One of my favorite musicians in the Chicago bar band scene was bass player Tom "Pickles" Piekarski. Besides playing with John Prine, he also played with the Famous Potatoes, Mike Jordan and the Rockamatics, Betsy and the Boneshakers, and finally, The Bad Examples.
I loved watching him, listening to him, and talking with him between sets and after or before shows. Pickles always had time and interest in chatting with people.
Here's the obit from the Chicago Sun-Times: The Tasty Force of Tom Piekarski
*****
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Monday, August 12, 2013
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Music: My favorite band ever
I'm a huge Beatles fan. I believe I have everything they've recorded on CD, and I was smart enough to keep some of my old vinyl records of their recordings, including stuff like Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band and Magical Mystery Tour. These young men were musical geniuses, in my opinion. They shaped the course of rock music, and they continue to influence people today. The recording technology has gotten better, but the music has not advanced as much, in my opinion.
I'm a musician myself; my main instrument is keyboards, but I also play a passable guitar and am a fair drummer. I've played in a lot of bands over the years, and it seems we almost always covered at least one or two Beatles songs, even if it was just Twist and Shout and I Saw Her Standing There. But we've tried a ton of 'em...Harrison numbers like Something, Lennon songs like Glass Onion and The Ballad Of John and Yoko, and McCartney tunes like Back In The USSR and Lady Madonna.
Not surprisingly, there are tons of cover bands, groups playing the Beatles' catalogue, and some doing it very well. I've not seen a ton of Beatles' tribute bands. But the few I've seen are good. American English is a group that plays around the Midwest, and they try to look and sound like the Fab Four. The Fab Faux is a bunch of guys from New York who don't care so much about looking the parts; they prefer to do the music perfectly. Saw them at the Vic Theater in Chicago where they did the White Album in its entirety just before Christmas last year. (Did I say they do the music perfectly?)
The only other Beatles tribute band I've seen is this one: British Invasion. If you have visited Epcot and lingered in the United Kingdom pavilion, it's likely you've seen them too.
I'm led to believe (by my wife and others) that, as a musician, I look for different things than casual fans do. I listen for guitar riffs, for drum fills, for vocal harmonies, for bass runs, for all the little things that make the songs sound close to the originals. And I hear those things when I listen to British Invasion. They appear to be top-notch musicians, on the order of American English (the band I referenced earlier). And they appear to love the music they are performing.
These are just a couple of pictures I had in my camera of the band performing in their gazebo in the courtyard of the UK pavilion. I hope to catch a set by them when I'm there later this fall.
Rock on, British Invasion!
*****
I'm a musician myself; my main instrument is keyboards, but I also play a passable guitar and am a fair drummer. I've played in a lot of bands over the years, and it seems we almost always covered at least one or two Beatles songs, even if it was just Twist and Shout and I Saw Her Standing There. But we've tried a ton of 'em...Harrison numbers like Something, Lennon songs like Glass Onion and The Ballad Of John and Yoko, and McCartney tunes like Back In The USSR and Lady Madonna.
Not surprisingly, there are tons of cover bands, groups playing the Beatles' catalogue, and some doing it very well. I've not seen a ton of Beatles' tribute bands. But the few I've seen are good. American English is a group that plays around the Midwest, and they try to look and sound like the Fab Four. The Fab Faux is a bunch of guys from New York who don't care so much about looking the parts; they prefer to do the music perfectly. Saw them at the Vic Theater in Chicago where they did the White Album in its entirety just before Christmas last year. (Did I say they do the music perfectly?)
The only other Beatles tribute band I've seen is this one: British Invasion. If you have visited Epcot and lingered in the United Kingdom pavilion, it's likely you've seen them too.
I'm led to believe (by my wife and others) that, as a musician, I look for different things than casual fans do. I listen for guitar riffs, for drum fills, for vocal harmonies, for bass runs, for all the little things that make the songs sound close to the originals. And I hear those things when I listen to British Invasion. They appear to be top-notch musicians, on the order of American English (the band I referenced earlier). And they appear to love the music they are performing.
These are just a couple of pictures I had in my camera of the band performing in their gazebo in the courtyard of the UK pavilion. I hope to catch a set by them when I'm there later this fall.
Rock on, British Invasion!
*****
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Tale of two music theme parks
Two music themed parks were being discussed over the last couple years. One was the Hard Rock Park in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. This park actually opened in the spring of 2008, then was hit hard by the recession. It closed for that season a month early, as the company went into bankruptcy, and the park was sold off to another theme park company which reopened it as Freestyle Music Park
The rides were themed to various rock songs and bands. For example there was a Led Zeppelin roller coaster, which had input from the surviving members of Zep. There was a dark ride called "Nights in White Satin" themed to the Moody Blues song from my own youth. Six areas of the park were themed to various rock eras like "British Invasion" and "Born In The USA."
Another proposed theme park was to be made in Eloy, Arizona, between Phoenix and Tuscon, and it was to be called Decades Music Theme Park. As you can see from the link (if you find it interesting to look, that is), not much has been posted on this since 2008. I looked around and couldn't find any confirmation that it is either being built, or has been cancelled. The last thing I was able to find was a message board post that suggested that it wouldn't happen in Eloy, and if it happened at all, it would be closer to Phoenix, which is now the fourth or fifth biggest metropolitan area in the United States. The park was originally slated to open in 2012, but that looks to be unlikely as far as I can tell.
Music as a theme for the park is, in my opinion, sort of thin. It's like saying "Superheroes" are the theme then putting a Batman coaster, and a Superman Coaster, and maybe a Spiderman coaster around the park. Neither of these lends itself to an overriding story or environment. (Well, I could probably come up with something for the "superheroes" idea, but music is harder. I used the "superheroes" idea because that's sort of what Six Flags Great America does - just sticks coasters here and there with a "superhero' label on them, whether or not they fit any overriding theme.)
In my view, you can't just say "we're a Music theme park" and hope for the best. You have to get more specific. Maybe your guests are entering a futuristic record label, where you can "meet" various acts and experience something about their lives and their music via an attraction, be it a thrill ride, a dark ride, or a show. But it's hard to force the theme into the attraction when it is mismatched. Disney never really tried to force something just because it sounded good. They thought it through. I know some will disagree, saying that attractions like Test Track and The Seas With Nemo are forced into the overall theme of Epcot, and I'd have to agree except to say that Epcot's pull is strong enough and the attractions are good enough to overcome that limitation to a degree. They aren't the best, but they still entertain guests.
So when we think about our overall theme, we need to think about it either in terms of some strong overriding story (think of Lord Of The Rings or Harry Potter) or in terms of a really interesting and fun environment (think the Old West, or the city of Tomorrow...). We're not looking to re-create the Magic Kingdom, but something original. But let's take the lessons from these apparently failed theme parks and from Disney's success when we determine what it is.
The rides were themed to various rock songs and bands. For example there was a Led Zeppelin roller coaster, which had input from the surviving members of Zep. There was a dark ride called "Nights in White Satin" themed to the Moody Blues song from my own youth. Six areas of the park were themed to various rock eras like "British Invasion" and "Born In The USA."
Another proposed theme park was to be made in Eloy, Arizona, between Phoenix and Tuscon, and it was to be called Decades Music Theme Park. As you can see from the link (if you find it interesting to look, that is), not much has been posted on this since 2008. I looked around and couldn't find any confirmation that it is either being built, or has been cancelled. The last thing I was able to find was a message board post that suggested that it wouldn't happen in Eloy, and if it happened at all, it would be closer to Phoenix, which is now the fourth or fifth biggest metropolitan area in the United States. The park was originally slated to open in 2012, but that looks to be unlikely as far as I can tell.
Music as a theme for the park is, in my opinion, sort of thin. It's like saying "Superheroes" are the theme then putting a Batman coaster, and a Superman Coaster, and maybe a Spiderman coaster around the park. Neither of these lends itself to an overriding story or environment. (Well, I could probably come up with something for the "superheroes" idea, but music is harder. I used the "superheroes" idea because that's sort of what Six Flags Great America does - just sticks coasters here and there with a "superhero' label on them, whether or not they fit any overriding theme.)
In my view, you can't just say "we're a Music theme park" and hope for the best. You have to get more specific. Maybe your guests are entering a futuristic record label, where you can "meet" various acts and experience something about their lives and their music via an attraction, be it a thrill ride, a dark ride, or a show. But it's hard to force the theme into the attraction when it is mismatched. Disney never really tried to force something just because it sounded good. They thought it through. I know some will disagree, saying that attractions like Test Track and The Seas With Nemo are forced into the overall theme of Epcot, and I'd have to agree except to say that Epcot's pull is strong enough and the attractions are good enough to overcome that limitation to a degree. They aren't the best, but they still entertain guests.
So when we think about our overall theme, we need to think about it either in terms of some strong overriding story (think of Lord Of The Rings or Harry Potter) or in terms of a really interesting and fun environment (think the Old West, or the city of Tomorrow...). We're not looking to re-create the Magic Kingdom, but something original. But let's take the lessons from these apparently failed theme parks and from Disney's success when we determine what it is.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Off Topic - CD by Jeff Boyle
I know it's not really Disney-related, but remember, I reserved the right to occasionally post something about an non-Disney topic.
My friend Jeff Boyle has released his 5th CD, titled DOWNTOWN. It's a collection of adult contemporary music demonstrating the varied and various influences on Jeff's songwriting. From the rocking EDISON WATCHED TV to the melancholy YOU DON'T PICK UP, it is a hook filled album of songs that I find myself humming at odd times.
If anyone is interested in checking this out, here's the link.
JEFF BOYLE: DOWNTOWN
My friend Jeff Boyle has released his 5th CD, titled DOWNTOWN. It's a collection of adult contemporary music demonstrating the varied and various influences on Jeff's songwriting. From the rocking EDISON WATCHED TV to the melancholy YOU DON'T PICK UP, it is a hook filled album of songs that I find myself humming at odd times.
If anyone is interested in checking this out, here's the link.
JEFF BOYLE: DOWNTOWN
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