The Laughable, Unforgivable, Wrong-headed, Mixed-up Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame

The latest round of Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame nominees has been announced and it is full of the usual head-scratchers and you-mean-they're-not-already-in? artists.

Jann Wenner's 2016 batch:

Bad Brains  -  Love these guys.  Hall of Famers?  Nope.  Influential?  To a good many young punk/post-punk bands, but . . . naaaaah.

Chaka Khan -  Nice lady.   But, no.

Chic -  The perennial nominees without a chance.  Do they deserve to be in?  No.  Will they get in some day?  If Jann Wenner has his say.  This year?  Perhaps.

Depeche Mode -  In the British Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame, maybe.

Electric Light Orchestra -  Jeff Lynne has many friends in high places.  That doesn't mean his band of MOR geezers belongs here.  I'd rather see The Move get a nod.

J. Geils Band -  Yes, yes, YES!  A million times YES.    

Jane's Addiction -  For what?

Janet Jackson -   Sure.  Why not?

Joan Baez -  Because she slept with Dylan?  This is not the Trad Folk Sopranos Hall of Fame.

Joe Tex -  Underrated and underappreciated.  But, no.

Journey -   Next . . .  (I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.)

Kraftwerk -  Probably deserves recognition in the INFLUENCE category.  I wouldn't be upset if they got in.

MC5 -  I mean . . . the Stooges and the Sex Pistols are in, right?   I could see these guys sliding in on the strength of the AARP Leftists' vote but . . . naaaah.  Don't deserve it.

Pearl Jam - Yes

Steppenwolf - OK, even if John Kay is a colossal dick.

The Cars -  I'm all right with these guys.

The Zombies -  No, it's not the time of the season for them.  

Tupac Shakur -  He'll probably get in.  Small body of work, short career, tragic death.  Rock and roll?   Ugh.  Huh uh.

Yes - No

Again, my not-so-humble opinions.

The Top 25 Double Albums of All Time

Another exercise in subjectivity.   In my not-so-humble opinion, these are the greatest Double Albums ever released.   I'm open for comments, suggestions, ridicule, whatever, but here's what I've got:

1)  Exile on Main Street - The Rolling Stones
2)  London Calling - The Clash
3)  Eat a Peach - The Allman Brothers Band
4)  Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs - Derek & The Dominos
5)  The Beatles - The Beatles
6)  It's Too Late to Stop Now - Van Morrison
7)  Blonde on Blonde - Bob Dylan
8)  The River - Bruce Springsteen
9)  Chicago II - Chicago
10)  Tommy - The Who
11)  Electric Ladyland - The Jimi Hendrix Experience
12)  Physical Graffiti - Led Zeppelin
13)  Zen Arcade - Husker Dü
14)  The Basement Tapes - Bob Dylan & The Band
15)  Quadrophenia - The Who
16)  Songs in the Key of Life - Stevie Wonder
17)  1999 - Prince
18)  Rock of Ages - The Band
19)  Uncle Meat - The Mothers of Invention
20)  Wheels of Fire - Cream
21)  Speakerboxxx/The Love Below - Outkast
22)  (Untitled) - The Byrds
23)  Double Nickels on the Dime - The Minutemen
24)  Chicago Transit Authority - Chicago Transit Authority
25)  Tago Mago - Can

That's it!

Time to pour it out.

All out.

Find the Impostor! Which are the REAL names of reggae artists?

As I have been in a reggae mood as of late, I figured I'd throw out a little pop quiz as an attempt to tease your musical instincts and to possibly gauge the actual interest in this silly little blawg thingie.

Below is a list of 12 names of reggae artists (solo acts, duos, groups, etc.).  Your task is to tell me which of these are REAL artists and which are FAKES.   Know that there are at least 6 names below that are NOT bogus.

Please take the time to go through the list and jot down your answers in an email to me at padlercctx@gmail.com and I will be sending a gen-u-ine reggae 12" vinyl LP (remember them?) to the top 3 respondents.  (Ties go to the runner.  Er, to the earliest emailer.)

And remember ---  

IF YOU'RE GOOGLIN', YOU'RE CHEATIN'!

Boogie on, reggae woman (and man).

1)  Bunny Lye-Lye

2)  Wellington Archer & The Echolites

3)  Chesley Pepperton

4)  Bim Selassie & The Chosen

5)  Delton Screechie

6)  Carlton & The Shoes

7)  Slinky Enos

8)  Theophilus Beckford

9)  Dennis Alcapone

10)  Old Youth

11)  Big Little Junior & The Killjoy Footstompers

12)  Hopeton Crawford

The Highly Disputable List of the Top 20 Reggae Albums of All Time

All such lists are subjective.

Having said that, this list of the Top 20 Reggae LPs of All Time is fairly conclusive, accurate, enjoyable, entertaining and informative, even if you don't like or don't get or can't stand reggae music (poor you).  

Enjoy (and pay attention; there will be a test).

Presented in copyrighted David Letterman Top Ten Reverse Order:

20)  The Abyssinians - Satta Massagana
          Reggae gospel music.
19)  Bunny Wailer - Blackheart Man
            Deep, dark Rasta groove.
18)  Ken Boothe - Mr. Rock Steady
          Early ska/rock steady classic.
17)  Mikey Dread - World War III
          Primal post-Clash dub.
16)  Bob Marley & The Wailers - Rastaman Vibration
          Bubblin' on the Top 100
15)  Burning Spear - Marcus Garvey
          Back to Africa?  Back to the hills!
14)  Gregory Isaacs - Night Nurse
          Reggae's Smokey Robinson?
13)  Upsetters - 14 Dub Blackboard Jungle
          Lee Scratch Perry masterpiece.  
          If you've never heard it, you've never heard anything else like it.
12)  Bob Marley & The Wailers - Live!
          Hit me with music!
11)  Joe Gibbs - African Dub Almighty, Chapter 3
          Heavy dub with everything including the kitchen sink.
10)  Horace Andy - Skylarking
          Nearly unknown outside of Jamaica and England.
          Influenced thousands of reggae singers and musicians.
 9)  Augustus Pablo - King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown
          Dub Rosetta Stone.
 8)  Mighty Diamonds - Deeper Roots
          Most like their Right Time LP over this.  Not me.
 7)  The Wailers - Catch a Fire
          The LP that sprung Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh into the spotlight.
 6)  The Heptones - Night Food
          Sweet vocal harmonies, killer tunes.
 5)  Culture - Two Sevens Clash
          Politically charged LP that put the dread in dreadlock.
 4)  Augustus Pablo - East of the River Nile
          The master of dub and melodica, this contains his most accessible work.
 3)  Original Soundtrack - The Harder They Come
          Not a less-than-stellar track in the mix.
 2)  Toots & The Maytals - Funky Kingston
          Reggae's Otis Redding?
 1)  The Wailers - Burnin'
          Masterful playing, chilling harmonies, classic songs.

Landing just outside of the 20 mark:

Barrington Levy - Shaolin Temple
Yellowman - Mister Yellowman
Dr. Alimantado - Best Dressed Chicken in Town
Bob Marley & The Wailers - Exodus

Shameless self-promotion

Take some time and check us out on Discogs.    You might find something that you just can't live without.

(You never know!)

The Top Ten Not-Quite-As-Famous Drummers

Downbeat Magazine used to have (probably still has) a category in their annual "Best of" issue that they called "Talent Deserving Wider Recognition."  The gentlemen on this list fit that designation quite appropriately.

These 10 fellows may not be as well-known as the drummers on my previous list but they're every bit as deserving of mention.  

WIthout further ado, I give you a list of 10 of the best, presented in copyrighted David Letterman Top Ten Reverse Numerical Order©. 




10)  Max Weinberg -- Steady timekeeper for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band since 1974, Max lays down a permafrost-hard backbeat and is a noteworthy rival to Charlie Watts for the title of "Human Metronome".

9 and 8)  Ed Marimba & John French -- When you play drums for the famously non-rhythmic Captain Beefheart, you have to have a certain extra talent -- the ability to keep time while being fully prepared to wander off into a completely divergent tempo with nary a moment's warning.  Marimba and French (a/k/a Drumbo) provided all the rhythm that the good Captain needed for the sonic journeys into his blues-based, dadaistic musical world. 




7)  Aynsley Dunbar --  Starting in the mid-60s, playing with various Merseybeat groups, through his days with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, and on into stints with Frank Zappa, David Bowie, Lou Reed, Journey and Jefferson Starship with many, many other side projects in between and beyond, Dunbar has proven to be a favorite go-to guy for the discerning rocker.  

6)  Richie Hayward --  The man who provided the funky bottom to all those Little Feat songs, Hayward started with the offbeat Fraternity of Man and played with too many other great rock artists to mention here.  But perhaps his most off-the-wall gig was as a member of The Bedbugs, a most anachronistic musical group that appeared on the TV comedy "F Troop".  




5)  Vinnie Colaiuta --  Frank Zappa was known as a taskmaster who loved to compose musical pieces that he pretty much dared his musicians to master or find another gig.  Colaiuta was the rhythmist who was able to take whatever Zappa handed him and perform with perfection.  Amazing drummer.

4)  Carlton Barrett --  As the drummer for the Wailers, later known as Bob Marley and the Wailers, Barrett was a master of the inside-out rhythms of Jamaican reggae.  He and his brother Aston, the Wailers' bassist known as "Family Man", were and unparalleled reggae rhythm section.



3)  Ed Cassidy --  Seated at his humongous drum kit, playing behind his teenage stepson Randy California and the other members of the band, Spirit, Cass looked more than a bit out of place.  A totally bald man in a world of long-haired musicians, he lent a jazz-flavored swing to the complicated music of Spirit.   Cass's rock career started in The Rising Sons with Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder.  As other members of Spirit came and went, even Randy California, Cassidy played in every single iteration of Spirit.  

2)  Dino Danelli --  Go back and check out some of those old (Young) Rascals performances on YouTube.  Keep an eye on Danelli at the drums.  He was the closest thing to Keith Moon that this world has ever seen.   Style and substance and a heavy r'n'b drive.




1)  John Badanjek --   Who?  Johnny Bee.  The driving force behind Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels.  Badanjek played all-out all the time.  A whirlwind behind the traps.  His work with the Detroit Wheels is some of the finest, hard-driving R'n'B/Rock 'n' Roll you'll ever hear.  His drum breaks and fills are admired by many of rock's finest drummers.  Badanjek went on to form The Rockets and later played with Alice Cooper, Bob Seger, Ronnie Montrose, Nils Lofgren and many others.  Badass Johnny Badanjek.

An Old Fart's Guide to the Best Drummers in R'n'R/R'n'B

The recent 4th anniversary of the passing of Levon Helm got me thinking.  He's definitely one of the top drummers of all time in my booklet so . . . who would be in my Top Ten list?  It was surprisingly easy to come up with the Big Ten but I'll have to admit that the listing of Number 11 through Number 20 could include up to 30 drummers, easily.   (Squeeeeze 'em in.)

I put together my list and then started thinking more about it (never a good thing).  What deserving (and/or favorite) drummers had I left out?  Tough question.  The only thing to do was to come up with a second list -- the Top Ten Not-So-Famous Drummers Who Rarely Show Up in Someone's Top Ten List.  


And so I will give you both my lists, starting with the Best of the Best, presented in copyrighted David Letterman Top Ten Reverse Numerical Order©.  The list of Not-So-Famous cymbal-crashers will follow later (i.e., tomorrow).

Top Ten Drummers

10)  Carmine Appice.  Influential hard hitter from Vanilla Fudge, Cactus and Beck Bogert & Appice, Carmine has played with just about everyone (to use a tired, old cliché) and is often mentioned as being influential to other prominent rock drummers.  He's always in demand and has appeared on more recordings than you could imagine.

9)  Ginger Baker.  If he only had worked with Cream, he'd still make this list.  The man who introduced the double bass drum set-up to rock, he was perhaps the first rock superstar drummer.  From his early work with Brit Blues pioneers Graham Bond and Alexis Korner, he formed Cream with Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton, then went on to work with Blind Faith, Ginger Baker's Air Force, The Baker-Gurvitz Army (highly overlooked band), while remaining a champion of African polyrhythmic music.  




8)  Mitch Mitchell.  Easily overlooked for having to play behind the singular best guitarist of any era, Jimi Hendrix, Mitchell's drumming prowess is often given short shrift.  He's a beast!  His cymbal work is some of the finest in rock and roll, a result of his early interest in jazz and his pre-Hendrix touring and recording with Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames.




7)  Roger Hawkins.  The embodiment of white boy soul, his drumming has been featured on recordings (mainly made in Muscle Shoals, Alabama) of such artists as Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Percy Sledge, Etta James, Clarence Carter, Duane Allman, The Staple Singers, Rod Stewart, Cat Stevens, Eric Clapton, Bobby Blue Bland, Albert King, Paul Simon and on and on and on.  The rock-steady beat of the Muscle Shoals Sound.



6)  Hal Blaine.  The Dean of Session Players.  Blaine is the only drummer who can match Top 40 hits with Roger Hawkins, having appeared on

record with nearly every act to record in Los Angeles in the 60s (gross over-exaggeration #137).  He's recorded with the Beach Boys, Simon & Garfunkel, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, the 5th Dimension, Jan & Dean, Nancy Sinatra, The Crystals, John Denver, Dean Martin and too many others to mention.  In fact, he has appeared on 40 #1 chart hits and 150 Top Ten hits as well as the Grammy Award Winning Record of the Year for 6 consecutive years from '66 to '71, inclusive.  

5)  Neil Peart.  Literally the driving force behind Rush, Peart is a phenomenally talented rhythmist who plays with one of the largest drum sets in existence.  Bigger does not always equate with better, but Peart's set-up is not just for show.  He can milk some amazing sounds and timbres from his kit, all the while maintaining a steady pulse behind the complex and heavy music of these Canadian progsters.  (I wonder if there's a single band who has been labeled as a progressive rock band that enjoys being referred to as 'progsters'?)  To top it all off, Peart is the principle lyricist for all Rush songs.  Amazing.



4)  Benny Benjamin.  Motown session man Benjamin was such an

incomparable musician yet his importance and influence are hard to explain.  Having appeared on most Motown hits in the 60s, his sound is so familiar that people rarely appreciate his complexity.  The simplest way to explain his prowess is to look to Willie Mitchell, owner of Hi Records and producer of such Memphis stalwarts as Al Green, Ann Peebles and O.V. Wright.  In order to replicate the sound of Benny Benjamin, Mitchell employed 2 drummers on most all of his recording sessions -- one to lay down the bass and tom-tom beat and the other to play snare and cymbals.  One of a kind, Benny Benjamin.

3)  Levon Helm.  Funky and complex, often playing in a style that some have called inside-out drumming, Levon was the anchor behind the music of The Band.  Heavily influenced by the music he heard and the musicians he saw while growing up in rural Arkansas, Helm was rooted not only in blues and r'n'b but also the pure country sounds heard on the high-wattage radio stations out of Nashville.  He also fondly spoke of being mesmerized by the traveling minstrel shows that would play all over the south in tents set up near the cotton fields of his youth.  And all that plus years of traveling the back roads of rock'n'roll with the legendary Ronnie Hawkins led to the unmistakable, rootsy sound of The Band, 4 Canadians and this good ol' boy from Arkansas.   The fact that Levon sang lead or back-up on most Band songs while maintaining that loping beat is accomplishment enough.  



2)  Keith Moon.  Pure energy in motion, this madcap genius was mesmerizing.

 You couldn't take your eyes off him in performance, no matter how hard Pete Townshend tried to divert attention away from him with his windmill guitar strokes.  No matter how many times a fringe-heavy Roger Daltrey swung his microphone cord in circles, you still could not pull your eyes away from the animated thunder of Keith Moon.  Powerful and precise.  Raucus and inspiring.  There'll never be another.

1)  Charlie Watts.  The human metronome.  The man who knows the purpose and defining importance of being THE DRUMMER.  Charlie Watts has sat behind Mick Jagger and Keith Richards for 50 years and never once had to raise his arms to pound out a beat that you could hear over the guitar amps and p.a. system.  It's all in the wrists, baby.  Charlie Watts has the strongest wrists in the business.  You'll be watching the Stones performing "Midnight Rambler" and all of a sudden you hear that BOOM punctuating Jagger's delivery of the slowed down middle section of the song and you'll think "Where'd that come from?" because Charlie hardly moved a muscle.  How'd he do that?  Quiet and unassuming off the bandstand, Charlie is a genius of tempo and counterpoint when seated at his drum kit.  Remarkable talent.

(Coming next:  The Not-So-Famous Top Ten Drummers)