Hey Brothers and Sisters, this Saturday we shall all meet down by the river, or at least somewhere near our radio, cause once again we will flashback to the time when Hippies roamed the earth. The show starts bright and early at 7am with what made the 60’s so exciting, musical adventurism. A great jam that features Paul Butterfield, Mike Boomfield and Elvin Bishop…Not to be missed. We shall hear a quick dissertation on hair and what it meant to have lots of it. Donovan will make an appearance just to keep it trippy, and even more trippy will be Kenny Rodgers and the first edition …surreal!..The Good ol Grateful Dead will make some music we can dance to, and we’ll wish Phil Lesh a happy 70th!..Early Pink Floyd will have that bright British sense of humour, a couple from CCR will get us all choogling and David Crosby will explain why the Byrds loved to do Bob Dylan’s songs. The Stones will get all revolutionary and Dave Mason will show us why he was one of the best songwriters of the late 60s. Speaking of Creedance, CCR’s Doug Cosmo Clifford and Stu Cook are still trying to put out a DVD on their 1970 show at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Contractual obligations, and other legal stuff has prohibited this footage to be released. Clifford tells us, “We’re the only major band that doesn’t have a video..It’s really crazy that we don’t have something out there”. Maybe soon.

In other news, Look for three releases from the Doors over the next month. The first two are vinyl editions of Absolutely Live and Live in New York, both of which are newly released. The third is the soundtrack to When Your’re Strange” a Film About the Doors…the soundtrack contains narrator Johnny Depp reading several selections of Jim Morrison’s poetry, 14 songs from the Doors catalog and interview clips with all four band members.

 O.K., I’m gonna get the place ready for this weekend, light the incense, turn on the black light, bake some brownies, stare into the strobe, things like that..see ya at the happening!

Check this out.

Here is some vintage Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Monterey Pop Festival, 1967. Look how young Elvin Bishop is! I guess we were all that young once.

Conan O’Brien to Launch Two-Month, 30 City “Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television” Tour

Tickets on sale now at LiveNation.com for May 6^th performance at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium. According to Conan, It was either a massive 30-city tour or start helping out around the house” says O’Brien. The aptly titled “Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television” tour kicks off in Eugene, Oregon, and will take Conan and a cast that will include longtime sidekick Andy Richter and the former Tonight Show band to theaters in at least 20 states and two Canadian provinces. 

Tickets for the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium performance are $35.00, $55.00 and $75.00 plus applicable charges. Show time for this event is at 8pm.

My first thoughts when I heard that the record label/Hendrix Estate were releasing another posthumous album by Jimi Hendrix… was “uhhg, please spare us”.  But now that we have the album in hand and I’ve had a chance to listen to it for awhile, I’ve changed my opinion. Past dredging of the Hendrix vaults have given us material that was sonically a bunch of noise or song wise were best left unfinished. But Jimi’s “Latest” “Valleys of Neptune” is actually quite good. Discovering unreleased alternate versions of songs that Jimi Hendrix cut during his brief 1967 to 1970 reign has been hit and miss affair over the years. Every so often nuggets turn up. But to find a complete, undiscovered song, well, that is a true “Eureka” moment.

Now there are four never-before-heard songs to unveil: “Valleys of Neptune,” the psychedelic title track. “Ships Passing Through the Night,”  an ambitious precursor to the orchestral “Nightbird Flying”; and two April 1969 leftovers from the original Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Lullaby for the Summer” and “Crying Blue Rain.”

The disc also has a vicious full-band version of “Hear My Train A Comin’,” which first appeared as a 12-string acoustic solo performance on the soundtrack to the 1973 documentary A Film About Jimi Hendrix. But that’s not the end of the surprises you’ll find on “Valleys of Neptune”.

Ten of the album’s 12 tracks were cut in 1969, when Hendrix was at the height of his creative powers and typically spent the nights that he wasn’t on the road hitting a nightclub and then heading into the studio until after daybreak. It only took the opening notes of the first track, plucked harmonics floating on the wobble of Hendrix’s guitar’s whammy bar, to dispel my cynicism about this exceptionally engineered posthumous CD. The sound quality and performances are both excellent.

The disc starts with a stripped down ’69 version of “Stone Free” that radically departs from the hit single that Jimi originally cut in 1966, with a more driving, funky bottom end generated in part by the replacement of original Experience bassist Noel Redding with the R&B leaning Billy Cox. “Valleys of Neptune” comes next. A few tracks of the song appeared in a demo-like form on Lifelines in 1990, but this is re-mastered and it makes a big difference

Then Hendrix revisits Elmore James’s “Bleeding Heart” again, displaying his beautiful vibrato as he explores the song’s theme of loneliness, with D.C.-area drummer Rocky Isaac replacing Mitch Mitchell. It’s followed by a staggeringly grungy, dirty take on “Hear My Train A Comin’ ”, complete with explosive bluesy fireworks. Hendrix vocally scats along with the notes his legendary flying fingers are producing, making this as a far different version than the electric performance on the 1994 collection Blues. The next track, “Mr. Bad Luck,” also appeared in part on Lifelines and this version was obviously a work in progress to the version of “Look Over Yonder” we heard there. The vocal is rougher, the guitar less blazing, and the rhythm less commanding, but it is still fascinating listening to see how Hendrix would build upon previous sketches of songs.

Even before the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s debut album was finished Hendrix and his band were playing Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love” on stage. The song remained a regular in Hendrix’s concert sets throughout his career, and the Valleys of Neptune version is roaring unreleased studio instrumental performance that finds Hendrix riffing extending the song out to over six minutes. Next comes a slowed-down “Lover Man,” which has appeared on live and studio releases in its typical form, but this version is based on super-heated strumming and gutty, gritty blue notes colored by splashes of wah-wah and his signature slides and vibrato.

“Ships Passing Through the Night” has a musical theme suggested by Howlin’ Wolf’s “Smokestack Lightning.” The studio version of “Fire” that follows is fast and furious, like the on-stage renditions that have been captured on many live Hendrix recordings. But it’s the 1969 version of one of my favorite Hendrix tracks, “Red House” that truly makes this album a keeper for me. It was cut at London’s Olympic Studios and is a surprise for its sensitivity and restraint. It takes almost five minutes for him to really uncork a solo, and then it’s a lesson in guitar gymnastics that reveals his debt to Albert King the influences of Eric Clapton at his fiery Cream era best.

The ultimate test of any new Hendrix album, live or studio, to me is whether it achieves a level of quality comparable to the four albums he released during his lifetime, and while it’s not quite that quality through and through, Valleys of Neptune is easily one of the best posthumous Hendrix albums released. I would buy it… if hadn’t found this copy in the mail a couple weeks ago!!

To hear the Eagle’s Valleys of Neptune radio special on demand click here___http://www2.eagle969.com/listen_____________

Join me this week for our flashback to the 60s and early 70s. Say you want a Revolution….hell yeah I do! We’ll start bright and early with a good old anti-war/pro military man protest song. We plan on prowling the backstreets of LA with the Doors and we’ll hear from the best San Francisco band to never become superstars. Dylan will take us underground, Wilson Pickett is gonna get wicked and the Allman Brothers will take us to a old fashioned revival. I tell ya brothers and sisters, it will get rightous. / Cream, Clapton, Mayall, Fleetwood Mac, yes the blues will live and thrive this Saturday. Of course all the usuall suspects, the Beatles, Stones and CCR will drop in to catch the vibe. Our birthday salutes will go out to Walt Parazaider, the sax player and founding member of the band Chicago. The band that was organized in his apartment in 1967. Robin Trower also adds a candle this year, his work with Procal Harum is still the highpoint of that bands career as far as I’m concerned. Another fine old school guitar player  is ex Canned Heat memeber Harvey Mandell. All still with us and celebrating another year. Here is your fun fact for the week:  Billboard Magazine claims that the Beatles are responsible for 60% of all current singles sold in 1964!

DYLAN GOING UNDERGROUND N.Y.C.

CHICAGO GETTING READY TO BLOW THE ROOF OFF  1977

Just stick your thumb out and hitch a ride to the Revolution this week. I’ll be waiting with a plate of brownies and a cup of Jasmine Tea.

BK

Man this week it’s going to rock. Our flashback will feature the man they call the “Belfast Cowboy Van the man will get things rolling at 7am, then we’ll fly with the Byrds, a couple from the Beatles, we’ll let Ringo sing one of them, the big sound of Chicago and the Allman Brothers will round out the first hour, better get up early. A little later Steve Miller with Boz Scaggs will remind us why it was cool to live in San Franciso in the 60s, so will the Jefferson Airplane and It’s a Beautiful Day. We’ll also spice things up with some garage band rock, including a man who used to perform while his head was on fire..no, really. The Moody Blues, T Rex and Jethro Tull will prove once again why England used to swing. Just good vibes for the crew in the birthday room, including David Gilmour, Arthur Lee of the band Love, and Mathew Fischer, the cat who plated the incredible organ on Procal Harum’s Whiter Shade of Pale. Oh, it’s the 40th anniversary of the album “Lie” by Charles Manson..we’re not gonna play anthing from that. Join me Saturday, my furry freak brothers, and sisters. Looking forward to a farout trip with you.

There is a Rancho Cordova based insurance agent who is hoping to go National with insurance coverage as it pertains to the pot industry. Mike Aberle is the agent who is interested in covering all aspects of the fledging Marijuana industry. That would include worker’s comp, hey those bales are heavy!. Also auto insurance, got to get the crop to market right?, and basically anything connected to the trade could be insured. Including the users. Some estimates say there are over 2,000 dispensaries in the U.S. It’s a growth industry and specializing in Pot based insurance really kind of makes sense. The premiums would run anywhere from $1000-4000. Mike Aberle says he wants to insure everyone in the distribution chain from growers to those who use the product.

This is a big step in legitimizing the inevitable march of Marijuana therapy. Check your health insurance policy, notice they don’t cover weed. Who ya gonna call? Now you have someone you can.The Medical Marijuana Specialty Division.

It’s another Friday, which means we have our MetroPCS Unlimited Express about to take off. How about 90 minutes of commercial free classic rock? Not a bad way to get headed towards the weekend. It’s Bob Keller, and we’ll kick it off after Mark and Brian at 10AM here on The Eagle.
In the meantime, check out the MetroPCS website.

This weekend, the tribe gathers at 7a this Saturday and joins the happening we call Say You Want a Revolution, our flashback to the 60s and early 70s. In the first hour we’ll start with the band that has a history that includes Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton. Dylan and the Band will be around, Hendrix will give us a twofer and Pink Floyd will play the very first single they ever released, about a nice guy who gets off on women’s undies..hey, who doesn’t? Then we’ll move into the 8am hour with the Doors, Traffic and our favorite rascals, the Rolling Stones. Buffalo Springfield will give us a Neil Young contribution, the Allman Brothers and Van Morrison will keep the big beat going and the Beatles will help us get behind the wheel..of our 68 VW van. Finally, the 9am hour will be a flashback to the year 1970, a time of loss, goodbye Jimi, goodbye Janis, but a time of rebirth, the first Earth day celebration..a year of hassles, rip-offs and put downs..gee, at least the music was great. From Derek and The Dominoes and the Grateful Dead to Chicago and Rare Earth..1970 will rock you. Here is a little trailer clip from the movie that won George C. Scott an Acadamy Award.

Today I was talking to a listener about golf and he mentioned he used to play in Fairbanks Alaska. The ground was usually pretty hard till the middle of May but the real problem was the moose. They would show up on the tee box, in the bunkers and even sometimes wander into the clubhouse. It got me thinking about animals we have encountered while playing the grand game of golf. I remember golfing in Mexico when a crocodile was resting his chin on my errant shot. He didn’t move until I was practically on top of him, then he most certainly did move, and fast. Local knowledge would have been handy, don’t hit ANYTHING toward the water, they lie in wait. Another time a fox had crawled inside my golf bag and stole a sandwhich, but thankfully left me the chips. This was at Bing Maloney Golf Course here in Sacramento. The fox is pretty famous, he has been hanging around the place for years..how bout you? Have you seen any remarkable wildlife while playing golf? No, I”m not talking about the Hooter’s girl at the 9th hole at the Sip it, Grip it, and Rip it golf tournement.

I didn’t hear Tiger Woods statement live, but I was shocked to read the text! According to the Daily Onion, he said he was totally bored with Rehab, and was going back to Sex…for good! Crazy he would say that in front of his mother. Then he excused himself and went to, as he said, “To Slice Some Off”! geez, what happend to the role model our little kids look up to?  Tiger you blow my mind!