Get Ready! This Week Old School Reports From The NAMM Show

The NAMM Show 2013 begins this Thursday, January 24, 2012 and Old School will be there as Ripple's Roving Reporter.  We don't know who he will see or what trouble he will get into, but, there will be plenty of chances to rock. 


Here are a few of the musicians who will be there - Nicky Sixx (Motley Crue); Steve Morse (Dixie Dregs, Deep Purple, Kansas); Guthrie Govan (The Aristocats); Fieldy (Korn); Billy Sheehan (Steve Vai, David Lee Roth, Mr.Big); Glenn Hughes (Trapeze, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath); Frank Bello (Anthrax); Rocco Prestia (Tower Of Power); Tommy Stinson (The Replacements, Guns N' Roses); Pancho Tomaselli (War, Philm), Mark Heylman and Dan Kenny (Suicide Silence); Michael Spreitzer and Jeff Kendrick (Devil Driver); Pete Anderson (Dwight Yoakam, Meat Puppets, Jackson Browne, Buck Owens, k.d. lang, Lucinda Williams); Tom Dumont (No Doubt); Stu Hamm (Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson); Victor Wooten (Chick Correa, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones); George Duke (Miles Davis, Jean Luc-Ponty, Flora Purim, George Clinton, Kanye West); Ricky Phillips (Styx, Bad English, The Babys); Tom Coster (Santana); Michael Sweet and Timothy Gaines (Stryper), Neal Schon (Journey), David Grissom (John Mellencamp, Storyville); Clint Lowery (Sevendust); Orianthi (Michael Jackson, Alice Cooper); Steve Stevens (Billy Idol, Michael Jackson, Vince Neal); Doug Aldrich (Whitesnake, Dio, Foreigner); Ron "Bumblefoot" Tal (Guns N' Roses); Derek St. Holmes (Ted Nugent); Earl Slick (David Bowie, New York Dolls); Dave Rude (Tesla); Jerry Donahue (Fairport Convention, Yardbirds, Hellcasters); Michael Devin (Whitesnake); Bjorn Englen (Yngwie Malmsteen, Quiet Riot); Marten Andersson (Lynch Mob, Lizzy Borden); Will Adler (Lamb Of God); Gus G (Ozzy Osbourne); Stephen Carpenter (Deftones); George Lynch (Dokken, Lynch Mob);  Michael Wilton (Queensryche);  Vic Johnson (Sammy Hagar); Allan Holdsworth (Soft Machine, I.O.U., Planet X); Nathan East (Fourplay); and Kelly Hanson, Jeff Pilson and Tom Gimbel (Foreigner).

In addition to the massive amount of talent that will be on the convention floor, the night shows are legendary. Elton John and Tower of Power will perform for certain exhibitors’ select clientele, while other exhibitors throw private parties.  Just check out the two The NAMM Show after hours show advertisements in this article. There are dozens more just like them with special musical guests.  We are sure Old School will catch one or two.  You can follow the wave here on The Ripple Effect!   

Ripple Library - Glenn Hughes - The Autobiography

Glenn Hughes HATES cocaine, but he LOOOOOVES the smell of it. Poor guy is playing bass and singing his ass off in a band called Trapeze during the early 1970's when he gets recruited to join Deep fuckin Purple in 1973 and help revitalize the band with vocalist David Coverdale. They create a monster album called Burn and go on to have major success space truckin around the globe. They play an insane show at the California Jam festival that literally set the stage on fire. But behind the scenes, young Glenn develops a taste for the high life. Mainly A LOT of coke. LOTS and LOTS of coke. How he's still alive to tell his story in this new autobiography is completely amazing, let alone be able to function as a human being and go to the toilet all by himself.

You don't have to be a fan of Deep Purple or any of Glenn's music to enjoy this book. If you want to know what it was really like back in heavy rock's golden age you need to read it pronto. There are so many sleazy, sordid tales that your mind will reel. Canoodling with Bowie, out-snorting Ron Wood, and being accused of loving chocolate bars more than his bass by Gary Moore is just the start. There are coked out trysts with Angie Bowie, Cherie Currie and maybe even Sharon Arden (later Ozzy's old lady). Then there's the usual 70's girlfriend swapping and switcheroo. His story telling isn't pornographic but gives you enough innuendo to get the drift. Later on when the drug use gets really out of control he has no problem admitting to soiling his kimono and puking up a hot dog into his hands on a commercial flight. Pretty glamorous, eh? Read Cheetah Chrome's autobiography if you want to hear how gross it is to be a low budget drug addict. At least Glenn had some big money a few times in his life.

There's music, too. After all, the Mk.III and IV line ups of Deep Purple were pretty incredible. You get the inside stories behind how a lot of the songs were written and recorded. For an out of control coke fiend Glenn has kept himself pretty busy over the years playing with everyone from Tony Iommi to the KLF. Personally, I would have loved a bit more technical data. What the hell were those ungodly large speaker cabinets he used to use to deafen people with back then? How massive was the PA system they would rattle stadiums with? How the hell did they move it from one place to another? What's he playing through these days? Maybe that will be revealed in his next book. The other thing he doesn't really mention is having the same name as the leather dude in the Village People.

Glenn's been clean for awhile now and his career is on a definite upswing. His new band with guitarist Joe Bonamossa is a success and he's playing and singing great. He's skinny as a rail but very healthy looking and determined to kick ass for a long time. As the Cove would say "God bless yer!"

--Woody

Black Country Communion 2

 

I had absolutely no intention of ever trying to hear this album let alone review it, but for some reason Glenn Hughes is playing a recurring role in my life these days. A few weeks ago I picked up the Deep Purple Mk.IV documentary Phoenix Rising. The day after watching it I stumbled upon a used LP copy of Come Taste The Band and I knew it was destiny compelling me to buy it yet again. Then the new issue of Classic Rock arrives the day after that with a big article on Glenn’s band Black Country Communion and their new second album. I read it with mild interest but had no real plans of hearing it. Well, I didn’t have to since someone just handed me a promo copy and I must admit it’s pretty good so here I am writing about it.

Black Country Communion is sort of a supergroup that was put together by producer Kevin Shirley to combine the forces of Glenn Hughes with blues guitarist Joe Bonamossa, drummer Jason Bonham (no introduction necessary) and keyboard player Derek Sherinian. The players are all top notch pros but they rock together really well. Led Zeppelin is the main influence and they do it better than anyone I can think of. The guitar riffs are very Zeppy and the keyboards (mainly organ) add an obvious Deep Purple tone but there are some “Kashmir” style synth effects occasionally, too.

The band rocks hard right out of the gate on “The Outsider” with an “Evil” speedy jam that’s totally Cactus worthy. Glenn Hughes turns 60 on August 21 this year but can still sing with more gusto than dudes one third his age. He really has no right to be able to sing this well after all the hard living he’s done. Someone upstairs likes him.  Glenn’s bass playing sometimes gets overlooked because of his powerful voice but he can really groove. He’s always been a heavily R&B influenced player and his role in BCC is no different. He never gets carried away and blends well with the powerhouse drumming of Jason Bonham. I’ve heard very little of Joe Bonamossa’s music prior to this but he really gets the Led out on his riffing and solos and Derek Sherinian’s keys fit the songs very well.

Although it’s their second album, Zep III is more the template here with the Presence turned up to 11. “The Battle For Hadrian's Wall” will have you swinging from the gallows pole while “Little Secret” will have you ordering “Tea For One.” By far my favorite song is “Smokestack Woman” because it sounds like Krokus (One Vice At A Time-era) covering “Custard Pie.” How can you not love Glenn bellowing “Smokestack woman gonna steal my soul” like Marc Storace on a crystal meth powertrip? You can’t!

The eleven songs clock in at about an hour with a few of the songs going on for a minute or two too long. The production is great, the band sounds like they’re all playing in a room together and having a blast so I’ll chalk it up to the spirit of the boogie that prevented them from doing too much editing. All the members have pretty busy solo careers but hopefully they’ll continue to make time for this band.

--Woody

www.bccommunion.com/