Late to the Party - Courtney Barnett

Always cool to discover new music - even in my advanced age - and even if you're a bit late to the party. While flipping through the TV channels recently, noticed Courtney Barnett on Austin City Limits. Thought it was pretty cool and watched the entire gig, noticing one of the songs I dug hearing on KEXP months earlier, but not knowing who it was. Turns out that was 'Pedestrian at Best', off her 'Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit' album.

Afterwards, did a little Google searching and found this earlier show recorded live by KEXP. What she's doing is cool - lyrics, song structure and guitar playing wise. Mixture of twangy alt rock, with some great energy infused.

I dig it, maybe you will too. Give it a go.

Ramones Soundcheck - Circa 1980

I've been the huge Ramones fan for decades and clumsily blabbered about it awhile back, so I'll spare you the history for now.

Recently while cruising YouTube, I rediscovered this little gem. Ramones soundcheck from Italy, circa 1980. I dig the informal nature of it all, folks milling about and yet it rocks. Johnny's awesome guitar tone and style in action. Close up view of Marky's drumming technique. Dee Dee warming up on bass. Joey looking awkward and cool at the same time, yet sounding fantastic.

The Ramones, R.I.P...

Unlocking the Truth - The Kids Just Wanna Rock...

Fantastic short film about two 12 year old pals, their band, inspirations, and growing up.  I got a huge kick out of this video and story.  Rock on little dudes, rock on...

The Two Basic "R"s - Riding 'N' Rock

70+ minutes on trainer in the garage - spinning going nowhere - dripping sweat with iPod set to stun. Reminder that my two basic "R"s have been low lately - Riding 'N' Rock.  Working on correcting that ASAP.

Queens of the Stone Age, "Go with the Flow" to finish it off...

I want something good to die for
To make it beautiful to live

Do you believe it in your head?
I can go with the flow

Bike Commute Stalled - Rock Commences

All kind of quiet on the blog front, been pretty swamped at work and home.  Started a new job this week - same company, different area - so lots of head filling with new knowledge and faces.  Changing things up occasionally is a good thing and the extra dough is much needed.

Bike commuting has totally fallen off the map, new job also means different building, now deeper into downtown Seattle.  Bike pal at work showed me the bike rooms and other logistics a few days ago.  Will get my commuting story configured out soon, driving daily is too expensive and a total waste of time.

There is a bright side however, been hitting the local trails on the mountain bike after work.  The long June days much appreciated, light almost until 10:00 PM, as long as the cloudy Northwest scenario stays away.

With that - a little rock to end this post, courtesy of a pal's band practice session.  I dig what they're doing, video as proof (not shot by me), it builds nicely at the end.  Give it a go.

Surf Rock - Dick Dale Style

My fascination with surf guitar continues. Specifically, old dudes still rocking surf guitars in defiance to age, trends, tide levels, and loss of hearing.

With that, may I present Dick Dale completely melting ears and shredding guitar picks, along with generally kicking ass. If you don't think this rocks - better get yourself checked...

We now return to our regularly scheduled bike fluff, already in progress...

Link Wray - Late to the Party

Over the years I've seen the name Link Wray mentioned occasionally. I knew he was some kind of guitar pioneer, but never heard anything he's done. So, I've heard of him, but never heard him. Until recently anyway...

George, a musician work pal of mine and I, did a little music related DVD swap a few weeks back. I loaned him one of my Ramones DVDs in exchange for his copy of It Might Get Loud, which I really enjoyed. The film is worthy of an entire post itself, but that's for another time. In the documentary, Jimmy Page is listening and playing air guitar to Link Wray's Rumble, with a huge grin on his face.

See for yourself, via poor example taken from YouTube...

That put a bug in my ear to hear more of Link Wray, and after a few hours of cruising Google and YouTube, very cool find indeed. Being a fan of louder rock - metal, punk, surf - found his work fascinating. His early country western sound, no thanks, not my deal. His rock oriented work in the '50s and '60, yes please, way ahead of its time.

A few examples from the early '60s...

I've heard The Ventures and Dick Dale, both fantastic surf sounds from that era - but I think Link Wray is even better. There's more of a raw sound to it, which pushes all my buttons. And actual feedback. Feedback, I tell you. Link Wray could very well be the pioneer of the power chord distorted rock sound. And that is the basis for - punk, alternative, grunge - whatever you label it, rock goodness. Amazing.

His life story interesting as well. Born in 1929 in North Carolina, served in the Korean war, contracted tuberculosis that cost him a lung, which curtailed his singing and focus more on guitar. His instrumental Rumble in 1958 put him on the map, however he never obtained full guitar hero status, at least in a modern view. In a sense, denied his rock star fame and fortune, considering the sound he contributed to the evolving rock scene.

Out of all this, what I dig most of his story, is that he continued to perform until 2005. His last show only 4 months before his death at age 76. Incredible. And not only that, from the clips I've viewed, his sound was even better later on. Punchier and louder. Impressive.

Clip from 1998, Link Wray around 70 years old. Incredible. I've watched it about 10 times and still get a kick out of it...

It's always cool to discover great music that's new to you, especially a historic "find" like this. I'm just sorry I'm late to Link Wray party, would have been fantastic to see him live. He may have been possibly the coolest old dude in rock.

Link Wray, R.I.P - with maybe just little feedback for effect...

My My Hey Hey - Devo + Neil Young = Pretty Damn Strange

For no other reason, besides the pure freak show that it is - I proudly present Devo and Neil Young together, circa 1978.

Being both a Devo and a Neil Young fan, I find this combo quite bizarre - yet I can't look away. It's strangely entertaining - like mixing radioactive peanut butter with some kind of hippie chocolate.

"Hey, you got retro futurism art rock on my hippie, Godfather of Grunge guitar rock". Well, something like that. Sorta. Maybe...

I've watched the entire 9 minutes and 46 seconds of it all, a few times now. I'm sick that way.

I now challenge you to watch at least once in its entirety. My my, hey hey.

Powerhitter in Action

Time for a federally mandated rock break from all things bicycle related. Behold the heavy riffs of Powerhitter. Old Mackie Designs pals Brian Stan on guitar and Kevin Johnson pulling drumming duty. Their pal, Ripe Magooder - yes, Ripe Magooder - on bass. I mentioned seeing 'em live a few weeks ago, now video proof courtesy of YouTube.

After viewing; 11 year old son Ian, now a rap listener, declared it "Almost as bad as Motorhead." Amy, my 7 year old daughter in a sarcastic tone, "What, this is it? No singing? Bye." The band may incorporate this into marketing material...

Despite my offspring's rejection, I dig it - being a fan of heavier music. Give it a whirl.

Oh yeah, besides being an old mountain bike pal, Brian is also a fantastic skateboarder. Click here for proof.

Rockin' and Racin' - Singletrack Cycles Final

The full weekend of rock and racing has come to a close. I don't mean Rock Racing, I'm talking rock and racing as separate entities - though you can race and rock at the same time. Everybody knows that. I'm referring to actual live, loud rock; as in I hope you brought ear protection, 'cause you're gonna need it rock.

Pre-kids, years ago, I attended a fair amount of rock shows. Into the bar scene I was not, it was a necessary evil to witness local music however, so I'd be in/out as soon the show ended. It was about the music, not hanging around some scene - not that there's anything wrong with that. Once the kids arrived, time and interest for such festivities fell off the map. I still remain a rock fan and receive my usual dose via iPod action. Good enough for me.

Recently, one of my old Mackie Designs (and mountain biking pal) Brian picked up the guitar again. He joined forces with a few other ex-Mackiods and began jamming. The jamming has turned into official gig dates at local clubs, so I checked one out on Saturday night; along with yet another old Mackie friend, Rupp as we call him, sharing the drive down to Tacoma with me.

Brian's band is Powerhitter, a trio, just play super heavy metal type riffs - no vocals - with a bit of a groove though. First time I've been out like this in years, so it was fun and stupid loud. They put on a good show and I got a kick out of seeing an old pal on stage crunching out the riffs. Brian pictured above (minus beer) with drummer Kevin (with beer). Out of the multi-band line up, they were my favorite outta the bunch. Killer job.

Powerhitter hits the stage, captured via crappy cell phone camera. All other rock images of the night captured via borrowing Facebook posts from the unsuspecting.

Headlining the night at Hell's Kitchen, yes - Hell's Kitchen - was Blistered Earth, a Metallica tribute band fronted by yet another old school Mackoid; Brad Hull. Brad is known a bit from the Seattle metal scene and is a damn talented guitarist. I am somewhat a Metallica fan, but not really big on tribute bands, though these guys have it down. The crowd dug it for sure.

Blistered Earth cranks up the temperature in Hell's Kitchen. Family night out, this is not.

Here's Mr. Hull, mid head bang, hard at work.

After getting more then a night's worth of sonic blast, risking a cheeseburger from Hell's Kitchen itself, I called it a night at 1:00 AM leaving Blistered Earth in mid set. With an hour drive home, and Ian's mountain bike race just a few hours away - enough for me. It was great to see some old friends and revisit with my pal Rupp during the drive to and from the Rock-O-Thon. I wound up hitting the sack around 2:15 AM with the alarm set for 6:00 AM. Ouch. Drinking type I'm not, so no pain there - just the sheer pain of no sleep involved.

Time to shift gears, literally and figuratively, back to normal family life and yes, bike racing. You know it, you love it, you can't live without it. Being semi-smart, knowing I'd get home late, race supplies collected and piled earlier, ready for Sunday morning transport. I also copied the directions to the race site via Google, since we've never been to this location, near Maple Valley.

My alarm set for 6:00 AM, though Ian wakes me at 5:50 AM. Ouch. We're out the door and headed south with time to spare. As we get close to the race site, Google directions send me on a unplanned tour of rural Maple Valley. The directions are actually incorrect and we're officially lost. With the 9:00 AM race start looming, stress level begins to percolate. Not fun. I call home for assistance. Wife saves the day by cranking up the home computer and supplies the correct directions, via Mapquest. Man, we're cutting it close - we're talking minutes.

We arrive with barely enough time to unload bikes, register, suit up, and pee in the woods (as nature intended). Never mind warming up or pre-riding the course. I get Ian to the line about 1 minute before lift off. Good luck, have fun, see you at the finish.

Off they go. Due to the late line up, Ian hugging the edge of the gravel road, not exactly a great starting position. Considering we almost missed the race, we'll take it. Ian's U-12 class mixed in with other ages for a mass group start. The more the merrier.

Gidean once again grabs first place for boys, U-12. This kid is quick for 10 years old. I spent some time talking to his parents, nice folks. Two wheeled fanatics they all are. Dad races mountain bikes, 'cross, downhill and motocross. Mom also races and coaches one of the new high school racing teams. Cool, eh?

A few minutes later, Ian crosses the line in second place, complete with raised arms. Said this was the best course of the series. Also mentioned two tip overs due to clipless pedals learning curve in progress, plus one official crash with a nice shot to the groin. Doh! Still wants to use clipless pedals and race however. Yup, that's my boy.

Fellow JL Velo teammate Mike, rolls in with a second place finish in the 13-18 age class. Nice race for him as well.

A few other JL Velo juniors also raced. Here brothers Mitchell and Trey laugh about something with Mike - boys will be boys. About 30 juniors total ride for JL Velo - awesome.

With the second place finish today, Ian scored second overall for the series. Gidean nabs first overall, while his brother Titus pulls in for fourth overall. Third place kid appears to have cut out early. All these kids did a great job, hitting multiple races to accumulate points towards a bigger goal.

Teammate Mike parallels Ian in the 13-18 division. Second place for today and second overall for the series. Great riding and fun to watch the results.

Ian displaying the accolades of his work, pretending not to be freezing cold. We've had some freaky weather this spring, cold and wet. Some people mentioned seeing snow in their areas that morning.

Pretty cool looking trophy. Big kudos for Budu Racing, they post the results in minutes after each race, awards shortly after, then results posted online the same day. Fantastic job. Other race promoters could learn a few things from these folks. We'll be back next year for sure. Now that this race series is complete, I'll scan the calendar for future mountain bike events. Ian had a blast, learned a few things and is ready for more action. Me too - as in supporting Ian and getting my own ass out there.

Started this post with head banging metal, will end it with puppy cute bike fluff to even things out. This is our neighbor Corey, all of 5 years old, first time riding without assistance. Another cyclist emerges from the training wheels cocoon. The little Trek he's cruising has a bit of neighborhood history. It was Ian's first bike, then given to Aiden, Corey's older brother, to ride. Aiden outgrew in time for my daughter Amy to use it. Now Corey is putting more miles on the little Trek. When he's done with it, we'll see where it winds up next.

With that, I'm outta here. Rock on and ride on....

AC/DC Bad Boy Boogie - Oh Yes Indeed

We now interrupt our regularly scheduled bike fluff to display an example of all things rock. AC/DC in their prime, just before making it mega big in 1979. Angus Young epileptic guitar solo intro, Malcolm Young powering the rhythm riffs, Phil Rudd on drums, Cliff Williams on bass, late great Bon Scott on vocals. It's all here for your amazement or horror, depending on view or music interest.

Gather the kids around for a little lesson in rock. Bare bones stage set up, Gibson SG to a stack of Marshall amps, simple (yet not so) music - played with a zillion volts of energy. Love 'em or hate 'em. Still one of the greatest rock bands of all time.

David Byrne - Bicycle Diaries

I just finished David Byrne's book, Bicycle Diaries, since picking it up from the library a few days ago. As you probably already know, David Byrne was the lead singer for the Talking Heads, the seminal band from the '70s and '80s.

Along with the Ramones, Blondie and few other bands of the famed CBGB era, the Talking Heads helped jump start the alternative music scene. I'm a bit of a Talking Heads fan and have listened to my share of their music. I am guilty of knowing little to nothing of David Byrne's post Talking Heads music career, though he's been involved with various projects ever since.

In case you need a refresher course - David Bryne from the Talking Heads days - one of my favorite Talking Heads songs. The video itself is also brilliant, especially for the simplicity and era. From a visual standpoint, David Bryne pulls the whole thing off. Fantastic.

Oh yeah - back to the book. Don't expect the usual bike book. It's not about bicycles as sport, or a tool to be worshiped. No, it's about just plain riding for transportation and the experiences it allows. The book is a wandering flow of stories through the mind of Byrne and how he views the world. It's a mixture of travel log, peeks into the music and art world, and how using a bicycle as a means of transportation just makes sense.

Byrne is certainly the intellectual artist type, no doubt about that. He rides his bike through various cities and areas around the world, from not so friendly bike areas, to bike transportation utopias in Europe. Locales ranging from Rochester, New York, to London, to Buenos Aires and other places - some exotic, some not so.

He goes into detail on what he sees and the people he meets and deals with, with a very liberal perspective take on things. Being on that side of the fence, it works for me. It's the very big picture, artist take on things. It's a bit of a rambling ride, with the occasional goofy sarcastic view.

The only total bike related aspect of the book is the Epilogue, which focuses on bike advocacy. Byrne has been getting around by bike since the '70s and is very familiar with the NYC scene. The bike is not just a whim or jump on the green bandwagon. He knows what he speaks.

Would I recommend the book? That depends. If you're looking for some kind of bikey tour guide - no. If you're interested in peeking into the mind of David Byrne, with a bicycle slant to the story telling - yes.

I did enjoy it - maybe you will too.

Little Huckster

Riding pal at work sent me this link - I got a kick out of it. Check this kid out - looks to be barely 5 years old. Imagine him on a bike with pedals - in 10 years - look out world.

Video itself is also cute, complete with Ventures soundtrack. I dig the Ventures - who doesn't?

Summer Is Over - Gas Huffer Says So

The Seattle switch to fall has been thrown. Seems it anyway. Lots of rain and showers over the last week or two. Kids back in school, getting dark earlier, adios summer. Welcome to gray skies and damp pavement.

To commemorate that event, a little video from my favorite Seattle band - Gas Huffer - with a song about the last day of summer. It even has bikes in it...

Duthie Helmet Cam Action

Last Saturday, son Ian and I hit Duthie Mountain Bike Park once again. This time, old riding pal Brian came along for the ride, first visit to Duthie for him. He dug the place - so did Ian and I (again). Super dry, dusty conditions made for some slippery sections. Not much mileage in this park, but looping the trails together or taking multiple runs makes up for that. The trails themselves are fun enough to give 'em a go multiple times. We haven't even messed with the wooden freeride type structures yet, we'll save that for future trips.

As an added bonus to the festivities, Brian brought along his new helmet cam. Video clips courtesy of Brian's bird eye view, since the cam was mounted to his noggin the entire afternoon. That's Ian and I popping into view out front. We based the ride on Ian's pace, but he can rip some sections pretty good for 11 years old.

Hack edit job by me, music by Rush, surprise crash ending by Brian - complete with cam ripped off helmet - he and the camera survived. Enjoy.

Rush Is a Band

I've had The Trees from the band Rush stuck in my head for days - specifically the guitar lead and instrumental piece before the last verse. Quite strange since I own no Rush albums at all - nada. Well, not for the last few years anyway - make that many years.

Back in the '70s and early '80s I listened to quite a bit of Rush and was a fan. Friends and I listened to the Rush 2112 album constantly at the time. I owned a few other Rush albums as well, including Hemispheres that contained The Trees track, so I actually have the song buried in the memory banks back from that era.

For some reason over the years, through the change from vinyl, to 8-tracks, to cassettes, to CDs, to MP3s, Rush was dropped from my collection. Could also be from my fascination, then later obsession, with the Ramones that started in the '80s. The Ramones and Rush, though neighbors in the R family, couldn't be more miles apart musically. The R however also stands for Rock, which both bands do and quite well for their respective genre.

In any case, with The Trees repeating in my head, I downloaded the song from iTunes - along with the entire 2112 album. I listened to complete 2112 album and The Trees - along with Working Man (already on my iPod) - driving to work today, at lunch, and driving home. Sort of a personal Rush Fest 2010. It was great hearing this stuff once more - Rush is amazing, one of the best things to come out of Canada - along with Neil Young, bacon, and the McKenzie Brothers.

Out of the Rush tracks I reacquainted myself with today, by far The Trees is my favorite. No wonder it's been lodged in my memory bank for years now. Intelligent lyrics, killer guitar riffs and the usual over the top drums by Neil Pert.

The video I posted is a slighty cheesy home brew that someone posted on YouTube - but it includes the lyrics. Take a gander if you will.

Happy New Year

Time rolls on and 2010 is officially here. "2010" sounds like we should be flying personal hovercrafts and eating protein pills instead of cheese burgers. Ground control to Major Tom.....

First of the new year is also a call to arms to end my holiday riding slump. I did so with an hour slog on the indoor trainer, the 9:00 through 10:00 PM shift, time punch clock not required.

As usual, iPod set to shuffle to make the hour seems just a touch less painful. Highlight of the hour long blitz of tunes - The Hives. Great song, cool video - who knew Swedish dudes could rock......

As the new year rolls in, it also marks the 1 year anniversary of this little ol' blog. It's been a fun project and I get a kick out of doing it. It doesn't exactly pull in the numbers Bike Snob NYC or Fat Cyclist do, but I wasn't expecting that. I wasn't really expecting anything - just an outlet to write to bike related fluff - like the other zillion similar blogs out there.

According to Google Analytics, I get about 700 visitors a month and almost 2000 page views. I find that amazing, along with checking out what areas the hits come from - all over the US and many other countries. The power of the Internet. Just knowing that anyone reads my fluff is flattering.

It's all been really cool. I've received positive comments and connected with other bike crazed nuts from around the world. I've become a fan of this whole social media aspect of the Internet in the process - blogs, facebook, personal websites and the like. It's great stuff and makes things possible that weren't even imagined not long ago.

Happy New Year to everyone out there in Internet land. Thanks for reading and keep on riding.

Road to Ruin

I must state for the record, that I'm a huge Ramones fan. I'm a rock fan for sure and like a fair amount of bands, but the Ramones are at the top of my list - by far. After 25+ years, I still listen to the Ramones almost daily or at least a few times a week. The speed, stripped down sound, insane, yet funny - yet not so funny lyrics, the look, the east coast roots, the dysfunction of the band chemistry - and being trapped in a sense - in the band to make a living. It somehow pushes all the right buttons for me musically. I'm not big on celebrity worship and can't admit to being a full-on fan of many things. I am a Ramones fan however.

Even though I was old enough, a teenager anyway, to be around during the Ramones late '70s heyday - I barely knew they existed. There was no Internet, little radio airplay of the Ramones, and my suburban New Jersey home was a universe away from New York City, though only 40 miles in distance. Besides Rock and Roll High School hitting the airwaves in '79 or '80, and I Wanna Be Sedated a little earlier, I knew little about the Ramones. At the time, I more into guitar lead oriented music of that era - Ted Nugent, Rush, Aerosmith, and the like.

During the early '80s, some friends of mine were into the Ramones a bit, and I remember listening while driving around in their cars. This was the Pleasant Dreams and Subterranean Jungle era - not exactly their best work, nor indicative of what they really sounded like live (though later, I loved those albums as well). I thought the songs were poppy and fun, but not exactly what I was into. At the time, I thought all songs should basically exist to house a guitar solo in the middle. Still, something stuck in the back of my mind about the Ramones.

Around 1984 - and I have no memory why, I specifically headed to the record store one afternoon to buy a Ramones album. I had no idea which album, but I was going to buy a Ramones album. The record shop was located in the Rockaway Townsquare Mall, located in Rockaway, New Jersey. On top of that, as I was cruising through the Ramones albums deciding which one to pick up - the hipster employees were playing the Ramones. Yes, the fate of Rock was shining brightly - like a sun of no frills punk rock. Hey ho, let's go.

I selected Road to Ruin out of the Ramones bin, paid for it and headed home. This was back in the day of records (man, I miss the large artwork on covers) and Road to Ruin sported the cool cartoon drawn cover of the band (by John Holmstrom). The back cover photo, in black and white, of the band sitting on a step - in full Ramones look - ripped jeans, sneakers and leather jackets.

I popped the record onto the turntable (remember those?) and I Just Want To Have Something To Do roared to life, first song on side one. I listened to the whole album and thought it was the greatest thing ever. The guitar sound of Johnny, Joey's voice, Dee Dee's bass, Marky on drums - the poppy rock sound, the wacked lyrics - I was done, this is all I need. To this day, I Wanted Everything, Go Mental, Bad Brain and a few other tracks on this album remain as some of my favorites.

After another trip or two to Rock-Rock-Rockaway, I picked up the other three classic albums - the original Ramones, Leave Home and Rocket to Russia. Now I was officially hooked and obsessed with the Ramones. It's all I listened to, over and over. All remaining Ramones albums up to that point were added to the mix. Sounds insane, but for many years afterwards, probably 90% of what I listened to were the Ramones. Most other bands for me were now obsolete.

I saw them live in '84 as well, and maybe 10 times total through out the years - including my bachelor party in 1986. The Ramones live were nothing like their poppy-ish studio albums. Nope, everything was done in the Ramones and Rocket to Russia style. Insanely fast, no breaks, wall of noise fun. It was punk rock, but fun punk rock - NYC, all American punk rock. Gabba Gabba, We accept You, We Accept You, One of Us. I'll save these stories for another time.

It's safe to say, it all started with Road to Ruin, one of the classic Ramones albums of all time.

Breaking The Law

It's been raining for days here in the lovely Pacific Northwest. Real rain, not the usual Seattle wet and misty stuff - get Good 'N' Soaked kind of rain. That combined with a busy week at work and home, means just one thing. You know it, love it, you can't live without it - the dreaded wind trainer.

Yes indeed, my high tech indoor fitness set up - 1991 Bridgestone RB-1 mounted on 1989 Supergo trainer - now in full operation in the cluttered garage. Add in the first generation iPod that somehow still holds a charge, and I'm ready to roll. Rock 'N' Roll that is. You need something loud and fast to survive an hour on the trainer - that's my personal limit on the torture rack.

Lucky for me, my iPod is loaded with suitable torture rack material - from the Ramones, to Motorhead, to Judas Priest. I usually set the iPod to shuffle, then fast forward until I hit something that keeps me going. With a few thousand songs at my disposal, never know what you'll come up with.

Just as I was dragging a bit last night, thinking maybe I'd cut the hour short, iPod shuffle selects a classic - Judas Priest, Breaking The Law. Oh yes, thank you.

Exactly what I needed. Listen for yourself, while enjoying the cheesy - but oh so good cheesy - video from the '80s. Judas Priest rides the line between cheesy and amazing - as rock should. That simplistic guitar lead in the middle of the song - well, it just rocks.

Here's to a winter of rolling on the RB-1, going nowhere.....

Keep On Rocking In The Free World

My old Mackie Designs pal, Kevin Rupp, sent me this link the other day.  Great live Neil Young performance from SNL in 1989.  Man, I can't believe this was in '89 - I remember watching this on SNL.  I also have the album - on vinyl.  Yes, I'm old.

Give it a spin and tell me this isn't Rock with a capital "R".....

I've been a Neil Young fan for quite awhile - but not for all his material. That's partly what's cool about Neil, he takes risks and puts out material that's different - yet all Neil Young.  He's officially a rock icon now, Godfather of Grunge, or whatever you want to call him.  He's been around forever with an amazing collection of work to his credit. Truly impressive.  

One of the best concerts I've ever seen was Neil Young and Crazy Horse in '86 or so, at Madison Square Garden in NYC.  This was the Landing on Water album era.  Stage was set up as a garage - stacks of tires, etc.  Sort of a mini-play and show at once.  Jon Lovitz came on as the band manager, in the SNL liar character ("Yeah, that's the ticket").  At the end, actor cops closed down the garage and ended the show. Pretty funny.  At one point, Neil - front of the stage, blazing guitar during Like a Hurricane, with two giant remote control cockroaches at his side, antennas flopping around - wild stuff.

A less memorable concert, earlier in the '80s at the Garden State Art Center, in my home state of New Jersey - probably now named after a bank or something just as goofy - the Art Center, not the state, though that's probably not far off.  This was Neil Young and the International Harvesters.  A very country type gig, not really my thing, though Neil threw in a few classics as well.  The only memorable part of the show was fans sitting in open grass section, throwing chunks of sod down into the real seating area below.  Always fun to watch some tough guy get clocked in the head with a pound of dirt and grass, spin around ready to kill - to see about 4000 people with silly smiles on their faces. 

I attended that show with my Cousin Joey (not to be confused with My Cousin Vinny) and bike shop cohort and later Greenpeace guy, John Passacantando.

I have to give Joey and John some credit for me getting into Neil Young.  John for talking about Neil Young at the bike shop and for Joey - when we used to hang out in his basement listening to Neil Young albums, especially the wacky Trans album.  I think we were the only two humans on earth who liked that album.

If you're a Neil Young fan, check out Shakey, an official biography. Loads of info and detail on the man, his music and history.

Keep on rocking in the free world.....