John Lennon (10-9-40 to 12-8-80) Remembered by Paul McCartney

Like Mahatma Gandhi and the Reverend Dr.Martin Luther King jr. , deeply committed social reformers dedicated to peaceful change , John Lennon was assassinated December 8 , 1980 . I am reminded of a wall poster in the very early 1970s which chillingly showed the barrel of a gun pointed right between the viewer's eyes from a distance of about one inch . Underneath it stated simply , " Just because you have silenced a man does not mean you have converted him ." Do not be misled . The forces of evil manifested in intolerance , fear , power , and greed killed John Lennon . Mark Chapman was simply the unwitting trigger man . But like Gandhi , Dr. King , John & Bobby Kennedy , Anwar Sadat in the Mid East, and Benigno Aquino in the Philippines , John Lennon was unbowed to his worldly end in the belief that " all you need is love " . -Redbeard

John Mellencamp- Authority Song- garage Dec 1991

I spent part of my Christmas holiday 1991 in an A-frame cabin with a wood burning stove in the still, snow-covered woods among the hills and "hollers" of Central Indiana's Brown County. But we weren't there for skiing or even simply to chill…

Who- Amazing Journey-July 1969 London Wembley Arena

Believed by Pete Townshend to have been destroyed by his explicit orders as recently as in his 2012 autobiography Who I Am , the Tommy   deluxe and super deluxe editions contain The Who performing Tommy  in concert at London's Wembley Arena…

Sammy Hagar- There’s Only One Way to Rock- Cabo San Lucas 5-97

Sammy Hagar traditionally celebrates his birthday with a series of performances at his Cabo Wabo Cantina in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Here is a smoking medley of "Marching to Mars/ There's Only One Way to Rock" from  there in May 1997. -Redbeard [jwplayer…

Melissa Etheridge- Chrome Plated Heart- Dallas 1988

Melissa Etheridge, visiting Dallas radio station Q102 as a rookie in 1988, stepped up to the plate live, took a swing at "Chrome Plated Heart" from her debut released in May that year, and knocked it out of the park, performing on a guitar …

Omar and the Howlers- Border Girl- 6-6-87 Dallas

“Born in Mississippi in the dust of a cotton patch Raised up by a rattlesnake and that’s a natural fact… They all talk about me, they don’t understand They don’t know the power of a Mississippi hoodoo man…”-Kent Dykes, “Mississippi…

del Amitri- I Won’t Take the Blame- Dallas 5/90

Two intrepid Scots, lead singer/guitarist Justin Currie and vocalist/ accordion player Iain Harvie of the Glasgow band del Amitri, showed up one blazing hot Friday afternoon to play out on the patio in upper 90s temp during my Friday afternoon…

Memphis Thing- Rob Jungklas

Rob Jungklas “Memphis Thing”

Boston- Hyperspace Pedal Blues- Tom Scholz

Irrefutable proof of why Tom Scholz of the band Boston had to move from his apartment house in Watertown , MA .Turn it up as loud as your gear can go . -Redbeard

J.J.Cale No Longer Livin’ on Tulsa Time

"He was our guy," Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington told me about songwriter J.J.Cale in my December 2000 interview," kinda our 'go to' guy for songs back then." For over four decades Cale, the Tulsa-based songwriter who passed away overnight…