This year marks the 40th anniversary of the release of the self-titled debut album of Long Island-raised Everyman’s Everyman, Eddie Money.
The 67-year-old, shaggy hair intact, delivered a fan favorite hit-filled set last Friday at the Rose concert club in Old Town Pasadena before a standing-room-only throng.
After four decades on the road and with a couple thousand gigs logged, he still gives his all and delivers a show that was entertaining as hell.
He mugged it up showcasing an array of facial expressions, from heartfelt angst to powerful rock confidence to complete goofball, all in time to the music and enhancing what he was singing. He joked, he got patriotic (on the effective “One More Soldier Coming Home”) and he touted his three musician kids who opened his set.
He also praised the guy who has been his right-hand man for the past 31 years, guitar gunslinger Tommy Girvin, who grew up in nearby Temple City.
Girvin’s inventive solos and killer power chords were Money’s ace in the hole and he contributed greatly to the success of the show. Money knew this and he also wanted to give the man his justifiable due, so several times during their set he pointed to his guitarist, yelling out to the crowd, “Tommy Girvin! Temple City! Tommy Girvin! Hey, Temple City High School!” The locals cheered.
Money was going to be a New York City cop just like his dad, grandfather and brother. That is, until his love of driving, foot pounding beats captured his soul and he quit the NYPD trainee program for life as a sax-blowing rock and roll singer.
That first LP back in ’77 went double-platinum and spawned a trio of hit singles, two of them classics that still receive constant radio play, “Baby Hold On,” which opened his set and “Two Tickets to Paradise,” which closed (he returned to encore with the 1982 single, “Shakin’”).
He delivered solidly powerful, rocking takes on hits that deserve more radio airplay today, “Walk on Water” and “I Wanna Go Back.” As soon as he launches into then, you think, man these are such great rock songs. It’s such a drag that you never hear them on the radio anymore.
The song that got the biggest response is the song classic rock stations do play, every day: “Take Me Home Tonight.” In 1986, the song that featured a memorable guest vocal from The Ronettes’ leader, Ronnie Spector, reprising the chorus to their 1963 smash, “Be My Baby,” hit No. 4 on Billboard’s Hot 100 pop singles chart and No. 1 on its rock chart.
Friday, the song was driven by Girvin’s power chords and Money was ably backed by his daughter, Jesse, handling the Spector vocal.
Delivering a 30-minute set prior to dad’s headlining spot was a band featuring three of Money’s children – drummer Julian, singer Jesse and bandleader-singer-guitarist Des. They were good. All their songs were original. The songs were solid as were the vocals and the musicianship. They were professionals.
CLAPTON ADDS L.A. AND NY SHOWS
Eric Clapton is calling his 2017 American concert dates a celebration of his 50 years in music (even though he joined The Yardbirds more than 53 years ago, in September 1963).
The 71-year-old guitar deity also said that he was going to retiring from tours after these shows – a claim he has made countless times in the past, but he swears that this time he’s serious. However, his longtime bassist, Nathan East, says it’s unlikely that he’s done, reports Las Vegas based radio station KKLZ.
Clapton originally set only four concerts, a pair of shows, March 19-20, at New York’s 20,000-seat Madison Square Garden, and another pair at the 17,500-seat Forum in Inglewood, March 25-26.
Of course, these four dates sold out in seconds, so he added four more. However, these four – two more at the Garden and two more at the Forum – occur six months after the initial four.
The dates are Sept. 7-8 at MSG and Sept. 15-16 at the Forum. Tickets for all four shows go on sale Saturday.
For all eight dates, Clapton will be backed by his six-piece band (East, keyboardist Walt Richmond, drummer Steve Gadd, keyboardist Chris Stainton, and backup singers Sharon White and Michelle John). Unlike his last several tours, he will be the only guitarist.
Opening acts will be former Fabulous Thunderbirds guitarist Jimmy Vaughn and up and coming blues-rock guitarist Gary Clark, Jr.
Eric Clapton is the only three-time member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – with The Yardbirds, with Cream and as a solo artist. He was ranked second in Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, after only Jimi Hendrix.
QUEEN + LAMBERT SET U.S. SUMMER TOUR
Queen + Adam Lambert announced a 25-date summer jaunt through North America. It’s their first full-length tour here in three years.
The tour begins in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Ariz., on June 23 at the 19,000-seat Gila River Arena. Of note is what is billed as a “special” show at the 17,500-seat Hollywood Bowl on June 26. No details of show have been announced.
The tour wraps on Aug. 5 at the 19,000-seat Toyota Center in Houston.
Lambert is Queen’s second frontman after the 1991 death of its legendary original singer Freddie Mercury.
Former Free and Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers toured from 2004-09 with the two active surviving members, guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor (bassist John Deacon retired after the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992).
The 35-year-old Lambert, whose admiration for Mercury and Queen became well known in 2009 on “American Idol.” May and Taylor joined Lambert on that season’s finale performing “We Are the Champions.” The trio began performing together occasionally in 2011 and have traveled the world with hugely successful arena tours since then.
DEEP PURPLE, COOPER, WINTER TO TOUR TOGETHER
Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Deep Purple and Alice Cooper are teaming up for a 19-city summer tour, both camps announced. Special guest opening act will be The Edgar Winter Band. Additional dates are expected to be added.
The durable English rockers note that this tour is part of their “Long Goodbye Tour.” So, fans can expect to hear biggies from throughout their career. This includes 1968’s “Hush,” 1972’s “Highway Star,” 1974’s “Burn,” 1984’s “Perfect Strangers,” 1985’s “Knocking at Your Back Door” and, of course, their trademark, 1973’s “Smoke on the Water.”
The 68-year-old Coop says he’ll be performing all of his hits, including “I’m Eighteen,” “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” “Elected,” “Only Women Bleed,” “Poison” and his theme song, “School’s Out.”
Winter, 70, brings hits like his two mega-hits from 1973, “Free Ride” and “Frankenstein,” that hit No. 1, to this dance.
Deep Purple, which formed in Hertford, England in 1968, may be at the start of its farewell tour, but they aren’t done making new music. The band’s 20th studio album, “Infinite,” will be released April 7.
The tour kicks off Aug. 12 in Las Vegas at the 3,000-capacity Chelsea At The Cosmopolitan and includes an Aug. 13 stop at the 6,000-seat Greek Theatre in L.A.
GREEN DAY TO PLAY ROSE BOWL
With record sales close to 100 million worldwide, Green Day may be the world’s most successful punk band.
The trio of 44-year-olds who grew up in the San Francisco Bay area – leader-singer-guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer Tre’ Cool – will close out their massive 79-show Revolution Radio Tour before somewhere in the vicinity of 85,000 fans on Sept. 16 at Pasadena’s Rose Bowl.
The band is touring behind its 12th studio album, “Revolution Radio,” which came out last October.
The band finds itself in Europe and Great Britain this week and next. The first North American leg of the tour kicks off March 1 in Phoenix and concludes April 8 at the 14,800-seat Valley View Casino Center in san Diego. Four days later, they begin the first of eight shows in Australia and New Zealand.
June 4 finds them in the Netherlands, where they’ll headline the first of a series of festival gigs throughout Europe before launching into their second North American leg of the tour on Aug. 1, then wrapping it all up in Pasadena.
Tickets for the Rose Bowl gig go on sale today.
BRITAIN HONORS BOWIE WITH STAMPS
Britain’s “Music Giants Special Stamp Series” will honor David Bowie with 10 first-class postage stamps to be issued March 14, the Royal Mail announced on its website.
The stamps depict the covers of Bowie’s “Hunky Dory” (1971), “Aladdin Sane” (1973), “Heroes” (1977) “Let’s Dance” (1983), “Earthling” (1997) and his final album, “Blackstar,” which came out last January, two days before his death from cancer at age 69. Other stamps depict Bowie in concert during his 1972-1973 “Ziggy Stardust” Tour.
The Royal Main said this will be the first time Britain’s postal service has dedicated a full set of stamps to a single musician. A statement said the stamp series honored Bowie’s “many celebrated personas. For five decades, David Bowie was at the forefront of contemporary culture, and has influences successive generations of musicians, artists, designers and writers.”
OBIT: ASIA’S PROG-ROCK LEGEND WETTON
Legendary English singer-bassist John Wetton, a member of some of progressive rock’s most notable bands since the ‘70s, including Asia, died Tuesday morning at age 67 after battling colon cancer for several years.
Geoff Downes, Wetton’s keyboardist bandmate in Asia, tweeted the announcement of the death of his “dearest friend.” A formal announcement was also posted on Wetton’s website.
The cancer forced what was in reality his unspoken retirement early in 2014, although he hoped to reemerge and join Asia on its upcoming U.S. tour until announcing three weeks ago that he was withdrawing in order to undergo another round of chemotherapy.
His entire life saw him becoming a member of one well-known group after another, including several supergroups.
As a 22-year-old in the summer of 1971, Wetton joined Family, a popular established band in Britain, replacing John Weider, formerly of Eric Burdon’s second, psychedelic version of The Animals. Burdon then replaced Ric Gretch, who left Family to join former Cream members Eric Clapton & Ginger Baker and Traffic’s Steve Winwood in the supergroup Blind Faith. Wetton was with Family for a year, recording a pair of LPs that reached the Top 15 in the U.K.
After Family, Wetton found international fame for the first time later in 1972 when he joined guitar great Robert Fripp’s King Crimson. Wetton replaced Box Burrell, who would co-found Bad Company in 1973 with Free’s singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke and Mott the Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs.
Ralphs, in turn, replaced founding singer-bassist Greg Lake, who left Crimson to form Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Wetton recorded a trio of albums with the band, including 1973’s epic, improvisational “Lark’s Tongue in Aspic.”
In Sept. 1974, Fripp disbanded King Crimson (he formed a quirkier new wave Crimson band in 1981) and with that, Wetton joined veteran Brit rock band Uriah Heep, leading the group’s rejuvenation via the LP, “Return to Fantasy.” That one hit No. 7 in Britain and reaching the Top 10 in many European countries. However, Wetton’s time in Heep wasn’t to last.
His next stop was even more short-lived. He became a member of Roxy Music in 1976 but wasn’t with them long enough to record a studio album, only on board for their first live album, 1976’s “Viva!” However, from 1974-1978, Wetton worked double duty as he was also with Roxy’s romantic heartthrob frontman Bryan Ferry, recording four of Ferry’s hit solo albums with him and touring as a member of his solo outfit.
He formed another prog-rock supergroup in 1977. U.K. included Yes and King Crimson drummer Bill Bruford, Soft Machine guitarist Allen Holdsworth,and future Jethro Tull keyboardist/electric violinist Eddie Jobson, who was also an earlier member of Roxy Music. He was with U.K. during its entire three-year-run (also when they reunited from 2011-2015).
He was briefly with veteran British hard progressive rockers Wishbone Ash in 1980, before forming his most popular band, the supergroup Asia with Downes and his fellow Yes bandmate, guitarist Steve Howe as well as Carl Palmer from Emerson, Lake and Palmer.
Wetton’s vocals powered Asia’s self-titled 1982 debut LP to No. 1 on Billboard’s Top 200 pop album chart and achieving four-time platinum status as the album’s singles “Heat of the Moment,” “Only Time Will Tell” and “Soul Survivor” all became hits. The second album, 1983’s Alpha,” also went platinum here, hitting No. 6 in the U.S. and No. 5 in Britain, and a 45 from the LP, “Don’t Cry,” made the Top 10.
Wetton left Asia in 1991, rejoining for good 15 years later in 2006, and remaining until his 2014 retirement.
Through the years, he played on albums from numerous esteemed prog-rock figures, including Jobson, founding Yes guitarist Peter Banks, Roxy Music keyboardist Brian Eno, ELP and King Crimson lyricist Pete Sinfield, Family leader Roger Chapman, prog-rock and Elizabethan folkies Renaissance, a trio of albums with Genesis master guitarist Steve Hackett, as well as four studio and three live albums as a duo from 2002-2012 with his buddy Downes, and half-a-dozen solo albums between 1980-2011.
OBIT: SABBATH KEYBOARDIST NICHOLLS
Geoff Nicholls, a keyboardist, bassist and second guitarist for Black Sabbath from 1979-2004, died of lung cancer at age 68.
Nicholls appeared on nine Sabbath albums and was a behind the scenes touring member of the group during those years.
News of Nicholl’s death came via a post by the band’s guitarist Tony Iommi on his Facebook page: “I’m so saddened to hear the loss of one of my dearest and closest friends Geoff Nicholls. He’s been suffering for a while now with lung cancer and he lost his battle this morning. Geoff and I have always been very close and he has been a real true friend to me and supported me all the way for nearly 40 years. I will miss him dearly and he will live in my heart until we meet again. Rest In Peace my dear friend. Tony.”
Nicholl’s grew up with the rest of the band in Birmingham, England.
Nicholl’s tenure with the heavy metal legends saw him back up not only singer Ozzy Osbourne, but also singers Ian Gillan and Glenn Hughes.
Hughes also fronted Deep Purple and Gillan has been that band’s lead singer on and off since 1969 and since 1992.
Nicholls also backed upTony Martin during the years Ozzy was on the outs with Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward.
Steve Smith writes a new Classic Pop, Rock and Country Music News column every week. It can be read in its entirety on www.presstelegram.com. Like, recommend or share the column on Facebook. Contact him by email at Classicpopmusicnews@gmail.com.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
