LAST WEEK was quite eventful, most notable and really got a lot of comments on social media and beauty parlors was the statement of ‘80s gay icon Ricky Reyes:
“Kung nagpa-opera ka, ang bakla miski may kipay na, may boobs na, bakla pa rin ang utak niyan. Gilingin mo ‘yan, ang labas niyan baklang hamburger.”
We’ll just park it there and probably talk about Ricky Reyes’ statements in the coming columns.
Of course, “I Am Iloilo City” representative Julienne Baronda has also her almost controversial statement:
“If we grant PECO’s franchise application now, it is my humble belief that we will create more issues, court more litigations, and produce more problems. We will never see the end of it. And that is against public interest. That is not for the benefit and welfare of the people of Iloilo City, which I represent.”
And this is getting to be boring; moi needs a shot, no, several shots, of Tequila Cuervo Añejo with some really loud blues and rock and roll…
At the start of the music revolution in the early 1960s two bands emerged from the British music scene which would greatly influence the musical genre known as pop music today.
These two bands were also greatly influenced by what was known then as American black music or “rock and roll”; they would eventually emerge as the leading bands in what is known in pop music parlance as the “British Invasion”.
The Beatlesand the Rolling Stones started just about the same time in England, with the Beatles emerging from Liverpool and the RollingStones from London.
They were like twin sons from different mothers. Although both bands were heavily influenced by “rock and roll” and blues music, both bands took different routes to musical and commercial success.
The Beatles, from a “rock and roll” band, were reinvented by their manager Brian Epstein to be the first ever “boy band” with clean cut, wholesome images and “pa-cute” antics with their hordes of screaming teenage female fans.
The Beatles eventually broke free from this “boy band” image when they started experimenting with LSD and yoga influences coming out with their psychedelic albums i.e. Magical Mystery Tour and Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and finally to their last album together, the iconic Let it Be.
Meanwhile, the Rolling Stones stayed true to form as a “rock and roll” and “blues” influenced raunchy “rhythm and blues” band. Why, even their name Rolling Stones is the title of one of “blues” legend Muddy Waters’ album.
Of course, we all know the Beatles eventually broke up and went their separate ways with their musical journey and careers.
The RollingStones stayed on together and became probably the greatest and most popular rock band in the world today.
Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, and Charlie Watts collectively known as the RollingStones are well into their 70s today but their live concerts fill out to the brim football stadiums, and whenever/wherever they have their live concerts it is always sold out.
As a tribute to their roots and influences in the “blues”, the RollingStones came out with an all cover “Blues” album aptly titled Blue & Lonesome.
Here are some excerpts from an article in http://www.rollingstones.com:
THE ROLLING STONES’ BLUE & LONESOME
Last December 2016, the Rolling Stones released ‘Blue & Lonesome’, their first studio album in over a decade. ‘Blue & Lonesome’ takes the band back to their roots and the passion for blues music which has always been at the heart and soul of the Rolling Stones.
The album was produced by Don Was and The Glimmer Twins and was recorded over the course of just three days in December last year at British Grove Studios in West London, just a stone’s throw from Richmond and Eel Pie Island where the Stones started out as a young blues band playing pubs and clubs. Their approach to the album was that it should be spontaneous and played live in the studio without overdubs. The band – Mick Jagger (vocals & harp), Keith Richards (guitar), Charlie Watts (drums), and Ronnie Wood (guitar) were joined by their long time touring sidemen Darryl Jones (bass), Chuck Leavell (keyboards) and Matt Clifford (keyboards) and, for two of the twelve tracks, by old friend Eric Clapton, who happened to be in the next studio making his own album.
‘Blue & Lonesome’ sees the Rolling Stones tipping their hats to their early days as a blues band when they played the music of Jimmy Reed, Willie Dixon, Eddie Taylor, Little Walter and Howlin’ Wolf – artists whose songs are featured on this album.
“This album is manifest testament to the purity of their love for making music, and the blues is, for the Stones, the fountainhead of everything they do.”
Sadly, this double CD album is no longer available in the Philippines. The big record shops in the Block in SM North and Mall of Asia closed shop. It’s a great blues album staying true to the musical form but with the usual RollingStones flair. As Keith Richards would say, “It’s only rock and roll but I like it”./PN
