Where the Skies Are So Blue…

Today in rock history, in 1974, "Hope Neil Young will remember, a southern man don’t need him around anyhow." Lynyrd Skynyrd release “Sweet Home Alabama,” a response to Neil Young's critical "Southern Man." Another bit of trivia – Ed King, who was one of Skynyrd’s guitarists at the time, is credited with writing the main riff for the song. I had the opportunity to jam with Ed in the Spring of 1970 when he came to the Roof Garden ballroom in Arnold’s Park, IA when he was with the Strawberry Alarm Clock. If I remember right, we jammed on “Politician” for about 20 minutes…heck of a jam, for sure! Here’s an ... interesting cover of the song. Gee, wish I had hair like that and a drum kit built into a tractor! Thanks to http://www.rockintown.com/today-in-rock.html for the info, and keep on rockin’!

Really North of Anywhere!

It’s that time again folks – it’s Windsor time! It's that magic time when we all gather in northern Wisconsin, and, in between the sunstroke and mosquito bites, we rock til' we drop. Time for the Windsor Bar’s 4th annual open house and band jam, held near Barnes, WI 7-21. The fun starts at 6 PM and goes on until we drop. Here’s a little preview from last year’s gig – c’mon up; you won’t be sorry you made the drive!

Gathers No Moss…

On this date in rock and roll history in 1962, the Rolling Stones make their live debut at the Marquee Club in London (a group name founder Brian Jones picked at random from a Muddy Waters album he spotted while on the phone with the promoter). The band at this point features Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Jones, with Dick Taylor, later of the Pretty Things, on bass and Tony Chapman on drums. The band is paid 20 pounds. Nice work if you can get it! And the rest, as they say, is history…Thanks to http://oldies.about.com/od/oldieshistory/a/july12.htm for the info, and I hope to still be rockin’ 50 years from now!