Tag Archives: The Whiskey A Go Go

Music Monday: April 29, 2024

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Hi, everyone. Welcome to another edition of Music Monday.

Blog image for 2024

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

On January 16, 1964 a little club opened opened on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, California. Singer Johnny Rivers was the first performer at The Whisky a Go Go that night. Over the last 60 years hundreds of acts have followed including legendary bands like Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac and Guns ‘N’ Roses. Many of my great musical loves played there as well including Otis Redding, Elton John and The Doors. In fact, the latter were discovered there during their four month stint in 1966 and signed to a contract with Elektra Records.

Their self-titled debut album, released in January 1967, was an instant smash. It included a blues cover-Willie Dixon’s “Back Door Man”-along with original tracks like “Break On Through (To the Other Side)”, “The Crystal Ship” and the #1 hit, “Light My Fire”.

As much as I love this album, I tend to listen to the band’s subsequent ones more because of songs like “Roadhouse Blues”, “L.A. Woman” and “Hello, I Love You”. Then a random online poll asked for the best last track on an album. My usual answer is Bruce Springsteen’s “Jungleland”, a nine minute rock opera which is not only my favorite song of all time, it closed out the 1975 masterpiece, Born To Run.

But then I remembered the epic last track on The Doors first album. An unbelievably haunting, fearless, disturbing, brave and alarming saga set to music. Part song, part spoken word in a musical odyssey that takes us from the sublime (the music, Morrison’s incredibly rich baritone voice) to the shocking (an exploration of the Oedipal complex) while an unbelievably mesmerizing guitar riff flows throughout bookmarked with intense drumming and a remarkable organ & Fender piano bass arrangement. It is an experience, not just a tune.

To have the courage to write and record a psychedelic song of this magnitude is unbelievable enough, but to put it on your first record is just as bad ass as it gets. And it made its debut at The Whisky in 1966. For eleven & a half minutes, the listener is paralyzed into a hypnotic haze inside Jim Morrison’s mind which in this case was not an easy place to go. But what a stunning ride it was and continues to be.

“Can you picture what will be?
So limitless and free
Desperately in need of some stranger’s hand
In a desperate land“.

Whisky circa 1966
The_Doors_1966
The Doors 1970

Top: The Whisky A Go Go in 1966, the year The Doors were discovered there. Middle: The Doors circa 1966 (L-R): Jim Morrison, John Densmore, Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek). Bottom: The band circa 1970 (L-R): Krieger, Morrison (back), Densmore and Manzarek. (Images found online.  Original sources unknown.)

The Doors: “The End” (1967, written by The Doors: John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek and Jim Morrison).

Stay safe & well.

Let’s Take A Moment Day 533

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Hi everyone.  Hope you are all well and continue to stay that way during this global health crisis we are facing.  But in addition to protecting your physical wellness, what are you doing to stay mentally healthy today?

Aug 2021 blog

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

I know we are still facing a serious situation but a new year gives us hope for the new days, seasons, opportunities & moments ahead. Still, music is something that will never change for me. It is my refuge, the most comforting part of my life & the one thing I consistently count on. So until a more normal semblance of life returns, I am going to share a song I listen to that helps me escape the current state of things, if only for a few minutes each day. And if this helps anyone else, even better.

We close out this month with another musical birthday. Today Van “The Man” Morrison turns 76 years young. Born August 31, 1945 in Northern Ireland, he gained his love of music from his parents. His mother was a singer and his father’s record collection educated his son in all genres of music. But it was the blues that resonated most with him. His father bought Morrison a guitar when he was 11 leading him to form his first band a year later. By the age of 17 he was touring Europe with another band but his breakthrough came in 1964 when he joined the group Them.

They charted three times including their most well known song, “Gloria”. That brought Morrison to America for the first time in 1966 on a tour that included several shows at Los Angeles’ acclaimed Whiskey A-Go-Go where he met & performed with The Doors. By 1967 Them disbanded leading to Morrison’s relocation to the US and the start of his solo career. After his song, “Brown Eyed Girl” became a Top Ten hit in the country, Van The Man was on his way.

I am such a fan of his beautiful songs & his unique interpretations of the lyrics. His evocative tone tells a story all its own separate and apart from his sublime poetry. As much as I adore his ballads, Morrison’s take-no-prisoners approach to his faster tempo songs envelopes me into each and every note. Today’s track is no exception. Happy birthday, Sir George Ivan Morrison. May you see 100 more.

“And when you walk
Across the room
It makes my heart go
Boom boom boom“.

Van

Van Morrison’s sixth studio album released in 1972. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Van Morrison: “Jackie Wilson Said (I’m in Heaven When You Smile)” (1972, written by Van Morrison).

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing what I love and how I am coping with you.

Stay well.

Let’s Take A Moment Day 307

Posted in Music by

Hi everyone.  Hope you are all well and continue to stay that way during this global health crisis we are facing.  But in addition to protecting your physical wellness, what are you doing to stay mentally healthy today?

Shakespeare music

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

I know we are still facing a serious situation but a new year gives us hope for the new days, seasons, opportunities & moments ahead. Still, music is something that will never change for me. It is my refuge, the most comforting part of my life & the one thing I consistently count on. So until a more normal semblance of life returns, I am going to share a song I listen to that helps me escape the current state of things, if only for a few minutes each day. And if this helps anyone else, even better.

Before today’s song, I want to wish the happiest of birthdays to a most spectacular “Golden Girl”, Betty White. This legend of radio, TV & film turns 99 today & has been entertaining the world for 82 years. I was lucky enough to meet her in May 2011 when she came to Barnes & Noble in Lake Grove, NY to sign copies of her book, “If You Ask Me (And Of Course You Won’t)“.

She was an absolute delight. I was in complete awe, told her meeting her was like meeting one of the Beatles which made her laugh. But when I told her she & the other three Golden Girls were like my surrogate mothers from their very first episode she smiled and squeezed my hand. It was one of the most cherished moments of my life. Keep rocking, Betty. You are loved, worshiped & revered. And an absolute riot!!!

Betty White

Betty White in May 2011 in Lake Grove, NY. (credit: Me!!!)

Music nightclubs have been around forever, but for the music I love, some of the best saw the 1960’s & 1970’s as the peak of their success. The Troubador in West Hollywood, CA introduced artists like Elton John, Tom Waits & James Taylor. The Fillmore in San Francisco, CA hosted Cream, The Grateful Dead & blues greats Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters. At NYC’s Fillmore East Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane and The Allman Brothers (who recorded their first live record there in 1971, At Fillmore East) appeared. Max’s Kansas City was a favorite hangout spot for John Lennon when he first moved to NYC, Deborah Harry was a waitress there and artists like The Velvet Underground & David Bowie performed there. Two other NYC clubs-The Bottom Line & CBGB’s hosted Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, Linda Ronstadt & Van Morrison at the former and Patti Smith, Blondie, The Talking Heads and other punk/new wave artists at the latter.

Another West Hollywood club, The Whiskey-A-Go-Go, opened January 11, 1964 and quickly became one of the top music venues for up & coming artists. Two of my favorites-The Doors & Otis Redding-were featured there and it helped put them on their respective musical maps. For Redding especially this was a huge moment in his early career as it led to the recording of his live album, In Person at the Whisky a Go Go. It was recorded during his three shows in April 1966 but not released until October 1968, nearly a year after his death. A second release, Good to Me: Live at the Whisky a Go Go, Vol. 2, was released in 1993.

The shows at the club took place a year before Redding’s mainstream success thanks to his rousing performance at The Monterey Pop Festival in the summer of 1967. It included today’s song which was first recorded in 1932 but Redding’s version 34 years later took on a whole new style due in part to the producer, soul legend Isaac Hayes. Booker T & The M.G.’s played on the record & with Redding in person at the Monterey show. Redding’s complete five song set from the concert along with Jimi Hendrix’s performances were released on the 1970 album, Historic Performances Recorded at the Monterey International Pop Festival. Redding’s are included on a few of his posthumous releases plus you can also find the videos on YouTube. Today’s song was his last number of the night and it is nothing short of spectacular.

“It’s not just sentimental no, no, no
She has her grief and care, yeah, yeah, yeah
But the soft words they are spoke so gentle, yeah
It makes it easier, easier to bear”.

Otis at Monterey

Otis Redding on stage at the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967. Alan Jackson (back) was the drummer that night with the band Booker T & The MG’s. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Otis Redding: “Try A Little Tenderness” (Live performance at The Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967. Originally recorded in 1966. Written by Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly and Henry MacGregor “Harry” Woods).

I only own the rights to the Betty White picture, nothing else. I am just sharing what I love and how I am coping with you.

Stay well.