R.I.P Chris Dreja

 Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Chris Dreja who was a founding member, rhythm guitarist and bass player for The Yardbirds passed away at the age of 79.  He also had a career in photography.

                                          Here he is in Box of Frogs "Get it while you can"

Yardbirds "Louise" from 1964 featuring Eric Clapton

"Shapes of Things" with Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page

He played beside some of the biggest names in rock and roll, founded a legendary rock band, pursued photography and lived a life for nearly 80 years. He will live on in the recordings, he will be missed by family, friends and fans.

Battle of the Bands: Jeff and Rod rally past Eva Cassidy

 Eva's version of "People Get Ready" jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Then the shutout was broken making it 2-1. Eva and Jeff split the next two votes making it 3-2 Eva. Then Jeff and Rod captures the next 2 (really the last 3) votes to win 4-3.

This was a fun battle featuring a great song. A lesser known but incredible singer against two giants in Rod Stewart and Jeff Beck.

                                            Back from where Jeff Beck nd Rod Stewart began "Ol' Man River" from 1968's "Truth" album

Rod's "Infatuation: featuring Jeff Beck

Thanks for participating in my Battle of the Bands and I will have a new one out on the 1st.

Battle of the Bands: People Get Ready

 Jeff Beck passed away last month so I will work him into this Battle of the Bands. I am picking the lovely Curtis Mayfield song "People Get Ready." It was a hit with The Impressions. Curtis, Eva and Jeff have all left for the great studio in the sky.

Contender One: Eva Cassidy

Contender Two: Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart

Let me know who you like best Eva or Jeff in the comments.

R.I.P Jeff Beck

 Jeff Beck without a doubt was one of the greatest guitarists ever.  An artist I saw several times, the last time being September 30th. He is the reason I bought a Fender Stratocaster and an artist I have featured numerous times on my Battle of the Bands. Jeff was in the Yardbirds and had an incredible solo career. He played sessions with a who's who list of artists.

Jeff Beck performing on David Letterman the piece "What Mama Said"

Jeff Beck with Rod Stewart "People Get Ready"

His cover of "A Day in the Life"

"Where Were You"

with The Yardbirds

Jeff Beck an influencer, a creative artist, and a guitarist who's music will live on.

Monday's Music Moves Me: 80's/90s Movie Songs

 

Monday's Music Moves Me theme for today is Movie Music from the 80s and 90s. I hope you enjoy my selections.

From the raunchy Porky's Revenge comes the beautiful "Sleepwalk" cover by Jeff Beck.

The Lovemongers covering Led Zeppelin's "Battle of Evermore" from the Singles soundtrack.

The sisters from Heart with a side project.

Kenny Loggins' "Danger Zone" from Top Gun

Simple Minds "Don't You Forget About Me" from Breakfast Club

Well five sounds like a good number. I will do another cover this one from the 90s!

Interview with a Vampire Guns and Roses "Sympathy for the Devil"

Covering The Rolling Stones no less.

 

Battle of the Bands Results: Bad Romance

 In this battle Jeff Beck beat Halestorm 3 to 1 covering Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance." You probably would expect either contestant to cover Lady Gaga. I don't think the crowd on Jeff's performance new how to react. I thought it was hilarious to perform a pop hit at a classic rock award show. I have also heard Lady Gaga covered by other classic rock artists so she is obviously gifted with some great songs.

Talking about pop music check out this video from the 80's. There are some appearance from some 80's pop stars and pop culture. The song is "Ambitious" off of Jeff Beck's "Flash" album.

What are some pop stars of today that have some great songs that could be covered well by other musicians? 

Anyway I will be back May 1 with another Battle of the Bands.

Battle of the Bands: Bad Romance

This time around for my Battle of the Bands I am going with  Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance." First off I have a rock group give their take on the pop hit. I follow that up by a guitar great performing the tune at a Classic Rock Award show a year after Gaga's song shot up the charts. 

I provide the original. Then two covers. My readers then vote by telling me which version they liked the best. I count up the votes and announce the winner a week or so later.

                                                 Lady Gaga "Bad Romance"

Contestant One: Halestorm

Contestant Two: Jeff Beck

Let me know which one you like the best!

Battle of the Bands Results: Johnny Depp and Jeff Beck bests Ann Wilson 7 to 2

 Jeff Beck turns 76 this month and with his latest single he was able to defeat the lovely vocals of Ann Wilson. The battle the aging guitar icon won was over the John Lennon tune "Isolation" which ironically did not feature guitar.

Lennon related tunes have resulted in 25 percent of Beck's eight Grammy Awards. Age has been good for winning Grammys as he has won four of those in the last 11 years.

Jeff was joined by Johnny Depp who better known for his acting then his Rock and Roll. Jeff has hinted there might be more music coming from the duo. Johnny Depp has had a group featuring Alice Cooper and Aerosmith's Joe Perry called Hollywood Vampires. He has also recorded with Oasis.

Here is Hollywood Vampires with "The Boogieman Surprise"

Below Johnny plays with Paul McCartney...

Jeff Beck has played with singers such as Rod Stewart "People Get Ready"

Well I have a week to think of a new Battle...

Battle of the Bands: Isolation

Perhaps a good song for the times we are going through "Isolation" is my choice for this round of Battle of the Bands. The song is by John Lennon from his John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.

I will now present two contenders. You vote on which version you like best in the comments. I count them up in a week or so. I announce the winner in a separate post.

Contender One: Ann Wilson

Contender Two: Jeff Beck and Johnny Depp

I hope you enjoyed! I look forward to your vote. Both covers are different from the original. Ann with her voice gives a female take in contrast to John. Jeff Beck covering a song that originally didn't feature guitar. Should be fun! I will be back soon.

Battle of the Bands Results: Jeff Beck and Seal win

Jeff Beck and Seal win 3 to 1 over King's X in a battle over the Jimi Hendrix classic "Manic Depression"



Here the winners get together to cover Bob Dylan's "Like A rolling Stone"

"Crazy" by Seal

See you soon with a new Battle!

A to Z and Battle of the Bands: M is for Manic Depression

It's time foe a Battle of the Bands and it's late and manic. It's also time for the letter M. My theme has come out as Music. Put it in my scrambled brain blender and a really talented guitarist friend shared "Manic Depression" and that's how this thing kind of works.

One of my favorite Jimi Hendrix songs is "Manic Depression"..

Here is Jimi doing his song live...

Time for some contestants.

Contestant One: Kings X

Contestant Two: Jeff Beck and Seal

King's X or Jeff Beck and Seal? Vote in the comments and let me know!

Monday's Music Moves Me: Toys

Today's Monday's Music Moves Me theme is Toys since Black Friday is soon approaching.

Let's just dive into the music!

                                           Aerosmith "Toys in the Attic"

Jeff Beck "Roy's Toy"

Martika "Toy Soldiers"

Joni Mitchell "Shiny Toys"

The Beach Boys "The Man with All The Toys"

A list that starts off rocking and ends with a legendary group at least has good bookend, or in this case songends. Through in an instrumental, a pop song, and Joni not a bad way to fill a list. Toys for your ears on this Monday.

Rocktober Music Fest: Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween! Rocktober Music Fest post with a Halloween theme.

"Love is Kinda Crazy with a Spooky Little Girl Like You" by The Zombies

Beck, Boggert and Appice "Black Cat Moan"....

Santana "Black Magic Woman"

Ray Parker Jr "Ghostbusters"

Happy Halloween!

Battle of the Bands Results: No Sleepwalk in this 4 to 3 Battle

I've always enjoyed Jeff Beck's version of "Sleepwalk" by Santo and Johnny. I enjoyed this battle because I got to find a worthy challenger in Joe Satriani. I also enjoyed the opportunity to listen  to more Santo and Johnny.  I know I had listened to their version "Sleep Walk" several times I just never really dug into their other tunes.


                                                 "Flying in a Blue Dream"

"Summer Song"

"Satch Boogie"

Finally caught up! 

Battle of the Bands: Sleepwalk

Thought I would jazz things up on this version of  the Battle of the Bands. I decided to go with Santo and Johnny's "Sleepwalk."

You know the deal I come up with some contenders, you tell me who you like in the comments, and one day I  write a post and tell you who won.(I know I am running behind on that.)  Why not go with two incredible guitarists Jeff versus Joe.

Contender One: Jeff Beck

Contender Two: Joe Satriani

Hope you enjoy! Tell me what you think!

Battle of the Bands: We have a winner for the Summertime Blues

Oh if I AJ only had one more vote I could be looking for two more versions of Summertime Blues stretching summer into September.  Brian Setzer wins a close one getting four votes to three. Now I have to think of something different. Well in the meantime we might as well celebrate the winner.

Here he is strutting around with that "Stray Cat Strut"

My battles create "One Rockin' Night"..

and with Jeff Beck..

Well until tomorrow  enjoy!

Monday's Music Moves Me: The Crossover Edition

This week's theme for Monday's Music Moves Me comes from Alana. "Crossover" songs done by a group/singer known primarily for one type of music, but in another type.


                                                Rock to Country

                                                 The Rolling Stones

                                                    "Far Away Eyes"
                                                 

                                                                

                                                Led Zeppelin

                                                 "Hot Dog"

                                              

                                              Rock to Reggae

                                              Eric Clapton

                                              "I Shot the Sheriff"


                                              

                                              Rock to Classical

                                            Jeff Beck (Ravel's Tunes gets Amplified)

                                           "Beck's Bolero"

                                             

                                           Jimmy Page

                                          "Chopin Prelude Number 4"

                                         

Classic Rock from yesteryear exploring musical genres such as Country, Reggae and Classical. Hope you enjoyed! Stop by again for more fun!

73 Years of Jeff Beck

Today is Jeff Beck's 73rd Birthday! That is a god enough reason to celebrate his career by sharing some music.


A live version of "Train Kepta Rollin'" from 1966. The Yardbirds...

Here he is with Rod Stewart doing "People Get Ready"...

Here they are about 16 years earlier with "You Shook Me"...

It was a  joy to watch him play with Tal Wilkenfeld....

and Jennifer Batton got him releasing albums on a schedule for a while..

The first track of his latest album..

Hope you enjoyed my time traveling celebration of Jeff Beck for his birthday!

Battle of the Bands:Ravel's Bolero: Bagpipes versus Guitars

In the Madness of March I want to revisit a theme of a classical piece covered in a different genre or setting if you will. My first Battle of the Bands of this year used Chopin this time it is Ravel. The madness part, think Bagpipes versus crazy classic rockers.

The piece for reference...

Contender One: Carlos Nunez

Contender Two: Jeff Beck

Who gets your vote? Carlos or Jeff? Bagpipes or Guitars? Both covers are certainly creative.  Vote for the one you like the best.  I will count up the votes and provide the results around the 7th. Vote in the comments and we will have a winner soon! If you liked this Battle please check out the other Battle links here. That site has the most up to date list.

Well I hope you enjoyed the Battle and come back and visit soon!

My Top Five Guitarists

A friend of mine posted this on facebook. After the first three it gets harder. I like a whole lot more than five. Wow! My list has changed in the last 5 years dramatically. Here are mine with examples.

1) Jimi Hendrix

2) Jeff Beck

3) Buddy Guy

4) Steve Morse

5) Tommy Emmanuel