ZZ Top, Lewis tribute rule

ZZ Top

By STEVE SEYMOUR

In the end, it was all about the blues.

The classic American musical style brought people together for fun when ZZ Top played in Harris, and for charity when friends and fans of Jim "Smiley" Lewis gathered to honor the late musician during a get together at the Terrace.

The Texas trio packed fans of all ages into the showroom at Chip-In's Island Resort and Casino for two shows, while the "Paws for the Blues" tribute raised funds for the Delta County Animal Society, Smiley's favorite charity.

My wife Sue and I attended both events, coming away with the belief that music is a mighty force, doubly powerful when you talk about the blues that inspired both Lewis and the self-described Little Ol' Band From Texas. Were it possible, you know that Lewis, who died in 2005, would trade blues licks on stage with ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, not missing a beat. You could imagine they'd talk about some tasty Muddy Waters' song which influenced them in their early careers when other folks paid little attention to the blues.

The blues genre has escaped obscurity and is now widely recognized as the foundation for rock 'n' roll. ZZ Top made that fact evident as they brought their Hollywood Blues Tour 2007 to the Upper Peninsula.

Gibbons, the band's lead guitarist, explained their history to the crowd: "We come up a long way, y'all. We been doing this a long, long time. It's the same three guys here, playing the same three chords for y'all. Been doing this for you for 35 years."

The band enjoyed early success in the 70s with songs like "La Grange" and "Tush" and again in the mid-80s when they were discovered by the newly popular MTV which helped propel "Legs" into the Top Ten.

A diverse casino crowd heard those songs and more than a dozen others as Gibbons, bassist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard demonstrated their choreographed guitar chops and syncopated drum beats.

Yes, the bearded Gibbons and Hill wore their patented silver trimmed black suits, hats and "cheap sunglasses." And, yes, they produced lots of sturdy sound.

But, if there were to be a fourth member of the band, it would certainly be the person in charge of the electroluminescence, also known as the lighting guy. The band performed in front of a LED drape which displayed rapidly changing images, including one of the '32 Ford Roadster from the band's videos and popular "Eliminator" album.

In fact, the show opened with "Got Me Under Pressure," just one of four songs the band played from that enormously popular 1983 LP.

Since the band was touring without a new album, the 19-track set delved exclusively into ZZ Top's back catalog. They got down and dirty with "I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide," "Pearl Necklace," "Just Got Paid," "Gimme All Your Lovin'," "Sharp-Dressed Man" and "Tube Snake Boogie."

Gibbons announced, "It's blues time," before the band tackled "Blue Jean Blues," then slipped into a fiery version of the Jimi Hendrix gem "Foxey Lady," the only non-original song on the set list.

Although they encouraged the band with plenty of whopping and hollering, the audience also appeared to respect the honesty in which the band played, capturing the blues from within while delivering it with hard rock style.

Quite simply, the Friday, Oct.19 ZZ Top concert was the best show I've seen at the casino, bar none. But, my blues weekend wasn't over yet.

Next up was the second annual tribute to Jim Lewis, held Saturday, Oct. 20 at Escanaba's Terrace Bay Inn. Organized by Wendy Pepin, the event showcased Smiley's musician friends performing gratis, with proceeds going to the local animal shelter.

Smiley was remembered for his lifelong dedication to live music. He started in a folk duo while still in high school, and was a member of pioneering local rock band, Beat Inc. Through the years, he joined or founded other rock, country and blues bands, including such memorable groups as Black Dog, Blues Bombers and the Shuffle-aires.

Although the stage at the Terrace wasn't elaborate, the playing was just as genuine, spontaneous and ultimately rewarding as a big-time casino show.

Hundreds turned out to honor Smiley, including fans, friends and dozens of musicians who took the stage to play not only blues, but rock, country, bluegrass, rockabilly and more.

"Big Al" Ek

Judging from the turnout of performers and fans it was evident that Lewis had an large and lasting impact as a musician and friend during a career which spanned more than four decades, including stints in lower Michigan, Milwaukee and Las Vegas.

Performances went on without a hitch during the marathon ten-hour show headlined by "Big Al" Ek, well-known Las Vegas musician who played with Lewis in the Shuffle-aires.

Jim Lewis Tribute Band

During three jam sessions, Ek was joined on stage by musical brethren the Lark Brothers, Steve "Doc" Yankee, Bruce Douglas, Mike Riegel, Dave Cass, Dick Miller, Rich White, Joe Heribacka and Fred Cavill.

Bill Lark opened the tribute by leading the band through a commanding version of "Wait On Time," originally recorded by the legendary Fabulous Thunderbirds, another Texas outfit. Dave Lark added "Crosscut Saw," while Ek put his personal stamp on "Big Boss Man," blowing some expressive harp.

Following the opening jam session, Chicago's Mike Felten offered a set of original acoustic material. A former Iron Mountain resident, he was once in a band with Lewis called "Blue River." Next came Sit Down Francis which featured another of Smiley's friends, Troy Sovey on guitar.

Larry Brown brought his Bounty Hunter group to the stage saying, "Jim was one of my best friends. I'm proud to say I own several of his guitars." Brown's daughter Cera offered inspired lead vocals on "Black Velvet" and "The Rose."

Local group Pink Zinc, with guest keyboardist John Beck, played energetic versions of a wide variety of seldom heard cover songs by Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, Midnight Oil and other period groups.

The versatile Ek returned to the stage to play mandolin and harp with local bluegrass enthusiasts Grassfire. Their fare ranged from the Stanley Brothers to Steve Earle.

Five piece Hey Mikey filled the dance floor with their brand of no-nonsense rock from Lynyrd Skynyrd, Free, Steve Ray Vaughan and Neil Young. They even paid their respects to the venerable ZZ Top with "Tush," straight out of 1975.

Twelve-bar songs returned to the stage with the arrival of Fast Eddie's Blues Band from Marquette. They opened with a raucous version of Charlie Musslewhite's "Blues Overtook Me." The band gave the blues a workout on such chestnuts and "Rocket 88," "Mona" and "Walking the Dog."

The all-star jam band closed the evening by improvising another set of blues standards. As a great summation of the day, Dave Lark led the band through a hardy take on "Everyday I Have the Blues," while brother Bill took vocals on an explosive version of "I'm Tore Down."

First recorded by Texas blues master Freddie King in 1961, "I'm Tore Down," also found its way onto Smiley's set list many years ago. A perfectionist at heart, Lewis performed it with an informed growl, also paying close attention to King's instrumental precision. Both traits were hallmarks of Smiley's style.

During the band's early days, ZZ Top was fortunate enough to perform with King, incorporating some of the bluesman's techniques into their own songs.

So it is that Smiley's career and ZZ Top intersect in the music of Freddy King.

That pleasant little coincidence made my blues weekend complete.

'Garage' bands span the decades

Little Steven Van Zandt

By STEVE SEYMOUR

During the mid 60s, the garage wasn't just where you parked your car, it was where your rock band got together to practice.

In the period immediately after the Beatles struck in America, countless teenage boys grabbed guitars and drum kits to create a tough musical response to the latest British Invasion.

Working on the theory that every band had a hit single flowing through their testosterone fueled systems, these groups created music with a raw honesty missing from today's fare.

Proponents had names like the Electric Prunes, Vagrants, 13th Floor Elevators, Seeds, Barbarians, Remains and Chocolate Watch Band. They hailed from every part of the country, springing up in metropolitan centers and rural areas alike.

These bands labored in the shadows of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Animals, Dave Clark Five, Herman's Hermits and their counterparts. The stateside groups weren't intimidated, especially because those foreigners had the audacity to rework American rhythm and blues riffs and present the results as something new.

Some of the freshly organized bands may have imitated the British groups, but soon these upstarts began to emerge from the garage with exciting new sounds.

Thousands of bands became good enough to earn a paycheck at high school dances, frat parties or Battle of the Bands contests. Many even cut singles for various independent record labels which started around the country during the post World War II period. A few even managed to score national hits.

Although most AM radio stations were locally owned, it was still difficult for many of these acts to get their singles on the air waves. That's because for a song to be played on the radio, it had to be a hit. And, for it to be a hit, it had to be on radio.

It was difficult to break into this system unless you were already a "name" group, backed by one of the major record labels. When radio stations were presented a crudely-recorded 45 consisting of two or three minutes of raw guitar and primitive organ fills combined with angst-ridden vocals, they usually chose the slick major label "hit" instead.

Ishpeming native Kris Erik Stevens, former DJ at Chicago's powerful WLS, tried to explain the conundrum to me. "Big time radio stations either make records into a hit by airplay or play existing hits that other stations are airing around the country. It is usually researched before it goes on the air. Jocks do not get to play whatever they want."

In Michigan, the Detroit area spawned a vibrant garage band scene. The Woolies had a hit with "Who Do You Love," The Rationals registered with "I Need You," the Unrelated Segments got some mileage out of "Story of My Life" and the Underdogs scored with "Love's Gone Bad." The Woolies, who re-located to East Lansing, saw their garage version of Bo Diddley's song reach No. 95 on the national singles chart.

Despite the burst of activity, many of the bands started in the wake of the Beatles broke up after a few years, some losing members to the draft. The music evolved with the introduction of drugs into American culture, ushering in the psychedelic era.

As music was changing, rock critic and future Patti Smith guitarist Lenny Kaye was casting a backward glance. Recognizing the phenomenon which disappeared so quickly, he compiled an imaginative collection of little-known mid-60s singles called "Nuggets."

Released in 1972, I bought the two-LP set, which collected 27 of the best of what were called "punk" songs at the time, because I was familiar with some of the band names. It wasn't until years later that those brief blasts of joyous noise became known as garage music.

Now, I listen to those obscure gems from the past as often as I spin The Beatles or my favorite blues titles. In fact, so many music fans are hungry for the songs which escaped popularity decades ago, that record labels have issued dozens of garage band compilations, including a series called "Pebbles" and another dubbed "Back From the Grave."

Even today, garage music refuses to die. Many current bands, such as Detroit's massively popular White Stripes, the Hives, the Vines and the Strokes, continue to be inspired by the musical fury of the era.

The genre also has a serious friend in Little Steven Van Zandt. Since 2002, Van Zandt has hosted "Little Steven's Underground Garage," a syndicated program heard on over 200 U. S. radio stations. You might also recognize Van Zandt as Silvo Dante, mob consigliere on HBO's ''Sopranos."

Of course, Van Zandt also plays guitar and mandolin in Bruce Springteen's E Street Band. That group might not qualify as a garage band, but we'll let it slide.

Spector's best work behind him

Phil Spector

By STEVE SEYMOUR

What should we think of Phil Spector?

A legendary music producer, Spector has brought joy to millions of rock 'n' roll fans with songs like "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," "Be My Baby," and "To Know Him Is to Love Him."

He has also been accused of murdering actress Lana Clarkson in a case declared a mistrial last month.

Although the jury could not agree on Spector's guilt or innocence, many people are now taking a closer look at his lengthy and influential music career.

Millions know Spector through his 1965 hit for the Righteous Brothers. "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" spent just two weeks at the top of the pop charts, but went on to become the most played song on U. S. radio and television in the 20th century.

Spector produced the song, which he had co-written with Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, for the blue-eyed soul duo. Baritone Bill Medley sang lead vocals on the classic recording, while tenor Bobby Hatfield, who died in 2003, joined him on the chorus.

According to Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI), "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" had been performed more than eight million times by late 1999, equal to back to back play for 45 years.

While the song's popularity is phenomenal, it was only one of many successes for Spector. Arriving in California in the late fifties, the young artist enjoyed a No. 1 hit with his first recording, "To Know Him Is to Love Him," which he wrote and produced for his group, The Teddy Bears. He had taken the title from the inscription on his father's gravestone.

The hits came often for Spector but the first one which caught my attention was by the Ronettes, named after lead singer Veronica Bennett. "Be My Baby," written by Spector, Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry, dominated the charts as the 1963 school year began. When she sang, "For every kiss you give me, I'll give you three," many young men fell in love with Ronnie. At the very least there were three: Spector, Eddie Money and me.

Money felt compelled to have her reprise the "Be my baby" line during his 1986 hit, "Take Me Home Tonight;" while I got an autographed photo years later, signed "Love Ya, Ronnie," with three X's. Of course, Spector got the girl when he and Ronnie married in 1968, even if they divorced a few years later.

In a decade, Spector assembled dozens of hits while perfecting his "wall of sound" production technique, but he wasn't done yet. The Beatles were calling.

In Britain, Spector had worked his magic on the Top Ten hit, "Instant Karma" so impressing John Lennon that the Beatle invited the American to produce an album's worth of material the Fab Four had shelved the previous year. Spector added orchestra and choral elements to the songs which became known as "Let It Be." While Lennon and George Harrison were pleased with Spector's imprint on the recordings, it maddened Paul McCartney, who wasn't consulted regarding overdubbing on his own compositions. Still, the single "The Long and Winding Road" and the "Let It Be" album both reached number one. Despite McCartney's objections, it's hard to agrue with a hit.

Spector went on to produce two albums for Harrison, "All Things Must Pass" and "Concert for Bangladesh." Both were immensely successful. Lennon also hired Spector to produce a series of studio efforts for him, including "Imagine." But, during sessions for an oldies project in 1973, things began to go wrong. Spector allegedly waved a handgun around the studio, shocking the musicians, before disappearing with the master tapes to Lennon's "Rock 'n' Roll" album.

Some years after that fiasco, Spector refurbished his image by producing "End of the Century" for The Ramones, which included some of the group's best known songs.

The pop music world was still paying attention to Spector as his most important period began to recede into the realm of oldies radio. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Jan., 1988 and readily signed copies of a photograph taken of the event. He autographed an 8 x 10 for my wife Sue and me, writing "With warm regards, Phil Spector." Spector's signature is a distinctive group of swirls, exactly what you might expect from an man who wants his autograph to stand out from all others, like John Hancock on the Declaration of Independence.

After obtaining Spector's signature, we decided to add his four disc box set to our music library, despite a hefty $74.98 price tag. The 1991 retrospective included 60 songs from his 1958- 1969 prime as well as his highly regarded Christmas album, a masterpeice on its own. Just for good measure the package included a book and a pinback button declaring Spector's slogan: "Back to mono."

Today, that same collection retails for a lowly $19.98. The significant price drop might be because the music of that long-ago era no longer holds the allure it once did. Or it might be that the "Spector" brand name was tarnished during the four years he stood charged with second-degree murder.

Regardless of the outcome of any retrial, Spector, once the celebrated genius of pop gold, has gone from famous to infamous.

'Beaker Street' swayed listeners

Black Oak Arkansas

By STEVE SEYMOUR

The crowded AM radio spectrum offered plenty of choices to the curious listener in the era before FM came into dominance.

Among the channels I discovered while twisting the dial late at night was KAAY, a 50,000 watt giant broadcasting from Little Rock, Ark.

There, I heard the fascinating "Beaker Street," a music program which abandoned the Top 40 concept, instead concentrating on album cuts which escaped airplay elsewhere.

Beginning in 1966, Beaker Street pioneered a format which would set the standard when FM radio finally caught on years later.

In this earlier period discerning young people heard tracks from Pink Floyd, Savoy Brown, Traffic, Frijid Pink, King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Quicksilver Messenger Service and other "underground" acts years before the mainstream caught up with them.

While AM radio would play two or three minute blasts of pop music, Beaker Street, which was broadcast starting at midnight, broke the rules and aired lengthy album tracks to devoted listeners and insomniacs all over the mid-section of the country.

The influential program was launched as a money-saving maneuver. Because the FCC required the station to employ a studio engineer at all times, KAAY had him broadcast directly from the transmitter, avoiding the need for a disc jockey during the graveyard shift. That employee, Dale Seidenschwarz, calling himself Clyde Clifford on the air, was given the freedom to do as he pleased, more out of indifference than anything else.

However, broadcasting from the transmitter created a problem. The equipment required giant cooling fans which caused quite a bit of noise. To cover the discordant sounds, Clifford utilized a bed of mysterious background music whenever he was announcing.

Local opportunities to hear the music which accompanied the counterculture were scarce in remote places like the Upper Peninsula. Jack Mortensen, who grew up in Ironwood, remembers staying up past his bedtime in the early 70s just to listen to Beaker Street. He savored hearing songs by Deep Purple, Yes, The Allman Brothers and Led Zeppelin. The next day he would get together with his friends Doug and Kevin to talk about the coolest songs played on the overnight program.

Mortensen, now an Escanaba resident, said he received KAAY "clear as a bell" in the western U. P. "Beaker Street was how I was exposed to new music during that time. It still influences me in the music I listen to today," he added.

Local music teacher John Beck recalled he heard the southern rock band Black Oak Arkansas for the first time while listening to Beaker Street. By conspicuously spinning "Lord Have Mercy on My Soul," featuring the raspy voice of Jim Mangrum, the late-night program introduced the group to a national audience. Not counting KAAY itself, Black Oak was Arkansas' biggest export, at least until Bill Clinton began his rise in politics.

Dyrk Trout of Escanaba also fondly remembers Beaker Street from his youth. He drove to Ludington Park's Aronson Island, where lack of interference brought the best radio reception. So eager to pinpoint the station when he listened, Trout put a scratch mark at 1090 on the family car's radio dial so as not to interfere with his parents' pre-sets.

Of course, I loved most of the songs played on Beaker Street, but I was also fascinated by the background music. In the early years, listeners heard a segment of Henry Mancini's score to "Charade," released in late 1963. In the early 70s, a 17-minute long track named "Cannibis Sativa," by the group Head was used. The experimental synthesizer music, on the Buddah label, was actually performed by Nik Pascal Raicevic, who later played percussion for the Rolling Stones on "Goats Head Soup."

In addition to the spacey music, one of the biggest appeals of the program was the cool laid-back voice of Clyde Clifford who enticed you to keep listening through the late night hours. His style influenced countless disc jockeys in coming years as FM radio abandoned its stodgy past.

Although several other DJ's followed Clifford on Beaker Street, the program ended in the 70s. Years later, KAAY was sold to Citadel Communications Corp.which changed the format to Christian programming.

Surprisingly, Beaker Street has been ressurrected on the internet, with Clifford still at the helm. New programs are streamed live from the Beaker Street homepage every Sunday at 8 p. m.

Maybe history is repeating itself.