ROBBIE WALDEN AND THE GUNSLINGERS
AND THE SONICS
timeless true Punk Anthems that could have been written tomorrow "
The first review I was ever going to write for Damn Good Tunes was supposed to be about the grandfathers of Punk and Grunge, the true grandfathers- a band from Seattle - a band called The Sonics. I only learned about them about 10 years ago from someone very special to me that really knew a lot about the history of Rock-n-Roll, especially in the Pacific Northwest. The thing about it was that I truly thought I knew about how it all started in England with the Sex Pistols and the whole punk revolution. Coming to America with bands like, The Stooges, Fear, and Black Flag- the whole ‘Decline of Western civilization’ era in New York and L.A. I had no idea it all started in Seattle- the grunge thing was just a continuation from people who grew up being influenced by The Sonics. The first time I heard the album ‘”Meet The Sonics’, I was blown away. Songs like; Have Love will Travel, Boss Hoss, The Witch, which by the way fights for the spot in my heart for personal favorite with Strychnine. Every one of their songs is great and they are timeless true Punk Anthems
that could have been written tomorrow. I do have to admit, although that for a while I only thought their fan base was underground almost cult like, especially if you weren’t old enough that you were at least in your early teens when they first let loose and listening to them had a little bit to do with pissing off your parents. It wasn’t until I met David, a true vinyl collector that I was on the road to discovering just how influential The Sonics have been in all around genres of real Rock-n-Roll. David is a real-estate appraiser, a couple of year’s back he just happened to be brought in on the appraisal of Eddie Vedder’s Seattle home. The first time he went to view the home and meet Eddie, he got a surprise…a kindred vinyl spirit with The Sonics playing as such. He described to me kind of a mini tribute corner with a framed poster from a Sonics marquee. When he told me that story and how the two of them talked about their collections; it dawned on me, how many bands may never have been if not for the road paved by The Sonics.
All this time I thought Seattle’s big grunge break through came from local kids listening to music from somewhat ‘far away’ places – of course I don’t mean to minimize the impact of such great ground breaking artists as Jimi Hendrix, bands as Heart- both local legends; I’m sorry, legends, period. It’s just that before I was indoctrinated I had no idea it came from so close to home. Getting back to my first exposure- I learned from him about some of the eccentricities well maybe the better word is shyness of the lead singer and when I first started on my idea for my article the angle I had in mind was much different…but then if you know how synchronicity works, well lets just say that some very unexpected things happened that blew my intended direction- I had to totally rethink my angle of intention- Rolling Stone had done the impossible; an interview with an original member. The Sonics; at least some of them, were playing a show in New York. I put the article on the back burner. Then the even more impossible happened- The Sonics; at least some of them, were playing a show in Seattle. Best of all, David and I were going, one night only, Halloween night at The Paramount. They were amazing- Jerry Roslie, the lead singer, was amazing, but this article is not a review of them or their performance, just suffice to say that if you like any of today’s good ‘BLANK???’-ROCK music; you need to go out and find it’s roots, and those roots whether directly or indirectly are The Sonics. That is what this article is about- influences profound and changing the nature of things to come. To think I thought the granddaddy’s of grunge were simply Green River and Sonic Youth- it is a much longer road around, the road of influences. And what comes around truly does go around…
Firelyn.
by Kris Edem
May 7th marked the date for the 30th Blues Music Awards in Memphis, Tennessee at the Cook Convention Center. This awards show brings together performers, fans, and representatives from all over the world and this year featured 29 sets over a six hour time period embracing the wide range of styles that make up this genre. It was a night of amazing music and, as you would expect, a who’s who of blues talent. Ninety five year old keymaster Pinetop Perkins was the oldest participant. And when you think about it, his lifespan nearly covers the entire history of the blues music. He was also the presenter of the honored Pinetop Perkins Piano Player Award, which went to Marcia Ball this year. And while Perkins represents blues history, the future of the blues was in person as well by a set from The Homemade Jamz Blues Band. This is a family band, the Perry’s, made up of three siblings ages 10, 14, and 17. Yes, a ten year old, and she’s the drummer! Look for them on the local festival schedules this year.
Pinetop Perkins 
Homemade Jamz Blues
The following Blues music performers were honored with 2008 Blues Music Awards:
Acoustic Album of the Year: Mississippi Number One - Eden Brent
Acoustic Artist of the Year: Eden Brent
Album of the Year: Skin Deep - Buddy Guy
Band of the Year: Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials
B.B. King Entertainer of the Year: Janiva Magness
Best New Artist Debut: 2 Man Wrecking Crew - Cedric Burnside & Lightnin' Malcolm
Contemporary Blues Album of the Year: Skin Deep - Buddy Guy
Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year: Buddy Guy
Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year Janiva Magness
DVD: M For Mississippi: A Road Trip Through the Birthplace of the Blues - Broke & Hungry Records, Cathead Blues & Mudpuppy Recordings
Historical Album of the Year: Albert Collins Live at Montreux 1992 - Eagle Records
Instrumentalist-Bass: Mookie Brill
Instrumentalist-Drums: Willie "Big Eyes" Smith
Instrumentalist-Guitar: Sonny Landreth
Instrumentalist-Harmonica: Billy Gibson
Instrumentalist-Horn: Deanna Bogart
Instrumentalist-Banjo: Otis Taylor
Pinetop Perkins Piano Player: Marcia Ball
Rock Blues Album of the Year: Mess of Blues - Jeff Healey
Song of the Year: "Let Life Flow" - Kenny Neal
Soul Blues Album of the Year: Simply Grand - Irma Thomas
Soul Blues Female Artist of the Year: Etta James
Soul Blues Male Artist of the Year: Bobby Rush
Traditional Blues Album of the Year: One Kind Favor - B.B. King
Traditional Blues Male Artist of the Year: B.B. King
Traditional Blues Female Artist of the Year Koko Taylor
For more information about the awards, the nomination process, or its history check out the Blues Foundation website at www.blues.org
Trans Atlantic Acoustics
By MS. P
As I was growing up, African popular music was often represented by stereotypical playing of bongo drums, bright flamboyant colors accompanied by traditional foot stomping, hand clapping and native tongues. All this I suppose, was for the benefit of those in the audiences who had never been to the Motherland, or had any direct experience of native African sounds . As part of a movement towards a truly global music marketplace, the somewhat archaic western cliche of African music is finally falling apart -- or, more to the point, exploding. Greats like Senegal's Youssou N'Dour and Mali's Oumou Sangare maintain fruitful careers within the usual avenues of what's become known as "world music." However a new wave of artists and archival releases is exposing the diversity of sound that's always been the African reality .
KEVIN LIMITI'S
THE BIG APPLE
LATEST FEATURE
RECORDING THE BEATLES
Authors Kevin Ryan and Brian Kehew share their
reflections and experiences with Bruce Maier
about what has been heralded as the most
definitive and accurate book ever written
concerning the studio life, the methods
and equipment used for the greatest
band in the history of recording.
In this span of time of about four and a half decades many of you like myself grew up to the sounds of various forms of rock and pop music. And, some of us living in the States were completely taken by the “ British Invasion “ which by most accounts was the responsibility of the four boys from Liverpool called The Beatles, to lead the peaceful attack of the American airwaves. When they stepped out on that stage of the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York we would never be the same. Our parents really thought we had all lost our minds but soon realized that this was the way that they too had acted when Elvis or Sinatra led their own generations. We screamed so loud at the Beatle’s concerts that unfortunately, the live sound industry simply had not prepared for the decibel requirements that such an act would need to overcome. Soon, far too soon, the Beatles would decide to retire from public performance, rarely to be seen playing live ever again as a group. So it was that they concentrated on just writing great songs and making Abbey Road Studios in London their second home. Their music today sells as well as it did in 1967 and although John Lennon and George Harrison’s lives were cut tragically short, the words and melodies of the Beatles, The Fab Four, have been recorded by more artists than anyone else’s pop music in the history of the industry. The music in all it’s majesty and wonder could not have become what it has, were it not for the mixture of technology and equipment, the facilities in which this music was recorded, the supporting individuals who were everything from tape ops to engineers to producer George Martin, and even the “ tea girls “, the nameless ladies who made sure that the Abbey Road commissary was stocked with fresh English biscuits, jam and of course tea to keep the young lads filled and comfortable.
RECORDING THE BEATLES.
Get your songs heard by Record Labels, Music Publishers, and Supervisors for TV/Film projects
THAT'S WHEN I'LL KNOW
by Doug Sherer,JE Gass Jr. and Bruce Maier
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