"Happiness is on The Way" is the new upcoming album from Greg Allen's Fringe Religion. They are a Boston area based band that has been around now for five years. Greg Allen on guitar and vocals, Greg Steinbaugh on bass and vocals and Daley Jones is on drums and vocals.
The album cover has an awesome painting of a 70's Las Vegas feel and retro vibe to it. The inside of the cd case has illustrations for each of the five tracks on the album as well witch is pretty neat.
Now on to the music! I've listened to every track three times and it gets better and better each time. I instantly think of the 1970's and I hear the soul of bands like The Modern Lovers, The Cars, The New York Dolls and at times a bit of early Alice Cooper. It also has some 60's pop feel to it as well, especially in the song "Carny Love". My favorite song on the album is "She's Stoned", it's instantly to me a classic and just gives off that late night drive with your girl and turn up the radio sensation. "Joe The Tow Truck Driver" is straight forward rock n roll, has a Johnny Thunders vibe but sounds so fresh and current.
The entire album just sounds fresh and current yet it feels like it could of been put out in 1977. Albums like this are what keeps Rock n Roll off life support. The production on it is fabulous. It's five tracks of pure rock n roll at it's finest and it leaves you wanting more! I suggest to everyone to pick up this album.
James Williamson of "Iggy And The Stooges", recently came out saying "The Stooges is over. Basically, everybody’s dead except Iggy and I. So it would be sort-of ludicrous to try and tour as Iggy And The Stooges when there’s only one Stooge in the band and then you have side guys. That doesn’t make any sense to me", telling Joel Gausten. That isn't exactly the truth, but it's pretty damn close to it! Jimmy Recca who played bass for The Stooges for a brief period in 1971 is alive, that short lived line-up is considered by those who saw them live one of the best lineups in bands history. Bob Sheff and Scott Thurston who played keyboards in '73-'74 are each alive and then you have a extremely short lived Stooge Warren Klein. You have Mike Watt who has been in The Stooges for over 10 years and 2 studio albums and is just as much a Stooge as any original member, and then you have Toby Dammit who replaced Scott Asheton on drums, and for my money was the better drummer. The Stooges have took some losses though, original guitarist Ron Asheton died in 2009. His brother and original drummer Scott Asheton died in 2014. Original bassist Dave Alexander died in 1975. Short lived guitarist Bill Cheatham died in the late 1990's. Zeke Zettner who replaced Dave on bass, died in '73. Steve Mackay who played on Funhouse and that tour then rejoined in '03 passed away in 2015. So we have Iggy, James, Jimmy, Toby, Mike, Bob, Scott and Warren. I mean as a fan i'd love to see one last go at it! Have a few key city dates and call it a farewell. They have put out 6 studio albums, influenced just about every rock n roll band that came after them, toured the world a dozen times over and still to this day are as popular as ever. They were inducted in to The Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in 2010 after years of being declined. Iggy Pop has released a new album, out playing live but recently talked of walking away from music possibly soon. James Williamson released an album in 2014 and it gained a pretty good following. I mean as the typical greedy fan I want more, but The Stooges has given us fans more than we could of ever hoped for and for that, I thank them.
Steve Jones of The Sex Pistols is due to release his long anticipated autobiography "Lonely Boy", in North America the date will be January 10th, a couple months after the UK release.
It was written with the help of Ben Thompson, a music journalist who has quite a good reputation. It will cover everything from Steve's extremely rough, abusive and poverty stricken childhood, to his troubled young adult life, discovering and the love of Glam Rock with the likes of David Bowie, Mick Ronson and Roxxy Music, the chaos and madness of The Sex Pistols and the destruction of the band, to his post Pistols life and his struggles with drug, sex and alcohol addiction and his solo career in the 80's, sobriety, record producing and his acting career, and life as a DJ with his hit radio show "Jonesy's Jukebox", among a million other things.
Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock released " I Was A Teenage Sex Pistol", and John Lydon aka Johnny Rotten released " No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs" and "Anger Is An Energy", so it will be interesting to finally be able to see at least The Sex Pistols side of Jonesy's life compared to the others.
Steve Jones is the absolute number #1 reason why I got in to music, and play guitar. He's the reason for my love of Les Paul Customs. If he and The Sex Pistols never happened, or if I never discovered them in the early 00's on The North American Piss Off Tour, my life would completely different. He and The Pistols saved my youth, otherwise without the music to escape to, I would have been in a very troublesome way, so to say the least I am very excited and look forward to this read!
More often than not, when you think of AC/DC you think of two eras. The Bon Scott era and the Brian Johnson era, but there is another era that is always forgotten. The Dave Evans era. Some of you reading might know, and some might not know that Bon Scott was not the original singer for AC/DC, it was the Welsh/Australian singer Dave Evans.
Dave Evans alongside brothers Malcolm and Angus Young formed AC/DC in mid 1973. The band went through a dozen personal members on bass/drums during this line up, and even their manager Dennis Laughlin filled in Dave on vocals a couple times due to sickness. Dave's singing style is very melodic, he could hit the high notes and clearly. It was a rocky start in the early days. When you think of Rock n Roll, Australia just doesn't come to ones mind. You think America and UK, that's about it, well back then anyways.
George Young, the older brother of Angus and Malcolm had gained stardom from the band "The Easybeats", they had an international hit with "Friday On My Mind" witch he co-wrote. When the band got on Albert Productions label the band went to record. Dave recorded the single "Can I Sit Next To You Girl" b-side "Rockin' in The Parlour". You had George on Bass, Angus on Lead Guitar, Malcolm on Rhythm and Colin Burgess on Drums.
The band was playing clubs 2-4 nights a week, they were gaining fans and press coverage. The single reached to #50 in the Aria Charts, and it presented them with the chance to be on tour with Lou Reed in August of '74 and ultimately the "Can I Sit Next To You Tour", witch would be the last shows with Dave on vocals and he was out of the band only a handful of shows in that tour, leaving in September of '74 and being replaced by Bon Scott, former Valentines singer. Dave sang roughly 60 shows with AC/DC in his 10 months in the band.
ACDC Promo Vid of "Can I Sit Next To You Girl".
Dave went on to join the band "Rabbit", and they put out 6 singles and 2 albums while he was in the band. The band did well locally but failed to gain international status, with no top charting singles or albums. In 1977 the band called it quits, and Dave once again was on his way. Since he's been in Thunder Down Under and a few AC/DC cover bands on and off till this day. He stays busy on the circut playing numerous shows all over. In 2012 he sang with the band Barbed Wire, and opened for Twisted Sister. In 2013 he released a single "Little Headbanger" and did a 14 date tour in the UK to support it, but once again it failed to chart.
In 2016, many hardcore AC/DC fans such as myself wanted Dave to step in one last time to tour with AC/DC after Brian's departure due to medical/hearing issues and concerns, it unfortunately didn't happen and the AC/DC family has not come full circle. Axl Rose of Guns n Roses is filling in, but Dave keeps a positive attitude. He in shape, sings incredibly well and is singing better than ever. If you get a chance to catch him you can!!
Someone needs to seriously recover Dave and ACDC's relationship. This man has paid his dues.
Bill Rath was the bassist for the band "Johhny Thunders and The Heartbreakers". He is a legend in the rock n roll/punk world. I learned I had a few close ties to him, and emailed him and also spoken with him on the phone before his passing. His voice was like that of an old salty sailor, and he said his teeth were hurting him. We talked about home (massachusetts to us both), music, gear, life and among other things. I asked a few questions, most questions I didn't bother writing down as it was just conversation and I regret that now, I hadn't a clue he would of passed so soon. I also was going to audition for "The Street Pirates", he told me to bring down my guitar and amp but he passed before we set up a date. I felt it was time to finally just release this. It's only a few questions, but I feel it helps dig a little deeper in to the unknown of Billy. Rest In Peace, Billy.
ERR: So Billy, you're a native to my parts (Massachusetts), most people only connect you with NY.
Billy: That's right, I love it here in Mass, it's always been my home in my heart and I love the colors in the fall and the people. NY was a tough crowd for the most part and it's just not the same home feeling.
ERR: I feel you and Glen Matlock were part of the very small group of bassists who could actually play, and play well and tight. How did you feel about some other bassists/musicians who lacked skill but somehow are remembered for that while those who could play are overlooked?
Billy: God bless Glen. The Sex Pistols were one of my favorite bands I got to witness. For my money, they were the best band and most exciting band of our era. Bless those guys, don't know how they managed to get through it all. I appreciate your compliment, that means a lot to me! I try not to be a jealous man, I love everybody, almost everybody (snickers). It did bother me at the time when I felt we were great, and it seems like everytime we were great it was never captured or written about y'know? I loved The Ramones, but at times I felt simplicity of our era was too forced upon the times. We were working musicians, we wanted to be better, anyone could play like Dee Dee or Sid Vicious but why go for that when you could push yourself and expand? I never got it.
ERR: You had Jerry, Terry Chimes, Ty Styx etc to name a few who stepped in to The Heartbreakers, who was your favorite to play with?
Billy: Jerry, may he rest in peace. He was a sweetheart. He was the greatest drummer I ever played with and will ever play with. I loved him. Even when there was tension, he was there in your corner. Ty Styx, I'm still embarrassed from that album. The band wasn't at our best. Ty, bless him, was no Jerry. He couldn't keep up or remember how songs went. The recording was poor too, like I said before we weren't captured at our best and shown to the public, that hurt us I feel. Terry was good, he fit right in, but no one had the feel of Jerry.
ERR: How about guitarist? I do seem to recall you played with a couple Waldo's and a New York Doll.
Billy: I loved playing with Johnny, rest in peace. When he on point and in control of himself he was brilliant. I loved playing with Walter because he was reliable. He never was lazy or sloppy and he did his job and he really was the heart and soul of The Heartbreakers. He kept it all together. I hope in the near future we do something special, just us two, to honor our band and bandmates legacies. Now on to the other crazy Waldo, Joey (Pinter of The Knots, The Waldos). God bless him and his lovely wife, Angie. The sweetest people you could meet. Joey and Johnny Witmer made me feel young, as if it was 1976 again. Joey is a legend and should be remembered as big as Johnny (Thunders) is and Johnny Witmer was a breath of fresh air. We had a drummer John, who did it all last minute, was a great guy a bright future ahead of him, very good drummer. Bless them. I liked working with Steve Dior, he's a solid british bloke (snickers). As for my own band, it's up in the air, very hard to get stable. Jack is a great guy and friend.
Well that was it, I did have a couple others that I believe I deleted off flashstick. Billy was a true legend and deserves to be honored. Countless people have been influenced by his playing and him as a person. Billy was a very religious man, he talked to me about 5 minutes straight on his beliefs, if you're a religious person, throw a prayer or thought or two up there for Billy. He's probably tuning up right now, Jerry is adjusting his throne and Johnny is going "Where the fuck is Waldo?".... Tate
I chose a lot of these songs either because as a guitarist I fell for the playing/tone/progression/riffs, or I could relate to them. Some are just damn catchy and written so well I wish I wrote them. Some I heard as a kid and always stuck with me.
1. The Animals - House of The Rising Sun
My favorite song of all time. The Animals version was released in 1964 on their album "The Animals". It's based off a few songs from the 16th and 17th century and has changed many times and the true origins are unknown. Their has many blues musicians and miners from the late 1800's upto the 1930's who all learned it from "someone else", so it's very unclear of the originator. It's either about a brothel and prostitutes or a gambling hall/casino and losing it all. Either way, the deliverance, the chord progression and Eric Burdons voice make it one hell of a classic and took the British Invasion to a whole new level.
2. The Forgotten Rebels - Don't Hide Your Face
I think this is one of the best songs of all rock n roll ever written. It's off "This Ain't Hollywood" a true punk/rock classic. It's the catchiest chorus in rock n roll. Great guitar playing/tone by Mike Mirabella and lyrics and singing by Mickey DeSadist that will hit you in the gut. The chord progression and eruption of the chorus just gives you everything you want in a song.
3. Bob Dylan - Like A Rolling Stone
This song and album turned Bob Dylan to be the absolute "voice of a generation". He went electric for the first time and many booed him and called him a traitor to his folk/acoustic roots. This song and album featured Mike Bloomfield on lead guitar and launched Dylan in to superstardom. The song is about Edie Sedgwick most likely. Dylan was in love with her, but Andy Warhol turned her in to a drug addict and robbed her soul. This was rated as the #1 song ever written by Rolling Stone Magazine.
4. The Sex Pistols - God Save The Queen
This song came off of "Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols" in 1977 and brought an entire country to it's knees. The Sex Pistols were total anti-establishment and Johnny Rotten wrote this song out of protest of the Queen and how corrupt and useless she and the royal family are. It was banned on the radio and it was banned as a single in most shops to be sold, yet despite that it still reached #1 in the charts to beat out Rod Stewart and even then they switched it! This song caused the youth to see outside the box, to go against the normal and to think for themselves and their country. To unite together. It's one of the most exciting songs ever written and the most rebellious song ever written that to the point the band was going to be brought up with treason charges witch carried a death penalty. The band shortly after went to America and imploded. Johnny Rotten's lyrics and voice on this will leave you haunted and pumped up. Steve Jones playing and tone is just perfection. He played it as if it was his last time. Paul Cooks drumming is precise and is the backbone of the whole song. "Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?"...well you won't with this song.
5. The Kinks - Lola
Lola is a song by The Kinks off their album "Lola Versus Powerman and Moneygoround Part One". It's the first Kinks song I ever heard as a child and always loved how catchy it was. It's a great "sing along" kind of song. It's a bout a guy falling for a transsexual woman and questioning if she is really a transsexual or not. They drink and go back to her place and ultimately he finds out she is transsexual. The song is supposed to be of a true story of then Kinks manager bringing home a girl. It is also said to be of drummer Mick Avory and Ray Davies going to transsexual swinger nightclubs.
6. The Who - My Generation
The battle cry of all youth. The anger and rebellion against the old. Pete Townshend wrote an instant classic and a song that inspired Punk, Metal and Hard Rock and still holds up to this day.
7. Stiff Little Fingers - Barbed Wire Love
"Inflammable Material" produced this gem of a song. It's about finding love in chaos. The mid section is a nice little 50's doo wop riff.
8. Black Sabbath - NIB
Black Sabbaths debut album was an instant classic. Released on Friday the 13th 1970 with a an album cover that still can creep the hell out of you, it really invented dark heavy metal. The song has an amazing riff by Tony Iommi and just an all out full assault on drums by Bill Ward. Ozzy delivers heartfelt at times lyrics. It's about Satan (devil) falling in love promising to give his woman anything.
9. Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers - I Love You
The only and debut album "LAMF" (Like A Mother Fucker) gave this song to us. It's everything I felt about this one girl who I fell in love with instantly once I looked in to her eyes. So this song hit's a spot for me. I wish I wrote it. But like most things in life, it doesn't work out/go to plans but this song will always make me think of her, even 40 years from now. It's a catchy chorus and feel good song, short and sweet, good old rock n roll.
10. The Ramones - Slug
This song was never on a studio album but released on "All Stuff And More Vol 2". It's a very great 50's upbeat rock n roll kind of song. I always loved Tommy's drumming on the song, and the production quality is just superb. It's a song that should of been great and played live but somehow it just never made the cut.
Joey Pinter is a true American treasure in the Punk Rock world. He's guitar loyalty. He was part of the original scene in NYC in the mid to late 70's, made the local papers and magazines, shared the stage with the top bands of that era with his bands Fuse and The Knots at the top clubs like CBGB's and Max's Kansas City. He played on "Walter Steding" an album witch was ahead of it's time and didn't get the appreciation it should have. Later on he joined The Waldos and once again was in the spotlight and did some of the tightest and best sounding songs to ever hit record, on the album "Rent Party". Well he finally put out his solo album, and it's nothing short of amazing. His blues and sleazy Mick Ronson style playing mixed with his Dylan'esque Tom Waits kinda growl really just adds that much more feeling to the songs. It's a pure guitar album, something we haven't gotten in a long time. He put it all out there for us, his heart and soul in to this album. If you're in to great rock n roll from the heart, this album is for you! Here are a few of my favorites. (honestly love the entire album!) Buy the album!
Be Like You: The album starts off with this balls to the wall rebellious track. Just straight forward Punk Rock and sharp leads. It's the anthem against corruption and bullshit. If you're a fan of The Knots, then you will see Joey still has that youthful angst and can deliver the goods!
Favorite Child: It's like T-Rex, Tom Waits, Dylan and Mick Taylor all wrapped up in one. It's a brilliant acoustic track with some beautiful slide. The lyrics are very real and a lot of people can relate. It's a must to put on repeat, every time you listen to it you hear and feel something different.
Sad Girl: Fast, upbeat tempo, great solo! It's a song to his wonderful wife, Angie. I would say it's one of the most heartfelt songs on the album, although he did put his heart and soul in to every song.
20 East: A breath of fresh air! It's like if Mick Ronson, Tom Waits, and Keith Richards put together a song. It's so catchy and just great guitar playing.
