Archive for category: Beard’s Blog

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J Geils Band- Freeze Frame- Peter Wolf

Prior to the Fall 1981 release Freeze Frame , Boston's J Geils Band had released ten albums while touring relentlessly. Yet the hard-driving jump'n'jiving lead singer Peter Wolf admits that all they really had to show for the effort was half a million dollars in debt....(more)
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Kansas- Leftoverture 50th- Kerry Livgren, Phil Ehart, Steve Walsh, Richard Williams, the late Robbie Steinhardt

By 1976, it was go big or go home for Kansas, the intrepid six-man Progressive Rock band from Topeka, Kansas. Because of the hit "Carry On Wayward Son" ( submitted by the prolific Kerry Livgren even as the band was packing up to leave rehearsals ) and radio hits "Miracles Out of Nowhere","The Wall", "Cheyenne Anthem", and "What's On My Mind ", "Leftoverture"  gave Kansas rock statehood to the tune of over four million sold. Livgren is joined by Richard Williams, Phil Ehart, Steve Walsh, & the late original Kansas violinist/singer Robbie Steinhardt here In the Studio.
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Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band- Night Moves 50th Anniversary

"We did two hundred sixty-five shows that year 1975," says Bob Seger with a mixture of pride and amazement, as explanation on why it was so hard to find the solitary time necessary to write well-crafted songs prior to "Night Moves". The double disc "Live Bullet", recorded in Fall 1975 and released six months later, provided that precious period...by October 1976 with Night Moves containing "Rock and Roll Never Forgets","Main Street","The Fire Down Below","Come to Poppa", and the title song which Bob calls "...a little novelette."
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The Police- Ghost in the Machine 45th- Stewart Copeland, Andy Summers

By the time October 1981 's fourth Police album "Ghost in the Machine"  was dispatched, the exposed roots and influences shown by the London-based trio founded by Yankee drummer Stewart Copeland, who had emerged from the dying embers of the Punk Rock scene there, were more Miles and Mingus than Johnny Rotten. "Ghost in the Machine" topped the UK sales chart, #2 on Billboard  album chart, over three million copies sold in America alone, and Rolling Stone  magazine ranking it at #322 on their Top 500 Albums of All Time list. Police commissioner Stewart Copeland and six-string sharpshooter Andy Summers are your personal Ghost...busters with me here In the Studio in this classic rock interview.
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Boston- Third Stage- Tom Scholz

"Third Stage" Boston comeback album released in September 1986 put up spectacular numbers in popularity, with three Top 20 hits on Billboard including "Cant'cha Say","We're Ready", and the #1 "Amanda", all helping to blast the album to #1 sales. Boston bandleader Tom Scholz, my guest, also brought free-agency to the music business.
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Bryan Adams- Waking Up the Neighbours 35th Anniversary

Bryan Adams sold 16,000,000 copies worldwide of "Waking Up the Neighbours" since 1991, it starts to take up some real estate on the page. In this week's classic rock interview, diplomat's son Bryan Adams reminds us that he had a passport before he had a guitar.
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Lynyrd Skynyrd- One More From the Road 50th Anniversary- the late Gary Rossington

In September 1976, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Atlanta's venerable Fox Theater each needed a minor miracle. Performing over three hundred shows on 1975's notorious "Torture Tour" had original Lynyrd Skynyrd members dropping like flies. Three things were evident: America's hyped bicentennial was entering the history books even as the wrecking ball was heading for the Fox Theater; a live "best of" discounted price double album by Peter Frampton earlier that year was re-writing the record books; and Lynyrd Skynyrd was selling more concert tickets than copies of their diminished ranks studio album "Gimme Back My Bullets". The band needed a stop-gap recording that could capture their lightning in a bottle live show, and the Fox Theater needed a lightning rod which could make saving it a cause celebre. Original co-founder the late guitarist Gary Rossington joined me here In the Studio for the tale behind "One More from the Road".
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Cheap Trick- Essential- Rick Nielsen, Robin Zander

On a maximum scale of five stars, the 1977 debut by Cheap Trick  receives AllMusic.com's highest rating. And the even more melodic, better sounding  sophomore effort "In Color" in the same year earns 4 1/2 stars. Then Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen, Robin Zander, Tom Petersson, and Bun E. Carlos wrote and recorded the  masterpiece "Heaven Tonight" in May 1978, yet again scoring a critics' perfect five star rating. So in hindsight it would appear that recording the Rockford IL quartet's set while performing the strongest material from these three killer studio albums, in front of an adoring audience in one of the world's premiere venues, would be as obvious as a sumo wrestler in your shower stall.

Redbeard Rocks American Black History Month!

rock'n'soul playlist of the greatest rockers like the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Bob Seger, Creedence Clearwater Revival, ZZ Top, and twenty-five more all paying  tribute to Detroit's Motown and Memphis' Stax  African-American musical giants, presented to commemorate American Black History Month.

John Fogerty- Weeping in the Promised Land

An American patriot, John Fogerty, with a new song and video,"Weeping in the Promised Land".