Together with her brother Richard Carpenter, American vocalist and drummer Karen Carpenter was a member of the band The Carpenters. Carpenter was renowned for her soothing vocal style and distinctive voice.
Karen Carpenter was not only a well-known singer but also a skilled drummer. She began playing the drums in high school and frequently played in the duet as the lead vocalist and drummer, but she was later recommended to concentrate on singing. Despite this, respected drummers like Hal Blaine, Cubby O’Brien, and Buddy Rich lauded her drumming abilities. Her drumming abilities have been displayed in recently uncovered performances by the Carpenters videos.
She was able to sing lovely toplines while simultaneously rattling through rhythmic fills in a manner that was as effortless and flawless as whistling in the shower. Karen herself once said, “I picked up a pair of sticks, and it was the most natural-feeling thing I’ve ever done.”
Anton Newcombe of Brian Jonestown Massacre also told that she was a “top tier of musicianship.” Clem Burke also further stated her drumming talents. He said, “Karen was a fantastic drummer only overshadowed by her fantastic voice and femininity.” Karen’s drumming abilities have been lauded by Sheila E. and Cindy Blackman Santana, who regret that they did not receive greater recognition.
However, John Bonham didn’t have the same sentiments. The fact that the youthful singing sticksmith placed higher than him in Playboy’s 1975 “Best Drummer” poll clearly infuriated John Bonham. He was irritated and said, “I’d like to have it publicised that I came in after Karen Carpenter in the Playboy drummer poll! She couldn’t last 10 minutes with a Zeppelin number.”
The drummer roared in a drunken stupor, according to Vanity Fair journalist Lisa Robinson, who was in the dressing room that night to see his battered ego’s response to the vote. He told to Robinson, “I was a carpenter for a few years [the trade not a bandmember], I’d get up at seven in the morning, then change my clothes in the van to go to gigs at night. How do you think I feel, not being taken seriously, coming in after Karen Carpenter in the Playboy poll. … Karen Carpenter … what a load of shit.”
He may have been speaking in a misogynistic manner and focusing on random polls, which is probably the opposite of rock ‘n’ roll, but he was tragically not the only person at the time who shared this opinion. Carpenter’s drumming was underrated not only because of her sexuality but also because of the less thrashy style she adopted, as though decibel levels were the primary yardstick of ability. This is being readdressed positively.
Aside from the fact that she typically kept things straightforward for the sake of the song and the health issues that limited her productivity, it’s possible that another factor contributing to her underappreciation as a musician was her sincere humility in a time when ego was king. Yet, Karen’s vocals continued to take center stage in the Carpenters’ music despite her adept drumming. When she found out, John was mad at the poll, she had commented, “[I am] humbled and embarrassed. I heard John Bonham is quite upset. I hope he is not mad at me, as I had nothing to do with the poll.”
One of the most influential American rock bands of all time is Aerosmith. They made their debut at the beginning of the 1970s and immediately gained popularity for their upbeat live shows and memorable blues-based rock compositions. They have had a significant influence on the music business throughout the years, influencing many other bands and contributing to the development of modern rock music.
By making the power ballad mainstream, Aerosmith contributed to the transformation of the music business. With songs like “Dream On” and “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing,” they were among the first bands to include ballads on their albums.
Also, Aerosmith contributed to the dismantling of musical barriers between various genres. Their collaborations with artists like Run-DMC helped to unite rock and rap listeners at a level that had never been done before. They were one of the first rock bands to mix aspects of rap and hip-hop into their music.
The fact that Aerosmith has remained active and popular over the years is evidence of its long-lasting influence on the music business. They have more than 150 million albums in circulation worldwide, and they are still touring and releasing new music today. Their status as one of the greatest rock bands of all time is assured, and their influence can be heard in countless other acts.
Today, discussing their importance, we have the top 10 Aerosmith Songs of All Time. Also, this is referenced from the Readers’ Poll of Rolling Stone Magazine.
What It Takes
What It Takes was originally a country song that songwriter Desmond Child, a significant member of the group’s comeback team, completely reworked into a soft rock “masterpiece.”
Aerosmith initially resisted giving up and passing away. They were given a break when Rick Rubin invited them into the studio to work on a remake of “Walk This Way” with Run-DMC. They then went on to release a string of increasingly well-liked albums for Geffen. Their openness to collaborate with outside songwriters was one factor that contributed to their success. It was the fourth single on Pump, and it shot to Number Nine on the Billboard Hot 100.
Last Child
Aerosmith rarely deviated from the booze-soaked guitar rock that shaped and impacted them during the 1970s. However, they become funky on “Last Child”—or at least as funky as a group like Aerosmith could—and it’s a good time. The song, which is built on top of a repeating bass riff, transitions into a stomping boogie that is reminiscent of David Bowie’s “Fame.” On our list of the Top 10 Aerosmith Tracks, this is by far the funkiest song.
Janie’s Got a Gun
Although Steven Tyler started writing a deceptively grim song about a girl who kills her sexually abusive father in 1989 after reading a story about gun violence in Newsweek, Aerosmith has never been a band that addresses serious themes. He eventually changed the lyrics from “He raped a little bitty baby” to “He jacked a little bitty baby” so that it might gain some radio play. Even Nevertheless, there was substantial debate surrounding the song since some believed it promoted vigilante justice.
Mama Kin
Because of its unbridled energy and memorable melody, “Mama Kin” is regarded as one of Aerosmith’s best songs. A cheeky homage to the band’s early debt to the Stones may be heard in the saxophone blasting through “Mama Kin.” Nonetheless, the majority of the music consists of Aerosmith’s trademark spitting lyrics and slicing guitar riffs, a formula they would use repeatedly over the course of their long career. Despite the fact that the majority of fans today think “Mama Kin” is one of their best songs, it didn’t even come close to making the charts.
Seasons of Wither
Producer Jack Douglas and Aerosmith originally collaborated on their second album, Get Your Wings, in 1974. Douglas has been a part of the group for about 40 years and is responsible for many of their best songs. Even though Get Your Wings didn’t have any hits, almost all of the songs are top choices among listeners. Steven Tyler wrote the melancholy “Seasons of Wither” at the home he and Joey Kramer shared in Needham, Massachusetts, which was close to an ancient chicken farm. Tyler said, “I was pissed off about my taxes and getting mad helps me to write, So one night I went down to the basement where we had a rug on the floor and a couple of boxes of furniture and took a few Tuinals and a few Seconals and I scooped up this guitar Joey gave me, this Dumpster guitar, and I lit some incense and wrote ‘Seasons of Wither.'”
I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing
The most divisive song in the whole Aerosmith discography is “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.” The song, which was written by Diane Warren, is the biggest hit in Aerosmith’s discography. It spent four weeks at the top of the charts in 1998.
That arrived just when Aerosmith needed a hit the most. Get a Grip had been out for four years, and the album that followed, Nine Lives, was a major letdown. When this song from the Armageddon soundtrack unexpectedly and completely exploded, it gave the band another lease on life. The band members were also at each other’s throats. These days, some concertgoers use bathroom breaks to use the restroom, while others pull out their iPhones and start crying.
Back in the Saddle
The band’s fourth album’s lead single, which just made the Top 40, is another strong rocker supported by a great riff and a strong performance from everyone in the band. Even though Tyler’s yodeling and the sound of horses and whips may be a bit much in the end, the excellent production is among the greatest in the group’s discography. Aerosmith is currently rushing dangerously into excess.
Walk This Way
Aerosmith took a break from performing their 1975 classic Toys in the Attic to see the fresh Mel Brooks film Young Frankenstein in Times Square. Igor instructs Dr. Frankenstein to “walk this way” in the movie. He continues to imitate his deformed limp. The following day, Steven Tyler made the decision to base a song on the line after the band nearly fell out of their seats laughing. He popped a Tuinal that night and typed out the lyrics, but he misplaced them in a cab. The following day in the studio, he improvised some lines about a “high school loser” getting laid.
Rappers all around New York extracted Joey Kramer’s drum loop from the beginning and created songs around it years after the song became a massive smash. Aerosmith eventually emerged from obscurity when Run-DMC re-cut the entire song featuring Joe Perry and Steven Tyler.
Sweet Emotion
One of the finest talk box recordings ever is included in the band’s debut Top 40 performance. But more than that, it has one of the most iconic guitar riffs in classic rock, which is played after a protracted intro that builds to a climax. Although Aerosmith would go on to have bigger hits, it all began with “Sweet Emotion.”
Dream On
About the song, Tyler said, “It’s about dreaming until your dreams come true, It’s about hunger and desire and ambition to be somebody that Aerosmith felt in those days. You can hear it in the grooves because it’s there. It was ‘Make it, don’t break it’ for real.”
On a Steinway upright piano, Steven Tyler composed “Dream On” roughly four years before Aerosmith was ever founded.
Legendary rock singer and composer Robert Plant first gained notoriety as Led Zeppelin’s lead vocalist. He is well-known for both his engaging onstage presence and his strong, diverse vocal range. Rock & roll was undoubtedly shaped by Plant, who also served as an inspiration for a large number of performers.
Plant’s ability to meld diverse genres and styles, such as blues, folk, and hard rock, has contributed to the development of rock & roll. His poetry lyrics, which frequently probed themes of love, sorrow, and the paranormal, were another of his most notable talents. Plant distinguished himself from other singers of his age and laid the path for subsequent generations of rock vocalists with his vocal delivery, which combined screaming and singing.
He may have been the quintessential rock ‘n’ roll God, but what truly mattered was his intangible insight.
Robert Plant hasn’t been overly complimentary of anything Led Zeppelin has released in the interim, and this critical eye is evidence of the group’s creativity.
They were innovators, and going over the line is expected when you’re ushering in a new era of music. Led Zeppelin entered the world of heavy metal blindfolded, with essentially just Black Sabbath to guide them. For the most part, though, they blazed the way like real pioneering progenitors at the top of their game.
Three tracks stand out for Plant as the pinnacle of their abilities during this tumultuous voyage. He told Rolling Stone, “[‘Kashmir’], ‘All My Love’ and ‘In the Light really were the finest moments.”
Robert once said, “I realized what Led Zeppelin was about around the end of our first US tour. We started off not even on the bill in Denver, and by the time we got to New York we were second to Iron Butterfly, and they didn’t want to go on!” It was him realizing the song’s energy.
They discovered along the way that their sense of drama was the aspect that made them such a terrifying force. While this might have been carried to “pompous” heights sometimes, with ‘Kashmir‘ – certainly Plant’s fave Led Zep track. During his interview with Louder Sound, he told, “I wish we were remembered for ‘Kashmir’ more than ‘Stairway to Heaven’, It’s so right; there’s nothing overblown, no vocal hysterics. Perfect Zeppelin.”
The sumptuous “All MyLove” can be compared to this sentiment. At the sudden passing of his Karac in 1977, Plant put his everything into writing this anthem. About the song, he told, “It was just paying tribute to the joy that [Karac] gave us as a family, and in a crazy way, still does. I was a little worried about the [‘All My Love’] chorus.I could just imagine people doing the wave and all of that. And I thought ‘That is not us. That is not us’.”
The last track in Plant’s top three, “In the Light,” epitomizes the band’s inventiveness and exploration. He told, “Once the vocal lines and phrasing were sorted out, you’d know where not to play, which was as important as knowing when you should play. With ‘In The Light,’ for instance, we knew exactly what its construction was going to be. Nevertheless, I had no idea at the time that John Paul Jones was going to come up with such an amazing synthesizer intro, plus there’s all the bowed guitars at the beginning as well, to give the overall drone effect. We did quite a few things with drones on, like ‘In The Evening’ and all that, but when he did that start for ‘In The Light’ it was just unbelievable.”
You can tell that the band is uber-alles defending the song in each of these instances. When technique and evolution served the music’s poetry rather than the other way around, this is when they were at their greatest. As Page once said, “The thing about Led Zeppelin was that it was four musicians at the top of their game, but they could play like a band.”
Van Halen, formed in 1972, revolutionized the rock music world with their innovative interpretation of hard rock music. They introduced a new style of guitar playing, with Eddie Van Halen’s finger-tapping technique being considered one of the most influential and inventive of all time. Hard rock was redefined in part by the band’s use of synthesizers and other unconventional rock instruments. Their explosive live performances were legendary, and their music continues to inspire and influence new generations of rock performers.
Eddie Van Halen is regarded as one of the greatest guitarists in the history of rock music. He revolutionized the way the guitar was played and had a significant impact on the development of heavy metal and hard rock music.
Van Halen’s playing was characterized by his use of tapping, which involves rapidly hammering the fingers of the fretting hand onto the fretboard to produce notes. This technique, which he popularized in the late 1970s, allowed him to play lightning-fast solos and create an entirely new sound. He was a true innovator and his influence on the world of guitar playing is immeasurable.
Grunge’s emergence at the start of that decade drastically altered Rock and Roll, yet many performers, like Van Halen, stayed true to their earlier influences. Eddie discussed how distinctive guitarists were, especially in the 1960s and 1970s, when they had radically separate approaches, in an interview with Guitar World in 1993. Here are three guitarists who Eddie Van Halen said were great in the 90s.
Eric Johnson
Eddie talked about Eric and said he was a great guitarist in 1993. Johnson got the opportunity to meet Eddie twice as he recalled in a memorial he tweeted shortly after the news of Eddie’s passing. The performer recalled how friendly he was at all times and claimed credit for rewriting and reshaping the Rock and Roll guitar.
Eric said, “There was a band in Austin Texas called Geneva and the gentlemen. My friend Roscoe Beck played bass in this band. It was a nice jazz band that played around town quite frequently in the late 70s. One night, I had gone down to sit in with them at the Sheraton hotel in Austin. After playing a couple of tunes with them I walked off the stage. A young gentleman came up to me and said hello.”
He added, “He was very friendly and mentioned that he was staying at the hotel and had just played a show at the Palmer Auditorium in Austin. He was in a band that had just recorded their first record. They were on their first tour of the US. I wasn’t familiar with them at this early time in their career. We had a nice chat. His name was Eddie Van Halen and it was the first of two times that I met him. I never knew him well. But I did visit with him one other time, years later after he had a number of records out and had become very successful.”
“I had been invited back to meet the band after their performance in Austin in the early 1990s. I had a nice chat with Eddie and he was once again very cordial. Probably since Jimi Hendrix, Eddie was the principal guitarist that re-shaped and re-wrote rock guitar. He left a huge and indelible mark on the evolution and contribution of great guitar playing. It’s hard to think that he’s not here anymore because he has had such an impact on guitar music. God bless him and keep him.”
Steve Vai
Steve Vai was his very first choice. Steve Vai began his music career in the late 1970s by transcribing and playing guitar for Frank Zappa. He later joined the band Alcatrazz before launching a successful solo career in the 1980s. Vai’s innovative playing style and use of technology helped him gain a following, and he has since become known as one of the greatest guitarists of all time.
When Vai was playing Van Halen songs with Lee Roth, many people could have anticipated that there might be some hatred between the two guitarists. Yet, the two held a great deal of respect for one another. They first crossed paths when Eddie, Frank Zappa’s neighbor, dropped by the musician’s home when Vai was still a member of the musician’s band.
Joe Satriani
In the early 1990s, Eddie Van Halen also praised Joe Satriani as a great guitarist. He was Steve Vai’s guitar teacher before both of them began their musical careers, which is odd given that he is only four years Steve Vai’s senior.
Van Halen vocalist was another collaborator of Satriani’s. He was part of the supergroup Chickenfoot, formed by Sammy Hagar, Chad Smith and the also ex-Van Halen Michael Anthony. He disclosed that his brother Alex had invited him to take part in an Eddie Van Halen tribute in 2021.
In an interview with Rolling Stone in 2020 following Eddie’s passing, Satriani reflected on the profound influence Eddie had on him. Especially when he first heard the track “Eruption”. He said, “When I first heard ‘Eruption’ come over the radio, I was in a little studio apartment in Berkeley, California. I actually had my guitar on, and I was totally transfixed. It was like hearing Hendrix the first time when I was a kid. The only difference was I was grown up and already a musician.”
He added, “I’m sure you’ve interviewed people who went on and on about how he innovated this, that, and the other thing. And he did. But he also combined everything that went before him in such a beautiful, fun way. This I know from experience, because I was his age. I’m a year younger.”
“I always considered him the greatest of my generation of players who came right after the big ones: after Hendrix, Page, Beck, and Clapton. But he did it with a smile, and that was so important at the time because there was a lot of grimacing and snarling and pretension around the guitar. It was getting very complicated.”
In a recent interview with Daily Star, Brian May discussed Queen’s legacy after the death of Freddie Mercury, his wish to catch up with the “Bohemian Rhapsody” cast, and his reasons for believing that a sequel needed to be produced.
The frontman of Queen, Freddie Mercury, was the focus of the script, which in May’s opinion was a great way to preserve his legacy and show what he had gone through while establishing his career and making a name for himself in the industry. The movie paid homage to Queen’s early years and the band’s ascent to rock idol status.
May believed that the script focused primarily on Freddie Mercury, which was a great way to preserve the frontman’s legacy and highlight the struggles he had to overcome while establishing his career and making a name for himself in the industry, despite the fact that the film was a tribute to Queen’s early years and their ascent to fame.
The guitarist then reflected on how “Bohemian Rhapsody” culminated with a recreation of Live Aid before delving into Freddie’s latter years and his battle with health issues. Brian pointed out that between these two significant moments in the film, there was a lot to say about the band and the front. So, May felt it was necessary to reunite with the film’s much-celebrated cast and shoot part two.
He said, “We’ve been talking about it. I felt proud of it, and the people who played us were just phenomenal,” May said. He is tempted to do a sequel, as “it would be worth it just to work with those boys again. ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ climaxed in Live Aid, and I suppose implicitly Freddie starting to deal with his AIDS, but an awful lot happened between the end of the film to the end of the glory days of Queen.”
“I loved the fact we were able to do it for Freddie. That really means a lot, and I felt we did it in the right way and in the right spirit. Of course, we were represented in the movie because we were a group, but it was really all about Freddie, and I think we did him good.”
We are thrilled that Brian May is keen to work on a Bohemian Rhapsody sequel, even though there is still a question that needs to be answered.
The Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell’s demo was rejected by Tom Petty, which allowed Don Henley to record “The Boys of Summer,” one of his biggest solo songs, in 1984.
Mike Campbell served as Tom Petty’s right-hand guy for many years. They were a formidable songwriting duo. Even though he collaborated with other musicians in addition to The Heartbreakers, such as Stevie Nicks, Campbell always went to Petty first when he had an idea for a song. Nonetheless, Petty was his superior and had the last say.
The Heartbreakers had to work inside a rigid framework since Tom Petty and Campbell had initially intended for the album Southern Accents, which they were producing in 1983, to be a concept record. Even if they produced excellent songs, they wouldn’t fit on Southern Accents if their music didn’t fit the heartland rock vibe of the album. The Boys of Summer, a song that Campbell wrote with The Heartbreakers in mind, is among the best examples of this strategy. After Petty declined the offer, he continued to be committed to getting the song out there and started looking for a performer to use his composition. Even though he had never met Don Henley of the Eagles, the song managed to find its way to him and, with the help of producer Jimmy Iovine, became a smash.
The song came into the possession of the Eagles vocalist because Iovine was pals with Henley and intimately associated with The Heartbreakers. Campbell said, “In Tom’s defense, when I got to the chorus, I went to a different chord. It was kind of like a minor chord. As the song ended up, on the chorus it goes to that big major chord. You know, it lifts up. And so he heard a slightly inferior version. And I remember when it went by, we were kind of grooving to it, and it got to that chord and Jimmy Iovine goes, ‘Eh, it sounds like jazz.’”
The response “completely deflated” Campbell, but he also saw that Iovine was correct. He then altered the chorus’ chords and added them to the demo. Then, when Henley was seeking music for what would eventually become Building the Perfect Beast, Iovine called him and asked him to play it for him. Campbell consented and delivered the tape to the former Eagles drummer’s home because she reasoned that Petty, even with the altered chords, was “probably fed up with it” and had plenty of other songs to work with.
Campbell said, “It was just me and him, We sat at a big table. He sat at the other end like the judge, totally quiet and didn’t bat an eye – just listened with his eyes closed. And then he said, ‘Okay, maybe I can do something with that.'”
Campbell had gotten a phone call from Henley, and was told, “‘Oh, I just wrote the best song of my life to your music.'” He answered, “Really? I’d like to hear that.”
Campbell had to learn all the guitar sections he had improvised on the demo, which was in a higher key, again when it came time to track the song in the studio. He managed to write it all down, but one alteration came to him on the spot: the song’s iconic outro solo. This was all because it didn’t match Henley’s voice.
The iconic rock group Led Zeppelin had Robert Plant as their primary vocalist. His distinctive singing technique and commanding presence on stage revolutionized the rock music genre. Plant’s tremolo and high-pitched screams gave rock music a fresh perspective. His lyrics were uncommon for the period because they frequently drew inspiration from mythology, folklore, and fantasy. Led Zeppelin’s sound was also influenced by Plant’s use of blues, folk, and world music, which led to the development of a fresh sound that was widely replicated by other bands.
Plant’s tenure as the band’s lead singer has made him a musical legend of all time. Few institutions, nevertheless, can match his imposing rock and roll grandeur.
When he joined Desert Island Discs, he discussed the eight songs he would take to an inescapable desert island. That’s when he revealed one song that he will cherish more than any other and will take to his grave.
For years, the program has been intricately woven into the rich tapestry of British popular culture. It’s a well-established custom that has seen both rock stars and prime ministers enter the studio. A guest is invited by the host each week to select the eight recordings they would bring with them to the foreboding beach, according to the format that Roy Plomley invented back in 1942.
He provided insights into his life in the program. He talked openly about his mother, father, Birmingham Town Hall’s influence, and how much he still missed John Bonham, one of the most important people in his life, during the chat.
He recounted that difficult period to Lauren Laverne. He told, “I drove down with him on the day of the rehearsal, and I drove back without him. He was an incredible character and so encouraging for me, despite the fact he was always sending me up and taking the mickey out of me and all that. I loved him desperately.”
He also added, “We were really kids, and we grew up not having a clue about anything at all. Just the two of us, sort of loud, confident and mostly wrong. It was really good. We covered most of the squares on the board as time went by, so I do miss him.”
Some of the greatest acts in heavy metal have roots in the Midlands. In addition to the dynamic combo of Led Zeppelin, the region also claims Black Sabbath as another forerunner of the genre. In actuality, the region offers a multicultural experience that few people in 19th-century Britain could match. The town now felt like it had a purpose. Plant was possibly destined to achieve the heights he did consider all the performers that were coming to Birmingham Town Hall at the same time.
Plant told Laverne, “Birmingham Town Hall had several years of these remarkable visitations from musicians like Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter… Howlin’ Wolf to me, he’s… magnificent, strong, powerful, and his lyrics – I think a lot came from Willie Dixon to make his songs absolutely otherworldly.”
Plant chose the Howlin’ Wolf classic “I Ain’t Superstitious” as one of those songs on his list of great albums. Along with these selections, Plant includes notable rock songs by groups like Eddie Cochran’s Pink Peg Slacks and Ohio by Crosby Stills, Nash, and Young. Plant had just one option in mind, though, when he was requested to prevent only one of the eight tracks from being washed out to hear.
The only record with which Plant was actually involved was Mario Lanza’s “Serenade,” which was adapted from the 1956 movie of the same name. He said, “When I was invited to do this programme, I started looking at something would say wouldn’t be ‘Nelly The Elephant’, it wouldn’t be ‘Runaway Train’, it would be something that made stop and feel goosebumps, and this was the first song that did that to me.”
He also revealed the reason why he chose that track over others. He noted, “It’s so evocative and it carries so much presence and beauty, and it just lifts at the crescendos that are… I mean, imagine singing along with that until you got it right?”
Kirk Hammett told NME that Kurt Cobain didn’t agree with what Guns N’ Roses stood for. It was during NME’s Does Rock ‘N’ Roll Kill Braincells?! series.
Metallica and the Stone Roses approached Nirvana to open their co-headlining tour, but Cobain “just wasn’t having it.”In a narrative about a double-headline tour with Guns N’ Roses in 1992, Hammet disclosed a surprise band who turned down the opening slot: Nirvana.
Kirk revealed, “I had to make the phone call to Kurt [Cobain] to talk to him about the possibility of joining our tour, and he just went on and on about how he just didn’t like what Guns N’ Roses stood for and I said to him: ‘Just go out there and represent Nirvana – just play the show and then that’s it’. I pleaded with him, but he just wasn’t having it.”
He added, “So there you have it. It would have been great if Nirvana was part of that tour – but you know [the actual opening act] Faith No More were great as well.”
Later on, Hammett invited Kurt to Metallica’s Seattle show for The Black Album tour. He remembered, “When he came to the show, he was in the snakepit with Courtney Love and every time he walked by, he tried to get my attention but my head was somewhere else. He was great.”
“I became friends with him right when the first Nirvana album [1989’s ‘Bleach’] came out before people were even calling it grunge, and it’s so sad when I think back to all the guy wanted to do was play guitar and write songs and sing and somehow that all got destroyed for him.”
Another sneak peek of Barry Gibb’s upcoming all-star collaborative album Greenfields: The Gibb Brothers Songbook, Vol. 1 has been released. It’s a duet performance of the Bee Gees’ iconic song “Words” with Dolly Parton.
Collaborations with Olivia Newton-John, Sheryl Crow, Miranda Lambert, Brandi Carlile, and others are featured on the 12-track GREENFIELDS album. Gibb has previously released updated versions of “Butterfly” and “Words of a Fool” with Jason Isbell (featuring Gillian Welch and David Rawlings).
By the end of 1968, the song had at least six different versions, with Glen Campbell adding a recording of it to his Wichita Lineman album before the end of the year. Sandie Shaw, a beloved UK pop artist, also recorded it for her album The Sandie Shaw Supplement. The song was then included on the CD Elvis in Person at the International Hotel and started to appear in Elvis Presley’s live performances in Las Vegas. Rita Coolidge and Boyzone later produced versions that were successful, and it became their first UK No. 1 single.
Dave Cobb, the producer of the album told Rolling Stone, “I remember walking to where I was going to play guitar and my legs started trembling. I just registered the weight of these two. They’re bigger than legends, they’re icons, and they’re right there.”
Gibb remarked when discussing the creation of the new album. “From the first day we stepped into RCA Studios in Nashville (the very place where Elvis, Willie, Waylon, Roy, the Everly Brothers and so many other legends made their magic) the album took on a life of its own.”
He added, “I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity to work with Dave and all the artists who stopped by. They were all incredibly generous with their time and talent. They inspired me more than words can express. I feel deep down that Maurice and Robin would have loved this album for different reasons. I wish we could have all been together to do it… but I think we were.”
Here is the tracklist.
01. ‘I’ve Gotta Get a Message to You’ (Feat. Keith Urban)
02. ‘Words of a Fool’ (Feat. Jason Isbell)
03. ‘Run to Me’ (Feat. Brandi Carlile)
04. ‘Too Much Heaven’ (Feat. Alison Krauss)
05. ‘Lonely Days’ (Feat. Little Big Town)
06. ‘Words’ (Feat. Dolly Parton)
07. ‘Jive Talkin’’ (Feat. Miranda Lambert and Jay Buchanan)
08. ‘How Deep Is Your Love’ (Feat. Tommy Emanuel and Little Big Town)
09. ‘How Can You Mend a Broken Heart’ (Feat. Sheryl Crow)
10. ‘To Love Somebody’ (Feat. Jay Buchanan)
11. ‘Rest Your Love on Me’ (Feat. Olivia Newton-John)
12. ‘Butterfly’ (Feat. Gillian Welch and David Rawlings)
Led Zeppelin’s renowned song, “Stairway to Heaven,” was released in the latter part of 1971. Jimmy Page, the band’s guitarist, and Robert Plant, its lead singer, wrote the song.
The song is famed for its legendary guitar solo and mysterious lyrics, which have been interpreted in different ways.
Others interpret the song as a metaphor for the pursuit of knowledge and enlightenment, while some think it is about the ascent to paradise.
“Stairway To Heaven” was and still is the biggest classic rock song of all time by Led Zeppelin. The utter thrill you get by hearing this music is indescribable. It can make you uncomfortable to listen to it.
The guitarist is without a doubt among the greatest to have ever taken up an instrument, and he is responsible for some of the greatest solos and riffs of all time.
He had already established himself as one of Britain’s most renowned guitarists before joining Led Zeppelin, having gained notoriety with The Yardbirds, and every band in the nation aspired to hire him as a session musician.
The song “Stairway to Heaven” is proof of Page’s unchanging artistic vision and is a composition that only he could have written.
The song’s components all fit together seamlessly. The guitarist once described what was going through his head when he wrote the iconic song; it is still eight minutes of pure compositional genius.
He told BBC, “I wanted to put something together which started with quite a fragile, exposed guitar, As far as the instrumentation goes, there are recorders in the early part which give it a slightly medieval feel. That was an idea of John Paul-Jones to put the recorders on, and he played them. When I first had the idea for ‘Stairway’, that wasn’t what I was thinking, and I was thinking more about the texture of the electric piano.”
He added, “The idea of ‘Stairway’ was to have a piece of music, a composition, whereby it would just keep on unfolding into more layers, more moods. The subtlety of the intensity and the overlay of the composition would actually accelerate as it went through on every level, every emotional level, every musical level, so it just keeps opening up as it continues through its passage.”
Now, on how he wrote the lyrics of the song. Someone allegedly took control of his hand, causing him to suddenly begin penning lyrics. Whoa.
That is really insane. And it’s somewhat unsettling. In this interview, Jimmy Page discusses the composition of “Stairway to Heaven” and describes how the song came to be.
On writing lyrics, he said, “We were routining Stairway To Heaven and it was tricky going through it without having any verses to it. And while were going through it and everyone was learning it, Robert [Plant] was writing lyrics in the same room on his pad. And he eventually came to the mike and started singing, and it was, like, ‘Wow, we’re really onto something here, cos his lyrics are superb on it.”
