Journey: Escape (I may have stopped believin')

Jourey - Escape.  I prefer the 3 Journey records that lead up to this one.  Those being 1978: Infinity, 1979: Evolution, and 1980: Departure.  Escape is pretty good - but by now, they sort of either went Corporate or jumped the shark.  Escape's side one is pretty strong though.  My favs are Stone in Love and Keep on Runnin'.   The last song on side two is Open Arms, which is in 3/4 or waltz time.  That is rare in rock.  But this is a slow power ballad.  3/4 time is song signature, comprising three quarter notes to a bar.  It has a basic feel of one two three (as in a waltz).  ONE two three.  Like that.  My uncle played this song and made a recording of it that he later used for a pairs skate (roller) program.  I thought that was very cool.

Elvis Aaron Presley; born January 8, 1935

I have this post queued up last month and forgot to post it.  I wanted to point out on Jan. 8th - that last summer, I got to see Elvis's "A-number-one" guitar player in concert.  It was at the the huge, all-day Eric Clapton Crossroads guitar festival near where I live.  The guy is James Burton, and as the accompanying youtube clip will attest - he is just totally awesome.   He was born in 1939 in Dubberly, Louisiana - James is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  His induction speech was given by longtime fan Keith Richards.  Burton has also been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.  Critic Mark Demming writes that "Burton has a well-deserved reputation as one of the finest guitar pickers in either country or rock ... [Burton is] one of the best guitar players to ever touch a fretboard."  James Burton is also known as the Master of Telecaster.  At the Clapton concert, for his set - Burton was matched up in a group with this very cool lineup: Vince Gill, Keb Mo, Earl Klugh, and Albert Lee - doing Gill's One More Last Chance.  They also did Mystery Train (Co-written by Junior Parker and Sam Phillips), and with the host's permission, Lay Down Sally.  James Burton is mentioned frquently in the the Keith Richards autobiography that I just finished reading.

Super Bowl Sunday: The BoDeans

Here they are, The BoDeans.  From Waukesha, Wisconsin.  They are Kurt Neumann (vocals & electric guitar) and Sam Llanas (vocals & acoustic guitar).  In 1985, after adding a drummer and a bassist, the band signed a contract with Slash/Warner Records and recorded their first album.  Early on, the BoDeans' sound was largely influenced by roots rock and heartland rock, but they soon moved more into the genre of alternative rock.  In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the band had several singles in the top 40 "mainstream rock" charts. In the mid-1990s, the band had two top 10 songs in the "Adult contemporary" charts. The band is best known for their 1993 song "Closer to Free" which was featured as the theme song of the TV series Party of Five,"  wiki.  And - click on this post's title for a clip of a nice cover version of Dreams, which is on this record.  She and I saw them at Ravinia a few years ago.