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Rare Performances: Pink Floyd and Billy Corgan Live in 1996
In the fall of 1995, Smashing Pumpkins, the Chicago-based alternative band who cracked the Billboard 200 Top 10 in August 1993 with Siamese Dream, released the anticipated studio follow up, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. The sprawling 26-song double album Corgan then referred to as The Wall for Generation X highlighted the lead songwriter's penchant for abstract lyricism and expansive, evocative instrumental arrangements that owed much to the psychedelic rockers who came decades before him.
At the 1996 Hall of Fame induction ceremony, a twentysomething Corgan inducted Pink Floyd, with David Gilmour, Nick Mason and the late Richard Wright on hand to accept their awards. "The first album I heard was Dark Side of the Moon, which as we all know is probably one of the best albums of all time," said Corgan, a self-professed "fan" of the band. "I first heard this album in The Wall era, which to me, at my tender age of 14, was too ...
Spotlight Exhibit: Bonnie Raitt's Jacket and Fender Stratocaster
From her self-titled debut album in 1971, Bonnie Raitt has established herself as a virtuoso blues musician who sings blues with gritty passion and plays slide guitar with authority, as if the genre’s fundamentals had been etched in her soul. With mentors that included Sippie Wallace, Mississippi Fred McDowell and Son House, Raitt has demonstrated a studied reverence for old-school country-blues tempered with a contemporary outlook and willingness to experiment. She recorded eight albums for Warner Bros. Records from 1971 to 1986, progressively moving from straight blues into more pop-oriented areas without losing sight of her roots. Raitt's move to Capitol Records was followed by her 1989 breakthrough Nick of Time, which netted four Grammy Awards in 1990 and prompted her to note: “It means so much for the kind of music that we do. It means that those of us who do rhythm & blues are going to get a chance again.”
In this clip, Rock and Roll Hall ...
Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll: "Summertime Blues"
A lot of rock and roll, and especially Sun-label rockabilly, has liquor on its breath. Eddie Cochran – born in Minnesota, a California transplant at age 12 and a teenager until almost the end of the 1950s – never got ruder than a soda-pop belch, musically speaking. His recordings convey youthful good times without the dark undertow of his southern contemporaries. "Summertime Blues" was a B-side, but not for long. Written by Cochran and manager Jerry Capeheart, it's a concise masterpiece: a protest song without rancor, pointedly funny and propulsive. Cochran's teenage frustration will never be out of date. Ten years after being the biggest hit of a tragically short career, "Summertime Blues" survived a lysergic distortion by Blue Cheer to enter the Top 20 all over again. Two years after that, in 1970, the Who was almost as successful with their version, a longtime concert favorite. Eddie Cochran released only one album during his lifetime, which was abruptly cut short ...
Rare Performances: Chuck Berry Live in 1994
At the 1994 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Chuck Berry paid tribute to his Chess Records label mate and frequent collaborator Willie Dixon with a moving induction speech and stirring performance of “Roll Over Beethoven.” Dixon contributed his robust and propulsive bass playing to numerous Berry hits, including “Maybellene” and “Roll Over Beethoven.” Berry’s performance that evening reflects the sheer joy that he brings to every performance. Berry’s generosity as a performer is also evident, as he leaves plenty of room for members of Paul Shaffer’s Induction Ceremony house band the opportunity to shine, along with Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, Grateful Dead keyboardist Bruce Hornsby and Blues Traveler’s John Popper. The Rock and Roll Hall Fame and Museum is delighted to honor Chuck Berry as this year’s American Music Masters honoree.
WATCH: Chuck Berry performs "Roll Over Beethoven" live
Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll: "Rock & Roll Music"
What do the Beatles, Beach Boys, Bill Haley, James Last, Jan and Dean, the Archies, the Dave Clark Five and REO Speedwagon have in common? They've all recorded Chuck Berry's "Rock & Roll Music." The Beach Boys even had a bigger hit with their 1976 version than Berry did with his own recording 19 years earlier. But only Berry could have created the song. "I wanted the lyrics to define every aspect of its being," he has written about the tune. They do, with his characteristic mix of enthusiasm and detached observation: a 30-year-old father of two in 1957, Berry was more objective about rock and roll – the music and the business – than his younger companions on the charts. A demo version, recorded five months before the released take, lacks what would become the opening verse, and in the chorus Berry sings, "if you wanna rock with me" – a verb later changed to "dance," probably for reasons of taste if ...
Summer in the City: Interview with Torche's Andrew Elstner
Formed in Miami, Florida, Torche has rocked fans, critics and stereos since their forming in 2004. Variously characterized as “stoner pop,” “thunder rock” and “sludge metal,” their self-titled album was declared as the Number Seven album of 2005 on Decibel magazine’s annual Top 40 list. Three years later, Decibel magazine ranked the band’s second album, Meanderthal, as Number One. Torche's latest album, Harmonicraft, was released in April 2012. The band has toured with Mogwai, Isis, Baroness and the Sword, among others, and in 2010, they opened for Coheed and Cambria. Here the Rock Hall catches up with Torche guitarist Andrew Elstner, as the band readies for a free live concert at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 25, 2012, part of the Summer in the City concert series.
Rock Hall: What was the first record/CD you ever bought and do you still listen to it?
Andrew Elstner: With my ...
Rare Performances: Johnny Cash Live in 1992
Late Show with David Letterman band leader Paul Shaffer, moonlighting in his annual turn helming the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony band, calls out the tune: ”This is a song called ‘Big River,’ and it’s in E!” It’s the 1992 induction ceremony, and one of that year’s inductees, Johnny Cash, recorded “Big River” for the Sun label in 1958. The band for which Paul Shaffer called the tune is remarkable in its sheer star power –some fellow 1992 inductees back up Cash, including Booker T. and Steve Cropper of Booker T. and the M.G.’s, Ronald and Marvin Isley of the Isley Brothers and Sam Moore of Sam and Dave. Past and future inductees also round out the band, including John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival (inducted in 1993), Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones (1989), the Edge of U2 (2005), Little Richard (1986), Carlos Santana (1998) and Isaac Hayes (2002). Edgar Winter backs ...
Playing with the King: Freddie King, ZZ Top and Muddy Waters
This year, legendary guitarist Freddie King aka the Texas Cannonball was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His searing, assertive solos and gift for showmanship made him among the most revered and subsequently emulated blues guitarists. He was a formidable figure on the nation's two most prominent blues scenes, earning his explosive nom de plume performing in the state where he was born and emerging as a powerful presence on the Chicago circuit. "If you're a guitar player, you better be a Freddie King fan, or you're probably not very good," noted guitarist Derek Trucks.
At the 2012 Hall of Fame induction ceremony on April 14, 2012, in Cleveland, Ohio, Dusty Hill and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top inducted King into the Hall of Fame. They also helped lead a jam that included guitarists Joe Bonamassa and Trucks, as they collectively delivered blistering covers of King classics "Hideaway" and "Goin' Down."
In this clip, Dusty ...
