Born To Rock & Roll

Get your kicks with 50 Licks

Posted April 5, 2013 by borntorockandroll
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: 50 Licks, Biggest Bang tour, Fifty Licks, Julliard, Lincoln Center, Pete Fortanale, Rolling Stones

If you haven’t already, be sure to pick up rock radio pioneer Pete Fornatale‘s final book, 50 Licks, a fascinating look at a half century of Stones minutia from a master of the subject. And by now you should know it takes a lot for a Stones book to impress us, so buy with confidence.

Also, check out the 50 Licks blog for our take on 15 years being a Stones fan in New York City. We even drop the royal ‘we’ for a couple of thousand words. That said, we’re honored to be able to contribute to an excellent site commemorating 50 Licks and its legendary author.

For just a taste of what you’ll get, here’s footage we filmed at the Biggest Bang tour press conference up at Lincoln Center back in May of ’05. When they hit the stage, it’s like the fall of Saigon. Dig:

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Now We Are… 5?

Posted February 21, 2013 by borntorockandroll
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: Charlie Watts, Davy Jones, Keith Richards, Michael Nesmith, Mick Jagger, Micky Dolenz, Mike Nesmith, Peter Tork, Redd Kross, Ronnie Wood, The Figgs, The Monkees, The Rolling Stones

Jesus Christ – 5 years of BTRNR. Half a decade – can you believe it? Time is flying by so quickly one could think we’ve largely taken the last year or so off.

That said, 2012 was without a doubt the best of our brief existence. If only we’d written about it…

So here are our 5 favorite rock & roll moments of our 5th year (along with our photos. yes, we took them all – even the Stones ones – except the one from 1966 and that damn cake). It won’t be possible but at least try to contain your jealousy – it’s not dignified.

5) Memphis – We made the pilgrimage the day we hit the big 4-0. What a city. Graceland, Sun, the Memphis Museum of Rock & Soul, the Gibson guitar factory, Lansky’s, insane BBQ and fried chicken, minor league baseball, outstanding rock clubs, and the cherry on the mid-South sundae… the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. If you haven’t been to Memphis and have any appreciation of musical or cultural history whatsoever just go. It’s dirt cheap, it’s fun as all hell, and it will provide you with more geeky goose bump-inducing moments than any other place in America.

Except Beale Street. That place sucks. Total tourist trap.

Mills & Buck, Hoboken, April 10, 2012

* It should be noted that we rode out the end of our 30s at Maxwell’s in Hoboken with the Baseball Project, which means we saw Pete Buck and Mike Mills from R.E.M. in the same tiny club where they’d last played three decades prior. That was pretty cool.

The Figgs at the Rock Shop, Brooklyn, Oct. 20, 2012

4) Reacquainting ourselves with the Figgs – We first became Figgs fans in 1994, when we heard “Favorite Shirt” on the radio for the first time and thought to ourselves, “Man, Too Much Joy’s new single really kicks ass!” They were the first band we ever interviewed. Their shows (especially the ones at the legendary Bay State Hotel in Northampton, MA) were mark-the-calendar affairs. They were our very own Next Big Thing.

And then we moved to New York and didn’t see them for 15 years. Sure, we kept up with the albums, and would occasionally see various members pop up on a shared bill or maybe, say, sitting two stools away at a bar… but when guitarist Guy Lyons left the band, we figured that something would be lacking without the twin-guitar attack. This past March at Littlefield’s, we were proved very, very, very wrong. The Figgs are possibly the most consistently great band on the planet and definitely the most underrated.

Oh, and seeing them reunited with Guy doing about half of Lo-Fi At Society High this October at the Rock Shop was damn near a dream come true. If you’ve yet to be indoctrinated, start with their new 25th anniversary (that’s right – they formed in high school) career-spanning compilation 1000 People Grinning, ’12′s stellar The Day Gravity Stopped, or ’94′s aforementioned Lo-Fi. Or ’00′s Sucking In Stereo – that is one fantastic fucking album. Hell, get Banda Macho and Palais, too. And Coudln’t Get High and Follow Jean Through The Sea. Slow Charm, though – that one’s kind of a dud.

Click here for all your Figgs needs. Here’s “Brain Be Gone” last year in Boston:

Redd Kross, Music Hall of Williamsburg, July 6, 2012

3) The (official) Return of Redd Kross - A quick recap: in 1997, Los Angeles’ favorite sons Redd Kross released Show World, unequivocally the greatest album of all time. Then they vanished for the better part of a decade, before occasionally resurfacing to play a few shows a year with their late ’80s-vintage Neurotica line-up (three McDonalds and a Hecker). We caught them at Irving Plaza and Southpaw in ’06 and ’07 respectively and both times, our face hurt the next day from grinning like an absolute moron the previous night. This summer, 15 years after Show World, Researching The Blues was sprung. And it is absolutely fantastic. Record Of The Year-worthy, even. Is it as good as Show World? Of course not – nothing is. But it’s still pretty damn spectacular. And it features “Stay Away From Downtown”, the greatest song released so far this century. What – you need proof?

2) The Rolling Stones – Them again. We kicked off our own 50th anniversary celebration in April, catching Ronnie Wood and his crack band (Chuck Leavell, Willie Weeks, Steve Jordan, Barnard Fowler, and some young ‘un on organ) at the Golden Nugget in Atlantic City. Solo, Faces, Stones… Ronnie hit them all. And he was magnificent. The boy just needs a challenge, apparently, because he played his ass off.

Mick hosted the season finale of Saturday Night Live and was fucking hilarious. The Stones songs he played with Foo Fighters and Arcade Fire were solid, though the blues number with Jeff Beck sucked royally. Regardless, Mick acting is always a surreal treat.

4th of July weekend was spent with Charlie Watts and the ABC&D of Boogie Woogie at Iridium. Top notch all the way and we’ve never seen Charlie have so much fun.

The long-overdue Stones Bootleg Series and the Crossfire Hurricane doc were good, as well. Granted, we’d have preferred some more obscure shows and some footage from a little deeper in the archives (because we pretty much have it all and we’re greedy), but hey – the vaults were finally cracked.

And that was all very nice. Because the Stones were done. Over. Mick, Ronnie, and Charlie were all just peachy. Keith was apparently incapacitated, rendered incoherent from the palm tree incident in ’06. You know, the one that caused him to grow that moustache.

Until they played 5 shows in London and New York and fucking dominated. Jesus Christ. The only difference is that they’re all uglier and Keith doesn’t constantly do the leg-kicks anymore and actually stands there, locks in with Charlie, and plays. Oh yeah, Bill Wyman showed up in London and Mick Taylor showed up for pretty much all of them. We were lucky enough to get a taste at the 12.12.12 show at MSG (we snuck in to a charity show – our karmic comeuppance came when we saw Sir Paul looking like a late ’80s Long Island lesbian and fronting Nirvana) and then get the full deal (including a stint in the free beer section before being upgraded way beyond our price range) the following night in Newark. And they played “Around And Around” for the first time since El Mocambo ’77. Yes, we’re bragging. And you would, too. They’re going to tour in ’13, and it’s going to cost a fortune, and yet we’ll all go. Because they really do put everyone else to shame.

1) Davy’s Dead – Long Live The Monkees – Their 2011 tour (their first in a decade) was probably the best one they’d done since Hendrix was opening for them. It was truly a wonderful multimedia affair featuring an ace (and remarkably non-cheesy – a Monkee reunion first!) band, a mindblowing set list, and the guys in fine form (especially Dolenz – that guy’s voice… Good God). We caught the Beacon show and then the free Coney Island gig, outdoors and about 95 degrees. ”Davy can’t do ‘Daddy’s Song’ in the tux and do the whole dance routine – that’ll kill him!” Davy did just that and then joked about how much he wanted a “Budweisah Beeah”.

And then…

What an absolute shock. Davy was family, for God’s sake, because the Stones and the Monkees… they made us who we are. And you know what was absolutely bizarre and more than a little spooky? We woke up early that morning with a sudden urge to order prints of a shot we took of the three of them the previous summer – which we did. And a couple of hours later, Davy was gone. Admit it – that’s pretty fucked up. We went to the memorial show at B.B. King’s a month later and oh boy, what a shitshow that was. Cousin Brucie’s toupee emceed the 5 hours of tedium but it was all worth it to see Micky and Peter come out at the end. There couldn’t be any more Monkees without Limey The Lip, so we went to pay our respects to both the man and the band. And it was a huge, huge bummer (especially when Dolenz lost it during “Daydream Believer”).

And then Michael Nesmith decided to write about gazpacho on his facebook page one night in early August, wrapping up his ode to a broken cracker with an offhanded “Oh yeah, and Micky, Peter, and I are going to be doing 12 shows this November here in the States.”

Fuck.

Ing.

Hell.

So yeah, we didn’t sleep for three days because of the nuke Nez dropped and managed to score 3rd row at the Huntington, NY, show and good loge seats for the grand finale at the Beacon. Because these would be the greatest shows we’ll ever see.

But before we get to that, we finally met Dolenz at a record signing in October. He was the only one we hadn’t yet harassed (more on that later) and he was incredibly cool. Anyway…

Huntington, NY, December 1, 2012

Anyway, the Mike/Micky/Peter shows lived up to the hype. Just seeing Mr. Michael Blessing himself play live was something we thought would never happen, period – let alone with the Monkees. It was all a blur of 12-string Gretches, Headquarters and Pisces, fake Moogs, and band and crowd generally just going batshit crazy for two hours. And keeping with the spirit of ’68, Nez and Micky now strongly resemble LBJ and Hubert Humphrey.

But yeah – we can’t say it enough: those were the best shows we’ll ever see – nothing else will ever come close. Though being front row/center for Nesmith solo in April just might give it them a run. Stay tuned… and dig “Circle Sky” from Dec. 1st in Huntington, NY:

So that was our 2012.

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It’s the 5th Annual BTRNR Grammy Live Blog!

Posted February 10, 2013 by borntorockandroll
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: Grammy Awards, Grammy Awards live blog

Get your velvet and satin finery ready. See you at 8!

7:57PM: Here we are, coming to you from the land of ice and snow, for the 5th straight year. Most of the awards have actually already been given out. Brian Wilson won for the big SMiLE box set – score one for him and Van Dyke! And somewhere in Los Angeles, a man named Love fumes…

Other big winners?

and

8:01 PM: What the fuck’s up with the guy on the flaming trike?

8:03 PM: Oh, it’s her – the ironically named Ms. Swift. Taylor’s getting pretty sassy for a mere retarded cat.

8:04 PM: Make the clowns go away now.

8:05 PM: Hey look – it’s Bagger Vance!

8:06 PM: Are they gonna wheel out one of the Whitney wax things from Madame Tussaud’s? That would rule.

8:08 PM: It’s kind of strange that J.T. is now the face of Memphis music.

8:09 PM: L.L. is still cool, but let’s face it – he’ll never top the white deodorant incident from ’91.

8:11 PM: What’s scary is that Elton’s hair color now looks more natural than McCartney’s.

8:12 PM: It was nice of Elton to dress up as Robin Gibb tonight. A fitting tribute.

8:14 PM: We are not nearly drunk enough to be doing this. Time to start working on that.

8:15 PM: Jesus Christ, she’s everywhere.

8:18 PM: Wasn’t expecting a testicular cancer shout out so quickly.

8:20 PM: I finally realized who Pitbull looks like – insane Red Sox reliever Alfredo Aceves!

8:21 PM: Dude, we’re getting Adele. Again.

8:23 PM: fun. has to be Canadian, right?

8:24 PM: fun. is the Chumbawumba of the 21st Century.

8:24 PM: What the fuck’s up with that guy’s feet?

8:25 PM: OK, the rain is interesting. Pretentious, but interesting.

8:29 PM: That State Farm ad raised the bar on all things annoying.

8:33 PM: John Mayer – a velvet Good Humor man.

8:34 PM: This stage set reminds me of the Liberty Tree Mall in Danvers, MA, for some reason.

8:35 PM: Who the fuck are these people, anyway?

8:39 PM: I think we just saw footage of Dick Clark’s first stroke.

8:41 PM: When someone’s got a tattoo on their forehead, what more is there to say? Fuck, this is going to be a long night. Wait – that was the whole song?

8:42 PM: And naturally, it segues into a country award. Hope Eric Church wins – he put out an album called CHIEF.

8:43 PM: Nope – it’s Carry Underwear.

8:44 PM: Glory to God! Drink.

8:46 PM: A Grammy moment from 1968 (photo courtesy of Psycho Jello):

There had better be a tribute or there will be hell to pay.

8:50 PM: Tim McGraw’s lid must weigh 12 pounds.

8:53 PM: fun. gives good speech. OK – Johnny’s taking the Keith thing a little too far…

8:55 PM: And now, a word from Liam Gallagher:

“Everyone looks like they’ve got fucking nits and eat lentil soup with their sleeves rolled up. They all look like they live on the heath. Maybe that’s where they record. Everyone’s fucking Don McLean — far too many acoustic guitars, no style,” he continued. “They look like they shop at Oxfam. I wouldn’t put any posters up of any band if I was a 16-year-old lad. There’s none of that sitting down on fucking stools for me, sweetheart.”

8:57 PM: Mumford, when your head weighs about 30 lbs, the shitty beard doesn’t really give you a jawline. Nice try, though.

9:02 PM: Marc Bolan for cop shows. And Tropicana or whatever this is obviously never got the memo that “Good Day Sunshine” was Paul’s ode to weed. Christ, people are stupid.

9:04 PM: The bile is rising. We need more booze!

9:05 PM: Is it coincidental that the black part of Beyonce’s dress is proportional to the area of the Superdome that lost power last week?

9:06 PM: The return of Trousersnake! He really does know how to mach schau – you’ve gotta hand it to him.

9:10 PM: There is nothing false about that falsetto – credit where it’s due.

9:12 PM: Peace God? Nas is 5’1″.

9:13 PM: Chris Brown is more pissed off than Mike Love right now.

9:13 PM: Frank Ocean is completely baked.

9:20 PM: Grohl with the actress born to play Courtney Love in the eventual biopic! Stacked Actors, indeed.

9:21 PM:

9:23 PM: The beard and the motorcycle leather don’t really work together, El Camino.

9:24 PM: Goddamn, Adam Levine’s voice is grating.

9:25 PM:

9:30 PM: I’d love to watch a drink-off between Kelly Clarkson and Adele. It’d be like that one in Raiders Of The Lost Ark. Just brutal.

9:34 PM: We’re at the halfway point. Not watching Walking Dead – honestly.

9:36 PM: Rhianna puts the hash in hashtag.

9:38PM: Nice fucking toque, asshole.

9:40 PM: Here we go again, being all Rob Sheffield and talking about what they’re wearing. We’re happy to let you know that we had a nice chat with him about the Monkees at a pizzeria a few months ago. Huge fan. Solid dude. Looks like the mother in Gremlins.

9:41 PM: Jacket of the night right there… Shit – there we go again.

9:43 PM: Jay-Z looks like he’s 55 years old. Always has…

9:43 PM: Parental Advisory retro headgear!

9:44 PM: Everyone who got a lifetime achievement award is dead.

9:46 PM: BOBCAT!

9:49 PM: Hell, maybe we’ll live blog the Country Music Awards on April 7th.

9:50 PM:

9:51 PM: Dr. John’s headgear rules. Gris Gris, indeed. El Camino has some sick tone coming out of what might very well be a plastic guitar.

9:52 PM: Katy Perry is violating all of CBS’s sideboob rules yet they keep cutting back to her. Someone’s getting fired.

9:53 PM: OK, that rocked.

9:54 PM: We were wrong – Carole King is not dead. That jazz bassist might still be kicking, too. Speaking of dead, tonight’s Roll Call Of Death is going to be absolutely epic.

9:59 PM: Shit – they’re uncaged! Look out!

10:00 PM: Man, 35 years ago these guys would have been Orleans. Or Atlanta Rhythm Section.

10:02 PM: They just showed the Los Angeles subway system on TV! Nobody believed me when I told them it existed (namely my friends in LA)! Vindication!

10:05 PM: Oh shit – the Bob Marley tribute. This won’t be pretty. Christ, even L.L. sounds white when he tries to put on a Jamaican patois.

10:06 PM: Bruno is the definition of crossover. I know a 1 year old who is obsessed with him and a 67 year old who has him as her ringtone. And yes, I was fucking shocked that my mom knows what a ringtone is.

10:07 PM: Holy shit – Taylor Swift dancing. THAT was funny.

10:09 PM: Things have taken a turn for the bizarre. Bruno & Sting in a “Hyooooooo” contest?

10:13 PM: Bob Marley’s boring as shit but that was just kind of… tasteless. And when BTRNR is calling something tasteless, you know it’s gotta be really bad.

10:15 PM: ”I’m getting dizzy”

10:18 PM: It must be getting close. Spark one up for Davy, pour one out for Yauch, and get low for Duck.

10:21 PM: So this is the Lumineers? Why the fuck is everybody so scared of rocking these days? Seriously – electric guitars have become anathema and it’s fucking pathetic. If this also disgusts you, come see Noisy-Le-Grand’s first show in 7 years – and last show ever – Friday, March 1st at Trash Bar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn!

10:22 PM: Noel Gallagher on Jack White – “He looks like Zorro on doughnuts!” Still the greatest line ever.

10:23 PM: OK, looks like he brought both bands with him tonight.

10:25 PM: The whole Tele with a Bigsby thing is weird. Just get a Strat if you need to wang that bad. This is good, though, Torreador Blanco.

10:26 PM: Ha! Katy’s boobs are causing feedback!

10:27 PM: That was a little unnecessary, but fuck it. And fun. is cleaning up. Turns out they’re from Brooklyn, not Canada. That is… saddening.

10:39 PM: While we’re standing here watching commercials and eagerly anticipating more Carry Underwear and the Levon Helm tribute… what is it about The Band that is so fucking special? They’re terrible. Strained harmonies, shitty drumming, the whole rustic pose thing, waaaay too much cocaine and pretty much everything else, lousy songs – they basically suck. Yeah, Levon may have been a cool guy who had hoedowns at his farm upstate – and he did do a hell of a job narrating Elvis ’56 – and hey, The Band was great when they were backing up Dylan in ’66… but they’re fundamentally a shitty band derailed by drugs and ego. If Martin Scorsese hasn’t made that shitty movie, would anybody even care about them? What’s the appeal?

10:40 PM: OH MY GOD – PRINCE WENT BLIND!

10:42 PM: So wait – this guy’s Belgian?

10:43 PM: And his name’s not pronounced “Got ya”? We’re out of the loop. This is 40, people.

10:44 PM: Oh, this is not ending in 15 minutes. Good thing we’ve got the reserve beers in the fridge.

10:45 PM: An obscure Men Without Hats song resurrected for a Tide ad?

10:49 PM: The Brubeck thing sounds a little off.

10:52 PM: This is a great time to frontload for the home stretch, by the way.

10:53 PM: DEAD TIME

10:55 PM: So Earl Scruggs did “Five Piece Chicken Dinner”? Davy didn’t get enough love.

10:57 PM: No, sorry, this is bullshit. Levon does not get top billing when Duck doesn’t even get a note played in his honor. Fuck that. Oh Christ, who are these assholes? Zac Brown? Oh, fuck right off. And Mumford? DRINK.

11:01 PM: Mavis Staples is not preventing this from being the whitest thing we’ve seen all night.

11:02 PM: Elton’s voice is shot.

11:03 PM: Seriously – how many people there even know who Levon Helm is? What a fucking sham.

11:09 PM: We’re still here – we’re just still ruminating on the whole Levon thing.

11:12 PM: Holy shit – he’s singing about Gump? Seriously? What the fuck is going on here? It’s not even a song! This is the guy getting all the hype? Wow.

11:14 PM: And he’s doing the Conquistador, to boot. This is unprecedentedly vacant.

11:14 PM: Whistling?

11:16 PM: Adele’s the only person there with a sense of humor or any self-awareness at all.

11:17 PM: MUMFORD, YOU FUCKING NIT.

11:18 PM: Anybody else feeling kind of depressed right about now?

11:23 PM: Holy shit – Motown: The Musical would be more entertaining that the shitshow being foisted upon us tonight.

11:25 PM: Chuck D’s still rocking the Pirates hat! Nice!

11:27 PM: ”Refuse to lose”? Coach Cal approves of this. So do we – this rocks. YAUCH TRIBUTE! YEAH!

11:29 PM: Commercials over this? Fuck you, Grammys. Fuck you right in the ear.

11:30 PM: Well, our last sentiment pretty much ties it all together in a pretty little bow. What a disaster. Thanks for following and see you next year!

Comments: 30 Comments

Listen To The Band

Posted December 1, 2012 by borntorockandroll
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: Michael Nesmith, Micky Dolenz, Mike Nesmith, Monkees, Peter Tork

After 26 years, the inconceivable has become reality- we’re finally seeing Michael Nesmith in concert. As an added bonus, he’ll be joined by Skillet Head and Our Man Thorkelson. Limey The Lip, of course, won’t be there.

Two nights, two shows.

This is huge. In fact, it’s pretty safe to say that this will be the musical event of our life.

And it’s absolutely guaranteed that we’re gonna completely lose our shit.

Stay tuned for photos, clips, impressions, and probable psychotic breaks.

Until then…

Comments: 6 Comments

Hey look – it’s Mick Taylor playing “Midnight Rambler” with the Rolling Stones!

Posted November 25, 2012 by borntorockandroll
Categories: A Rolling Stones Zen Moment, Uncategorized
Tags: GRRR!, Mick Taylor, Rolling Stones, The Rolling Stones

November 25, 2012, O2 Arena, London. Holy shit.

Comments: 1 Comment

Nixon Now

Posted September 22, 2012 by borntorockandroll
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: Minus Five, Peter Buck, R.E.M., Richard M. Nixon, Scott McCaughey, The Baseball Project

It was only a matter of time.

A year to the day after R.E.M. ceased to exist, inveterate stage whore Pete Buck made his solo debut last night at Seattle’s Sunset Tavern.

Under the nom de rock of “Richard M. Nixon”.

Of course, we can only assume that longtime Buck compadre Scott McCaughey billed himself as “Henry Kissinger”.

But you know what? It’s kind of awesome. Pete can’t sing for shit… but you already probably guessed that. Enough poetic waxing… ladies & gentlemen, the garage rock stylings of Richard M. Nixon!