Video Du Jour: The Who

Lest we forget – The Who may be the greatest rock and roll band of all time. Here’s “So Sad About Us,” from 1967’s A Quick One (or for Americans, Happy Jack). Keith Moon and John Entwistle, R.I.P.

Yow! The Best Rock and Roll Screams

Roger Daltrey of The Who

Our greatest rockers are people who apparently never used their “indoor voice.” Why should they? They were future rockers! Anyhow, the other day I was thinking that the one ingredient basic to any good rock and roll song – besides a guitar solo, of course – is a blood-curdling scream.

It could be an expression of rage and defiance, like Roger Daltrey’s classic scream at the end of “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” or it can be a cathartic release of pain and frustration, like John Lennon in “Well Well Well.” Screams can be ominous and threatening, like Axl Rose in “Welcome To The Jungle” or it can be just plain weird and inexplicable, like Jim Morrison in “When The Music’s Over.”

Screams can be old and trailblazing: Bo Diddley and Little Richard loved to scream, although Richard’s were more like a shriek and Bo’s were more like a holler. They can be punk (The Stooges), they can be metal (Iron Maiden), they can be funny (Tenacious D) or they can be very soulful (Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett). As Eddie Murphy once said about James Brown’s famous scream, “He wrote that.”

So let’s celebrate the weekend with a dozen cool rockin’ screams. Turn it up!

MP3: “Welcome To The Jungle” (live) by Guns N’ Roses

MP3: “Shout Bamalama” by Eddie Hinton

MP3: “Run Diddley Daddy” by Bo Diddley

MP3: “Get Up Offa That Thing” by James Brown

MP3: “TV Eye” by The Stooges

MP3: “Piece Of My Heart (live) by Big Brother and the Holding Company

MP3: “Tutti Frutti” by Little Richard

MP3: “I Can’t Turn You Loose” by Edgar Winter’s White Trash

MP3: “Hold On To Your Hiney” by Wilson Pickett

MP3: “Well Well Well” by John Lennon

MP3: “When The Music’s Over” (live) by The Doors

MP3: “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by The Who

YouTube: Greatest Rock Screams (thanks to GuyFaux2007)

Sex, Drugs and …

There’s a new movie out, Get Him To The Greek, which is kind of a rock and roll road movie.  Jonah Hill plays a low-level record company executive charged with babysitting a decadent rock star, played by British comedian Russell Brand.  It’s pretty amusing and fairly entertaining (Brand plays Aldous Snow, reprising his role from Forgetting Sarah Marshall) and as you can imagine it gets all Serious and Introspective at the end.

Although this is a wild comedy, the movie does offer a fairly accurate peek behind the curtains of the rock and roll machinery – or at least, the parts of the machinery that still survive.  A crushing economic reality has smothered the excesses of the music business, and the world you see in Get Him To The Greek doesn’t really exist any more, if it ever did.  But as I said, it’s a comedy …

The film also toys with the idea of what it takes for a person to be a so-called “rock star.”  The characterization of Aldous Snow reinforces the general consensus that rock stars are also insecure, immature and sometimes lonely – just like the rest of us!

After seeing the movie with my son I told him this story: in the 1970s, the Who came through Houston on one of their tours.  There was this party thrown by record execs and the band was supposed to be there but I didn’t see any of the Who for the entire time I was at this party.  Anyhow, I was leaving and trying to find my way out when I came to a large usher dude standing in a doorway.  As he pointed to the exit, I peered into the darkness behind him.

It was a small little room, created by those portable room dividers and inside the room was a “Tommy” pinball machine.  And standing alone, quietly intent on the pinball game, was Roger Daltrey.  All by himself, in a dark alcove, while a big happy party raged just steps away.  That was one little peek into the “real”  life of a rock star, protected and kept in the darkness until it was time for the spotlights to be turned on once again.

MP3: “Turn The Page” by Bob Seger

MP3: “Going Up” by Infant Sorrow

MP3: “Life’s Been Good” by Joe Walsh

MP3: “Star Star” by the Rolling Stones

MP3: “The Clap” by Infant Sorrow

MP3: “What’s Your Name” (live) by Lynyrd Skynyrd

MP3: “We’re An American Band” by Grand Funk Railroad

MP3: “Real Good Looking Boy” by the Who

Who’s going to play at the Super Bowl? Right!

According to published reports, the Who will perform at Super Bowl XLIV, marking the British band’s first performance in North America since 2008.  According to the Sports Illustrated website, the veteran band will take the stage during halftime of the 2010 National Football League championship game, scheduled for Feb. 7 in Miami.

The NFL has yet to officially confirm the report, saying, “When we have something to announce, we’ll announce it.”

During a recent stop on his “Use It or Lose It” solo tour, frontman Roger Daltrey told Billboard.com that he and bandmate/composer Pete Townshend were working on new material for the Who’s followup to 2006’s Endless Wire.  “Hopefully if this tour has done its job, I’ll be in really good form as a vocalist,” said Daltrey. “And who knows, we might make our best work.”

Townshend has acknowledged working on two projects — a new musical called “Floss” and the Who’s next album, which he has said will include some pieces from the “Floss” project.

30 Days Out Exclusive Interview: Taylor Mills (of the Brian Wilson Band)

Brian Wilson’s concert appearances are joyous, all-out rock and roll affairs with a full stage of brilliant performers.  Nevertheless, Taylor Mills is easy to pick out of the crowd – not only is this striking blonde the only female member of Wilson’s ensemble, but she also has a knockout voice to go with her killer looks.

Mills sang on Wilson’s Grammy-winning SMiLE album and has appeared with him from the Hollywood Bowl to Buckingham Palace.  She has also performed with Billy Joel and shared the stage with the likes of Elton John, John Legend, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Sir Paul McCartney.  Her solo debut album Lullagoodbye is out, and she plans to record a followup real soon.  Read the full interview after the jump.