Archive for category: Beard’s Blog

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Santana- Abraxas- Carlos Santana, Gregg Rolie, Michael Shrieve

In the Studio we never featured a more influential, important, essential album than Santana 's second effort, "Abraxas" released in October 1970. Simply stated, this is the Magna Carta of World Music. Carlos Santana and Gregg Rolie are joined by drummer Michael Shrieve In the Studio for the "Abraxas".
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INXS- Listen Like Thieves- Andrew & Tim Farriss, Kirk Pengilly, the late Michael Hutchence

It was their fifth album,"Listen Like Thieves" in Fall 1985, where INXS finally picked the lock to the top of the American charts with "Listen Like Thieves". keyboard player/songwriter Andrew Farriss, guitar-playing brother Tim Farriss, and guitar/sax man Kirk Pengilly, tell of the tough and tender early days ; allying with a talented singer from Hong Kong-via-Hollywood,  the mercurial snake-hipped Michael Hutchence;
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Ozzy Osbourne- Blizzard of Ozz

The late Ozzy Osbourne In the Studio for the making of 1980's "Blizzard of Ozz" .
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Black Sabbath- Paranoid- Ozzy Osbourne

On the 55th anniversary of "Paranoid", original Black Sabbath singer / lyricist the late Ozzy Osbourne has fond memories of those days when he and his  mates from the working-class neighborhood Aston decided to ditch their trendy blues music, cut the band down from a 6-piece to four, and started doing what Ozzy characterizes in this classic rock interview as "spooky music".
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Pink Floyd- Wish You Were Here- Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason

"YOU try following up 'Dark Side of the Moon'. Go on, just try it!" playfully admonishes Pink Floyd guitarist/singer David Gilmour. "We've been trying to do it ever since!", laughs drummer Nick Mason. Gilmour and Mason are my guests, Roger Waters makes a cameo, and we include archive comments from the late keyboard player Richard Wright to round out the definitive classic rock interview regarding "Wish You Were Here" on its fiftieth anniversary.
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Queensryche- Empire @35- Geoff Tate, Chris DeGarmo

Queensryche co-founder/ composer/guitarist Chris DeGarmo and former singer/ songwriter Geoff Tate may be gone now ( the former pilots corporate jets, the latter heads the band Operation Mindcrime ), but they tell the story of the blockbuster four million-seller "Empire" and the amazing songs “Best I Can”, “Jet City Woman”,”Della Brown”,” Resistance”,”Hand on Heart”, even a live performance from London’s Hammersmith Odeon just weeks after "Empire" ’s 1990 release.
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Joe Cocker- Mad Dogs & Englishmen 55th- with Leon Russell

Here are the first-person accounts by Joe Cocker and Leon Russell of a remarkable multi-media event, the Joe Cocker Mad Dogs and Englishmen  US tour, concert film, and soundtrack double album 55 years ago.
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Moody Blues- A Question of Balance- Justin Hayward, the late John Lodgelate Graeme Edge

By August 1970 when The Moody Blues released "A Question of Balance", the only thing that rivaled their prolific musical output was their supernova of fame. Moody Blues mainstays Justin Hayward, John Lodge, and the late drummer Graeme Edge all walk the tightrope of rock history here In the Studio with my classic rock interview about the #1 UK-seller, #3 US "A Question of Balance".
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Pat Benatar- Crimes of Passion- Pat & Neil Giraldo

Pat Benatar In the Studio for her multi-million seller second album in 1980, “Crimes of Passion”.
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John Mellencamp- Scarecrow

John Mellencamp's "Scarecrow" album released in August 1985 was loaded with hits, including "Small Town","Lonely Ol' Night", and "R.O.C.K. in the USA".  But it was the album tracks starting with Scarecrow's "Minutes to Memories", worthy of inclusion in the great Paul Simon songbook, which to me revealed his evolving songcraft.