlooking the seminal performers whose efforts changed civilization while praising inconsequential one-hit wonders, doo-wop dinosaurs and happy-face dorks." I lovbe my fellow bloggers).

He raises some excellent points, though: "Criteria include 'the influence and significance of the artist's contributions to the development and perpetuation of rock and roll.' In other words, a majority of the 1,000 'experts' who cast ballots think James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt and the Lovin' Spoonful have had a bigger impact on 'rock' than, say, Alice Cooper, Deep Purple and Kiss?"

Given those criteria, he makes some intriguing recommendations for the Hall:

Cher ("Oh, stop sniveling...where do you think Grace Slick, Chrissie Hynde and Alanis Morrissette got their bang, much less bangs?")

The Monkees ("Like being prefab is a crime? Like Elvis Presley and the Beatles weren't equally nurtured by mastermind Svengalis? Like having someone else write the songs and play the instruments was a problem for anyone on Motown? The Monkees may have been invented for television, but their catalog is as gold-plated as any band from the 1960s, and their influence is staggering in both depth and scope: Michael Nesmith alone was responsible for helping to invent country-rock and MTV; they were the first pop band to use a synthesizer; and Jimi Hendrix made his American debut as their opening act in 1967. See Gorillaz for the most recent misspelled simian homage.")

Alice Cooper ("His over-the-top concerts in the early 1970s brought a theatricality to rock that completely changed the way music is presented onstage. Pretty...incredible list of singles, too, including a bunch of the sensitive pap...so beloved by the Hall of Fame voters. Still cranking out great albums today, and he should sue Marilyn Manson for brand infringement. As Wayne and Garth wailed on their knees, "We're not worthy, we're not worthy!" But he/she sure is.")

KISS ("How much more rock and roll can you get than ye olde Knights in Satan's Service? Here's hoping Gene, Paul, Ace and Peter hurl a nice, vicious hex on the voters' daughters.")
Plus, I spent a total of about 30-35 hours writing that awesome KISS symbol on various desks at St. Mary's and CMHS during my adolescence. -- Lympho Bob

There are more. Though he doesn't mention the Moody Blues at all. I may have to take up the Alice Cooper cause, now that I've been reminded of the Wayne's World "We're not worthy!" scene. How much more of an endorsement can there be than Wayne and Garth's?

It's all very fun to debate, anyway. Feel free to nominate your own Worthies.

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One last bit of music-related stuff:

Perhaps one of my most enjoyable moments of the last week was seeing Snoop Dogg (who became Official Rapper of the Lympho Bob Blog last May when Peter saw him in a NYC men's room) making mashed potatoes with Marth Stewart.

Two clips: First is the actual process of the two of them making the potatoes, which includes peeling the "sk-izz-in" and then adding a special ingredient. The second clip takes place right before that one, and overlaps it a bit; it involves Snoop giving Martha and her audience a vocabulary lesson.

Classic. I don't really know what this pairing means as far as whose career has fallen farther, Snoop's or Martha's....