Book Reviews: Jimmy Page by Jimmy Page and Scott Weiland Not Dead & Not For Sale

 

 This book was not very long but it definitely an interesting powerful read. Scott Weiland (lead singer from the Stone Temple Pilots) has had a very turbulent and creative life. He made a lot of bad decisions (over and over again apparently) but he somehow never gave up. 

The book itself was not very long and very readable. Weiland describes the horrors of drug abuse in a matter of fact way that never wallows and glorifies the filth of it like other band member books (Motley Crue for one). He is very open and frank about his mistakes but the intriguing part to me was how he was able to maintain his creativity during some very dark times.

A lot of songs were written when he was dealing with his dark moments. It is thought-provoking to read his song lyrics as they relate to what he was going through at certain times in his life. I was very inspired by how he never stopped creating and kept pushing himself forward. 

The book is a documentation of a man who made a lot of mistakes and how he acknowledges his mistakes and really wants to do better. 

I definitely would like to own this book and that is the highest recommendation I can give for a book review.

Next, the not so great book by a rock and roll legend.

Jimmy Page by Jimmy Page is a book of photos but was actually kinda boring. The lack of text was the problem. No new insight into Led Zeppelin.

 A lot of pics that if you are a fan of Led Zeppelin, you have probably seen before but that is a "rare"  picture in that particular shoot that hasn't been shown before.

A lot of pictures of the stamps on his passports were featured. Again boring. How in the world did such an talented, creative, business savvy man make such a mundane book?

If you are looking for any new insight or clarification of legendary rumors about the band, this is not the book for you. Jimmy Page wanted to highlight the most important and impressive moments of his musical career. But there is barely any text worth reading among the pages.

He is obviously an extremely private person who wanted to just display his life's work through pictures and let the pictures speak for himself.

I would have enjoyed this book so much more if he talked more about his creative process and how he overcame his addiction to drugs. Also I would have loved to get his insight on the music industry today. I will search recent interviews for the answer to those questions.

Check this out from your local library or just go to your local bookstore, sit down and flip through the pages for free. Don't get me wrong, I am a HUGE Led Zeppelin fan who has a collection of Led Zep tabletop books. This book should have been the best Led Zeppelin fan book to add to my collection but I was really disappointed in the lack of interesting content in this book.

Both books can be found on Amazon.

Have you read any of these books? Tell me what you think.

Thank you for reading!

Woodstock 3 Days of Peace and Music Director's Cut DVD Review

I have watched documentaries about the Woodstock Music Festival before but this DVD reminded me how huge that concert really was. Overwhelming is a word that comes to mind but there was still a very intimate vibe when I was watching the performances.

 It was just a sea of all people for all walks of life enjoying three days of amazing music. This huge peaceful type of concert with this type of "hippie" vibe and variety of famous artist been never been repeated  like this since. Concerts and festivals today do not compare to the vibe of Woodstock.

Watching the DVD, it was so interesting to look at the cool hippie/flower child fashions. I love the baby doll dresses, long strands of colorful beaded necklaces, and how "natural" everyone looked. There is so much plastic surgery, heavy makeup and hair weave to be seen today. Back then people looked like people. Black people wore their own hair a lot more than they do today.

The logistics alone are incredible to imagine how to plan a musical event attended by that many people. Of course a lot more people ended up arriving than the management team had planned for. I have always been extremely interested in behind the scenes activities. 

My favorite musical performances of the concert were Joe Cocker (Update: Joe Cocker died at 70 a day after I posted this blog - so very sad), Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Richie Havens. Some of the crazy zoomed in camera angles added to that being right on stage seeing the bands up close feeling. Loved it.

Hopeful one day I will be able to attend an festival that will come a little bit close to to the magic of Woodstock. The world is a very different place today. There is a lot to be cautious and even afraid of when being in crowds that huge. Europe still has annual music festivals. In America, there is a tendency towards violence sometimes (remember the other "Woodstocks").

Definitely check out this amazing DVD. I must admit it was fun to watch Woodstock but standing around in the rain, mud and the trash would be the least fun part of the experience. Let's not even think about how everyone smelled. LOL!

Thanks for reading!

Heart Brigade Concert - Excellent Tribute Band for Heart

 I just happened to be going to the library and saw a concert was happening at Festival Park. As I walked to the stage, I thought I was hearing the inbetween band setup music on the loudspeaker. It was a Heart song. To my complete amazement it was an actual real person singing the Ann Wilson (lead singer for the band Heart) part of the song to perfection.

This band was incredible. It is not very often that I am lucky enough to hear such level of talent from a band that is not a famous label signed artist. Not only did the two women sound exactly like Ann and Nancy Wilson from Heart, they looked very similar to the sisters. The band completely complimented the high level of talent displayed by the singers. When you can get the harmonies exactly right, you are a very good cover band indeed.

I was totally mad at myself for arriving late and missing part of the show. They even threw in some Led Zeppelin songs. Hearing Led Zep performed live by such strong vocalist that could do it justice. Priceless.

 How much did I like this band? The concert I attended was free but I would gladly pay to see Heart Brigade play live again. This is huge for me. I don't spend my precious money to see just any band. Yes, they were THAT good.

Heart Brigade is the Ultimate Tribute to Heart. They are based out of Raleigh, NC.

Suzi Nelson - Lead Vocals

Joan Burton - Acoustic and Electric Guitar

Kevin Segrist - Lead Guitar

Amy Hall - Drums

Jeff Reynolds - Bass

David Nodine- Keyboards

*****Scroll Down for Lots of pictures (taken with my iphone) and a VIDEO of the song "Baracuuda"***

Enjoy!

 Heart Brigade - A Heart Tribute Band playing Bara

 Their official website is here.

Amy Hall - female drummer. She was fantastic! I had never seen a female drummer in a band before.

Thanks for Reading! I had a dickens of a time trying to attach the video. LOL! Let you know what you think.

Bands Names - Past and Present

Wow have things changed over the years in the world of local bands.

 Check out these band names from two 1994 show lists from a now closed club Snookers and this show list I saw for the King club located in downtown Raleigh, NC. 

Planet Diarrhea? LOL! I don't know what kind of music this is. Hard rock? I would love to know the story behind this name that is a visual I do not ever want to picture in my brain. 

Naming your band is a very important part of the branding of the band. While walking around downtown Raleigh, I saw a band flyer that was actually colored using crayons. It wasn't even done in a cool artistic way either, it was kinda like in a crazy lame way.

Dead Cut Tree and Mindhorse are band names in my opinion  that were attention grabbing but in a good way. Of course, I am very pro 1990s and hair bands. Those were some great times hanging out with my friends and watching really cute long haired guys in local bands sing (or scream) very hard very fast rock music.

The Dangling Loafer...I have got to google all these bands just to at least see what they look like.

 Are these guys (and maybe some women) being funny ha ha or funny the joke is on you until you hear them play amazing music that blows you away?

Whoa. What do Plant Diarrhea's band T shirts look like? 

Thanks for reading!

Josh Thompson - More Pictures - Dogwood Festival Photos

As promised there are a LOT more Josh Thompson Band pictures. They played in Fayetteville NC on May 16,2014. The opening band was the Erin Nenni Band.

I was able to get a front row exact center of the stage directly in front of Josh sitting position. Very lucky! I took as many pictures as I could with my not the greatest but it will do for now camera.

The members of the band are: Josh Thompson, Tucker is the drummer, Steve plays steel guitar, Ben plays bass guitar and Jeff is the lead guitarist.

A big Thank You to @TailingThompson (Josh Thompson Fans)  for tweeting me the names of the band members. 

Enjoy the pictures. Comment down below and tell me what you think. Thanks!

The stage set up before the concert.

Erin Nenni

The bassist and the guitarist.  

Erin Nenni and her band

 

 

She was really inspiring because you could really tell she loved what she was doing.

Jeff tuning up before the show.

This is before the show. I thought they were the crew not the band. LOL!

This picture shows how my camera hated the bright white light just above Josh. It was so hard to get a good picture of him because the light was washing him out.

This is the first time I ever saw this instrument in person. Loved watching Steve play it.

Tuning inbetween songs. I love moments like this. The small details that make a show happen.

Ben playing the bass.

He was so much fun to watch. What a character.

Love this beautiful guitar. The words "Mossy Oak" were on the mic stand.

Josh Thompson

Tucker on the drums.

I didn't know what to expect when I went to this concert, but I am so glad I was lucky enough to be able to attend the show. The guys are so talented. I'm more of a hard rock kinda girl (I saw Alice In Chains earlier this month) but I really loved listening to this music and watching the Josh Thompson Band perform. The audience has a good time and the band has a good time.

Here is my previous post with pictures of the Josh Thompson Band.

Thanks for reading!