The Mamas and the Papas: A Look Behind the Curtains

09 Oct 2020 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in General Posts Tags:

Michelle Phillips, John Phillips, Mama Cass, and Denny Doherty. Photo by Globe Photos / Mediapunch / Shutterstock

(via musicoholics) By Alva Yaffe

The folk-rock classic group, The Mamas & the Papas, provided a delightful soundtrack to the decade of the 1960s with their catchy tunes “California Dreamin’” and “Monday, Monday.” John Phillips, Michelle Phillips, Denny Doherty, and Cass Elliot hit their peak of fame in the ’60s and ultimately helped to define the music scene of American counterculture during that time.

Although they reached major success during their career together, life behind the scenes wasn’t always smooth sailing. The seemingly “groovy” era of free love and the sea of drugs that came with it took a toll on the band, both as a unit and individually. The drama that occurred during the mere five years of working together was enough to last a lifetime. With all the affairs, parties, drug abuse, break-ups and reunions, the drama had lasting effects that are still felt to this day. Even Frank Sinatra used his Mafia connections to send one of the members a special “warning.”

See what really happened with this bizarre yet talented group, whose music is undeniably worth listening to…

Read more: https://www.musicoholics.com/backstage-stories/the-mamas-and-the-papas-a-look-behind-the-curtains/

How Eddie Van Halen’s Uncredited Guitar Solo on Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’ Came to Be

09 Oct 2020 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in General Posts Tags: , , ,

Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

(via ET) By Meredith B. Kile‍

Following Eddie Van Halen’s death on Tuesday from a lengthy battle with cancer, the late rocker’s friends and fellow musicians took to social media to remember the legendary musician and Van Halen founder.

Van Halen, who founded his iconic eponymous rock group with brother Alex in 1972, is widely regarded as one of the most talented guitarists in rock history and was a consistent presence in the group through several hiatuses and lineup shifts.

However, something casual fans might not know is that one of Van Halen’s most memorable contributions to music history didn’t have his name on it at all. The guitarist played an unpaid, initially uncredited solo on one of the biggest pop songs of all time: Michael Jackson’s “Beat It.”

Read more: https://www.etonline.com/how-eddie-van-halens-uncredited-guitar-solo-on-michael-jacksons-beat-it-came-to-be-154293

How the Loss of Justice Ginsburg Impacts Music Creators

01 Oct 2020 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in General Posts Tags: ,

(via Advocacy)

As the music world mourns the loss of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, one of its biggest copyright champions, it also looks to the short-term and long-term battles ahead

On Sept. 18, the music community lost a huge advocate in Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Aside from her years of work as a trailblazer for equality and nearly three decades on the Supreme Court of the United States, RBG was known as a pro-copyright jurist who routinely found herself aligned with music creators…

Read more: https://www.grammy.com/advocacy/news/how-loss-justice-ginsburg-impacts-music-creators

Rush’s Geddy Lee Appears as Cardboard Cutout at Blue Jays Game

25 Sep 2020 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in General Posts Tags: ,

(via Ultimate Classic Rock)

Geddy Lee was recently spotted at Toronto Blue Jays home games. The Rush frontman is among the cardboard cutouts found in the stands at baseball games these days. The coronavirus pandemic has kept people from attending sporting events in person, so many teams have placed cutouts of fans in the stadium’s seats…

Read more: https://ultimateclassicrock.com/geddy-lee-cardboard-cutout-blue-jays/

The One-Hit Wonder File: “All Right Now”

28 Aug 2020 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in General Posts Tags: ,

(Via Culture Sonar) by Ellen Fagan

The year is 1968. Four enormously talented young men, all in their teens, form a band called Free. Paul Rodgers is the frontman with the growly croon, Paul Kossoff the prodigy rock guitarist. Andy Fraser is on bass and percussion chores are handled by Simon Kirke. They begin life as a soft-edged, bluesy band, perfectly listenable but not memorable.

Early in their tenure, they have a particularly dispiriting gig in Durham, England. Kirke describes the demoralization of playing to a tiny, checked-out audience.

“… we finished our show in Durham and walked off the stage to the sound of our own footsteps. The applause had died before I had even left the drum riser.”

Backstage, the members of Free pondered their future options and decided they needed to come up with a powerful uptempo number that would keep audiences on their feet…

Read more: https://www.culturesonar.com/the-one-hit-wonder-file-all-right-now/?mc_cid=7bc9e1d98e&mc_eid=754259b4e6

Unraveling the Many Mysteries of Neil Diamond’s ‘Sweet Caroline’

06 Jun 2020 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in General Posts Tags: ,

(Getty Images)

Digging into Diamond’s inspiration and how the song became a staple at Fenway Park.

(via Mental Floss) by Kenneth Partridge

The story of Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” has it all: love, baseball, Kennedys, Frank Sinatra, Elvis, and the triumph of the human spirit. It’s pop’s answer to the national anthem, and as any karaoke belter or Boston Red Sox fan will tell you, it’s way easier to sing than “The Star-Spangled Banner.” As the song celebrated its 50th birthday in 2019, now’s a good time—so good, so good, so good—to dig into the rich history of a tune people will still be singing in 2069.

“Where it began, I can’t begin to knowing,” Diamond sings in the song’s iconic opening lines. Except the “where” part of this story is actually pretty simple: Diamond wrote “Sweet Caroline” in a Memphis hotel room in 1969 on the eve of a recording session at American Sound Studio. By this point in his career, Diamond had established himself as a fairly well-known singer-songwriter with two top-10 hits—”Cherry Cherry” and “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon”—to his name. He’d also written “I’m a Believer,” which The Monkees took to #1 in late 1966…

Read more: https://getpocket.com/explore/item/unraveling-the-many-mysteries-of-neil-diamond-s-sweet-caroline?utm_source=pocket-newtab

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