Tag Archives: Lynyrd Skynyrd

Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Derivative Works, Influenced, Music, My Stories, Unsung Heroes

1976 – Part 4.7: Lynyrd Skynyrd – One More For The Road

It was my first purchase.

Steve Gaines joined, making it a three guitar team again, with Allen Collins and Gary Rossington. Ronnie Van Zant is on Vocals, Leon Wilkeson on Bass, Artimus Pyle on Drums and Billy Powell on Keyboards. Sam McPherson is on harmonica. JoJo Billingsley, Cassie Gaines and Leslie Hawkins are the backing vocalists.

“One More from The Road” is a live album compiled from a few shows.

It’s also the only live album from the classic era of 1970 to 1977. And an essential album to own.

Workin’ for MCA

Written by Ed King and Ronnie Van Zant which more or less sum up the crap record deal they had with the label.

Slickers steal my money since I was seventeen
If it ain’t no pencil pusher, then there’s got to be a honky tonk queen
Well I signed my contract, baby, now I want you people to know
Every penny that I make, I wanna see where my money goes

The creative accounting from the labels. What they give you, they get back tenfold. Bon Scott comes to mind when he sang, “getting ripped off”.

I want you to sign the contract
Want you to sign the date
Gonna give you lots of money
Workin’ for MCA

I Ain’t the One

Written by Gary Rossington and Ronnie Van Zant about a love affair between a whiskey swilling brawler and Daddy’s rich girl.

Saturday Night Special

Written by Ed King and Ronnie Van Zant.

How can you not like the intro and verse riffs?

Press play and enjoy.

Searching

My favourite song from the “Gimme Back My Bullets” album and written by Allen Collins and Ronnie Van Zant. The tempo is slightly increased and this version is my definitive version.

Travelin’ Man

Written by Ronnie Van Zant and Leon Wilkeson.

The intro bass riff from Leon Wilkeson gets me interested straight away.

Simple Man

A classic written by Gary Rossington and Ronnie Van Zant. Also check out Shinedown’s cover in the 2000’s. Brent Smith delivers a stellar vocal.

Press play on this to hear the harmony lead breaks.

Whiskey Rock-a-Roller

Great song title, written by Ed King, Billy Powell and Ronnie Van Zant.

It was a rite of passage to consume whiskey and listening to rock and roll. The song is about hitting the road to the rock and roll show.

The Needle and the Spoon

Written by Allen Collins and Ronnie Van Zant.

I like the intro on this. And the verse riff that comes in is a cross between “Searching” and “Sweet Home Alabama”.

Gimme Back My Bullets

Written by Gary Rossington and Ronnie Van Zant.

How good is that intro riff?

Its heavy and full of groove.

Tuesday’s Gone

Written by Allen Collins and Ronnie Van Zant and man didn’t Zakk Wylde take a lot of licks from this. As soon as I heard it, I thought of “Road To Nowhere” and a few songs from the Pride and Glory album.

A classic. The leads alone hook me in.

Gimme Three Steps

Written by Allen Collins and Ronnie Van Zant, it’s a 12 bar blues with a bit of country rock thrown in.

Call Me the Breeze

Written by J.J. Cale. Everyone was covering Cale around this period. Simple 12 bar blues rock and roll and they blew another amp in the process.

T for Texas

Written by Jimmie Rodgers and the “new fella” Stevie Gaines was introduced. And it’s more soloing over 12 bar blues chord progressions.

Sweet Home Alabama

The hit, written by Ed King, Gary Rossington and Ronnie Van Zant. Inspired by Neil Young’s song “Southern Man” which was seen as a diss to the south. This didn’t impress Ronnie Van Zant and he meant every word when he sang, “well I hope Mr Young can remember, a Southern Man don’t need him around”.

And during the performance, Van Zant, interjects over the solo, “there are plenty of good people in the South, so make sure you tell Mr Young about it”.

Crossroads

A Robert Johnson cover that Eric Clapton has made his own, but Lynyrd Skynyrd also deliver a pretty mean version full of energy and power.

Free Bird

The big closer written by Allen Collins and Ronnie Van Zant. At almost 12 minutes long, it’s not for the faint hearted. The guitar interplay in the massive outro solo section is worth the price of admission.

For a first purchase I became an instant fan of the band.

And they reformed during this late 80s early 90s period so when I was getting into their old stuff, I had new content to listen to as well.

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1976 – Part 4.6: Lynyrd Skynyrd – Gimme Back My Bullets

If it wasn’t for Zakk Wylde, I wouldn’t have gone and purchased any Lynyrd Skynyrd. His love for Southern Rock, was on show for the “No More Tears” album. Check out his leads in “I Don’t Wanna Change The World”, “Road To Nowhere” and “Mama I’m Coming Home”.

In the interviews Zakk conducted with the Guitar Mag’s, he spoke about a technique called chicken’ picking that he picked up from learning Southern Rock songs and he demonstrated great knowledge on Southern Rock and the 70’s bands associated with the movement.

Then he dropped the debut “Pride and Glory” album a few years later, which is basically an amalgamation of Black Sabbath and Southern Rock. And it made me a fan, so I went searching for Southern Rock bands.

Enter “Lynyrd Skynyrd”. The story of the band should be a Netflix TV series. Working for MCA, the worst label in the business, the band was never going to make a profit regardless of how successful they became and how many records they sold.

The band for this album is Ronnie Van Zant (RIP) on Vocals, Gary Rossington and Allen Collins (RIP) on Guitars, Leon Wilkeson (RIP) on Bass, Artimus Pyle on Drums and Billy Powell (RIP) on Keyboards.

Guitarist Ed King, quit the band before this album, making them a two guitar band instead of three. King would pass away in 2018 due to various health issues.

There was a saying that the Wilkeson and Pyle (and before Pyle it was Bobby Burns) set a groove, which Collins, King and Rossington danced over. And Pyle has been ostracised from the organisation due to being a sex offender while original drummer Bobby Burns died in a single car crash after hitting a mailbox and tree on a sharp bend, Things don’t end well for these guys.

But the biggest tragedy was the plane crash on the “Street Survivors” tour.

Van Zant, new guitarist/vocalist Steve Gaines, backing vocalist Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary, and co-pilot William Gray all died in the crash. The survivors had been seated toward the back of the plane and all of them were seriously injured with broken bones, crushed arms, sever facial disfigurements and severe burns.

And the plane was earlier inspected by Aerosmith’s tour crew for the band to use on their 1977 tour but it didn’t pass the Aero’s safety inspection.

But before the tragedy, the Skynyrds debauched their way through the U.S on the backs of whiskey, brawling and great music.

“Gimme Back My Bullets” is studio album Number 4, released on February 2, 1976. It reached number 20 on the U.S. albums chart and was certified gold on January 20, 1981 by the RIAA.

Gimme Back My Bullets

Written by Gary Rossington and Ronnie Van Zant.

The staccato like count in reminds me of the “Back In Black” intro. After that, a funky blues rock riff kicks in, before the Southern Rock chord progression kicks in

Every Mothers Son

Written by Allen Collins and Ronnie Van Zant.

The acoustic riff grabs your attention straight away, an amalgamation of “Sweet Home Alabama” and blues rock songs like “Shooting Star”.

Trust

Written by Allen Collins, Gary Rossington and Ronnie Van Zant.

It reminds me of The Rolling Stones and I like it.

(I Got The) Same Old Blues

Written by J.J. Cale. Every artist was covering his songs.

The 12 bars groove is heavy, yet funky. The slide guitar is simple yet effective.

Double Trouble

Written by Allen Collins and Ronnie Van Zant.

It follows the trend set with “(I Got The) Same Old Blues”. And the name used by Steve Ray Vaughan, could have come from this song. The blues on offer here is similar to what SRV would play, just more amped up and more technical.

Roll Gypsy Roll

Written by Allen Collins, Gary Rossington and Ronnie Van Zant.

The acoustic riff to start it is campfire like, and riding on the greyhound to leave town was a rite of passage for the youth once upon a time. These days, the kids are over 30 and still at home.

Searching

Written by Allen Collins and Ronnie Van Zant.

My favourite song on the album. Musically and lyrically. Rossington and Collins steal the show here.

Cry For The Bad Man

Written by Allen Collins, Gary Rossington and Ronnie Van Zant.

It starts off like a Kinks song crossed with “Mississippi Queen”. And I like it.

All I Can Do Is Write About It

Written by Allen Collins and Ronnie Van Zant.
Zakk Wylde basically took this song and wrote “Road To Nowhere”.

Press play and enjoy it.

It’s listed as “not their best” album, but if you like southern rock, you shouldn’t skip it and I see it as an underrated album.

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1977 – Part 3

Quiet Riot – Quiet Riot

It’s not on Spotify and never will be. Who knows who even owns the rights to these songs?

The main songwriters in Randy Rhoads and Kevin DuBrow are gone. If anything, these songs should be in the public domain. But Copyright is a lot different these days, so someone/most probably a corporation is holding the rights to these songs locked up until 2080 and that someone has done nothing to enhance culture except to profit from it.

DuBrow resurrected some of these recordings in the 90’s for an album called “The Randy Rhoads Years”. Which is also not on Spotify. And it probably never will be.

And on those recordings he took the original tracking of Rhoads guitar sound, (there was a DI take with no effects on the master tapes) and DuBrow put the DI guitar take through different pedals to update the sound. Then he re-did his vocal tracks and the drums and the bass. Purists call it sacrilege and I call it “keeping the songs alive”.

The band for the debut album, (which was released in Japan only) was DuBrow on vocals, Rhoads on guitar, Kelli Garni on bass and Drew Forsyth on drums.

Randy Rhoads still riffs away like the guitar hero he is. More in a glam pop/rock kind of way.

“It’s Not So Funny” has an aggressive minor key verse riff, with a major key Chorus. A style that RR would use in “Crazy Train”. This song also made it to the “The Randy Rhoads Years” CD many years later.

“Mama’s Little Angels” has a sleazy bluesy riff that David Coverdale would have loved to sing over. And Kevin DuBrow did just that when he re-wrote the lyrics for the song (with a little help from Bobby Rondinelli), re-sung it and called it “Last Call For Rock and Roll” on “The Randy Rhoads Years” album. And suddenly, a better version of the song was kept alive.

In “Ravers” there is a riff that RR took for “Over The Mountain”, just before he plays the “Black Sabbath” lick in the song.

“Back To The Coast” is familiar, a song solely written by Randy Rhoads and his brother Kelle Rhoads.

And I like QR because Kevin DuBrow was unique, very different to the other metal/rock singers in looks and style, but I always struggled to connect with any of DuBrow’s lyrics, except for a few tracks like “Bang Your Head”, “Run For Cover”, “The Wild And The Young” and “Don’t Want To Let You Go” which was written by Carlos Cavazo.

“Look In Any Window” is written by Randy Rhoads and it’s very Alice Cooper-“ish” which isn’t surprising as Randy Rhoads has talked about the influence of the two Alice Cooper guitarists on his playing and song writing. This one also appears on “The Randy Rhoads Years” album.

As I was listening back to the QR1 album on YouTube, I was reading the comments and people like to compare between EVH and RR.

If you compare QR1 to VH1, well there isn’t a comparison. VH1 is far superior. Even RR didn’t like QR1 and he made his Mum promise to never get it released in the U.S if something happened to him.

Sammy Hagar – Sammy Hagar

Sammy’s voice is one of the best. This album is interesting because of its variety. If you are looking for hits then this album is not for you. But if you are looking to hear an artist stretch their wings and try different things out, then you will like this album.

“Red” has this bass groove which reminds me of ELO. “Catch The Wind” is a ballad, which reminded me of R&B soul artists. And then I remembered it was a cover from “Donovan” who had a hit in 1965 with it and was known for his folk rock songs.

“Cruisin’ And Boozin’” moves between acoustic and distortion, the verses sounding progressive, while the Chorus could have come from an AC/DC album.

“Free Money” has a haunting piano riff to kick it off. It’s a cover of Patti Smith song. Musically and melodically, the song moves at the correct pace, slowly percolating until its ready to explode. And that happens from about the 2.09 minute mark. And although it’s like a rock song with a 4/4 time signature, its song structure is progressive in nature.

When I saw the title “Rock ‘N’ Roll Weekend” I sort of had a sound and groove in my head as to how it would sound. And it didn’t disappoint, with its nod to Bad Company.

“Fillmore Shuffle” comes across like a Southern Rock track, moving between its acoustic riff and harmony leads. But underpinning it all is Hagar’s voice. And it’s another cover song which Hagar has taken and given them a new Hard Rock life.

There is a horn section on “The Pits” and some of Sammy’s best social lyrics about not having enough money to survive.

“Love Has Found Me” is the heaviest track on the album (whereas I expected a ballad), and the closer “Little Star- Eclipse” brings back the progressive nature of the album which was introduced with the Patti Smith cover, especially when it moves into the “Eclipse” part of the song and that riff to kick it off.

David Coverdale – White Snake

It’s not on Spotify for his first ever solo release and a return to his blues/soul rock for the album which would become the birth of Whitesnake.

After Purple splintered, Coverdale started writing and when he got stuck with ideas, Micky Moody would come in and help him. Some of these songs and some of the songs from “Northwind” would eventually end up on Whitesnake releases.

“Blindman” is one of my favourite cuts ever. I like everything about it. It appeared a few years later on the “Ready N Willing” album.

The acoustic guitars, the vocal line, the backing singers, the lead breaks and the distortion riffs when it call kicks in and overall, the lyrics.

“White Snake” is a twelve bar blues sleaze romp. And it was two words before it became one word, about DC having a White Snake and does she want to shake it.

“Time On My Side” reminds me of a Bad Company cut and at that age, DC had time on his side, but these days, pushing almost 70, time is not with him. And it’s that sense of mortality which resonates even more. When I was young, I felt indestructible and the whole world was there for the taking. Now, I don’t feel so indestructible, and the amount of broken bones I’ve endured and had to heal from because of sports or drunken stupidity, keep reminding me that time isn’t on my side.

“Peace Lovin’ Man” captured me instantly because of its title and the soul rock vocal line from DC, hooked me in.

And it’s that soul voice from DC that makes these songs stand out.

Ted Nugent – Cat Scratch Fever

The U.S Patriot that dodged the draft. I saw that comment on a Dee Snider tweet. Actually anything I read on Mr Ted these days, is because of his controversial comments, but at least he stands for something. It doesn’t matter if you agree or disagree. Like John Mellencamp said, you need to stand for something, otherwise you would fall for everything.

I always thought Ted Nugent was the singer as well. You wouldn’t think that another person sang the songs, with Crazy Ted all other the covers.

I like the riff that kicks off “Cat Scratch Fever”. It rocks, it grooves and its heavy. “Wang Dang Sweet Poontang” has this riff that is played after each line is sang. And I like it.

“Death By Misadventure” has a boogie woogie verse riff, and so does “Live It Up”. Santana was also writing songs like these around this same period.

Lynyrd Skynyrd – Street Survivors

Credit Zakk Wylde. His love for this music translated into well-spoken interviews and he got me interested to check out these kind of influences.

The last album before the plane crash which happened a few days after the album was released. And of course, this tragedy translated to a lot of sales, which kept the record label happy. But the world lost a lot of talents in Ronnie Van Zant, and a guitar hero the world will never know in Steve Gaines along with his sister Cassie Gaines who did backing vocals.

It was Cassie who recommended her younger brother Steve to replace Ed King when he departed and it was Cassie who initially refused to board the plane because of a small fire on one of the engines on a previous flight. But she was persuaded to board by Van Zant. And she survived the plane crash only to bleed to death. 18 months later, the mother of Cassie and Steve Gaines, got killed in a car crash near the cemetery where Cassie and Steve are buried. So much tragedy.

“That Smell” written by Allen Collins and vocalist Ronnie Van Zant, about the smell of a person’s surroundings doing drugs and alcohol captured me instantly. The guitar player from the riffs to the lead breaks had me picking up the guitar to learn em. And at 6.30 plus minutes, it’s perfect.

“One More Time” just plods along and as soon as the harmony leads kicked in for the outro, it ends.

“I Know A Little” sounds like the songs that SRV would take to the top and there is this lick before the verse kicks in, that sounds like “Unskinny Bop”, which means a young CC DeVille would have been listening. And this track is solely written by Steve Gaines. It’s his guitar hero spotlight.

Well that’s a wrap for the third part of 1977, so off to 2000 we go again for part four.

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Dollars And Cents

Everyone today knows “Charles Goodyear” as the inventor of vulcanised rubber. But what they don’t know is that he spent his whole life on struggle street, in and out of prison because of his money problems and six of his twelve children died because he couldn’t support them.

And when he perfected his vulcanised rubber, he couldn’t take out a patent because another scientist called Thomas Hancock took out a patent eight weeks earlier. You see, Hancock had gotten a hold of a sample of Goodyear’s final product and reverse engineered it. Goodyear tried the courts, however the judge couldn’t understand how Hancock could have reverse engineered the invention and awarded all rights and royalties to Hancock.

It wasn’t until his journals were read by others that the following was found: “Life should not be estimated exclusively by the standard of dollars and cents.”

The Goodyear name would be recognised many years later. His achievements are world-changing but he never got paid for it while he was alive.

Hancock thought he won. He cheated a little bit and got his way. 

Culture is built by people losing in the short-term only to win in the long-term. That loss right now, builds a connection, solidifies a reputation and creates trust. And those three things are more valuable than the one victory early on.

Remember a time when writers created their works, while working other jobs. And a lot of those great writers still kept those other jobs.

F. Scott Fitzgerald gave the world “The Great Gatsby” while he also worked in advertising.

William Faulkner worked as a postal worker and during that time he wrote “The Sound And The Fury”, a book that was largely forgotten upon its release and only made famous when a book Faulkner wrote many years later for a decent pay check became popular, which in turn brought interest into his earlier works. After his postal gig he worked as a night manager in a power plant. Writing between the hours of midnight and 4am, he also produced “As I Lay Dying”. Both books are in the Top 100 Literacy Classics.

Ken Kesey wrote “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”. The story about CIA sponsored mind control came about because Kesey worked as a cleaner in a mental hospital and for some extra cash he volunteered to be in a CIA sponsored mind control study which was promoted as something different to its participants. Those experiences formed the words of his novel.

JRR Tolkien worked as a Professor at Oxford while he wrote “Lord Of The Rings”. George Orwell worked for the BBC as a propagandist, which gave him the inspiration for his 1984 work.

After Dream Theater recorded their debut album, the label went bust. While they tried to get a new deal, they kept on writing songs and they had to get jobs to support themselves. During this period of work and jam, they wrote enough quality material to give the world “Images And Words”, their breakthrough album and the one that would give them a career.

Led Zeppelin’s debut album was funded by Jimmy Page and their manager Peter Grant. Once completed, it was shopped around to labels and rejected, until Atlantic US picked it up. On its release it wasn’t successful, but as we all know by now, time has a funny way of changing people’s views.

There is no easy way to cut through the noise and be heard. Paying your dues has been there from day one. Michelangelo was portrayed as being blessed to paint. The fact that he was paying his dues from the age of 7 by mixing paint, cleaning paint brushes and learning brush techniques working with a master should never be forgotten.

Convert six people instead of trying to convert 60 people. Start small and build. AC/DC were booked to open up a basement gig for Paul Kossoff’s Back Street Crawler in the U.S. Kossoff unfortunately died on his way to the gig, but AC/DC still took the stage and put on their normal act to six people. After a few songs, the six people bolted to the nearest payphone to call their friends. Within an hour the club was at capacity and history was made.

Tell your story and be truthful. Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” and “The Unforgiven” are two of their most popular songs and it’s James opening up about a relationship breakdown and his upbringing with religious parents. There is a reason why “Kick Start My Heart” is iconic. It references Nikki’s almost fatal overdose. The story you want to tell can be political like “Peace Sells” and “And Justice For All” or inspirational like “We’re Not Gonna Take It” or a call to arms like “SMF” and “We Will Rock You”.

Keep creating and recording. Al Kooper, produced the self-titled debut from Lynyrd Skynyrd. It just came out and it wasn’t really setting any sales charts on fire. “Free Bird” was still months away from becoming the boss of FM radio. Ronnie Van Zant called Kooper and told him the band had written a new song and they wanted to come in and record it ASAP. The song was “Sweet Home Alabama” and it sat in the vaults for a year before it was released on album number 2.

In the pre-internet era of scarcity, less music got made and even less got properly promoted. The history of music is littered with good bands or good musicians that didn’t quite make it or never even got a chance to make a record. And these days, every town has thousands of bands who are recording themselves and releasing their music themselves. And it’s all dollars and cents until you have that iconic hit that breaks on through.

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Music Isn’t Just About Record Sales

Change is hard and in the end it is always worthwhile. There is a cliché that goes that after being fired or rejected or dumped one door closes and a million other doors open that will lead to a better place. It is true, however the main part that nobody talks about is how long it’s going to take to get to that better place.

The highs of success and fame are brief. It begins to fade and then what are you going to do next?

Vince Neil

On July 6, 2013, Vince Neil played a solo show in Mexico City. The venue was Jose Cuervo Salon. The capacity of the venue is 1,500. The attendance was 64 people. That’s right, less than 5% of the total venue size. Total Gross sales for the night was $2,286. There was only one ticket price at $35.72. So does anyone really care about Vince Neil outside of Motley Crue? Based on the ticket sales, Mexico sure don’t.

What a hard truth that is? Music is a tough business and this is what happens when you go out every night with Motley Crue and sing out of tune. Also why is he touring. He hasn’t released anything new recently. Also when he does tour, all he does is play Motley Crue songs. No one wants to hear Vince Neil do Motley again. I don’t know why, as there are some great songs in the Vince Neil catalogue that fans would love to hear live.

His debut album “Exposed” celebrated 20 years this year. He should have commemorated that release? It is a great album and there is an audience for it. It might mean he plays smaller venues that fit a couple of hundred. However he needs to sing in tune to get people to come back time and time again.

It is a good thing he is getting into the restaurant business and the Tequila/Wine business.

Classic Rock and Southern Rock Rule in Gilford, New Hampshire

On July 3, 2013, the Gigantour tour hit Gilford, New Hampshire. The venue was Meadowbrook. The capacity of the venue is 6,657. The attendance was 1,308. That’s right, 1,308 people turned up to watch Megadeth, Black Label Society, Device and Hellyeah. Total Gross sales for the night was $49,860. There was three tiers of ticket prices ranging from $42, $33 and $23.75.

My first opinion was that the low attendance is due to the poor recent albums put out by the bands involved. Don’t get me wrong, all of those albums are worthy of a listen, but there is nothing really engaging to go back for seconds.

This show should have been a sell-out. The Gigantour tour has never hit Gilford, New Hampshire before. So it is not a market that has seen the Gigantour tour before. However, if you take just the town of Gilford and its population of 7000, then you see it is a small market and the attendance of 1,308 people is not a bad result. Add to the mix that other rock shows are playing the same venue in the weeks leading up to the Gigantour show and in the weeks after, you start to form a different viewpoint.

With most shows a lot of people come from surrounding towns as well. I know in Australia that Sydney is the place that most bands play, however the audience is derived from places in NSW that are a decent hour or three or five away from Sydney.

On July 9, 2013, Daughtry, 3 Doors Down, Halestorm and Bad Seed Rising also played the Meadowbrook at Gilford, New Hampshire. The attendance was 2,718 in a venue that fits 6,219 (for this shows the capacity was reduced due to the stage size). Total Gross sales for the night was $142,431. There was four tiers of ticket prices ranging from $59.50, $49.50, $39.50 and $29.50.

Again not even half full. Daughtry is a platinum selling major label backed super star. 3 Doors Down are also in the same league, although they haven’t reached the same heights as the early two thousands and Halestorm are Grammy award winners. So what’s gone wrong. Lynyrd Skynyrd and Bad Company is what went wrong.

On July 26, 2013, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Bad Company also played the Meadowbrook at Gilford, New Hampshire. The attendance was 6,671 in a venue that fits 6,671 (that’s right people, classic rock and southern rock sold out the venue). Total Gross sales for the night was $407,641. There was three tiers of ticket prices ranging from $79, $59 and $33.25.

Classic rock and southern rock trumped everyone. Lynyrd Skynyrd released “Last of a Dyin’ Breed” in August 2012 however that album was dead and buried by the July 2013. Bad Company on the other hand haven’t released anything worthwhile for a long time. However when you combine the two acts, put a 40th Anniversary name to the tour and you have people from that era interested. Lynyrd Skynyrd’s first album release and Bad Company’s formation happened 40 years ago. To prove my point, I am going to watch Bon Jovi in Sydney, because I want my kids to experience it.

Classic Rock Rules Part II

On July 19, 2013, Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band played a show in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The venue was the MTS Centre. The capacity of the venue is 8,397. The attendance was 8,397. Total Gross sales for the night was $724,948. There was two tiers of ticket prices ranging from $107.15 and $63.31.

Talk about turning the page. What a comeback from the man with the golden voice? Thank Metallica for their cover of “Turn The Page” in 1998. The Metallica version made Bob Seger cool with the metal community and who can forget the Metallica clip with Ginger Lynn.

Another turning point for Bob Seger’s comeback was 3 Doors Down and heir song “Landing In London” that Bob Seger sang on.

Once “Landing In London” came out in 2005, interest in Bob Seger was renewed. It was followed by a new album in 2006 and a few Greatest Hits / Live packages in between.

Guess what else is happening in the world of Bob Seger? A new album is on its way. Isn’t that like the old guard. He is hot at the moment so let’s release a new album. Why don’t the people that advise Seger release a new song first and see how it resonates with the public before dropping a slab of them.

Classic Rock III

On July 2, 2013, Alice Cooper played a show at South Bend, Indiana. The venue was Morris Performing Arts Center. The capacity of the venue is 2,552. The attendance was 1,662. Total Gross sales for the night was $77,967. There was two tiers of ticket prices ranging from $69.50 and $39.50.

This is Alice Cooper fresh from his run with Marilyn Manson that ended in June. This show was billed as “An Evening With Alice Cooper” and it was his first show in South Bend in 4 years. There is still juice in the tank of a cultural icon.

On July 28, 2013, Ted Nugent and Laura Wilde played a show in Nashville, Tennessee. The venue was the Ryman Auditorium. The capacity of the venue is 2,037. The attendance was 1,254. Total Gross sales for the night was $67,893. There was two tiers of ticket prices ranging from $59.50 and $39.50.

Just like Alice Cooper, Ted was coming off a Classic Rock run with REO Speedwagon and Styx. As with Alice, there is still life left in our favourite gun toting / wildlife hunter.

Wish they would take a leaf out of the Black Star Riders playbook? Their album, “All Hell Breaks Loose” is a great slab of classic rock songs. I was always a fan of Rick Warwick from The Almighty days so it was great to hear him rocking out again with a Phil Lynott swagger this time around, instead of a Brian Johnson swagger.

What Does A Grammy Award or Nomination Mean in 2013?

Halestorm (along with Age Of Days) played a show on June 26, 2013 at Edmonton, Alberta. The venue was the Starlite Room. The capacity of the venue was 700. The attendance was 492 and the total gross sales for the night was $12,778. There was two tiers of ticket prices ranging from $27.61 and $24.76.

Halestorm are still paying their dues. The Grammy win means nothing to today’s music public. The record labels that pay the entry fee are the ones that can compete. It’s got nothing to do with public opinion.

Hell, Dream Theater and Megadeth were nominated for Grammies last year and their current albums can’t move past the 100,000 mark in sales. If the music is great it will sell itself.

Both Dream Theater and Megadeth should look up the Wikipedia entry of “Instant Karma” from John Lennon.
“It ranks as one of the fastest-released songs in pop music history, recorded at London’s Abbey Road Studios the same day it was written, and arriving in stores only ten days later. Lennon remarked to the press, he “wrote it for breakfast, recorded it for lunch, and we’re putting it out for dinner.”

This is what both bands need to be doing. Writing some new material ASAP. Forgot about the next album or the tour coming up and go back into the studio and churn a couple of songs out. Surprise us for Christmas.

Alice In Chains is still powerful

On July 11, 2013, Alice In Chains played a show in London, Ontario, Canada. The venue was Budweiser Gardens. The capacity of the venue is 5,248. The attendance was 4,801. Total Gross sales for the night was $237,558. There was two tiers of ticket prices ranging from $56.57 and $30.90.

I can’t say I am a fan of the new Alice In Chains album. It’s pedestrian. However the fans are there. If they are there because of the old or the new or both, it doesn’t matter. The band is a quarter of a million per show band.

Power Metal Rules In Europe

On April 18, 2013, Helloween, Gamma Ray and Shadowside played a Power Metal feast in Hamburg, Germany. The venue was the Docks. The capacity of the venue is 1,500. The attendance was 1,171. Total Gross sales for the night was $51,299. There was two tiers of ticket prices ranging from $52.52 and $43.33.

You have German bands playing in Germany. Enough said. The thing with power metal bands is that they know the size of their audience. You won’t see them playing venues larger than the above size. Maybe 3000 max. it is a niche and it has a hard core and devoted fan base. They even have power metal outdoor festivals where fans even get dressed up in medieval clothing and enact sword fights and so forth.

This is a good indication of bands still carving out a living in a time where they have no promotion in the large US market. This is a good indication of bands still carving out a living in a time where people download music illegally or stream it legally.

The Black Crowes still do good business

On July 19, 2013, The Black Crowes, Tedeschi Trucks Band and The London Souls played a show in Nashville, Tennesse. The venue was the Woods Amphitheater at Fontanel. The capacity of the venue is 4,056. The attendance was 3,273. Total Gross sales for the night was $215,641. There was two tiers of ticket prices ranging from $115 and $49.50.

I watched The Black Crowes at the Wollongong Entertainment Centre on April 1, 2008. The venue had less than a thousand people in attendance in a venue that has a capacity of around 10,000, so the stage was moved heaps forward to accommodate for the smaller audience.

It was the best show I saw. They jammed, they extended songs and just had fun. Rich Robinson was the sheriff. He was the one they all looked too for when the jam starts and when the jam ends.

That is a sign of a true champion. The night before, they played to a sold out Sydney audience 70 minutes away. They could have chucked a hissy fit at the small turn out for the Wollongong show, however they didn’t. They came out and they rocked.

There is plenty of money available in music and the more people that have access to your recorded music means more fans that could turn into customers.

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