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Looking back on what Blue Cheer established has helped me to appreciate their role in the annals of rock music. Sprung from the loins of the psychedelic era in San Farncisco, the band is said to have been named after a street brand of LSD and promoted by renowned LSD chemist and former Grateful Dead patron, Owsley Stanley.

Blue Cheer clearly established heavy metal way before it had a moniker.

Vincebus Eruptum, Blue Cheer’s landmark 1968 debut, is widely regarded as ground zero of the heavy metal explosion. The album, featuring the classic Blue Cheer lineup of guitarist Leigh Stephens, bassist/vocalist Dickie Peterson and drummer Paul Whaley, includes the trio’s mind-melting reading of Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues,” which became a Top 20 single.

You can find the mono edition of Vincebus Eruptum at a very cool record emporium, Sundazed Music. Long live Blue Cheer and vinyl!

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My favorite interlude today was the episode ”Early Metal U.S.” which focused on Detroit, Michigan’s influence on metal music, in particular the significance of Alice Cooper.

Alice Cooper was signed by Frank Zappa for his Straight Records label. They produced surreal, experimental rock theater set against one of the tightest sounding rock bands ever. The band consisted of of Vincent Furnier (Alice Cooper) on vocals and harmonica, lead guitarist Glen Buxton, Michael Bruce on rhythm guitar, Dennis Dunaway on bass guitar and drummer Neal Smith. They were a monster of a band you immediately respected.

The recording that set me on my ear with Alice Cooper was Love It To Death. The hit, “I’m Eighteen” epitomized the dichotomy of being at 18 years old, both a boy and a man. I liked the irreverence of the cover photo where Alice Cooper stuck his thumb through the front of his pants to resemble a cock. The album played through so well you ended up loving it to death every time you played it. My second favorite song was the “Ballad of Dwight Frye“, being a melodrama film fan, I thought it was so cool that a band would perform a song about an actor who spent much of his life in an insane asylum. If you contrast Dwight Frye’s actual existence with the character, Renfield that he played in the Universal Studios class, Dracula, art imitated life. Who can forget that the hospital worker says, “He’s crazy” when asked about Renfield’s behavior at the asylum.

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Music festivals take on a life of their own. The Vans Warped Tour has been going strong for 17+ years now.

If you have never been to a Vans Warped Tour event try to attend. The energy and the vibe is great to witness first hand. Plan on spending the entire day at a Vans Warped Tour event. I was the “designated Dad” for my son and his friends in 2004 and 2005. The 2004 Vans Warped Tour event we went to took place in the parking lot outside of Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass. The fans moshed and surfed on the asphalt that day. 2004 was the 10th anniversary celebration of Vans Warped Tour.

It’s a wild day. There is a main announcement wall that gives you the schedule of bands to appear on the two main stages and all the alternate stages. I saw some interesting groups such as Bowling for Soup (hung out with them back at their area, they were fun), The Used, New Found Glory (how does that lead singer still have vocal chords left…) and Flogging Molly just to name some of the lineup that day.

The 2005 Vans Warped Tour was held on Randall’s Island just outside New York City. It was a huge dust bowl and you had to protect your eyes/throat from the dust. No matter how much they hosed down the dirt fields there the dust persisted. My favorite Warped Tour 2005 moment was when my son and his friends joined me at the Lordz of Brooklyn show and got me a Lordz t-shirt that was thrown from the stage. The Lordz signed it for me later on at their booth

My past lineage with the Warped Tour has me excited for the new movie, No Room for Rockstars.

The documentary No Room for Rock Stars has more than 300 hours of film shot during the 2010 tour.  The film documents the true stories of modern era rock and roll from every possible angle. From the kids in the van playing parking lots to gain notice, to the veteran stage manager whose life was saved by the tour, to the musician who crosses over to mainstream success while on the road, No Room For Rock Stars is Cinema Vèritè story-telling at its finest. A historical retrospective or concert film this is not.

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Moodle, the free, open-source course management solution has revolutionized learning. Today it has 55 million global users. It has successfully disrupted the Learning Management System universe (LMS). I love the fact that it is toppling BlackBoard‘s dominance.

Image via CrunchBase

I wish I taught a music course and used Moodle to manage that learning experience. I am going to accomplish that by building an online music appreciation course with Moodle.

As I work my way along that path I locate subject matter authorities who guide my aspirations. One such individual in the field of software training I am following is William Rice. Bill is a leading authority in instructional design, e-Learning courseware management/development and Moodle consulting. He has written a definitive book series about Moodle for Packt Publishing.

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Being an avid fan of digital publishing I was psyched to see on page four that Guitar Aficionado was available for the iPad and iPhone devices.  I took out my iPhone 4s and went looking on Apple’s App Store for the Guitar Aficionado App. I downloaded it and picked up the free issue with Richard Gere on the cover. It was added to my iPhone Newsstand. I knew I had to buy the magazine after that and walked the physical copy to the register.

I love what is happening with the convergence of print media and digital publishing through the iCloud. Publications like Guitar Aficionado are making tremendous strides in allowing readers choice in how they read and experience content.

The more exciting proposition is the added value that Dhani Harrison is bringing to fans of his father’s music. Dhani Harrison, along with the George Harrison Estate and Bandwidth Publishing will soon be making available a new iPad app which will allow Beatles and guitar fans the chance to check out the personal guitar collection of the late George Harrison. The app, The Guitar Collection: George Harrison, will be released through iTunes on February 23, two days before what would have been the former Beatle‘s 69th birthday.

You can get an in-depth preview of the iPad app with Dhani Harrison as your guide through the pages of the latest issue of Guitar Aficiando Magazine. I can tell you first hand its an exciting and informative set of articles. The information is complemented with brilliant color pages and wonderful memories for us all. I am so indebted to Dhani and Olivia Harrison for being so sharing with the world. It is another extension of George’s love to fans living in the material world.

Watch this video and see how you can touch and interact with George Harrison’s guitar collection. which is absolutely amazing if you ask me

I love how this continues the synergy between The Beatles and Apple through digital technology. Something tells me that George Harrison and Steve Jobs  are smiling hugely over this accomplishment.

This is a novel approach to a benefit concert. This tribute concert, benefiting music & arts programs for underprivileged youth, celebrates the 40th Anniversary of the release of Hot Rocks 1964-1971, the Stones’ highest selling album.

Tickets are still available for this event. Learn more at the mini-site here.

FEATURING

MARIANNE FAITHFULL »

ART GARFUNKEL »

RICKIE LEE JONES »

RONNIE SPECTOR »

ROSANNE CASH »

STEVE EARLE »

TAJ MAHAL »

MARC COHN »

THE MOUNTAIN GOATS »

PEACHES »

JOVANOTTI &
TV ON THE RADIO »

GLEN HANSARD (OF THE SWELL SEASON) »

RICH ROBINSON (OF THE BLACK CROWES) »

CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROPS »

DAVID JOHANSEN (OF THE NY DOLLS) »

JACKIE GREENE »

IAN HUNTER & THE RANT BAND »

JACKSON BROWNE »

…AND MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED

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I wouldn’t have the joy of music or the essence of love in my heart if it wasn’t for you, my darling.

I wish you my Valentine a loving and special Valentine’s Day Birthday.

Don McLean’s song from one of our favorite albums, Tapestry, “And I Love You So”, expresses how I feel

And I love you so

The people ask me how

How I’ve lived til now

I tell them I don’t know

Love,
Eddie

xoxoxoxo

Words & Music By Don McLean

© Copyright 1969, 1972 by MUSIC CORPORATION OF AMERICA, INC. and THE BENNY BIRD CO, INC.
All Rights Controlled and Administered by MUSIC CORPORATION OF AMERICA, INC.
International Copyright Secured. All Rights reserved
MCA Music Publishing

Don McLean’s Official Web Site
http://www.don-mclean.com/httpdocs/

MCA Music Publishing
A UNIVERSAL COMPANY
http://www.umusic.com/globalnav/gnf.pl?url=http%3A//www.umusic.com/

I don’t ever remember a record label increasing the price of an artist’s music who has died, especially just 12 hours after her reported death.

I say shame on Sony Music for capitalizing on Whitney Houston’s death to meet the marketplace demand for her online music catalog.

I mean, c’mon, these are the same digital online bits that were available for less prior to Whitney Houston’s death. It’s not like they are starting up a factory to press vinyl or manufacture audio CDs……

I await Sony Music’s official response and justification for profiteering on an artist’s death and the public’s sentiment for Whitney Houston.

This supposed reason doesn’t cut it with me, I call Shenanigans on Sony and Apple

Apple and Sony Music aren’t commenting on the matter, but “one insider close to the situation” suggested to The Guardian that the price hike may have come about after Sony Music realized that the wholesale price of Houston’s album had been incorrect and, once corrected, accounted for the retail price change inside Apple’s music store.

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Hope you are too! Bruce Springsteen kicked it off so well with We Take Care of Our Own, didn’t he and the E Street Band, complete with strings?

Rest in Peace, Whitney Houston, we will always love you.

The best summary of David Lynch’s music comes from wikipedia.  I have taken the liberty of lifting those paragraphs from the David Lynch wikipedia page.

I am struck by the breadth and depth of his musicianship. David Lynch’s artistic and creative muse in music is expansive.

Lynch has also been involved in a number of music projects, many of them related to his films. Most notably he produced and wrote lyrics for Julee Cruise‘s first two albums, Floating into the Night (1989) and The Voice of Love (1993), in collaboration with Angelo Badalamenti who composed the music and also produced. Lynch has also worked on the 1998 Jocelyn Montgomery album Lux Vivens. He has also composed bits of music for Wild at Heart, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, Mulholland Drive, and Rabbits.

In 2001, he released BlueBob, a rock album performed by Lynch and John Neff. The album is notable for Lynch’s unusual guitar playing style: he plays “upside down and backwards, like a lap guitar”, and relies heavily on effects pedals.^[113] Most recently Lynch has composed several pieces for Inland Empire, including two songs, “Ghost of Love” and “Walkin’ on the Sky”, in which he makes his public debut as a singer. In 2009, his new book-CD set Dark Night of the Soul was released.^[114]

In 2008, he started his own record label called David Lynch MC on which its first release Fox Bat Strategy: A Tribute to Dave Jaurequi was released in early 2009. In August 2009, it was announced that he was releasing Afghani/American singer Ariana Delawari’s Lion of Panjshir album in conjunction with Manimal Vinyl Records in October 2009.

In November 2010, Lynch released two electro pop music singles, “Good Day Today” and “I Know”, through the independent British label Sunday Best Recordings. Describing why he created them, he stated that “I was just sitting and these notes came and then I went down and started working with Dean [Hurley, his engineer] and then these few notes, ‘I want to have a good day, today’ came and the song was built around that”.^[115] The singles were followed by an album, Crazy Clown Time, which was released in November 2011 and described as an “electronic blues album”.^[116] The songs were sung by Lynch, with guest vocals on one track by Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs,^[117] and composed and performed by Lynch and Dean Hurley.^[116]

On September 29, 2011, Lynch released This Train with vocalist and long-time musical collaborator Chrysta Bell on the La Rose Noire label. ^[118] The 11-song album was produced by Lynch and co-written primarily by Lynch and Bell. ^[119] It includes the song “Polish Poem” which is featured on the Inland Empire soundtrack.

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President Obama’s reelection team included Bruce Springsteen’s new single “We Take Care of Our Own” in the list of songs our  President will use on the campaign trail.

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The Official Record Store Day Web site will serve as the announcement and event coordination location for all the details about this great annual event. I look forward to it every year. 2011 saw two Record Store days and that was a very cool surprise.

The only record I have seen announced (so far) for Record Store Day 2012 is the Limited Edition Music Changes The Word Vinyl Box Set from the David Lynch Foundation. It’s a fantastic cause that I intend to support and get more directly involved with. You can read more here.

Monday, February 6, 2012 – The David Lynch Foundation announced plans to release the physical version of DOWNLOAD FOR GOOD: MUSIC THAT CHANGES THE WORLD as a SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION BOX SET to celebrate Record Store Day, Saturday April 21, 2012.

Originally released in mid-July 2011 via iTunes as DOWNLOAD FOR GOOD, the MUSIC THAT CHANGES THE WORLD, SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION BOX SET is a wonderfully eclectic, star-studded vinyl music compilation benefitting the David Lynch Foundation—a non-profit educational organization founded by iconic filmmaker DAVID LYNCH. The compilation has been re-mastered for vinyl, and includes a previously unreleased bonus track from Sean Lennon’s “Ghost of the Saber Tooth Tiger,” as well as an exclusive new release from Julio Iglesias Jr. via digital download.

The MUSIC THAT CHANGES THE WORLD, SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION BOX SET boasts performances from 34 top musical artists spanning Pop, Latin, Electronic, Rock, World, Indie, Hip-hop, and Classical who have come together to express their support for the foundation and its visionary director. Artists include Donovan, Alanis Morissette, Tom Waits, Amanda Palmer, Ben Folds, Iggy Pop, Maroon 5, Neon Trees, Dave Stewart, and more.

“It is my great pleasure to announce the vinyl release of MUSIC THAT CHANGES THE WORLD on Record Store Day,” said Donovan. “As head of the Musical Wing of The David Lynch Foundation Music Label, I wish to thank all the amazing artists who have contributed. From the beginning, when The Beatles and I were writing songs to promote Maharishi’s meditation, it was always my dream to bring all the musical fraternity onto one great label to Promote True Peace. This day has arrived and now the world can know as we knew then, that Change Begins Within.”

The SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION BOX SET features a gorgeous 42-page color book with an introduction by David Lynch. The book is illustrated by Romio Shrestha, who has been called “a modern master of the Indo-Nepali-Tibetan Buddhist traditions of enlightenment art,” and New Jersey artist Davel Hamue. All songs were re-mastered for this project by Gavin Lurssen, a three-time Grammy award winner and one-time Latin Grammy award winner, whose mastering credits include the music of Elvis Costello, Eric Clapton, Alison Krauss and Robert Plant to name just a few. His Grammy’s include mastering for the soundtrack of the movie, Oh Brother Where Art Thou, and for his work on the box set accompaniment to the acclaimed PBS series, Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues. His most recent award, the Latin Grammy, was for the Best Engineered Album, Distinto by Diego Torres. Reuben Cohen is a Latin Grammy award winner whose mastering credits include the music of Bruno Mars, the Far East Movement, Snoop Dogg, Sean Kingston, Common, and Ingrid Michaelson. and Reuben Cohen from Lurssen Mastering. Cohen is a Latin Grammy award-winner who has mastered such artists as Snoop Dogg, Sean Kingston, Common, The Cranberries, Dev, Rob Zombie, and Ingrid Michaelson.

The MUSIC THAT CHANGES THE WORLD, SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION will also include a digital version of “Meditation, Creativity, Peace”, a compelling new documentary film featuring exclusive, candid footage from David Lynch’s 16-country tour around the world when he spoke to government leaders, film students, and the press during 2007 and 2008. (For additional information, and link to trailer, “Meditation Creativity Peace:”) click here.

MUSIC THAT CHANGES THE WORLD is being distributed to retail stores across in the U.S. and globally by Altavoz Distribution, a full-service distribution company committed to leveraging the sale of music and entertainment products to support good causes and make a difference. The Box Set will be available in stores as part of Record Store Day, on Saturday, April 21, 2012. Since it’s start in 2008, Record Store Day has been instrumental across the globe in bringing millions of fans to record stores on one day each year. Only 2,500 units of the Box Set will be released worldwide, makingMUSIC THAT CHANGES THE WORLD an instant collector’s item.

I’d better start saving my pennies now

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A person should have a personality. You won’t get one dicking around on a computer. It helps to go somewhere where there are other persons. Persons who are interested in something you are. That’s how a record store or any shop that’s got some life to it should work. It’s not about selling shit. I got my name, my musical education and my personality all from working at a record store during my tender years. Small indie shops have always been a mix of theater and laboratory. In the 50′s and 60′s the teen kids used to gather after school at these places to listen free to the latest singles and see if they liked the beat. You could buy the disc you liked for 79 cents and if you were lucky meet a chick. Clerks in these places became managers, (like Brian Epstein), label heads, (Jack Holzman) and Faces on album covers (like me).

Personally I feel best in a store that, while staying small and socially relaxed, still keeps a complete variety of music types and non musical recordings on offer. I’m aware though that a lot of great places are genre-specific, like dance hall shops in Jamaica or Compas here in Little Haiti. In Europe and on the West coast the same goes on for Punk and Goth. All of this is cool and has a much bigger future than most people realize today. When the record and record store businesses began to die at the turn of the new century, they deserved it because they got too big too boring and too plastic.

As Record Store Day Ambassador for 2012 I feel like a representative from some exotic jungle full of life and death and sex and anger, called upon to wear a leopard skin and translate joy to the world of the dead. --IGGY POP

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I’m excited and honored that so many viewers around the world have taken the time to stop by my Internet music blog to read and enjoy what I love writing. It’s so rewarding when people leave a comment or follow this blog.

Music is a passion I love sharing. It keeps me grounded. It’s integral to my soul. It never gets old and every day I discover something new or unique about an artist and their repertoire. It’s fair to say that music is infinite and we as music listeners are its vessel.

I believe music comes from God and through his spirit we live fuller, more enriched lives.

Brian Wilson spoke what my heart truly believes when he wrote his personal thoughts about the Smile Sessions.

Many years ago I said that, “Music is God’s voice.” I’ve often felt that I was on a musical mission, to spread the gospel of love through records. Probably nothing I’ve ever done has topped the music I did with Van Dyke, my old crew in the studio and the voices of my youth-me and The Beach Boys.

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Last year on Record Store Day Black Friday one of my goals was to find and buy the Rolling Stones 7″ 45, high-resolution, individually numbered collectible. Cutler’s Record Store in New Haven didn’t have it available that day. I eventually found it at Cutler’s after Christmas and bought it. I haven’t opened it yet.

The B side of this EP is song called  ”Before They Make Me Run“.

“No Spare Parts” is a song featured as a bonus track on the 2011 re-release of the 1978 album Some Girls. It is one of twelve previously unreleased songs that appear on the reissue. It features newly recorded vocals from Mick Jagger. The song reached number 2 on Billboard’s Hot Singles Sales.

Here is the Stones, “No Spare Part” YouTube video from their Web site.

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I couldn’t be happier with Spotify’s achievements on our behalf. I have sung the praises of Spotify ever since their Web music service hit our shores. I am proud to say I became a day one US Spotify premium member on July 14, 2011

Spotify continues to amaze me as it becomes the intersection of music and technology in the Web. It is a prime example of a well executed Web 3.0 Semantic application. I am especially keen on how Spotify the music platform interacts with the aggregate sum total of music intelligence that is the echo nest. Spotify Radio is the vehicle that leverages the direct  API interaction with the echo nest API of 30 million songs (5 billion data points.) Now that’s what I call a music cloud

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Leonard Cohen is a renowned Canadian singer-songwriter, novelist, poet, and painter. I feel guilty I haven’t allocated enough time to listen to and appreciate his art. I know his classic standard-bearer songs such as  ”Suzanne” and “Bird on the Wire”, but I truly don’t know the artist and his muse better than I should.

Granted there is so much music in this garden music and only so much time to listen appreciably to great music. I am trying to correct that mistake by starting with his latest effort, Old Ideas and working backwards in time.  Wikipedia does an effective job of letting us shuttle through a musicians discography in chronological reverse order.

Wish me well as I try yet again to become better acquainted with one of the great artists of our time

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MP3 files suck! They are compressed on the top and bottom, as well as on the sides. They damage our ears because they are shrill. Mp3 in my estimation, is a bastardization of sound. We shouldn’t have to settle or pay for such inferior sound.

The use in MP3 of a lossy compression algorithm is designed to greatly reduce the amount of data required to represent the audio recording and still sound like a faithful reproduction of the original uncompressed audio for most listeners. An MP3 file that is created using the setting of 128 kbit/s will result in a file that is about 1/11 the size^{[note 1]} of the CD file created from the original audio source.

Why in calendar year, 2012 do we continue to “compromise”  our listening needs with Mp3 audio?

As Neil  Young says, “Comes A Time“, take a look at the Neil Young Archives Volume 1 on Blue Ray and DVD audio.

Then notice how much we lose with MP3 versus what high-resolution provides the audio experience.

So we the music consumer must Occupy Audio Now!

“Occupy Audio We want the 95%. This is the 21st Century. We need to take our tones back. Give your fans what YOU hear. Figure out a way to do it. MP3 audio is the new radio. It should be free like radio. Our record companies need to deliver what we are making the way we hear it. Put pressure on them. Our music loving listeners deserve the best. Sell quality. It is possible. We can do it. Now is the time. Don’t be a slave to the Media corporations. Change what they are doing. Give your audience what YOU hear. Let them FEEL it. GIVE YOUR FANS A CHOICE. Thanks for listening.”

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So many great artists graced his Soul Train center stage. Here he is introducing the Jackson 5 in a classic moment of music history.

“Wishing you love, peace and soul”

Rest in Peace, Don Cornelius.

This is my favorite segment, “Dog Wigs”.

up to thousands…..How drunk do you have to be to spend that kind of money on a hairpiece? – David Letterman

See you tonight Dave.

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Image via Wikipedia

I love how monumental Paul Simon’s Graceland recording has become in  cementing and furthering the ties of American popular music with the syncopated rhythms of South Africa. Paul Simon and the musicians of South Africa have forged an indelible common bond that is strengthened by the 25th anniversary  celebration of a very special concert and music recording experience in South Africa.

The story of the making of Graceland, and the controversy created when Paul Simon went to South Africa to record with local artists, is told in “Under African Skies,” the new full-length documentary by two-time Emmy and Peabody Award winning filmmaker Joe Berlinger (“Brother’s Keeper,” “Metallica: Some Kind of Monster,” the West Memphis Three/”Paradise Lost” trilogy) and producers@radical.media and A&E IndieFilms.

I urge you to visit Paul Simon’s Graceland page here. Discover more about this wonderful achievement in music sociological and cultural circles.

Watch the official film trailer here. I can’t wait to witness this heartwarming, engaging film on the big screen!

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We can do it, just me and you

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Paul McCartney is very meticulous in his recording methods. The high-resolution production process utilized is described by engineer Allan Rouse of Abbey Road Studios:

The audio industry has seen many technical innovations since Paul McCartney and Wings’s Band on the Run was first released on vinyl in 1973, the most notable being digital recording. However, with the introduction of CD came two advances, “de-noising” and “peak limiting” which have become increasingly unpopular within certain areas of the music industry and amongst audiophiles.

De-noising was introduced to remove the inherent sound, or hiss, associated with analogue tape. The amount of processing used to remove tape noise can be varied, but when used excessively, many believe that it also has a detrimental effect on elements of the musical sound.

Copyright 2012 Paul McCartney Website

Peak limiting is a process that increases the loudness of music. It is achieved by holding the loudest peaks down and raising the overall level of the music. Much depends on the amount of limiting applied, but at its most extreme the result can be a serious reduction in the dynamic range and often audible distortion.

The release of The Beatles’ remasters in 2009 saw a marked change in attitudes towards these issues, where both noise reduction and limiting were used sparingly with the aim of representing the master tapes more accurately. Such is the case with the newly remastered Paul McCartney and Wings CD of Band on the Run: tape noise reduction has scarcely been used and the degree of limiting is subtle. In addition digital technology has advanced with the ability now to offer recordings in 24 bit/96kHz/16 track. The high resolution version is being made available via download and is being offered in two formats: limited, which is comparable in volume to the remastered CD, and un-limited, which in comparison with the limited version will sound quieter, but retain the dynamic range of the original master recording.

Rosemary and I love most about Paul (in addition to his ability to leverage technology) is his incurable romantic personality. The timing of this new album, just a week before Valentine’s Day makes it the perfect gift for your Valentine.

Copyright 2012 Paul McCartney Website

The majority of the tracks are solo efforts with the exception of  two  Paul McCartney written songs, “My Valentine” and “Only Our Hearts”.

Eric Clapton plays guitar on “My Valentine”.

Stevie Wonder collaborates with Paul McCartney on “Only Our Hearts”. This marks the 30th anniversary of their classic hit, “Ebony and Ivory“.

Stevie Wonder joined Paul McCartney at LA’s Capitol Studios to record the track.

Paul McCartney spoke about working with Stevie again.

Copyright 2012 Paul McCartney Website

“Stevie came along to the studio in LA and he listened to the track for about ten minutes and he totally got it. He just went to the mic and within 20 minutes had nailed this dynamite solo. When you listen you just think, ‘How do you come up with that?’ But it’s just because he is a genius, that’s why.”

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• Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney reunite after 30 years (thegrio.com)
• Paul McCartney Reveals Track List For ‘Kisses On The Bottom’ (news.radio.com)

I have developed a discerning taste for music journalism over the decades. The Oxford American, thirteenth annual Southern music issue surpasses my expectations with its content. It is a treasure chest of well articulated and researched music literature. The publication adds tremendous depth to the importance of our rich American heritage, the music of the South.

One of my major bucket list items is to take an extended vacation on the Southern blues trail(s). The Oxford American is the magazine I will be taking with us on that journey.

So forgive me as I rub my hands with glee here this morning. I have this great magazine to hunker down with and learn from this weekend.

Life is sweet

What was really neat was that when she was taking it out of the box to show it to me, SiriusXM played this song.

I thought it was most appropriate.

Thank you my sweet.

Peace,

Your Husband

XOXO

I just discovered SpotOn Radio from reading Spotify’s Blog. Pandora Internet Radio you’re on notice more than ever now, trust me.

SpotOn Radio is an innovative Apple iPhone music app. SpotOn Radio is developed and supported by the dynamic duo known as Springworks and Rebel&Bird.

SpotON Radio is free, but you need a Spotify Premium membership to use it. I just so happens I have a Spotify Premium account.

SpotOn Radio provides personalized radio stations which springboard off Spotify’s streaming technology. It seamlessly integrates an online music service(Spotify) with the Echo Nest’s song recommendation and discovery engine.

What’s awesome about SpotOn Radio is that it adds value and dimension to my Spotify social music experience.  I recently cancelled my Pandora One account. I had  a twinge of regret breaking away from the music genome experience Pandora has patented.

My anxiety turned out to be a momentary concern. The Echo Nest Music API engine with 30 million songs in its database (and growing) gives SpotOn Radio a superior advantage over Pandora Internet Radio. 

The song by Chicago comes to mind here, “Only the beginning, only just the start….”

Keep your eyes and ears on SpotOn Radio and Echo Nest. The Semantic Web, Web 3.0 is in full-scale music interaction now. I think that’s so cool

Related articles

• iPhone apps SpotOn Radio and Soundrop.fm use Spotify API (guardian.co.uk)
• Try SpotON Radio with unlimited skips, powered by Spotify (spotify.com)

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“There is no tale so tall I cannot tell it, nor song so sweet I cannot sing it.” Guy Davis

The Adventures of Fishy Waters: In Bed with the Blues features a number of Guy Davis original compositions, as well as songs by such blues icons as Robert Johnson, Reverend Gary Davis, Blind Willie McTell and Big Bill Broonzy. The album is a “road story” in the truest sense. Guy Davis performs the stories and songs in character as “Fishy Waters,” who traveled throughout the south meeting a host of vivid characters and creating a lasting impression that is at times humorous and playful, at others mysterious and sometimes intensely powerful

The Adventures Of Fishy Waters: In Bed With The Blues is a story containing several smaller stories: a mixture of stories, tall tales and music.  The subjects are survivors, not victims.  The culture is Black.  The music is Blues.  The message is human.

Guy Davis will celebrate the release of his new album with a special run of performances of the one-man play in February at the famed Crossroads Theatre in New Brunswick,New Jersey.

Special Contest

Order your copy and your name will go into a drawing for the Grand Prize: two tickets to see Guy do that very same show live at the Crossroad’s Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ, on a date of your choice! The show runs the last two weekends of February.

Your order must be received by midnight on January 30th in order to be entered in the drawing.

You can purchase Guy Davis’s CD, The Adventures of Fishy Waters: In Bed With the Blues here.