As Time Goes By

If you think times have changed regarding putting together a band, you are so wrong. Nothings different, it's still how it was no matter how far back you go. The 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's whatever. Nobody is impervious to the fate that you are destined to experience when you try to build a band.
Bill Haley and the Comets were actually a band with a leaders name in it back in the 50's but most groups in the 50's were solo artist groups with the rest of the players unrecognized. The band members played behind big names like Bobby Darin, Frankie Avalon, Chuck Berry, The Big Bopper with their stories untold. I don't have any Albums of any of these artists so I can't check the covers to see if or how the rest of the band members were noted but if you do have them, tell me. I am definitely curious.
Just like today, most musicians don't care about a spotlight like the stars yearn for, they just want to play, have some fun, earn some money and feel the music. I guess that's how the record companies worked it then. I guess they put bands together from need, "Hey Chuck, we need a drummer. I'll go get one. Wait here." and worked around the talent.




The 60's saw things a whole different way. It was the whole group that made up the band. Whether an American or British group, most were known by their bands name. There were of course, band members that stood out and recognized for their special contributions but it still was about the band. The Beach Boys, The Byrds, The Box Tops, The Monkees, Cream, The Doors, The Who and on and on, all taking huge places in that music era. Notice how many British groups are named. That invasion created a completely different sound that America hadn't heard before and we took to it like a kid to a dish of ice cream. We ate it up. So much in fact, a revolution surfaced between British vs. American groups. A good read on the subject is "Beach Boys vs Beatlemania: Rediscovering Sixties Music" by G. A. De Forest. Nothing says long lasting like the music that shaped generations. I'm glad I was there. 

Then came the 70's with harder rock and even more talent. More of the same but still new. Deeper into drugs and pushing the envelope were Jimi Hendrix, Deep Purple and carry overs from the late 60's making the adjustments into the psychedelics and folk rock, message heavy songs. Led Zeppelin , Black Sabbath, AC/DC were hard rock leaders while James Taylor, Harry Chapin, Linda Ronstadt kept things more mellow. There's one thing that these rockers can be proud of, they have staying power. No matter what age group you're in, you no doubt know songs from the 70's and so will generations to come.

 What can I say about the 80's and 90's? No really, what can I say about the music of the 80's and 90's? I mean really:  Duran Duran, Tears for Fears, The Pet Shop Boys, George Michael, Howard Jones in the 80's? While the 80's were forgettable, the 90's did get some decent stuff from Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, Our Lady Peace, Alice in Chains, Foo Fighters, Sound Garden, Nine Inch Nails, Offspring, Rage Against the Machine. Not that these rank high on my listen to scale, there was some success. I wouldn't dis any of these band members. Just sorry for those that had to try and find their own way along a path dug so deep before them by such ginormous sounds.

                                                                                                                       

There wasn't any easy search mechanism in place to find possible band mates before the internet like we have today. Today you can Tweet, FB, Myspace, Bing, Google on and on to try to find the right people. Not so many years ago, all you had was friends, the newspaper ads, classmates, relatives who played or knew someone that did, to help build the band. Guess what? Even with all these new search aids, it still is tough. Back in high school all I wanted was to play music and do it with guys that cared as much as I did. Forget it. If I found two others that gave a crap it was a miracle.
It's always interesting to meet other players you don't know and listen to their stories. It seems if you've auditioned for a band and they didn't chose you then they must really suck and you didn't really want to be in their band anyway. What losers! 
If you are the one doing the auditioning then you want to give everyone a fair chance but there are so many factors that will guide you in your decision. No one likes to say that age or looks are factors but they likely are in some cases. I just met a guy who just graduated high school who has been in good bands and now in search of new people. He's not having much luck even in this day and age. Most of the people don't want what he wants from the band; dedication, friendship and good music. What a waste to think how many people there are out there looking for that very same thing but can't find him. 
Don't despair. The search continues. ROCK ON!

Building The Band

Episode 2

So many musical influences growing up.
Before the many talent shows that now grace our big screen TV sets there was the staple on which you could say all others followed. 'The Original Amateur Hour' with Ted Mack was broadcast from the mid 50's until 1970 bringing talent from all over the nation to New York's Radio City Music Hall. My sister's and a neighbor actually appeared as a singing trio back then. Imagine being on Live TV back then in all it's black and white glory. No phone, text or internet voting back then. You had to send a postcard in to vote for your favorite and then wait for the results to be announced the next week. No, they didn't become famous from their stint on the small screen but many did get the Big Break. Just to name a few - Gladys Knight, Pat Boone, Irene Cara (at age 8) all went on to a life in show business.

I suppose the 'Variety Show' format will never resurface successfully and that's too bad. Admittedly there were many not-so-great acts that simply filled the time slots but we all waited patiently for the show stoppers to come on in the last few minutes of the show. Oh the agony of watching the jugglers and animal acts, the opera singers and comedians (very talented people) so we could see the rock and roll acts that we got to stay up late to see. The King of those days was Ed Sullivan. His show was what we all waited for each week. Broadcast on Sunday night from 8:00pm to 9:00pm in Black and White from 1948 to 1965, in Color from 1966 to 1971 a total of 1,087 shows went out over the airwaves. Some of my favorites were The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Dave Clark Five, The Doors, Janis Joplin, Gerry And The Pacemakers, Momma's and the Poppa's and even The Rolling Stones. A bit of trivia, The Beatles were paid $25,000.00 for their first appearance which was half of what Elvis was paid, we're talking 1964 now. That's a lot of dough for that year.

So what's that got to do with Building The Band? I guess that's the roots that gave hundreds of thousands of kids the itch to play music and live the dream. You met potential band mates at school, parties, corner stores, places around your house or school. That's as far as you got to look when there wasn't Craigslist, internet and other media like today. You got ideas for equipment to use from seeing it on TV or on album covers. You went to the music store to make your Christmas list. I was sheer luck if you lived near a music store that had good stuff and then you saved up to buy it. I was lucky to have a few friends that wanted to play, though their reasons weren't as clear as I thought mine were. I just wanted to get girls, isn't that why most guys get into it? When that failed I decided to do it because I really loved it. Being able to make a melody live and come from my hands was true love. Happy or sad, there was a song for it. If you don't play an instrument, give it a try. You can fill your life and find something like nothing else. If you played long ago, pick it back up and find it again. It's never too late and someone besides you may like to listen to what you've got to say. Hey, it's worth a shot.  Let me know where you're playing and I'll come cheer you on. See you next time...

Where to start?

Episode #1

Long ago, in another place and time, I decided that music was going to be a part of my life. Too many years ago I convinced my parents that I needed to take up the guitar. My Mom took me to the local music store and they abruptly sold her on the notion that the first thing to learn was the accordion. Say What?? Being the good kid that I was, I agreed. That didn't last long. I told Mom that I didn't want her wasting money on rental and lessons for something I didn't want to do. Wow, that was tough. Anyway, I got 50 bucks from my Grandmother for Confirmation and bought a cheapo guitar/amp combo at Two Guys and haven't looked back. The Beatles and Beach Boys were major influences along with most other "British Invasion" groups. A big thank you goes out to Ed Sullivan for the TV show that featured so many cool bands. I later bought a cool "Domino Californian" guitar and had that through most of high school.

High school found me in two different bands. Played at the senior yearbook party to a good group of classmates then the principle put the k abash on that to end it early. What fun ;-)
Building the band was tough but I never backed away from a challenge. I guess I was too dedicated to quality while the other guys, not so much. It was fun and a great experience. Lots of talent but... after all, we were just kids.

Bought my brand new Gibson Les Paul Gold Top Deluxe back in 1969-70 for $300.00, my used Ampeg Gemini II amp along with a Shure mic and stand and a Clark PA system. Got out of high school without being too traumatized and played, wrote and did a bit of recording at home. The normal high school drama, relationships and all that growing up crap is after all what songs are made of. Look at Taylor Swift. That's all she writes about.
Back then there were a lot of guys playing instruments, and I use the word "playing" very loosely, so finding band members wasn't too hard. What wasn't so easy was getting everybody together to work on stuff. Some things never change. We practiced in my parents basement, Bob's basement, Kevin's garage, Joe's living room or garage. Anyplace we could make noise and not get in trouble with the cops or the neighbors. Songs of the day were from Beatles, Stones, Grand Funk, Cream, Beach Boys and some obscure "underground" groups that only got played on those new "FM" band radio stations like Ten Years After, Johnny Winter and The Doors. Things were tough back then when it came to learning songs. Using a record player, lifting the arm to play back a part of a song over and over, wearing out and scratching albums or 45's. No cd's or tabs back then. Closest thing we had to help was sheet music from the record store or the occasional "fake book" that had a mix of 20 or so songs in it. Still have two of mine on a shelf along with some sheet music and song books from back then. It payed to have a good ear for music and I think I have a pretty good one. Bands were made up of members who could read music, had a good ear, could watch what you did and then do the same or just plain sucked. That was then, but now... pretty much the same.

I hope that gives you a good idea of where this is going. I'll move forward in the next episode and look forward to expanding on dealing with the different goals of a band and how each of us members ideas add and subtract from the success and failures in "Building The Band".