Rarebird's Rock and Roll Nest

The notion of Led Zeppelin without its legendary frontman Robert Plant seems unthinkable to many, but apparently not to the other surviving members of Led Zep. Billboard.com reports that Led Zep may tour with Alter Bridge singer Myles Kennedy if Plant will not come on board. Here's what the article says: Kennedy has rehearsed with Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist John Paul Jones and drummer Jason Bonham on several occasions, according to sources in the know. In a recent BBC interview, Jones confirmed the band was planning to tour but didn't refer to Kennedy by name. Although he was onboard for a one-off reunion in December 2007 in London, Plant has steadfastly declined to hit the road with Zeppelin. In late September, he issued a statement saying he has "no intention whatsoever of touring with anyone for at least the next two years," and also wished Page, Jones and Bonham "nothing but success with any future projects." Hmmm. To my ears, Kennedy sounds...

Earlier this year, the people at the Dr Pepper soft drink company promised that if the new Guns N' Roses album Chinese Democracy was released before the end of 2008, everyone in America would get a free can of the soda. They probably felt safe making this bet, but as fate would have it, the much-delayed GNR album is scheduled for release on November 23rd of this year. So the beverage company is keeping its word. Here's how it will work: fans are asked to visit DrPepper.com on the November 23rd release date and register online to receive a coupon for a 20-oz. Dr Pepper redeemable wherever the drink is sold. Here's the catch: the coupon will only be available for 24 hours and will expire on February 28th. By the way, if you haven't yet heard the first single, which is the album's title track, you can listen to it (legally) here: http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003876302 It sounds half-interesting, but I hope it's not the b...

Rudy Ray Moore, the raunchy '70's comedian, died this past Sunday, October 19th, from complications caused by diabetes. The Associated Press story says that Moore was 81, but some sources are saying he was born in 1937, which (if correct) would make him 71 at the time of his death. Surprisingly enough, the AP article states that his mother is still living! Moore is best remembered as the producer/star of Dolemite , a quite awful 1975 blaxploitation flick in which he played (I kid you not) a kung fu pimp. Moore has been called "the original rapper", and he is probably as deserving of that title as anyone. The recorded history of rap music basically begins in 1979, but Moore was doing it at least four years before then, as this clip from Dolemite demonstrates. (Warning: profanity is contained therein). One quote from the AP article is quite revealing: Moore said he developed the (toasting) style, later a feature of rap music, by listening to men sitting outside joints...

I've completed my 17th Spotlight Album Review. The subject is Alex Chilton's "1970", a solo album which was recorded during the title year by the former lead singer of the Box Tops and Big Star, but which was unreleased until 1996. The CD is out of print, but fans of any of Chilton's work are advised to search it out. It actually serves as the missing link between several phases of Chilton's strange career. Here is the review: http://rarebird9.net/chilton.html

I recently picked up the new deluxe edition of Dennis Wilson's Pacific Ocean Blue , the 1977 solo album from the late Beach Boys drummer. The remastering job done on the CD is very good. The album could be described as a '70's variation on the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds , but with much grittier vocals. Although I am still not a great admirer of the album (as many others seem to be), it was worthwhile to upgrade to CD from my ancient cassette copy. It is now easier to appreciate the musical arrangements, although Dennis' worn and ragged singing voice is still a flaw in my view. "River Song", "What's Wrong", "Time", and "You And I" are tracks that I am happy to program my CD player to play, sometimes repeatedly. In addition to the 12 original album tracks, the Pacific Ocean Blue disc features four bonus tracks. Two of them, "Tug Of Love" and "Only With You", are basically more of the same. The other two bonu...

Sony Legacy will be releasing a deluxe edition of Dennis Wilson's Pacific Ocean Blue on June 17th, 2008. The long-unavailable 1977 album was the only released solo album from the late Beach Boys drummer, who died from drowning in 1983. This edition will be released in 2-CD and 3-LP formats, which will not only feature bonus tracks for the original album but will also feature the entire unreleased Bambu album, which was intended to be Dennis' second solo release. This will be a dream come true for many Beach Boys fans, some of whom regard Pacific Ocean Blue as a long-lost masterpiece. Personally, I do not share this view of the album. Although it did prove that Dennis could withstand comparison to his brother Brian in the songwriting and production departments, Pacific Ocean Blue suffers from a tragic flaw: Dennis' vocals. The aging Beach Boy's voice had become worn and ragged, and it tended to clash with the album's well-crafted arrangements. Pacific Ocean Blue ...

It has now been nine years since I first made my website Rarebird's Rock and Roll Rarity Reviews viewable to the public. Time is certainly flying, because it seems like only yesterday that I was surprised that eight years had passed since the beginning. I've probably made fewer additions to the site in the past 12 months than in any previous 12-month period in the last nine years. The reason is because I have basically accomplished what I wanted to accomplish with the site. However, I will continue to make updates and additions as I see fit, and I will point them out on this blog when I do. In the meantime, I want to once again thank everyone who has visited and supported the site over the years. I hope to keep the site online for many more.

The folks at Rhino Records are reissuing the first two Alice Cooper albums on CD on June 10th. The albums Pretties For You (1969) and Easy Action (1970) were quirky low-budget recordings that were originally released on Frank Zappa’s Straight label. Both had previously been available on CD from the Enigma label, which has been defunct for over a decade. Alice Cooper was the band name in the beginning; lead singer Vincent Furnier later took the name for himself when he went “solo” in 1975. Although the original band did not yet become masters of shock rock when the first two albums were released, they had already achieved a different type of notoriety. Zappa signed them to his label for the opposite reason that most artists get signed: they had a rep for clearing out the venues in which they played, and Zappa admired them for it. On the debut album Pretties For You , Alice and company gleefully explored bizarre musical ground that he/they never revisited. Whenever I have played the al...