Hello Old Friend, Goodbye Old Friend

More than anyone else, Tom Petty had the ability to repackage all the music I love and play it back as something brand new.

While unique and original, each song arrived like an old friend you had somehow forgotten about.  Simple yet profound, each song delivered a straight up truth:  this is me; this is us; this is rock and roll.

Tom Petty gave us 40 years of honesty, hope, joy and comfort.

Goodbye old friend.  And thank you.

Dream Baby

Growing up, I never knew what to make of Roy Orbison.  Oh Pretty Woman was a great rocker, but it didn’t quite have the same edge as contemporary Beatles or Stones songs.  And the rest of his canon seemed better suited to my parents’ radio station than mine.

I know his tenor voice was operatic, but all those strings!  Sure, it was the doo-wop era, and rock had been tamed, bottled and homogenized, but where were the twangy guitars?  Where was the attitude?  Roy Orbison seemed more like Gene Pitney or Shelley Fabares than Elvis or Chuck Berry.

Pretty good with the sad songs, though.

Maybe it was just the production values of the time.  Much later on, in the 80’s working with Jeff Lynne, Roy proved he could rock out with the Travelling Willburys and U2.  And if you’ve ever seen Black and White Night, I’m sure you’ll agree his old classics sparked some great rock and roll moments when supported by the likes of Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt and Elvis Costello.

Ringo has said that Roy was the only act The Beatles didn’t want to follow.  With a different producer in a different era, Roy Orbison could have had ‘em all running scared.  Except it’s obvious everybody loved him just the way he was.

It's Gibson's 10 Greatest Supergroups!

Gee, were there that many? Here's the list:
 Blind Faith
 Asia
 Traveling Wilburys
 The Firm
 The Highwaymen
 Them Crooked Vultures
 Chickenfoot
 CSNY
 Bad Company
 Cream

No order on their list, so no complaints allowed.

Lotta ground covered, but one common thread. Big egos and short life spans. OK that's two threads.

Not sure about the Wilburys and Highwaymen though. Were they groups, projects, or larks?

Also wondering just a little about revisionist history ... Blind Faith and CSNY were definitely hyped at their inceptions as supergroups. So were Emerson Lake and Palmer, who are happily omitted from Gibson's list. I remember similar hype about Asia (way too much actually), but I honestly don't remember hearing the term since.

Bad Company were big, and yes you knew there was some connection to Free, but did people really think it was a big deal that the bass player had come from King Crimson, and that they were a super group? Not so much.

And yes the whole concept started by revising history. Cream was referred to as a supergroup - and they were superb - even though, like really, only Clapton was known beforehand. Alexis Korner? The Graham Bond Organization? These hardly made Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker household names.

Anyway, the whole concept is a downer. "Oh boy! Just imagine how great it's gonna be when these guys get together! It's gonna be amazing!" Sets us up for disappointment, doesn't it. Best case is the band can't keep it together for long. Worse case is the music just doesn't live up to the hype.

We do like to set ourselves up, don't we?