Viewing: Rock & Roll History - View all posts

Awhile back I was shocked to learn that Jeff Beck, perhaps the greatest rock & roll guitarist of all, had passed away due to spinal meningitis.  I've always ranked Beck alongside my other favorite guitarist, Danny Gatton.  

Geoffrey Arnold Beck…

Glam Rock was a rock & roll music genre which proceeded the punk music movement in the early 70's.  Along with the music which parlayed rock music in a much more flamboyant manner, Glam Rock also had a significant impact…

Long before the digital era and the design disciplines that emerged with it, there was a unique canvas, reaching a visual audience of millions; every designer dreamed of working on a vinyl record album cover. 

Invented in 1938 by graphic…

This story starts in the United Kingdom...

The British music industry was rigidly controlled by the BBC and London’s Denmark Street music publishers. A handful of powerful managers groomed a stable of homegrown singers in the mold of Elvis Presley…

Release Date: 

November 29, 1968 Warner Bros Records

When I got out of bed his morning, I suddenly realized that years ago Van Morrison's Astral Weeks album was released.  

Looking back on those days, I vividly recall hearing this album…

Psychedelic rock was a musical genre that emerged in the mid-sixties due to the popularity of such mind-altering drugs as LSD, mescaline, cannabis and peyote mushrooms.  

The roots of Psychedelic Rock began here: On Friday April 16, 1943 (a day…

“A Pop person is like a vacuum that eats up everything, he's made up from what he's seen.  And that's why people are really becoming plastic; they are just fed things and are formed and the people who can give…

Today, on this latest edition of Rock & Roll Geography, we take a stroll down to California to check out The Whisky A Go Go, one of LA's most historic music landmarks.  Still in business today, this venerable club is…

It was on June 27, 1970, that the Transcontinental Pop Festival began its journey in Toronto, Canada. This festival was part of a series of concerts in Canada that became known as The Festival Express which is also the title…

As a songwriter, I've always enjoyed writing in a wide variety of musical genres but the rock & roll genre has always been my favorite genre.

More often than not, rock & roll music has always been there to help…

A HISTORY OF the FREELANCE VANDALS!

"Diamond" Ray Finch, Johnny Pierre & Chuck Ciany

Yellow Springs, Ohio circa early 7O's

I had met Chuck Ciany and Ray Finch back in 1970 when we were students at The University of Dayton.…

Vince Taylor, while not widely known to US rock fans, was an influential part of the European rock scene in the late 50's and early 60's.  While not widely known to US rock fans, Taylor was an influential part of…

REMEMBERING NICKY HOPKINS

Nicky Hopkins (24 February 1944 – 6 September 1994) was an English pianist and organist. He performed on many popular and enduring British and American rock music recordings from the 1960s to the 1990s, most notably on…

This blog post is dedicated to my dear friend,

Jeff Goldstein

who spent many happy hours @ The Fillmore East

The Story of the Fillmore East begins here...

Located at the southwest corner of Second Avenue and Sixth Street was…

One Sunday back in 2019, I woke up to the news that D.A. Pennebaker had passed away at the age of 94.  While Pennebaker was a well known film maker to many folks, I thought it would be worthwhile to…

Lester Bangs

In a June 1975 article in Creem magazine, Lester Bangs, while writing about how the impact of the breakup of the Beatles, captured some of the angst that existed in rock & roll music: 

“Name me one…

"Say, what was the first rock concert you went to?"  Hmmm...let me think about that for a minute or two...no, wait!  I remember now!  It happened on a beautiful summer day on August 13, 1967.  I had just returned stateside…

The Kinks

Taj Mahal

Sha Na Na

Fillmore West

San Francisco, CA

The Move

Cold Blood

Albert King

Fillmore West

San Francisco, CA

Grateful Dead

AUM

Flying Burrito Bros.

Avalon Ballroom

San Francisco, CA

Spirit

Nazz

James Cotton Blues Band

…

RAISING HELL TOUR '86 

RUN DMC 

WHODINI 

LL COOL J 

Municipal Auditorium 

Nashville, TN

"All Hell Breaks Loose at a Run-D.M.C. 'Raising Hell' Rap Concert in California: 'I am great--get it straight--that`s what I say--my name is Run--I`m number…

British Invasion Concerts NYC

The Dave Clark Five

Harry Deal & The Galaxies, The Six Keys

The Knaves

Greensboro Coliseum

Greensboro, NC

Rolling Stones

Dave Berry & The Cruisers, The Konrads

The Checkmates, Johnny Ball, The Hollies

ABC Theatre  Romford,…

Today on the Rock & Roll is a State of Mind blog, we celebrate the 54th anniversary of what many regard as one of  the very first rock festivals...Monterey International Pop Festival June 16th / 17th / 18th 1967! 

While…

The Beatles First Concert In America!

The Beatles’ first US concert was watched 

by a crowd of 8,092 fans

at the Washington Coliseum in Washington, DC.

The Beatles

Washington Sports Arena

Washington, D.C.

The Rolling Stones First Concert In America!

…

Elvis Costello & The Attractions

The Bottom Line

NYC

SET LIST

Pump It Up

(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes

Waiting for the End of the World

No Action

Less Than Zero

The Beat

Living in Paradise

Blame It…

SYD BARRETT

Lost in the Twilight Zone

CSNY

Chasing dreams of becoming outlaws

ALBERT COLLINS

Having a smoke after a tasty guitar work out

VAN MORRISON

Lost in his muse on stage

MICK JAGGER

@ The Beauty Parlor

JERRY LAWLER…

Led Zeppelin

L.S.U. Assembly Center

Baton Rouge, LA

Led Zeppelin

Earl's Court

London, UK

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band

Keystone Hall

Kutztown State College

Kutztown, PA

Ramones

CBGB's

NYC

John Cale & The Only Ones

Paradiso

Amsterdam, Netherlands