Forty-five years ago this month, Bob Dylan released one of his greatest albums.

Highway 61 Revisited was a jump away from folk and a giant leap forward to rock.
Every song save one (“Desolation Row”) was recorded with a rock band.

“Like a Rolling Stone” was the big hit single from the LP, but my favorite song is “From a Buick 6.”

The year began with the US release of the double album London Calling.
Their triple album, Sandinista!, was released in December.
That’s over fifty new tunes, on five albums, released in one year!

Listen to the opening tracks from each album.

The Clash - London Calling

The Clash - The Magnificent Seven

1963 album cover

It’s HOT here in New Hampshire!

What better time than now to listen to the Motown classic — “(Love is Like a) Heat Wave”!

It was recorded by the group Martha Reeves and the Vandellas and
released in July 1963.

There are many cover versions of this Motown classic.
One of my favorites is by The Who.
This hard rocking version was recorded in 1966.


The Who - Heat Wave

The Who in 1967

If you have satin, short shorts then put ‘em on!
It’s time for some summer fun with this disco classic by KC and the Sunshine Band.
It hit number one in the US in 1976.

I counted 93 “shakes” at the 3:30 mark in the 6:44 version of the song.
I stopped counting after that because I got bored.
If you can make it through and count the shakes, then please let us know!

And click here to go to an earlier blog post on the origins of the disco ball.

The Say I'm Different LP cover

Last month, I blogged about Miles Davis and his landmark album Bitches Brew.
This month, I pay tribute to a woman who heavily influenced Miles at the time; his wife Betty Davis.

Betty Mabry met Miles Davis in 1966, they married in 1968 and divorced a year later.
(Miles accused Betty of getting a little to close to Jimi Hendrix at the time.)

Betty Davis became a funk superstar after her divorce from Miles.
Her album They Say I’m Different came out in 1974.
Heavy on the groove….

…and fantastic album photos!

Back cover of They Say I'm Different

Crawdaddy January 1967

Crawdaddy May 1967

The founder of Crawdaddy! described his magazine as the first to take “rock and roll seriously.”

Crawdaddy! was created at Swarthmore College in 1966 by student Paul Williams.
The first issue contained his own writings of music criticism.
He mimographed the pages and distributed them at school.
Soon after, he recruited other writers to help fill the pages.

The first two photos are from the Crawdaddy’s early years.

The issue below was published after Williams left the magazine, so he could concentrate on writing books.

Crawdaddy June 1969

Miles Davis made a bold statement when he released Bitches Brew forty years ago.

A new music genre was born: jazz-rock fusion
Some jazz critics hated it.
Many rock critics loved it.

But no matter what critics said, Bitches Brew went on to become one of the best selling albums in Miles Davis’ career.

Listen to a portion of my favorite track off the album.
And Happy Birthday Miles!
The late trumpeter was born on May 26, 1926.

Miles Davis and producer Teo Macero

This Fender Stratocaster was bought by an uncle of mine for $75.

He bought it off a guy who found the abandoned instrument.

It was only when my uncle brought it home did he realize the value — at least a thousand dollars.

The serial number on this guitar shows it was made in either 1978 or 1979.
Strats made by the Fender Music company are highly sought after among collectors.

Buddy Holly, Eric Clapton, and Stevie Ray Vaughan are just a few of the legendary musicians to lay down licks on a Fender Strat.
The photo below shows my uncle’s friend Andy playing this vintage instrument.

Mama Said on the Scepter label

Sunday is Mother’s Day.
So what better way to honor mum than with this tune; the top ten hit “Mama Said” by The Shirelles.
It was released in 1961.

This week, President Barak Obama spoke at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. He laid out his plans for NASA, which included an eventual manned mission to Mars.

Obama’s not the first world leader to have grandiose plans for the red planet.
Discussions about space exploration and dreams of visiting other planets have been around for centuries.

Above is an artistic example from 1901.
It’s a great graphic for the tune A Signal From Mars.
The song was written by Raymond Taylor and arranged by E.T. Paull (yes ET, get it?)

And listen to the tune!
John Lacalle's Band: A Signal from Mars (sample)