Get Lit: Three More for That Already Groaning Springsteen Bookshelf

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Daniel Kramer
The Big Man, the Boss and Mighty Max Weinberg at Toyota Center, April 2009

Just as Bruce Springsteen winds down a frenzied period of back-to-back album and tour marathon - despite the death of Springsteen's cousin/assistant tour manager earlier this week in Kansas City, he and the E Street Band, as well as special guests Sam Moore (Sam & Dave) and Darlene Love, are scheduled to play a concert commemorating the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 25th anniversary at Madison Square Garden Thursday evening - the Boss-related library is expanding, with three new releases. Here are mini-reviews of each.

Big Man: Real Life and Tall Tales

By Clarence Clemons and Don Reo

E Street sax man Clarence Clemons' autobiography is notable immediately for its odd structure. The narrative is split into three parts: his recollections, those of Reo, and the "Tall Tales" of stories which he notes up from are part fact and plenty fiction. The Boss, understandably, pops up all throughout the book, and the best parts recount the salad days of the struggling pre-superstar years. Clemons' personal love for the man is evident.

Houston appears twice, but not because of Liberty Hall. Once, Clemons remembers a "300-lb. stripper" getting onstage to take it all off at an early gig, and then for the emergency eye surgery he had done the morning after "The Rising" tour stop, with a visiting doctor popping the Big Man's Big Eye right out of its socket in the hospital for a quick prognosis.

When We Was Fab: Rocks Off's Beatles: Rock Band Night Was a Smashing Success

[Update: Click here for a slideshow.]

The Pi Studios "blackshirts," sitting on a corn flake...

Hate to quote Nickelback, but what the hell: We all wanna be big rock stars, live in hilltop houses and drive 15 cars. Rocks Off is still working on the hilltop house and 15 cars part, but we got a little taste of what it must feel like Wednesday evening at our Beatles: Rock Band party at Coffee Groundz. The Midtown java joint shut down its drive-thru so we could set up the game, and a good 75 to 90 people showed up to mash some buttons and sing along to "I Am the Walrus," "Come Together," "Revolution," "Hey Bulldog" and lots more.

Rocks Off even managed to get a perfect score of 100 singing the vocals to our all-time favorite Beatles song, "I Saw Her Standing There." True, it was only on the "Medium" difficulty setting, but permit us our small moment of glory. We'd like to thank everyone who made the event happen, especially J.R. and the Coffee Groundz crew, Lori Alexander and Allisen Picos from the Press and the "blackshirt" boys from Pi who kept things running with a minimum of technical difficulties.

In short, we had a blast, and we're already planning our next Rock Band soiree, so stay tuned. Now that we actually know what we're doing, ain't no stoppin' us now. Check out some more videos after the jump.

Art Rock: The Fab 40 Does Abbey Road at Discovery Green

[Note: Rocks Off will resume posting non-Beatles-related entries...eventually.]

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Five Unfairly Underappreciated Beatles Songs

Between the early bubblegum pop of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and the epic sentimental balladry of "Hey Jude," the Beatles were always about much more than just the songs you hear on the radio. Even the biggest band there ever was has a few high-quality little gems that the masses aren't aware of and the radio ignores. To somewhat counteract the tough but fair shellacking the Fab Four received from Pete Von Der Haar Tuesday, and while we recuperate from Wednesday night's Beatles: Rock Band smackdown at Coffee Groundz - stay tuned for some sure-to-be-embarrassing video - here are five of our favorite underrated Beatles songs.

"She Said, She Said": Not only is this an absolutely perfect example of the killer rock riffs the Beatles were capable of dreaming up, it's also a kick in the balls of everyone who still thinks Ringo Starr was a bad drummer. He was at one point, yes. But his drumming on this piece is almost entirely made up of perfectly-timed fills, catapulting the melody along even through difficult time-signature changes. No one was doing that in rock music at the time! He had to invent it!

Best Cover Version: The Black Keys

Five Direct Beatles Connections to Texas

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Four postcards included in the limited edition of The Beatles: Rock Band

Looks like Beatlemania 2.0 is in full swing. Rocks Off may have mentioned how excited we are to play The Beatles: Rock Band at Coffee Groundz tonight, with prizes, drink specials and much laughter as we try to gnash our way through "I Saw Her Standing There." Shortly after noon, we called over to Cactus Music to see how the freshly released remastered Beatles catalog was selling. The complete box set sold out in pre-sale, the clerk reported, while about 50 people have already bought individual albums, mostly between two to four at a time (and remember, Cactus opens at 10 a.m.). The store's phone, he added, has been ringing "off the hook."

Obviously the Beatles continue to be as beloved in Houston as they are around the world, so Rocks Off thought we'd salute the perhaps the biggest day in the group's history since New Year's Eve 1970 - when Paul McCartney's attorneys filed suit against the other three Beatles and manager Allen Klein, asking that the group's legal partnership be officially dissolved - by highlighting a few of the Fab Four's Texas connections.

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1. Buddy Holly.
The Lubbock-born bespectacled rock and roller is, with apologies to John, Paul, George and Ringo's mums and dads, probably the single human being most responsible for the Beatles' existence. The group's name is a play on Holly's band the Crickets, of course, but even before there was the Beatles, John Lennon and Paul McCartney's earlier groups like the Quarrymen honed their chops on Holly-penned early rock and roll classics like "That'll Be the Day." Even as late as the Let It Be sessions, the splintering Beatles used a Holly medley to warm up in the studio.

Meet the Beatles... Again: Live From the Sam Houston Coliseum, August 1965

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More Beatles for you (and more to come). While researching the group's Texas history, Rocks Off stumbled across this gem: a live recording of the Beatles' one and only Houston appearance - though they played a matinee and evening show - at the Sam Houston Coliseum on August 19, 1965. Listen to those screams...

Find links to parts 1, 3 and 4 of this recording here.

The Beatles: Rock Band Is In the House

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Photos by Craig Hlavaty

It's like Christmas morning here at Rocks Off today. We just got our copy of The Beatles: Rock Band and, like a car wreck or the Williams Tower waterwall, can't stop staring at it. (Must... look... away...) It looks like developer Harmonix spared no expense - and, at $250 for the limited edition, neither will you - but even before hooking the damn thing up, Rocks Off can kind of understand what all the hype is about. As an old bassist ourselves, we're especially looking forward to strapping on the digitized replica of Paul McCartney's signature Hofner.

And, best of all, we're sharing it with you. Come ride the "Yellow Submarine" (and drink a couple of Yellow Submarines) with Rocks Off this evening at Coffee Groundz, 2503 Bagby. "Helter Skelter" zero hour is about 6:30 p.m. See you there, and see more pictures after the jump.

Brush Up on Your Beatles Rock Band, Because Rocks Off Will Take You Down

In less than a week, Rocks Off will be giving our dear readers the first chance to play the new Beatles edition of "Rock Band." Next Wednesday we are taking over CoffeeGroundz in Midtown for one night of boozin', Beatles and inept drunken video-game play. A bartender will be on hand dishing out Beatles-themed shots and drinks, including the "Helter Skelter," "Long And Winding Iced Tea," and "Lennon Drop." In addition to the booze, there will also be a costume contest for concert tickets around town. Rocks Off will also be giving away a few of the catalog reissues that hit stores this Tuesday.

Our handlers even let us spring for the limited edition which includes a Paul McCartney-style Hofner bass guitar and a fancy new Ringo-riffic drum set with the band's iconic logo on front. Something tells us that there will be a hideous inter-office fight over who gets custody of the game after the party. Rocks Off has already retained Dick DeGuerin for the imminent court battle.

Crosby, Stills & Nash's Skeletal, Primitive Demos

Crosby, Stills and Nash

Demos (Atlantic/Rhino)

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These are resurging times for this harmonic trio. They're in the midst of a 40th anniversary tour (which stops in Houston at the Woodlands tonight), were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in June, and are headed into studio with Rick Rubin for a new album of covers.

Demos is a collection of just a dozen tracks featuring early, working versions of songs that would end up becoming CSN (and sometimes Y) warhorses, as well as appear on various members' solo projects.

Make no mistake - not a single song is superior to what was eventually laid down on record. But there is a gentle charm to hearing these mostly one voice/one guitar works-in-progress versions.

Get Lit: Joe Vitale's Backstage Pass

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Give the drummer some!

Over a career spanning decades, Joe Vitale's drumsticks have pounded for a who's who of classic rockers both in the studio and onstage. Ted Nugent, Joe Walsh, Peter Frampton, Neil Young, Dan Fogelberg, The Eagles, Bill Wyman, Ringo Starr and (most lengthily) Crosby, Stills & Nash have all employed his skin thumping services over the years. That's his big beats on FM staples like "Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo," "Rocky Mountain Way," "Life's Been Good," and "Southern Cross."

But Vitale is also a pretty busy man these days with his own projects. There's a autobiographical book about his rock and roll history (Backstage Pass, written with wife Susie), new solo CD Speaking in Drums and also son Joe Jr.'s debut CD, Dancing with Shadows, which dad helped write and produce.

The gregarious Vitale spoke to Rocks Off from his home in Ohio just before embarking on the European leg of CSN's 40th anniversary tour.

Eyeballin': The Black Crowes' Warpaint Live

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To celebrate the release of 2008's Warpaint, the Black Crowes played the entire record straight through for a special series of shows. Already released as a 2-CD set, this DVD of one performance shows why the Crowes are such an effective live unit.

Two things immediately jump out. Singer Chris Robinson eschews his usual chattiness and whirling-dervish dancing, perhaps in an effort to put more of the attention on the new material. And new lead guitarist Luther Dickinson more than proves his worth, delivering a series of stinging solos and incredible slide work, effectively making him the star of the show.

Not surprisingly, the live versions have the same effect as their recorded counterparts. "Evergreen" is a weak, frothy singalong and "Movin' On Down the Line" overstays its welcome. But numbers like "Walk Believer Walk" and "Wounded Bird" rock with authority, and "Oh Josephine" and "There's Gold in Them Hills" remain touching high points.

Eyeballin: Bruce Springsteen: Road Trip - 40 Years of the Boss

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While its packaging and title are fairly misleading - the cover photo of Road Trip is a contemporary concert shot, and there's nothing here covering anything past 1984's Born in the USA, this nearly three-hour, 2-DVD documentary is still a worthwhile title for the hardcore Boss lover looking to go deeper than a Rolling Stone record review.

Disc 1 is a wonderful, well-shot documentary about Springsteen's life and music from his teen years up to the massive global success of USA. It utilizes talking-head interviews with the usual suspects of rock-lit crits (Robert Christgau, Anthony DeCurtis, Patrick Humphries), as well as former bandmates and school friends, with the best reflections from former drummer Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez and early manager Richard "Tinker" West - who famously let the young Bruce and his band rehearse and crash at his surfboard factory on the Jersey shore.

Lopez's anger toward defrocked later manager Mike Appel for instigating his leaving the group prior the success of Born to Run still simmers (though Bruce could have indeed intervened if he'd wanted to). But he happily recalls recording "The E Street Shuffle," revealing that the part noises made by the band in the background weren't faked as there was a full-on tequila party going.

Lost Tuneage: Nazareth

Who Dat?

Formed at the end of 1968 out of the ashes of a group called the Shadettes, Nazareth - taking its name from the first line of the Band's "The Weight" - included Dan McCafferty (vocals), Manny Charlton (guitar), Pete Agnew (bass) and Darrell Sweet (drums). As the group was from provincial Dunfermline, Scotland - far away from any musical epicenter - it struggled for gigs and attention before making the move to London, where its aggressive hard-rock sound was more accepted.

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Nazareth's self-titled debut came out in 1971, and opening slots for Deep Purple solidified a friendship with DP bassist/songwriter Roger Glover, who took over production duties for several records. 1973's Razamanaz issued a couple of UK hits ("Broken Down Angel," " Bad Bad Boy") and the next release a heavy version of Joni Mitchell's "This Flight Tonight."

Record sales were unimpressive, although the ballsy foursome were making a mark with their live shows. That changed in 1975 with the release of Hair of the Dog, which broke the band in the U.S. and featured their two best-known numbers - the title track, featuring the memorable chorus "Now you're messin' with a son of a bitch," and the unlikely power ballad/Everly Brothers cover "Love Hurts." The latter became Nazareth's only U.S. Top 10 hit.

Eyeballin': John Lennon & the Plastic Ono Band Live in Toronto '69

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It's a story well-told in Beatles lore. Reeling from the Fab Four's unraveling, a bored John Lennon accepted an invitation to perform at the Toronto Rock 'n Roll Revival show in September 1969. He quickly formed an ad hoc group of friends (wife Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton on guitar, Klaus Voorman on bass, and Alan White on drums), dubbed them the Plastic Ono Band, and two days later the ensemble was learning songs in the cramped airplane quarters on the way to the show. Nervous after a three-year absence from live performing, Lennon puked backstage at the thought of facing an audience of 20,000.

This DVD - utilizing footage shot by noted rock-doc maker D.A. Pennebaker (Don't Look Back, Monterey Pop) - opens with snippets from performances of rock forefathers Bo Diddley ("Bo Diddley"), Jerry Lee Lewis ("Hound Dog") and Little Richard ("Lucille"). The sex-on-fire Diddley and Richard in particular rip it up, making one wish for more footage here from them (much more was actually filmed).

Remembering 1969, Part 3: The Beginning of the End for the Beatles

Note: see Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

For most of 1969, the Beatles were pretty much comatose - after the disastrous Get Back sessions (which would later spawn the Phil Spector-produced Let It Be), they reconvened to the studio that spring to record the music for what would become their final recorded opus, Abbey Road.

But the soon-to-be former members of the band were not in any way inactive. On September 13, John Lennon and Yoko Ono assembled a pick-up band formed by Eric Clapton, Klaus Voorman and drummer Alan White to perform at the Live Peace Festival in Toronto. According to Eric Clapton's autobiography, everything was pretty much unrehearsed except for a run-through of a few rock standards plus "Instant Karma," "Yer Blues" and "Give Peace a Chance."

Eyeballin': The Moody Blues at the Isle of Wight Festival

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Held each year between 1968 and 1970, England's Isle of Wight Festival was the premier outdoor rock party for the British counterculture. The last edition (before its recent revival) proved the largest-attended (600,000!) and best, with a lineup that included Jimi Hendrix in his last major performance, the Doors, the Who, Jethro Tull, Chicago, Sly & The Family Stone and the Moody Blues.

The Moodies were coming off a string of successes with albums like In Search of the Lost Chord, On the Threshold of a Dream and A Question of Balance with a lineup that included Justin Hayward (vocals, guitar), John Lodge (bass), Ray Thomas (flute, vocals), Graeme Edge (drums) and Mike Pinder (keyboards, vocals).

Of the group's 14-song set, this DVD features the surviving performance footage of eight numbers, with music from two additional songs accompanying crowd footage. (The full set is available on CD.) What strikes the viewer most is how much more nicely aggressive songs like "Tuesday Afternoon," "Question" and "Tortoise and the Hare" come off than their studio counterparts. Hayward looks shockingly frail and a bit nervous at least early in the set, so it's up to Thomas to deliver the open-shirted rock and roll swagger, which he does while singing "Legend of a Mind."

Slideshow on Demand: You Make the Call

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Rocks Off loves to put together musical slideshows, and if the response to a few of our recent ones is any indication (hi, Digg!), you like them too. Album covers are an almost inexhaustible resource that are always fun to look at and can be grouped together any number of ways.

So last night Rocks Off was sitting around listening to Sirius XM's Classic Rewind channel and decided there's really no reason for him to hog all the fun. Just for a laugh, for five songs in a row he jotted down three potential slideshows per artist; all you have to do is scroll through the choices and vote in the comments. Rocks Off will tally up the votes Wednesday morning and do the necessary research to have a slideshow ready by 5 p.m. Have at it!

Eyeballin': Bob Dylan 1978-1989: Both Ends of the Rainbow

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An increasingly prolific genre of the home-DVD market are the independent "review and criticism" releases, which focus mostly on classic-rock artists and are manna for hardcore fans. And no performer has generated more titles than Bob Dylan.

This release focuses on dissecting Dylan's least-covered but still very controversial era: the trilogy of tubthumping evangelical releases reflecting Dylan's conversion to Christianity (Slow Train Coming, Saved, Shot of Love), through efforts of a hodgepodge quality (Infidels, Knocked Out Loaded) and his arguable career nadir (Dylan and the Dead, Down in the Groove) to the simple but wonderful Traveling Wilburys and the welcome (if short-lived) "comeback" of Oh Mercy.

The "review and criticism" DVD template is followed by recruiting talking heads to tell the story. They range from music journalists (some with a Dylan specialty) like Clinton Heylin, Anthony Decurtis, and Nigel Williamson, to players, producers, and engineers on the sessions, with a unifying narrative voiceover. In this case, all expound well in Dylan's records, shows, and (purported) state of mind at the time. Coverage of The Gospel Trilogy and tours are the DVD's best.

Happy Birthday Charlie Watts!

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Charlie Watts, drummer of the Rolling Stones, turns 68 years young today. The "Wembley Whammer" has been drumming for the Stones since 1962, when he was recruited from his day job at a London advertising firm to play for a group of nicotine-stained, drunken, blues-obsessed teenagers.

Watts doesn't get much credit for how cool he actually is, considering he is in a band with a gaggle of miscreants and drug addicts. One can always count on Watts to be the sober, short-haired one in the background, maintaining some amount of decorum throughout the debauchery. After all, he is the oldest active Stone, since former member Bill Wyman left in the mid-'90s.

Aside from his duties with the Stones, Watts is a much respected jazz drummer, going on numerous tours over the years and recording with scene greats. The vegetarian drummer also has helped Mick Jagger design some of the band's stage shows. You could blame him or praise him for the monstrous "Steel Wheels" set-up in 1989.

Classic Rock Corner: Living Colour's The Paris Concert

Living Colour

The Paris Concert

To order on Amazon.com, click here

www.myspace.com/livingcolourmusic

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One of the most criminally underrated rock bands of the '80s and '90s - remembered by too many just for their Day-Glo outfits, painted guitars and big hit "Cult of Personality" - Living Colour has been steadily (and quietly) playing and recording since its 2000 reformation. But there's nothing quiet about this double disc, which captures a raucous 2007 Parisian show and serves as a fine primer both to the band's past glories and future potential.

Vernon Reid (guitar), Corey Glover (vocals), Will Calhoun (drums) and Doug Wimbish (bass) are a tight, powerful ensemble, all wailing mightily. There's a good chunk of older material, which often addressed racism, sexual and social/political issues minus the twee preaching ("Type," "Wall," "Go Away," "Ignorance is Bliss"). When Glover woundedly wails that he won't "rob, beat or rape you" in "Funny Vibe," it still packs the punch it did 20 years ago.

Listening Room: Neil Young's Fork In the Road

Neil Young

Fork In the Road

www.neilyoung.com

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Ya gotta love Ol' Shakey. Even moreso than fellow cantankerous classic rocker Bob Dylan, he goes where his muse leads him, everyone else be damned. Acoustic rock? Heavy rock? Country? Blues? Rockabilly? Unintelligible vocoders and synthesizers? He's done them all - and even been sued by his record company for not sounding like himself.

It's a good thing that Neil has full artistic control, too. Imagine the pitch session for his latest album: "I want to do a concept record about my project to turn my 1959 Lincoln Continental into a mostly electric powered vehicle." (it's true! Click here.)

"Oh, and also about America's crumbling financial situation."

Classic Rock Corner: Simon and Garfunkel's Live 1969

Simon & Garfunkel

Live 1969

www.legacyrecordings.com

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When Art Garfunkel tells audiences on he and Paul Simon's 1969 tour that the duo has just finished a new album, those clapping had no clue that by the time Bridge Over Troubled Water came out, the former childhood friends would have split acrimoniously and wouldn't regularly share the stage for another 13 years.

What you don't get on this new CD is much variation from the songs' recorded versions. Simon doesn't break out a blazing electric guitar solo on "I Am a Rock," and Garfunkel doesn't turn into a blues shouter on "Bridge." However, it is interesting to hear the audience reacting to a tune that - as iconic as it is now - hadn't been released at the time.

Still, many these live versions come off warmer or more lively than their studio counterparts, with the help of a crack backing band: "Homeward Bound," "Mrs. Robinson" and "The Sound of Silence" - ironically, on that song, it was producer Tom Wilson's instrumental add-ons that gave the duo its first hit. Only "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" fares worse, becoming a too-earnest folk dirge like a parody from A Mighty Wind.


Get Lit: Bill Bruford: The Autobiography by Bill Bruford

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As the "godfather of progressive rock drumming," Bill Bruford has done stints on the road and in the studio with many of the genre's biggest bands. He was a founding member of Yes, spent years with King Crimson, and also thumped skins for Genesis, Gong, and U.K. before forming his own groups and then a jazz ensemble, Earthworks.

In this erudite and opinionated autobiography, Bruford eschews a straight narrative in favor of "chapters" answering a series of questions including "Why Did You Leave Yes?" (which Bruford did, just as they were breaking big with Fragile and Close to the Edge, to pursue the more challenging Crimson); "What's It Like Working with Robert Fripp?" (not surprisingly, difficult); "Is it Different Being in Jazz?" and "What Do You Call a Guy Who Hangs Around with Musicians?" (the drummer, according to the hoary joke).


ZZ Top's Dusty Hill is 60 Today

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You didn't think we'd get out of here without wishing happy birthday to Houston's own Dusty Hill, the ZZ Top bassist who turns 60 today, did you? Hell no! To celebrate - and give any neophytes an idea of just how widely loved the Top really is - here's a pair of covers from about as far apart as you can get on the rock and roll spectrum: Phish doing "Jesus Just Left Chicago" and Ministry's version of "Just Got Paid." Can't wait for the Top/Aerosmith twin bill July 17 at the Woodlands... happy birthday, Dusty!


Happy Birthday Pete Townshend

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Pete Townshend, lead guitarist of The Who, turns 64 today. The King of the Mods was the brains behind every twist and turn in the band's long history, from proto-punk stabs like "I Can't Explain" through angst template "My Generation and monolithic rock operas like Tommy and Quadrophenia. (Or, more accurately...)

Townshend also created the "windmill" guitar strum, even once impaling his hand on a whammy bar in the '70s. Imagine having a blank metal instrument going through your hand. LIkely as not, you would probably have to be coked the gills to not scream in hellish visceral agony, much like a woman giving birth to octuplets with no anesthesia, after such a thing happened.


Slide Show and Bonus MP3: Albums Influenced by the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds

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Sgt. Pepper's was only the beginning...

To celebrate the 43rd anniversary of the Beach Boys' sonically revolutionary album Pet Sounds - released May 16, 1966 - Rocks Off is featuring a cavalcade of albums which have, according to critics, fans, friends of the artist or even the artists themselves, been influenced by Brian Wilson and Co.'s magnum opus. Click here for the slideshow.

If you've never listened to Pet Sounds all the way through, though, you're in luck. A gentleman named Craig Robinson has constructed an MP3 wherein every single song on the album plays simultaneously. It sounds exactly like what we imagine Brian Wilson was hearing 24 hours a day as he spiraled into drug-fueled madness. Enjoy.

What did we forget? Tell us below.

Surprise, Surprise: Motley Crue Can't Remember Most of Dr. Feelgood

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Sometimes when Rocks Off has had a little too much to drink, he has a little trouble remembering specific details of the night before, like how he got back upstairs. If pen and paper are handy, he'll occasionally scratch out a paragraph or two of semi-coherent, semi-legible prose, but he's certainly never done anything like record one of the greatest hard rock/glam-metal albums of the 1980s. This is why he's fairly certain he'll never be asked to join Motley Crue.

Until today, Rocks Off somehow missed the salient fact that, to mark its 20th anniversary, the Crue plans on playing 1989's Dr. Feelgood front to back on this summer's Crue Fest 2 tour, which stops at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion August 7. (The album also figured heavily in last year's Crue Fest.) Luckily, Rolling Stone didn't, and sat down (separately) with the Crue's Nikki Sixx and Vince Neil to discuss the complicated artistic origins of "She Goes Down" and "Slice of Your Pie."

The title song, allows Sixx, "was inspired by drug dealers. Is there ever just one?" A few more choice quotes after the jump.

Lonesome Onry and Mean: Forever Changes Never Does

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Love's Forever Changes is a crucial element of the soundtrack of my coming of age. With its acoustic guitar base, smart orchestral arrangements (strings and mariachi horns), art-rock feel and poppy lyrics, it stands apart from the most of the music of the psychedelic era.

The album is best known for the track "Alone Again Or," essentially the brainchild of writer Bryan MacLean, bandleader and vocalist Arthur Lee and producer Bruce Botkin. Written as "Alone Again" by former Byrds roadie MacLean, who had serious heroin problems, the track was remixed and renamed by Lee who worked closely with Botkin on the project. A huge artistic stretch, the track is simply unforgettable and stood out even in 1967 as something unusual.


Get Lit: I Hate New Music: The Classic Rock Manifesto by Dave Thompson

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If productivity alone conferred greatness, then flinty rock scribbler Dave Thompson would be the Trollope of pop-culture quick reads. I Hate New Music is the latest of over 100 titles this insta-book wizard has blinked into being. And dig the intro penned by the legendary Richard Meltzer, the Big Bang of exhibitionist gonzo rock criticism. The former Noise Boy delivers his usual caveman-crit jibber-jabber, while making creative use of the CAPS lock and asterisk keys on his steam-powered IBM Word-O-Matic.

Let's begin by overlooking the fact that this hardcover edition reads like it was proofed by upside-down cave bats. Now then, what's defined here as "classic rock"? Any obvious mullet rock like "Freebird" to Wreckless Eric, apparently. What's "new" music? Arcade Fire? Pearl Jam? Devo? Answer: all of the above.

When did it all go wrong? 1978. That year, evil corporations were convinced they could mold every album into the next Frampton Comes Alive!


Get Lit: Storms: My Life With Lindsey Buckingham and Fleetwood Mac by Carol Ann Harris

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Barely out of her teens, Carol Ann Harris met Lindsey Buckingham in 1977 while working at the studio where the singer/guitarist was putting the finishing touches on what would be the band's huge international hit album, Rumours. As his live-in girlfriend for the next seven years, she'd accompany him and the band all over the world on tours, in the studio, on exotic vacations and to gala events and parties. And she tells all in this highly readable memoir.

Harris' take on the Mac's individual personalities mirrors similar accounts in other books: Stevie Nicks the spacey narcissist; Mick Fleetwood the lustful, financially incompetent big kid; and John and Christine McVie as amiable patrons of a pub that never closes.

In her life with the moody, intense Buckingham, a Jekyll-and-Hyde personality emerges. He was capable of incredible tenderness and joy, as well as cold emotional detachment and anger sometimes in the same day. She also recounts instances of physical abuse in punches and choke-holds she says a raging Buckingham would inflict on her. When she miscarries their baby, he takes the news with all the interest of a band business meeting.


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