For What It's Worth

Artist: James McMurtry
Song: Vague Directions
Album: Candyland

Another song I first heard on WMAX in the mid-90s. For years I didn't know what the song was or the singer. Finally found out searching for the lyrics "it took a quarter tank of Fire Chief". I believe James had some help from John Mellencamp, and guitarist Mike Wanchic from John's band was involved with this album.

This is one of those songs that might not jump out at you, but it can grow on you. A simple riff and chord progression provide the basis for some clever lyrics. I have the CD and this is my favorite track.

Song: Mannish Boy
Artist: Muddy Waters
Album: Hard Again

I remember back around 1986 or so, I was working in an area at Xerox where we were in a lab most of the time, and we often had quite a few people working with us who were the same age or a bit younger than I. We usually had the radio on, but sometimes played cassettes. I had quite a collection of mix tapes, and I recall this song was playing. This album was about 10 years old at the time, and one young lady came up to me to ask me about the song. I wish I could remember her name. Anyway she knew the song from the movie "Risky Business". This was pre-internet, so it wasn't easy to find out information like this, what songs were in a movie, and who the artists were. So she was very happy to find it, I might have even made her a tape with it.

This album began a Muddy Waters resurgence around 1976. Mannish Boy was the big cut. I believe it was based on a riff and topic Muddy had recorded back in his heyday, but this track had an all-star band with him. Pinetop Perkins on piano, James Cotton on harp, and Johnny Winter on guitar. One highlight of this song is Johnny Winter's enthusiastic responses to Muddy's lines.

One highlight for me was seeing Muddy and his band live at the Rochester War Memorial. Eric Clapton was the headliner, but I was more excited to see Muddy. He was likely in his late 60's at the time, and died not too many years later.

Song: Like a Stone
Artist: Audioslave

This is a fairly recent song, at least compared to may others I've posted about. Audioslave was a "Supergroup" consisting of members from other well-known bands. (Not sure if they are still around) One of the members was Chris Cornell, who was the lead vocalist of Soundgarden. I think he is one of the best vocalists of all-time.

He shows it on this song. The song is driven by a slow heavy backbeat. The guitar plays a simple melody/rhythm part with some tremolo. The guitar gets a little heavier during the chorus and includes a synth'ed out solo.

I really should try to listen to more of their stuff.

The Who
Dec. 10, 1975
Buffalo War Memorial Auditorium

The first album I ever owned was a Christmas present from my brothers in 1967. The Who Sell Out.

It was an unusual album that featured Roger Daltry sitting in a tub of Heinz Baked Beans on the cover. It was a concept album, designed to sound like songs being played on a radio station with commercials and goofy jingles between the songs. I liked the album and played it a lot, but didn't have an opportunity to buy much else music until I was older. I did hear a lot of music from my brothers and sister, but several years later when my brother Alan came home from college I got to hear some music he had bought while away. This was probably 1972. That was when I heard Who's Next.

Now I was hooked. Little by little I bought everything I could find by and about The Who.

My first chance to see them live was December 1975. I wanted to go, but tickets sold-out before I got a chance. Then about two days before the show, I was sitting in my room doing homework listening to CMF, when the DJ came on and said they made about 100 more tickets available that would go on sale the next morning. I had classes at MCC until sometime in the afternoon, but I went over to the Sears in Southtown Plaza and found the ticketron desk. I was sure they'd be gone, but they weren't. It was so weird buying Who tickets in Sears. I talked Gary Wagner into going with me. So when we finished classes on the 10th, Gary and I headed to Buffalo. I remember it was snowing wet, slushy snow. We made it. The seats were about 3/4 of the way down one side, in some temporary sections where the hockey rink was. Toots and the Maytals opened. An early
reggae band who I had never heard of at the time. The Who came on and it was great. I think I had binoculars with me, and people kept borrowing them. Only time I ever got to see Keith Moon
play.

Great laser show. Great concert.

Here is the setlist:

I Can't Explain, Substitute, My Wife, Baba O'Riley, Squeeze Box, Behind Blue Eyes, Dreaming From The Waist, Boris The Spider, Magic Bus, Amazing Journey, Sparks, The Acid Queen, Fiddle About, Pinball Wizard, I'm Free, Tommy's Holiday Camp, We're Not Gonna Take It, Summertime Blues, My Generation, Join Together Blues, My Generation Blues, Roadrunner, Won't Get Fooled Again

I have had an Amateur Radio (Ham Radio, same thing. CB, totally different thing) license since 1971 . My interest over the years has waxed and waned, mostly due to lack of time. A year or so ago, I was browsing eBay for some vintage ham radio equipment. I have always had an urge to own a Hammarlund HQ-170 receiver. These were made from the late 1950s until the early 1970's (approximate).

So I go on to eBay. I had looked before but never bid on anything. So there were a couple of Hammarlunds for sale, including a decent HQ-170. So I make a bid on a HQ-170 and a HQ-110 (lower end model). The current bid was obviously low, and I didn't increase it much. Of course, others have set-up automatic bidding, and I keep watching. I think I made a few more bids, but I was always trumped. So I happen to look to see who I was bidding against. Sometimes a username is easy to figure out. It was WB6ACU, which is a Ham Radio callsign. This one I happen to already know, but it can be looked up on many places on the internet. I was being outbid by the ordinary average guy himself, Joe Walsh.

Yes, that Joe Walsh of the James Gang and The Eagles. He is a well-known ham, and in recent years has been collecting old ham radio equipment. I was hoping to find a deal, but decided it might not be a good idea to bid against Joe.

In the end, I don't think Joe actually won the auction. If he can't afford, then I really can't.

Song: Chestnut Mare
Artist: The Byrds
Album: The Essential Byrds (and others)

I happen to love the sound of the Rickenbacker 12 string electric guitar, and the Byrds, especially this song epitomized that sound. Another one of those story songs, about a man and his quest to catch a wild horse.

A nice chorus and some acoustic guitars. But the sounds of Roger McGuinn's Rickenbacker is what draws me to it.

Song1: Laugh, Laugh
Song2: Just a Little
Artist: The Beau Brummels
Album: Introducing the Beau Brummels

It made sense to do both of these at once. These are actually quite well known, at least if you were around for the 60's. But if you weren't this is an example of some of the best American rock/pop to come out after the British Invasion. They both are from 1965, and were on the debut album from the Beau Brummels.

I don't know who produced this album, usually the record companies had a lot of control over the recordings, especially from new bands. But the sound is just incredible. The layered acoustic and electric guitars, the unusual harmonies, great sounding drums, and the vibrato in the lead singers voice, make for a very unique mixture.

These are available of many sixties hit collections as well. If you've never heard them, or maybe remember them but have only listened to them on the radio, these are two songs that should be part of every music collection.

My favorite radio station in the early 70's was WSAY. Though WCMF was on FM and pretty good, they were a little hippyish and not exactly always my style. WSAY was an old AM station that had been around for years (1370 on the AM dial), but was kind of on its way out at the time.

I don't know a whole lot about its history, but my recollection is that it was owned by an old-time radio broadcaster named Gordon Brown. Seems like he was pretty old by then, but kept WSAY as a tax break or something. So he was pretty much as hand-off owner, except for one thing, which I'll get to in a minute. In the 60's WSAY had a run near the top of the ratings, when they were a top 40 station in the heyday of the British Invasion. I remember lying in bed a night with a radio by my bed listening to the latest tunes.

In the 70's, WSAY was barely alive, with only 3 DJs working 6 hours shifts, making minimum wage from what I read. Seems like there were few commercials. In those days there were FCC rules that required broadcast stations to have programming that was in the public interest in order to have their license renewed. Some local activist group would always seem to object to the station getting their renewal, and Mr. Brown would have to fight to keep the place going.

Anyway, it seems the DJs could play pretty much whatever they wanted, except for two things that Mr. Brown wanted broadcast. One was a show called "Back to the Bible", which was likely something taped and sent around the country. This was played every morning from about 9 till 10 AM. The other was something called "The Rosary", which was tapes of a group of people reciting various prayers like Our Father, Hail Mary, etc over and over for some 20 minutes or so. This was usually in the evening, once or maybe twice every night. Fun stuff.

In the summer of 1973, I got a job at a place called Pace Electronics, which leads to a whole bunch of other interesting stories, but in this case it gave me a chance to listen to a lot of radio. I worked in the back which was like a small warehouse, and there always was a radio playing. Depending on who else was working back there, we would negotiate what station to listen too, or I would be off in a corner by myself and I would get another radio. My choice was usually WSAY. The morning guy had the DJ name of "Tommy Thomas". This was a throwback to the 60's, where DJs would come and go, but the name would stay the same. Jerry Jack and Mike Melody did the other shifts. Once school started my senior year, I managed to continue to work 7 until noon every morning.

This Tommy Thomas had similar musical tastes to me. He was probably a few years older, and he knew a lot more music. So I found a whole slew of stuff that I liked. TT liked glam music, so there was a lot of David Bowie, New York Dolls, Slade, Sweet, TRex, and others. But he didn't limit his playlist to just that. Stones, Free, James Gang, Bob Seger (before he was real well known), Derek and the Dominoes (not just Layla), Humble Pie, Peter Frampton, Mott the Hoople, the list goes on and on.

Of course, every morning a 9AM, I had to change the station. An hour of WAXC usually because WCMF had R&B in the mornings at that time (with Uncle Rog). Not that I don't like R&B, but I could hear R&B mixed in with everything else on WAXC. Then at 11:55 every morning, like an alarm clock because I had to be at school by 12:10, he played "I'm Going Home" by Ten Years After. So I knew I could punch out when it was over (he played a shortened live version).

That Tommy Thomas was around another year or so, and then I'm not sure what happened. My opportunity to listen to the radio diminished, and I had quite a music collection of my own by then, and I would make 8 Track then cassette mixes of my own. Tommy Thomas probably moved on to another city and station, or got a real job. I don't even know his real name. Somewhere, I think I have an old cassette tape of part of one of his shows. I'll have to see if I can find it and make a digital copy of it.