RTH Rock Club

RTH Rock Club - January 2015

2/14/2015

In January, we added a few new members to the club -- Josh, Steve, Linda, and Jenny -- and discovered more great music.

Josh told us about Dallas Green of City and Colour and the beautiful acoustic track, "The Girl." Dallas Green is also the lead singer for Alexisonfire, a post-hardcore band from Ontario, Canada. What a contrast in bands with the same lead singer. City and Colour fans will also enjoy the collaboration between Dallas Green and Alecia Moore (AKA Pink) called "You+Me"

Brentt told the story behind "The Way" by Fastball about an elderly couple in their 80s, who were starting to get dementia. They left their home to drive to an activity and never came home. They wound up 500 miles away from home in Arkansas and died when they drove off a cliff. How sad.

Steve played one of his favorite songs by the Rolling Stones, "Sing This All Together." He quipped that no one with a critical ear had anything to do with this unpolished, chaotic song. The song has a very raw feel, like singing around a camp fire at a hippie commune.

Linda played an '80s hit by Rob Hegel called "Tommy, Judy & Me" from his Hegel 2 Displays album. Rob went on American Bandstand after the song became popular, but he couldn’t sing this song because the producers thought it was too raunchy. The lyrics also foreshadowed the school shootings to come--sandwiched between two verses about a woman, the lyrics describe that Tommy is tired of the rules, that he bought a gun, and that people are going to remember him.

Treg blasted "Big Brother" by Steve Bonino from his Peace Rocks album. It's a hard rockin' song with an infections bass line and bemoans the end of privacy. The message is timely (and timeless) with the revelations by Edward Snowden of the spying by the NSC.

Michael introduced the club to "Left Hand Free" by Alt-J about a tussle over a gun. Michael particularly likes the stripped down version of the song on youtube.

Brentt also discussed the story behind "Lovely Rita" from The Beatles masterpiece, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was inspired by a meter maid giving a parking ticket to Paul outside the Abby Road Studios. The members of Pink Floyd got to listen in the studio while The Beatles recorded it. And the song features John, Paul & George playing the comb and toilet paper.

Steve also played for us a stripped down a capella version of "Because" from The Beatles Love album.

And Linda played the little-known "Carry On Till Tomorrow" by Badfinger.

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Introducing the RTH Rock Club

11/17/2014

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Dave and Treg have created the world's first rock club--like a book club except we share rock music. We met for the first time last Saturday night in the Rock Room at Treg's house in Southern California. Our friends Michael and Brentt joined us as the other founding members. Everyone agreed to bring something to share--either music by a newly-discovered artist, a fresh rock & roll story, or a unique perspective on a beloved classic.

Brentt started us off by teaching us a college course on the Beatles and their hit, "All My Loving." He jammed on the piano to demonstrate the unique chord progression then we listened to the song on the stereo at full blast to get an appreciation of the bass line and other elements. Later Brentt shared the story about recording and engineering the "Let It Be" album. Apparently Paul McCartney wasn't thrilled with the strings and other elements that Phil Spector added, so the Beatles later released a stripped down version entitled "Let it Be Naked." We listened to "Let It Be" and "The Long and Winding Road" from the album and loved exploring these variations on the classic Beatles tunes.

Dave talked about Tom Morello's guitar solo at the end of "Sleep Now in the Fire" by Rage Against the Machine. Then we cranked the stereo and listened to the song. Check out Dave's podcast on the song in the Podcast Archive, Episode No. 71. Dave then introduced us to Rival Sons, a hard-rockin' blues rock outfit from Long Beach, California. We blasted "Open My Eyes" and raved about the similarity to Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks."

Treg played two bass-heavy cuts from Royal Blood--a two-piece from Britain with a modern garage band sound--"Out of the Black" and "Ten Tonne Skeleton." He apologizes to his neighbors for the rattling windows. Treg also played "Scumbag Blues" by Them Crooked Vultures and "Family System" by Chevelle, to further share his passion for bass-driven rock.

Michael told us about Liturgy, a black-metal band from Brooklyn, New York, which he learned about on a Radio Lab podcast about nihilism. We listened to a sample from "High Gold," which can only be described as a cacophony of funky sounds.

We encourage everyone to get together with their rock buddies to form their own rock clubs to share new discoveries and the passion for rock music. Please tell us about your experience by commenting on this blog or on our Facebook page. If you're in the Southern California area and would like to join the RTH Rock Club, email us at [email protected]. Rock On!

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RTH Rock Club - January 2015

Introducing the RTH Rock Club

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