Last November, Green Day sneaked into Austin and played a few “secret” shows at the tiny club Red 7. One of the tunes they played was a new one, “Let Yourself Go.” It’s on the band’s new album ¡Uno!, coming out Sept. 25. That is only the first of a trilogy of albums – ¡Dos! comes out Nov. 13 and ¡Tre! comes out Jan. 15. Or you can buy ’em all in one big box set.
Archive for July, 2012
Video Du Jour: Green Day
Posted in Rock Moment with tags Billie Joe Armstrong, Green Day, Mike Dirnt, Red 7, Tre Cool on July 31, 2012 by 30daysoutVideo Du Jour: KISS
Posted in Rock Moment with tags Kiss, Mötley Crüe on July 30, 2012 by 30daysoutKISS and Mötley Crüe are on tour this summer … is the world ready for that? Here’s the last part of “Rock and Roll All Nite,” from a few nights ago in Tampa.
WTF: More Crazy Covers
Posted in Lost Classics! with tags Alex Chilton, America, Buck Owens, Cee-Lo Green, Cover versions, Francoise Hardy, Mae West, Neil Diamond, Sir Douglas Quintet on July 29, 2012 by 30daysoutFor the sake of an attention-grabbing headline, we call these “crazy covers” and for the most part they’re not crazy at all.
Back in the day it was fairly common practice for even the biggest artists to do covers, because they were cheap and easy to license. And besides – when the songwriters of the day were Lennon-McCartney, Jagger-Richards, Ray Davies and this cat named Dylan, why not toss in a cover?
So here we have a handful of cover versions, mainly of tunes from the 1960s when the giants listed above still ruled the world. Each cover version sheds a new light on each song, in their own initimable way.
A few of these are kind of sneaky: Clarence Clemons is of course “covering” a song he originally played on as part of the E Street Band. Neil Diamond and Carole King are here “covering” songs that they actually wrote, but were made famous by others.
MP3: “Who’ll Be The Next In Line” by Francoise Hardy (covering The Kinks)
MP3: “If You Gotta Go, Go Now” by Mae West (covering Bob Dylan)
MP3: “Save The Last Dance For Me” by Ike & Tina Turner (covering The Drifters)
MP3: “It’s All Too Much” by My Darling Clementine (covering The Beatles)
MP3: “Cracklin’ Rosie” by Shane McGowan & The Popes (covering Neil Diamond)
MP3: “Love Minus Zero/No Limit” by Buck Owens (covering Bob Dylan)
MP3: “The Rains Came” by the Sir Douglas Quintet (covering Big Sambo)
MP3: “Foxey Lady” by Cee Lo Green (covering Jimi Hendrix)
MP3: “Woodstock” by America (covering Joni Mitchell)
MP3: “I’m A Believer” by Neil Diamond (covering The Monkees)
MP3: “I Can’t Turn You Loose” by Edgar Winter’s White Trash (covering Otis Redding)
MP3: “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” by Alex Chilton (covering The Rolling Stones)
MP3: “Small Things” by Clarence Clemons (covering Bruce Springsteen)
MP3: “I’m Into Something Good” by Brian Wilson and Carole King (covering Herman’s Hermits)
Radio Daze: Rock Hype on the Airwaves
Posted in Rock Moment with tags Easy Rider, Janis Joplin, Jethro Tull, Neil Young, Radio ads, The Band, The Beatles, The Byrds, The Monkees on July 21, 2012 by 30daysoutBack in the day, radio was the only way to get out the word about a new album. Of course, it helped that disc jockeys actually played songs from a new album – but record labels wanted to rack up sales right out of the box. And movies too – what better way to get the word out to the “kids” than through that boss, groovy local radio station?
So they worked up little spots to play on the hip-cool radio station in your town. Nowadays, with traditional terrestrial radio pretty much dead, these old radio spots are fodder for CD re-releases. Let’s queue up a bunch and spin ’em!
MP3: The Monkees Present radio promo (The Monkees)
MP3: Live Dead radio promo (The Grateful Dead)
MP3: Help movie promo (The Beatles)
MP3: Cahoots radio promo (The Band)
MP3: Sweetheart of the Rodeo radio promo (The Byrds)
MP3: Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere radio promo (Neil Young)
MP3: I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama! radio promo (Janis Joplin)
MP3: Head movie promos (The Monkees)
MP3: Electric Warrior radio promo (T. Rex)
MP3: Aqualung radio promo (Jethro Tull)
(More Than) 40 Years Out: Tranquility Base Here
Posted in Rock Moment with tags 1969, Apollo 11, Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, Buzz Aldrin, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Elvis Presley, Grateful Dead, Michael Nesmith, Moon landing, Neil Armstrong, Neville Brothers, Ozzy Osbourne, Steve Earle, The Byrds, Tranquility Base on July 20, 2012 by 30daysoutOn this day in 1969, man set foot on the moon for the very first time. Looking at the photographs the astronauts shot that day, the moon seems like a fairly peaceful place. In fact, they called the landing site “Tranquility Base.”
Back on Earth, things weren’t so tranquil. Americans marched on Washington, D.C., to protest our involvement in the Vietnam War. The story of the My Lai massacre, where women and children were lined up in a ditch and shot, broke in the news. British troops were deployed to try and calm tensions in Northern Ireland. And so on.
It seemed like, on that one Sunday afternoon and evening, everything and everyone in the world just kind of stopped – if only for a few minutes, while two humans kicked up dust on the lunar surface. Many of us watched the shadowy figures on TV, live and in glorious grainy black and white.
Probably nobody really stopped what they were doing, but a teenager in Texas back then thought it would have been really cool if they did. And if we would have paid attention for a while, maybe we would have stopped fighting and yelling long enough share a little bit of wonder and pride in human accomplishment.
For just a minute or two … then we could get right back to killing each other. Which is what happened anyway.
Maybe one day we’ll go back to the moon, but many people will tell you there are infinitely more important ways to spend our time and money. And I suppose they are right. Still, somebody is going to get back there eventually. Tranquility Base will always be there, ready and waiting for us to start dreaming again.
MP3: “Bad Moon Rising” by Creedence Clearwater Revival
MP3: “Yellow Moon” (live) by the Neville Brothers
MP3: “Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins” by The Byrds
MP3: “Silver Moon” by Michael Nesmith & the First National Band
MP3: “Halo ‘Round The Moon” by Steve Earle
MP3: “Moon Dawg” by The Beach Boys
MP3: “Man On The Moon” by R.E.M.
MP3: “Moonlight Drive” (live) by The Doors
MP3: “Armstrong” by John Stewart
MP3: “Blue Moon” by Elvis Presley
MP3: “Kiko and the Lavender Moon” by Los Lobos
MP3: “Bark At The Moon” by Ozzy Osbourne
A Rock and Roll Remembrance: Luke Mondello
Posted in Rock Moment with tags Class of 1973, Golden Trianglle Free Press, Harvey Kahn, Luke Mondello, Port Arthur, Thomas Jefferson High School on July 18, 2012 by 30daysoutEditor’s Note: In the late 1960s-early 1970s, the humid bottom corner of Texas known as the Golden Triangle served as a greenhouse that grew rock and roll. Janis Joplin escaped to Austin, Johnny and Edgar Winter woodshedded with the blues and local heroes like Jivin’ Gene Bourgeois could still be heard at the corner drive-in.
Of all the souls from that era who drifted through our lives, Luke Mondello was pure rock and roll. He lived for the music – and as the years piled into decades he managed to make it his career. Luke got his start by pointing his camera at musicians for the underground Golden Triangle Free Press, and later in life he often photographed people at music venues around the Beaumont-Port Arthur region.
Mondello died this past May, and our friend Harvey Kahn – formerly the editor/mastermind behind the Golden Triangle Free Press – offers a remembrance of our friend and classmate Luke Mondello.
(San Bernadino, California)
When I got stranded in Port Arthur, Texas, in 1973, one of the first persons I was fortunate enough to stumble into was Luke Mondello, a stocky, gravelly voiced, gentle soul.
Luke was an ambassador of Southern Rock music and could rattle off names faster than Billy Gibbons’ guitar pickin’. I had never heard of ZZ Top at the time but Luke filled me in. How he used to see the group in 1969 at a teenage night club outside of Port Arthur. How the group befriended him and perhaps, Luke was ZZ Top’s first fan before they were ZZ Top. I believe Luke had a photo book filled with Polaroids of ZZ Top from the late 1960s.
When I first told Luke that I had some experience as a reporter, he started bugging me about starting an underground music newspaper. Luke knew the owner of the old Wine Shop Tavern out on Gulfway in Port Arthur- a mild guy named David Herd who agreed to front $175 and the use of a car to start the newspaper.
Luke coaxed Herd into hiring me as the janitor at the Wine Shop. The Golden Triangle Free Press was very crudely off the ground. Some of Luke’s former classmates from Thomas Jefferson High helped with articles and graphics: Tom the artist, Wizard, Denny Angelle and others.
Luke took all the photos – exclusives of Johnny Winter jamming at Chick Powell’s garage apartment on 8th Street. Edgar Winter at home in Beaumont. The G.G. Shinn and Jerry La Croix reunion with the Boogie Kings in 1974 at the Pelican Club in Vinton, Louisiana. We snuck in to the Sparkle Paradise in Bridge City to take pictures and interview Clifton Chenier.

Luke Mondello (far right) in the Thomas Jefferson Class of 1973 yearbook – this is kinda how he looked when he covered ‘wok-and-woll’ for the Golden Triangle Free Press.
Luke went to Austin in 1974 and covered the first Willie Nelson 4th of July Picnic. Then to Lake Charles for ZZ Top, and to Shreveport for Montrose. Luke had a 1970 black Lincoln Town Car when he drove to Houston for pictures of Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1975.
Luke and myself were both terribly naive, which nearly led to us being killed on more than one occasion. The first time was when he lined up a photo shoot and interview with Lightnin’ Hopkins at Effie’s Go-Go in Beaumont. Well, Luke lined it up with Effie but not with Lightnin’, who was not very happy at all about a photographer and reporter barging into his dressing room. Hopkins proceeded to go into a loud tirade about how rude we were. Hopkins told us to “get the hell out of here.” I looked behind me and Luke was already gone. We did go back later and got the photos and story and Hopkins bought us two Pearl beers each.
Another quagmire came when Luke set me up with an appointment for an interview with Mike Joplin to discuss his sister, Janis. I don’t remember if Luke was there, but I met Joplin at Casey’s Lounge, located on Twin City highway near Beaumont. We were shooting a game of pool and all of a sudden the owner Casey came out with pistols in both hands. He pointed them at me and said he didn’t like a reporter at his bar without first clearing it with him. I left and never, ever got to talk to Mike Joplin.
Luke also introduced me to musician and historian Julian La Croix, and guitarist Billy Oubrey. He introduced me to former ranked boxers, Vic Graffio, Paul Jorgenson and Bubba Busceme. If it wasn’t for Luke I wouldn’t have stayed in Port Arthur. His mother and aunt made me feel like part of their family. I was invited for holidays and dinners, to the point where I could never pay them back.
Luke arranged for us to cover a Cosmic Cowboy Concert in 1974 at Hofheinz Pavilion – a benefit for Houston independent radio KPFT-FM. The lineup included Asleep At the Wheel, Michael Murphy, Doug Sahm, Spanky McFarland, Willie Nelson, Kinky Friedman and others who at the time only Luke knew about.
Luke had carte blanche for photo access and took about 360 shots. But someone stole Luke’s camera bag with all the film. I lost my composure and on the way out of the crowded arena after the show, Luke bumped into me and I burned a massive cigarette hole in Mrs. Hofheinz’s chiffon dress. She didn’t realize it and we squeezed out the door without telling her. Luke and I were both mad about the lost photos and we didn’t speak a word on the drive back to Port Arthur.
I never talked to Luke again after I moved back to California in 1975. I never forgot about him and his family but I selfishly never made the extra effort to stay in contact. A few cards over the years. That’s why it bothered me deeply when I again tried to find Luke and only found his obituary. Without a doubt, Luke Mondello could get that difficult photo and is a first ballot member of heaven’s rock and roll hall of fame.
Video Du Jour: Willie Nelson
Posted in Rock Moment with tags Willie Nelson on July 17, 2012 by 30daysoutLast month we got to see the great Willie Nelson play live at the Free Press Summer Fest in Houston. Lo and behold, his new video for the song “Roll Me Up (And Smoke Me)” was filmed at that very same fest.