Beat It

Regardless of what he may, or may not have done, in his personal life, there can be no dispute that Michael Jackson was a very talented person. In my opinion the Thriller album, was one of a very select few albums, which changed the face of music. The production by Quincey Jones was first class. The video for the title song, changed forever the style and quality of music videos. It marked the first major cross over for a black artist from a select few type audience, to a global market. The musical content of the album was also diverse, from soulful ballads to the power numbers such as Beat It and Thriller. I am proud to say that despite being a rocker at heart, I do have a copy of this album in my collection. A man who has performed with Slash and Eddie Van Halen, to name but two, must have some rock credentials. Also I think the bass playing on quite a few of his records would not be out of place on any rock album.

As a tribute to Michael, I am featuring a clip of Beat It recorded in October 1987 in Japan. Not sure who plays guitar on this version, but Eddie Van Halen played the solo on the album version.

Hysteria

Hysteria is probably the reaction you would get if you asked a fan of classic rock, to listen to country music. A friend of mine recently put this piece of music on Facebook, with a mention to me, as he thought I might like it. His musical tastes are fairly broad, as are mine, but recently he has developed a keen interest in country music. He is putting a fair bit of it on Facebook, trying to change perceptions of it, and highlighting the amazing lyrical contents involved. Country music is also reinventing itself to a wider audience, and is not pure country and western.

Having given this some thought, it would appear to me that much classic rock had it's birth in country type music. Jimi Hendrix covered a Bob Dylan song for starters. A lot of the early classic rock was birthed in the 1960's and early
1970's West coast sound formulated by ex folk singers, and hippies.

The track below is Def Leppard with Taylor Swift at a country music awards night. Apparently Def Leppard were nominated for three country music awards. I do not know what this means for either classic rock or country, but enjoy anyway...

The Last Resort

Heard this song on the radio today, and was moved by it. It is by The Eagles and is taken from the Hotel California album. I am not going to read anything into the words of this one, save to say that one line in my opinion sums up all that has been wrong with the world for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. "We satisfy our endless needs and justify our bloody deeds, in the name of destiny and in the name of God". In my opinion, most people claim to have God on their side to justify their view or stand point. In fact they do have God on their side, but he is on the side of everyone. He has His own plan, but loves us all.

"The Last Resort"

She came from Providence,
the one in Rhode Island
Where the old world shadows hang
heavy in the air
She packed her hopes and dreams
like a refugee
Just as her father came across the sea

She heard about a place people were smilin'
They spoke about the red man's way,
and how they loved the land
And they came from everywhere
to the Great Divide
Seeking a place to stand
or a place to hide

Down in the crowded bars,
out for a good time,
Can't wait to tell you all,
what it's like up there
And they called it paradise
I don't know why
Somebody laid the mountains low
while the town got high

Then the chilly winds blew down
Across the desert
through the canyons of the coast, to
the Malibu
Where the pretty people play,
hungry for power
to light their neon way
and give them things to do

Some rich men came and raped the land,
Nobody caught 'em
Put up a bunch of ugly boxes, and Jesus,
people bought 'em
And they called it paradise
The place to be
They watched the hazy sun, sinking in the sea

You can leave it all behind
and sail to Lahaina
just like the missionaries did, so many years ago
They even brought a neon sign: "Jesus is coming"
Brought the white man's burden down
Brought the white man's reign

Who will provide the grand design?
What is yours and what is mine?
'Cause there is no more new frontier
We have got to make it here

We satisfy our endless needs and
justify our bloody deeds,
in the name of destiny and the name
of God

And you can see them there,
On Sunday morning
They stand up and sing about
what it's like up there
They call it paradise
I don't know why
You call someplace paradise,
kiss it goodbye