Greetings from my magical, mysterious ouzo factory high in the mountains of Peru. The three rockingest bands of all time are:
1. The Velvet Underground
2. The Ramones
3. Motorhead
Glad I could be here to set y'all straight. Until next time LEMMY IS GOD!

early jhonny cash is gooooood.. hell last week's jhonny cash is cool also

So--how's everyone feel about how the war's going? ...just kidding. I plan on listening to some of the stuff I've heard you guys mention myself. After all, Donnie and Martin fervently educated me about music years ago, and I'm still learning.
I know I already gave my 3 suggestions, but here's more because I can't resist. I love doing this to my nieces and nephews too (though they probably hate it) -- Billie Holiday's rendition of Pennies from Heaven followed by Jane's Addiction's Ocean Size, or anything off of Nothing's Shocking. Dire Straits Love Over Gold. Lots of Bobby D.

I must say I like this thread much better than the hollerin about Iraq
I've been reading the myriad suggestions for garage band learnin' (great suggestions)
heres mine:
Rockpile "Seconds of Pleasure"
CCR "Chronicle"
A good Johnny Cash complilation from his Sun years (I found one in Jenkins, KY a few years back that was a British import and had about 40 songs on it)

heck yeah... blue monday was the high point of my week in JC and i still listen in on the internet!

here's a suggestion that comes from the hubby -- Rush 2112. Someone HAD to mention Rush eventually!

tell em to tune into blue monday on ETSU 89.5 1;00 to 4;00 PM wayne winkler will change there life ..of the blues and jazz on sat night after midnight on sat .. then some early 40's and 30ish hillbilly .. pistol packing mama etc..

That's a good question, Brook. Impossible to answer, but a daggone good quesion no less. My thoughts are the beginning bands need something to imitate that both sounds cool and is relatively easy to play so you don't get too discouraged. It amazes me to see even adults trying to play who can't figure this simple rule out: if it's a professional band playing a difficult song in a studio that you're trying to imitate, you and your friends who can't play for beans at this point won't be able to pull it off at all, and you'll get discouraged, so keep it simple. So, y'know, you might wanna go with The Ramones, AC/DC, Chuck Berry, Nirvana, and such. But the hard truth is that you're gonna sound like crap imitating that stuff, too, at first. So, do it for a while. Imitate anything you want for a while. Then (and this is true with anyone I've ever known who got good at playing with other people) very early on, give up trying to play other people's songs. Just write your own, no matter how simple and bad they are. Play 'em your way, whatever that is, but try to gradually incorporate some more and more complex elements of style from people that you hear. But the thing is, if these kids are really enjoying it and really wanna learn to play, they'll figure that out for themselves. We all did back in the day. It was a survival technique, writing all those songs. I just wanted something for us to play. But definitely, you can't get anywhere until you learn something about basic blues rock patterns, so thus I'd say number 1, get 'em a Chuck Berry CD. The Great 28 oughta do it. And you won't get anywhere until you learn something about locking together as a solid rhythmic unit (especially bass and drums), so get 'em an AC/DC cd, not Back in Black but I'd say Powerage or High Voltage. And after you've learned something about basic blues patterns and solid rhythm, you'll want something to aspire to, something which uses all of that to some degree but goes beyond it and gives you something to shoot for, so give 'em The White Album. Lots of songs on that one. Some simple enough to play. Some head shakingly complex.

There you go.

i recently spent a long weekend with a 13 yr old and 16 year old male(both white european extraction)
after 72 hours with my record collection, they requested burns of:

london calling

double nickels on the dime

the ramones

youth...

caveat on rock lists:

NO WHO!

"who" is for owls to find some one to love. not for luring children...

i am glad we are not arguing about war anymore...

and n. o. to the ro. ll. ing. ston. es toooooooooo....

if i could stick a knife in mick's heart (suicide o'er the galaxy.)

cd's of three?

revolver
pet sounds
trout mask replica
pre 70's

otherwise:
here come the warm jets
any MC5 (but kick of course out the jams muthafuka...)
83 percent of anything by merle haggard

but if you actually can stand it: fuck the number three
count basie, roland kirk, coltrane (yes to love supreme), ornette colman, anthony braXton(not tony).

have you ever been experienced (with):
"hotel california" in spanish?
"rocky top" in black forest german?
or the polish version of "montana"?
well i have...


or wait, rasheed and mohamed will soon be free to sell soda with 15,000 year old vibes from the land of ur and kirkuk... or you can actually HEAR something if you are willing...patient...

Well, duh...Amazing what a little time and sleep will do. Didn't Lenny Kaye already do most of this work for us? Turn him on to the Nuggets stuff, at least the first couple of volumes. And as much of the commentary as you can get him to read. Twenty years on, it's still about as fucking salient as you can get. So now I'd say, let that stand for the 60's and 70's, The Cramps for the 80's, and the whole lo-fi thing from the 90's, The Vaselines, The Flaming Lips, Guided By Voices...

I just remembered something---a friend of mine, former co-worker who is like a little sister, 23 years old, was telling me about the music she listens to---The Old '97s, Beck, etc., and we were hanging out at my place, and I showed her some old LP's, of the Kinks, and the Ramones--------she had never heard of them before. I was sad for a week.

Here are my three picks:

1) The Violent Femmes, first album--particularly Gone Daddy Gone
2) The Velvet Underground and Nico---Heroin is cool--and I'll Be Your Mirror is heaven on earth
3) The Who--Quadrophenia---Love Reign O'er Me in particular

first of all a website for garage rock:

http://www.littlestevensundergroundgarage.com/play/archive.html


my choices (in no particular order):

Rolling Stones - Big Hits (High Tides and Green Grass)
The Ventures - Walk Don't Run (the best of The Ventures)
B52s first album (although someone will have to explain Ricky Wilson's whacked 5 string tuning).

Mix well....season to taste

I would suggest burning 3 cds' worth of individual tracks. For a true crash course that seems a lot more reasonable. More effort, I guess, but probably less money? That said, I think I'm saying:

1. Patti Smith- Horses
2. You Really Got Me-era Kinks
3. The Sweet, circa 1975 tied with The Knack, circa 1979

I'm assuming that you want him to understand that the goal is to make music that makes people want to kick holes in the wall...from a sheer frenzy of joy. And I imagine he's probably heard "Rock&Roll Pt. 1" since that's been bastardized by the sports world, but try to put it into context for him, poor soul.

Now, I'm positive this list will help generate the kind of climate some have missed on this here blog, but take the pepsi challenge: take everybody's list, eliminate the duplications, and play 'em three at a time against each other, try to imagine being fifteen again, and ask yourself, if you were on the verge of committing suicide, if you had the gun to your head, which three discs would stay your hand? Those would be the three I'd send him.

For those you may have ended up at this site as a result of a word search involving country music lyrics,,,

THERE ARE NO TRUCK STOPS IN JOHNSON CITY, TENNESSEE. THE NEAREST ONE IS ABOUT 35 MILES AWAY. Thank you for your time and attention to this public service announcement.

Now Brook onto your problem, London Calling is a good choice but would not make my top 3 list.
I would suggest any two of the pre- Phil Spector Ramones (prior to End of the Century) and the Sex Pistols Never Mind The Bollocks. Three is a short list to choose from though,,, any of our regular readers could suggest a hundred more, and all would make good additions,,,, somewhere on my list would be a couple of Led Zepp albums (a band that now puts me to sleep) and Who's Next (my choice for best album ever!) Oddly enough, most of my list for albums every rock and roll picker should be familier with would include a bunch that I never listen to anymore,

hey everyone... i need help in the form of opinions. this is earthshattering stuff here... are you ready?

a have a friend whose 15-year-old son is starting a band. i want to pick up 3 must-have classic CDs for a young guy's garage band education. i need suggestions. i was thinking London Calling for sure... but after that the world opens up and i can't put my finger the other two must-have-classics. Ozzy, ac/dc, stooges, ELO -- what would you send to a kid who is embarking on his first voyage into garage band-land?

Here's another post delivered straight to my Hotmail account.... I present Sindy Byrd... Now Syntha Lorenz. She really is a psychotherapist now!

__________________________________________

Hi there everyone,

Fomerly Sindy, the bar maiden currently Syntha, the psychotherapist.  The illustrious Elizabeth, upon a recent visit to San Franscisco, informed me of the website.  I caught up this morning skimming the archives. "The fat guy that used to play bass for the Dusters" name is Dave.  Sam is Bert's brother.  Bert chose his name when he arrived here in US after Bert Reynolds.   What a trip down the old memory lane, some pleasant and some downright painful memories all rose to the surface.  Yesterday I saw the movie, "Laurel Canyon" it's an appropriate precursor to sending a story in today. It's a must see for reminiscing the rock and roll lifestyle.  I have many many great stories, all of which are remembered sketchily due to my altered stated of consciousness.  For me though, there were years of fun in the height of the JC scene.  I think I arrived, via my childhood girlfriend Ann, as things really started to take off.  Todd moved to JC from Nashville with his blonde girlfriend Janet, his address book, and connections to other bands.  I think he helped our small scene grow by bringing in all those great bands. Do you guys remember Government Cheese, or that Goth band from Nashville with the bald bass player.  I'll think of the name later.  Stinky Finger in their early days with Johnny Rotten, What ever happened to him?  

OK, which story shall I tell?  It could be about the dentist who funded the Highlander days or one of the many great Heather stories, including the one where we go-go danced on the stacks for a Nightmares show.  However, I am sworn to the girlfriend code of silence and would only reveal if all parties are in agreement.  I could tell one involving a devilish deb and a sound guy with their pants off just as the girlfriend broke down the door and took the boyfriend on a death ride.  Due to the nature of the material, I think I should contemplate the stories.  You know how the bartender can see too much.

syntha  

sometimes i get posts sent straight to my hotmail account.... here's one from Russ Onks.
________________________________

Saw the continuing list of old bands from back in the day. My 2 cents:

The Velt - (Kay Why FRY CHI?) Vernon Reed doesnt have that pull now.

Manray - Athensy band

Chapter Two - (surely mentioned before) The most damned infectious groove, pop, skabilly band to give
me tingly feelings ( IF anyone has any of there stuff recorded let me know please)

63 Eyes - the Kings of it all. (Dose-Nitos-Eyesing) James, Drew and Myself , dosed, with about a gross of
Whippets and the Eyes at the Highlander. Brian Releva Sucking my jacket all night long?

Snatches of Pink - Stoned Stones stuff (Sara the drummer was cool)

five-eight - Good guys but my mom bared them from the house.

The Roosevelts - bared with five-eight (Sorry guys)

DEFPOTEC - at the Pub Out back grande opening... that was scary. Frat boys loved us ( Millworker Younquist
ROCKS)

and who can forget the night at the Highlander that Barbara and Brook presented "800 lab rodents run wild
in her wet nun poon." (Todd should have gaurded those letters better) -- [editor's note... this refers to rearranging letters on the Highlander sign... nothing more, I swear!]

Ok that's all i can do for now Im spent. Hope that helped.

Well put Roland, it's high time somebody put things straight and brought these important socialogical issues forward for discussion. I applaud you and your courage in coming forward.

I am a good sailor
My dick is a whaler
Me ballocks weigh 44 pounds
If there's any young ladies, who wanna have babies
Tell 'em that I'm back in town

i like disco

OK, somebody say something to piss someone off so we can get this thing rolling again....

I don't know who the owners of the Otter are now, but I hear strange stories about them, the truth of which I haven't a clue. They have bands play in the back and on the patio, and they've renovated the upstairs with an extra bar up there and pool tables. This Saturday, the band Tonic is playing---$7 to get in. The college crowd gets a little annoying to me too, mainly because the acoustics in there are shitty. Jimmy Constable still bartends there. They still brew beer, but at the grand opening I heard they didn't have any brewed yet. Ahh Johnson City. I just hope they still make their black bean quesadillas. Does anyone know what happened to a Nashville band, the Billygoats? They used to play at the Otter and Down Home, but I haven't heard anything about them in over a year.

I tried to go to the Otter a few weeks back, for its grand re-opening (I think.) Ridiculous. Trust-fund college babies as far as the eye could see. I couldn't get waited on. After 10 minutes, I left. I think there was beer there.

whhaaaaat? the sophisticated otter has returned? has anyone been? is it any better? how's the brew? they are still brewing aren't they? where are they having bands? in the back? on the patio? so many questions.

I NEVER miss free beer.

Great time. Too bad the crowd was, how do you say? - ah yes, sparse.

I hope this doesn't discourage them to come back to the area.

Next chance to see The Shazam will be at the Sophisticated Otter on May 16th.

Dammit, I missed the free beer. I really planned to come down there, Scott, but I got sucked into watching NCAA basketball, Texas v. Syracuse. Man. If Syracuse takes the championship, I'm gonna be one happy woman. Could mean some cash for me. And I have to confess, I'm in love with Carmelo Anthony. Totally.

Another confession: I like the song Hot in Herre (that's how it's spelled) by Nelly. Please don't kick me off this blog. He's hot too. O.K., I won't say any more. I wish I knew more J.C. stories, but my memories are more like snapshots---from staring at someone's shoes to sitting at a party at someone's house I don't know, etc. I think I was really shallow back then. Gosh, I've evolved so much :). (that's a joke) I'm working on another poem though. I fucked up the envoy on the last one, the 3 line stanza at the end, so if Doug Powell read it I'm embarrassed.

sounds good dont it ?

Plez here. I hope to see as many of you as possible at Hans's (the Shazam's) show tonight at the Casbah. I can't watch the news lately. Really. I need rock, and the Shazam is one fine "rock and roll outfit."

I click here occasionally to look for old JC stories, but nobody's telling any. Have we quit doing that? I hope not. There's more to tell. C'mon, people, tell me a funny story. I could use one about now.

Ok, that's it. Now get your butts to the Casbah tonight. One free beer on the Plez for anybody who comes and mentions this ad.

I just returned from a donkey basketball game that took place past Watauga Lake, in Poga (pronounced Pogey). All of the players were riding donkeys - a fundraiser for the Poga Volunteer Fire Department. Ooh boy. Something fundamentally wrong there. Just---bizarre.

B.B. King and Koko Taylor at the Paramount in Bristol Saturday night 7 p.m.