Tag Archives: Santana

Live and In Person

31 Jan

Listening to music is one of my favorite pastimes. Cranking of the radio and letting the sound fill the air is a great pleasure. It is truly pleasurable when that music is of the Rock variety. However, listening to live music is more enjoyable. I have been lucky enough to attend many concerts, and there is nothing like being in a room filled with people and hearing a performer sing a great song.image-6

The other day, I was at the magazine rack when I spotted something called 101 Greatest American Rock Songs. With a title like that, how could I not buy it? The magazine offers an interesting list with stories about each one. As I read through it, a question entered my mind.

How many of these songs have I heard in a live setting? In Nashville, we hear a bunch of songs being covered by bar bands. My real question was trickier. How many of these songs have I heard performed by their actual performers in a live setting?

Here is the answer.

98. “When Doves Cry” by Prince

97. “Legs” by ZZ Top

95. “All Shook Up” by Elvis Presley

94. “Lay, Lady, Lay” by Bob Dylan

92. “Paradise By the Dashboard Light” by Meatloaf

84. “Jackie Brown” by John Mellencamp

82. “Black Magic Woman” by Santana

72. “Blowin’ in the Wind” by Bob Dylan

64. “School’s Out” by Alice Cooper

62. “Rock and Roll All Nite” by Kiss

60. “Tangled Up in Blue” by Bob Dylan

51. “Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses

48. “Bye Bye Love” by The Everly Brothers

46. “Dream On” by Aerosmith

36. “Heartbreaker” by Pat Benatar

32. “All Along the Watchtower” by Bob Dylan

31. “One of These Nights” by The Eagles

29. “Ohio” by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young

27. “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” by Bob Dylan

24. “Free Bird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd

23. “Enter Sandman” by Metallica

22. “Atlantic City” by Bruce Springsteen

18. “Walk This Way” by Aerosmith

10. “In the Ghetto” by Elvis Presley

9. “Hotel California” by The Eagles

5. “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd

3. “Born to Run” by Bruce Springsteen

2. “Like a Rolling Stone” by Bob Dylan

I have been lucky enough to hear 28 out of 101 in a live setting, and, by looking at the list, I am afraid that I will not be able to add many more.

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Music on the Inside

20 Jun

The other night, we saw The Rolling Stones at LP Field, the home of the Tennessee Titans. Those of you who read this blog on a regular basis know that I am a music lover and am a big fan of concerts. However, I learned something about myself at this one. I do not like stadium shows. Seeing an iconic band like The Rolling Stones is great, but football stadiums are not conducive to a good show.

First, the weather has an impact. It was miserably hot and affected my ability to enjoy to music. However, other kinds of weather can mess it up. Rain. Thunder. Lightning. Anyway, the heat was unbearable.

Second, there are no good seats. Unless you are in front of the stage or have some sort of VIP pass, there is no good place to watch a concert in a football stadium. You are always far from the stage. That means you can hear a live concert, but you cannot necessarily see a live concert.

All of this means that I am a fan of indoor concerts. Good seats are actually good seats. Even bad seats are close enough to see something. People can feel like they are part of an event rather than being on the outskirts of one.

On top of that, indoor concerts are climate controlled. I saw Jimmy Buffett in an arena while it was storming outside. It rained enough to flood Nashville over the next several days.

Bringing up Jimmy Buffett makes me think of something else. His concerts are known as outdoor parties under the sun. I have seen him outside. I have seen him inside. The indoor shows were better.

The same goes for The Rolling Stones. I saw them in an arena and in a stadium. The arena show was better. They may not have performed better, but it was a better experience.

A few months ago, we saw Kenny Chesney in concert. It was an awesome show and a lot better than the time we saw him in a stadium.

Bottom line, football stadiums are not designed for concerts and the best ones are in smaller indoor buildings. However, I do not want to disparage the band. The Rolling Stones are great, and it is hard to believe they can perform at that level at their ages. They are a Hall of Fame band, and I want to end this post on a positive note. Since they are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I thought it would be interesting to see how many members I have seen in concert.Rock Hall

I guess it can be done by their year of induction.

1986

The Everly Brothers

Elvis Presley

1987

Bo Diddley

B.B. King

1988

Bob Dylan

Diana Ross

1989

The Rolling Stones

1990

Simon and Garfunkel

The Who

1992

Johnny Cash (I did not actually see him perform, but I met him in a bookstore.)

1993

John Fogerty

1994

Elton John

Rod Stewart

1995

Al Green

Robert Plant

1996

Pink Floyd

1997

Crosby, Stills and Nash

Parliament-Funkadelic

1998

Eagles

Fleetwood Mac

Santana

1999

Del Shannon

Bruce Springsteen

2000

Eric Clapton

Earth, Wind and Fire

James Taylor

2001

Aerosmith

Steely Dan

2002

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

2003

AC/DC

2004

Prince

Bob Seger

Steve Winwood

ZZ Top

2005

Buddy Guy

U2

2006

Ozzy Osbourne

Lynyrd Skynyrd

2008

Leonard Cohen

John Mellencamp

2009

Metallica

2011

Alice Cooper

Neil Diamond

2012

Axl Rose

2014

John Oates

Kiss

They are all Hall of Famers, and I can guarantee they all put on better shows indoors.

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My iPod Has Issues – Hanging Around the House

6 Nov

I am sitting in my office and just finished reading an article about sumo wrestling. My family is upstairs watching a music awards show, and the sounds are making their way to me. There is a note on the desk with a list of blogging topics. Four of them have been crossed out, and two of them are waiting to formulate in my mind.

Speaking of my mind, it keeps drifting to class. It feels that I am behind in couple of them, and I am trying to figure out how to catch up. This semester is going by faster than any semester I can remember. It is hard to believe that November has arrived. I was always told that getting older makes time go by quicker, but this semester is super quick.Time

An old toy from my childhood is sitting on the floor. My mom was going to get rid of it in a garage sale, but I rescued it. I bought batteries to put into it, and they are sitting on my desk. I should put them in, but I am afraid it will not work. That probably is not important. However, it could cause some slight psychological damage.

Speaking of psychological damage, this is an appropriate time to look into the mind of my iPod. There is music in the air, which means there should be music on the screen

“Black Magic Woman” by Santana

“Steamroller Blues” by Elvis Presley

“Wish You Were Here” by Pink Floyd

“Rocket 88” by Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats

“Dancing in the Street” by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas

“I’m a Man” by Bo Diddley

“The Crystal Ship” by The Doors

“Everlasting Love” by Robert Knight

“Jackhammer” by George S. Clinton

“Sailin’ the Wind” by Loggins and Messina

“Proud Mary” by Creedence Clearwater Revival

“Blue Moon of Kentucky” by Bill Monroe

“West Side Baby” by T-Bone Walker

“Funny How Time Slips Away” by Dorothy Moore

“Too Much Time on My Hands” by Styx

“The Wind Cries Mary” by Jimi Hendrix

“Our Love is Here to Stay” by Patti Austin

“Lonely Days” by The Bee Gees

“Twilight Zone” by Golden Earring

“School’s Out” by Alice Cooper

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My iPod Has Issues – Speak of the Devil

25 Sep

It’s time for another journey into the mental state of my iPod. This time we will explore its dark side by taking a trip through the playlist called “Something Wicked”, where all selections pertain to something devilish.

He’s a cute little devil.

As always, I will hit the shuffle button and list the first 20 tunes that pop up.

“Hells Bells” by AC/DC

“Season of the Witch” by Donovan

“Crawlin’ King Snake” by John Lee Hooker

“The Garden of Allah” by Don Henley (Note: This does not mean that Allah is devilish. Within the song, Henley has some great lines as the Devil.)

“Season in Hell” by John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band

“The Lords of Salem” by Rob Zombie

“Witchy Woman” by The Eagles

“O Fortuna” by Carl Orff

“(Ghost) Riders in the Sky” by The Outlaws

“Even Trolls Love Rock and Roll” by Tony Joe White

“Highway to Hell” by AC/DC

“Black Magic Woman” by Santana

“Tubular Bells” by City of Prague Philharmonic

“Dark Night” by The Blasters

“Living Dead Girl” by Rob Zombie

“Columbus” Unforgivable Sins” by Peter Buffet

“Go To Hell…” by Wild Bill Hickok and Charlie Utter

“The Devil Went Down to Georgia” by The Charlie Daniels Band

“Bad to the Bone” by George Thorogood

“Memphis Exorcism” by Squirrel Nut Zippers

I had to write this post. I couldn’t help myself. The Devil made me do it.

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