The Gone Rick Motel

The B-17

2009-12-01T21:54:00.003-06:00

The B-17 "Flying Fortress is by far one of my favorite aircraft. Growing up, I read hundreds of books covering many military aircraft that I could find, but most were usually about B-17's and their importance during WWII. The accounts I read always had me wishing I could just hop a ride in one just to actually experience this beauty. The only chance I had cost $400 for 30 minutes, I didn't have the cash, but they canceled the flight that day anyway, so i wasn't to heartbroken. One day though....Anyway, the thing that drew me to the B-17 was the guns that covered the plane. I have only seen the aircraft fly twice and the sound from its 4 engines are the greatest sound ever.

Here is a B-17 starting up, just a friggin awesome sound coming from the engines.
Here is another.

Now just image hundred of these taking off and then flying overhead. Sure there were other heavy bombers around during the second world war, but this plane was the symbol of American air power at the time and to me still is.

My favorite Airplanes

2009-11-14T21:32:00.004-06:00

I have always wanted to do a list of my favorite aircraft. I grew up on an a very active Air Force base in the 70's and have always been fascinated with military aircraft. I still remember the first model airplane my Dad built for me, a B-57 Canberra. He remembered them from his year in Phan Rang Air Base in Vietnam. and since then I have been an avid collector, reader and all around Military Aviation junkie. Today, I want to introduce you to this bad boy:

The B-58 Hustler. This is one of the few planes I wish i could have seen fly. The only ones I have seen are on static display. But, I could imagine the sound those engines made. I have found a few videos on You Tube, but by far my favorites are these:

This second video is a great example of of the Aircraft from the age the B-58 was born in and features a flyby of the aircraft:

Man, I wish they still put on shows like that one.

Echoes

2009-11-08T20:58:00.003-06:00

About 30 years ago I was introduced to Pink Floyd on the Radio with "Another Brick in the Wall". It was the first single I ever bought and is still in my collection. I dug into The Wall and started backtracking their earlier stuff. Of course there is Dark Side of the Moon but, I really was taken aback by on Album of theirs and that would be Meddle Though Dark Side of the Moon is seen in many peoples collection, from what I've seen, Meddle is not. It is a very diverse Album and should be looked at as a precursor to Dark Side. Kind a=of a transition between the 60's 70's for the band. One song that stood out from it took up the entire second side of the album. Though the Album version is Great, the version from Live at Pompeii is the version I like the best. And as luck would have it, You Tube has it on their site, but in two parts unfortunately, it is 23 minutes of sound on the album cut down for the recording at Pompeii.
Part 1

Part 2

Hope you enjoyed it, the entire Pompeii set is incredible and i recommend it to highly, In fact I need to update it to DVD, I had an old recording a friend dubbed for me from VHS that I eventually wore out. But Both versions are incredible to listen too.

I only heard this song once

2009-10-12T19:41:00.002-05:00

Back in the hey day of MTV, I was but a mere 13 or 14 at the time when this crazy song came on:

I was big into Adam and the Ants back then (yeah I know). Anyway, I only heard this song one time and didn't catch the group that did it: (Tenpole Tudor) and searched for quite a while, well that is until the Internet and yahoo search helped me find the artist. Now with youtube, i can listen to it whenever I want. Enjoy!

Late Night Driving #1

2009-10-11T00:15:00.003-05:00

I hope everyone who has dropped by to listen to the list has enjoyed it so far. I have been so busy lately with talking to some old and new friends on Facebook i have neglegted the site. I have also found a new passion for music which has been reflected in my posts. Now for number one. This song is from one of my alltime favorite albums A Storm in Heaven by The Verve. This entire album is just full of fantastic sound. I don't go a day without listening to at least one song from it. But as far as listening to a great song out late at night on the open road, there is nothing like "Virtual World" to make a long drive more relaxing.

I have a bad copy of the song on my iPod since I had the CD in my player all the time, about halfway in it stutters for a second but after that it keeps going good as new. One day I will download a better version of it, but until then It is still great to listen to. Hope you enjoyed my list. I will move on to some other fun things shortly.

Late Night Driving #2

2009-10-11T00:04:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the long pause, but there are just so many hours in the day. Since I am up late, I thought I would Finnish off the list. #2 is one of the most intense songs from Robin Trower. I can't really pinpoint the first time I remember hearing it, but one time I do remember it was in 1989 and I was sitting out on Deck somewhere in the Mediterranean late one night with a mix tape I had made. It just sat there transfixed on the Ocean for the duration of the song thinking to myself "why don't I listen to this song more often?" Anyway, here is the song:

This song at the time really fit the setting I was in at the time and I have it in my top 25 on the iPod. Really great song, but not as good as number one on my list.

Late Night Driving #3

2009-09-07T20:42:00.003-05:00

I am down to the final three on my list and the 3rd on the list is this:

The Allman Brothers "Midnight Rider"
Surprisingly it is not number one, for two reasons that are coming up soon. This song was one of the first songs I caught onto as a song that is excellent to listen to while driving after hours. I remember the first time I heard it was sitting in the open back hatch of a Trans Am while my friend ran over Armadillos on thirteen bridges rd. (True Story) Ever since then I have always enjoyed listening to it on any road trip. Though I haven't hit any Armadillos since, not that i didn't have a chance too.

Late Night Driving #4

2009-09-06T21:31:00.005-05:00

#4 on my list is until the 90's, unknown to me. Animal Bag a band that came and went during the 90's released an EP titled "Offering". I was sceptical about buying it because their first Album...well sucked. After listening to it though I instantly fell in love with it and all of the songs are on my iPod and I listen to them often. But one song is just so over the top incredible to listen to I can't help but put this high on my list of songs to listen to. The song I am talking about is a cover of Jethro Tull's "Dun Ringill".

the original version is really good, but Animal Bags cover follows the acoustics of the song, but they make the song more...haunting. It is really great to listen to at anytime of the day, but while driving late at night especially in the winter is really cool. I did find a clip to post to compare the opening of both songs to make my point at Artist Direct. Unfortunately, they don't include the vocals and the intro is a bit longer. Anyway, if you like this song, you will like the rest of the album.

Late Night Driving #5

2009-09-03T22:47:00.003-05:00

Number 5 in my list of all time favorite songs to listen to while driving at night is this laid back song by Mad Season.

"River of Deceit" was one of the coolest songs to come out f the whole Seattle Grunge scene. I remember buying the CD when it came out just because it had Layne Staley as lead vocalist. I had not heard anything from it, I just knew it was going to be good. I was right by the way. Anyway, I popped the CD into the player and listened to it while I drove home that night from my semi cool job at a Music Store. I was so engrossed by this song I had to keep playing it over and over that what normally took 20 minutes for me to drive home wound up with me getting home over an hour later as I just drove around. Listening to it still reminds me of that and how the music from the Grunge era was just damn cool when the groups combined.

Late Night Driving #6

2009-08-31T20:45:00.004-05:00

This next song int the list was another tough one to accurately place in my list. Back in the 90's I was a HUGE Sepultura fan, I really enjoy listening to how their sound progressed throughout their career. But I heard this for the first time while driving back one night from a job in Mississippi. On the back roads where there is no light except for the occasional house or paper plant. It gets boring, but this song:

Sepultura "Kaiowas"
really woke me up after listening to it. I really enjoy this song both night or day, but if you need something to wake you up, this is it.

Late Night Driving #7

2009-08-22T20:28:00.004-05:00

As I begin to countdown it is getting harder for me to actually place the songs in the order I like them, It is difficult to pair down songs to where they should be placed. #7 is one of those that I had a hard time placing. I first heard this song in the Movie Heavy Metal

Billy Thorpe :Children of the Sun"
Needles to say, when i bought the Album I was upset that it was not on there. There were a couple of songs not on the Album that were in the movie and of all of the ones that had the best sync in the movie...They left it out. I loved it when the AM Rock Station played this while I was either coming home from work at night or out with my friend at night. Of course the car I had had the worst stereo, but it still was great to listen to it, even if the radio didn't play in Stereo (74 Nova). Over the years this song has been a mainstay on mix tapes, Mix Cd's and iPod.

Late Night Driving #8

2009-08-19T19:42:00.004-05:00

#8 in the series of songs I love to hear while driving at night is:

The Church "North, South, East, West"
By far one of my favorite songs from the Album Starfish is This one. I remember when they released "Under the Milky way" while I was living in Virginia. I drove around to EVERY record store to find someone who knew what the song was because once again, the radio station always failed to announce the artist. Now it's so easy to find an artist it kind of takes the fun out of it. Anyway, I loved listening to the Album while driving and always looked forward to this song. so much so I wore out the cassette 3x, once while at Sea for 6 months, that really sucked. It's just a really good inspirational song to keep you going late at night.

Late Night Driving #9

2009-08-16T21:50:00.006-05:00

#9 on my list is a cool 60's 90's fusion. Though I first heard of the Group Beautiful People from watching PCU. I am a huge Hendrix fan, but when I heard their take on his music I was to say the least impressed. I was listening to the Album while driving home one night and this came on and immediately caught my attention.

The Sea, Eventually
The song is an incredible fusion of new meets old that blends well. I am not a fan of electronic music, but the way the songs turned out made me rethink that.

Late Night Driving #10

2009-08-13T22:29:00.005-05:00

It has been a little while since the last post, but things have been really crazy at home and work. Not to mention on top of that I have become addicted to The Smoking Gun Presents episodes. In the time I was away I actually sat down and tried to track down 10 songs that have come on while I have been driving late at night and kind of fit in at the time they came on. This is going to be a series so stay tuned for the entire list, I promise I will do the entire thing. Coming in at #10 in the list is this song:

Pink Floyd "Breathe"
This is just one fantastic song from Dark Side of the Moon, but this particular song out of the entire album came on while I was listening to a mix tape on a late night drive back to Virginia while I was in the Navy. I had the windows down at 3am in the morning and it just seemed to fit the setting. Driving in a light fog as I got closer to the Ocean and knowing I was almost through with a 12 hour drive. I was careful never to listen to the entire Album because I used to listen to it at night to go to sleep, so you can imagine what it might do late at night behind the wheel of a car. To this day i have never been able to get through the entire Album without falling asleep. Though it is a short song that belongs in the flow of the album, by itself it is a great tune to listen to while driving under the midnight sky.

Tempus What?

2009-07-30T20:48:00.003-05:00

Way back in the early 80's I always tuned my radio into the lone AM rock station in the area and rocked out to tunes while doing my homework. I was always picking up on music they played in the evening, especially the ones that you didn't hear on the ten million pop stations on the FM dial. One night I heard this song:

Tempus Fugit by a band called Yes. I didn't know the title at the time and the DJ never said what it was, but I remembered it for years. I finally was able to track it down by actually buying the Yes Box they released in the 90's. It is a fantastic collection covering their career up until the early 90's. After listening to all 4 Cd's I finally caught it on the last CD and just thought to myself "the title fits the song", It is a very busy song and captures some cool sounds from the guitars to the keyboards. Love their outfits in the videos, makes me wish that fashion statement NEVER makes a return. Enjoy the song.

Stuck in the 80's again

2009-07-27T20:27:00.002-05:00

Dio's "Holy Diver back in the day was an awesome song, the video was even better, but as time wore Metal got heaver and Video's became small movies (thanks Michael)it went on to become cheesy. Here, just check it out yourself.

For years I though "Holy Diver" would only live on as a memory of the 80's but,
if it were not for a co worker, i would have never known this version existed.

There.....Much Better. I love heavy guitar and Killswitch Engage delivers. Unfortunately this sound was not really around back in the 80's If it were, I don't believe they could have topped it, but it wasn't...And they did. It is a really cool touch they put the man himself RJD in the video, I guess he threatened to kill them all if he didn't. They also made the video cheesy too, I guess to keep the flair the 80's seemed to have on music videos. Overall, both songs are great, but the cover just overpowers the original by far.

An 80's cover song

2009-07-25T23:06:00.003-05:00

This was a song that I couldn't stand when it came out. Though I loved the Movie "The Breakfast Club" I really grew tired of the constant blaring of this song on everyones radio. On any given Friday or Saturday night when the local pop station had the open requests, you could always count on someone requesting this song at least once every five minutes:

Now, with me being a metal head I was pretty biased towards this for years, damning it to the farthest reaches of that what spawned it. Well that is until I heard this version:
Life of Agony: DON'T YOU FORGET ABOUT ME

Yep, Life of Agony covered this song in the 90's and at first I refused to listen to it until I was forced to by my Best Friend one day. Once again, it takes someone else to make a song better by spicing it up. it is longer than the original by Simple Minds, but it is heavier and more appealing than the original. I can actually listen to the Simple Minds version now that I have gone back and listened to it with more of a nostalgia aspect to it and it is good, but it took the Life of Agony's version to make me do so. Let me know what you think.

Always carry Neosporin

2009-07-17T22:01:00.003-05:00

Maybe you will find this funny, at the time I was pretty mad, but this is one of those things that can only happen to me. It all starts out with a dog, My last remaining Dalmatian. She had to have a "thing" removed from her abdomen the other day and I have been having to make sure the incision doesn't get dirty or infected so i use the one thing I know will help, Neosporin. Anyway, this morning I went outside and took care of her, having to drag her out of the dog house, did I mention she is 14 and VERY stubborn. Well, I finally was able to grab a hold of her and put the Neosporin on the area and clean out the doghouse....Did I mention she is 14? After I finished, I put the Neosporin in my pocket and finished getting me and the kids ready to head out for the day. I dropped the kids off and headed of to a job I had close by. While I was working, I reached into my pocket to get one of my jump drives and realized I still had the tube of Neosporin in my pocket. I hate carrying extra stuff in my pocket since I already have 2 USB jump drives, a pocket knife, Re wetting drops for my contacts and 2 sets of car keys. Extra stuff throws off my ability to reach stuff in my pocket efficiently, sounds weird, but it makes sense to me. Well, all day i kept grabbing the tube instead of what i needed and at one point was ready to throw it away, but for some reason, I knew I shouldn't so i put up with it. towards the end of the day I started to take stuff out to the dumpster to start the process of cleaning out our office in preparation for our eventual move, it was hot out so after i finished, I headed upstairs to the Fridge to get a drink. I opened up the fridge and what do you know, only thing in ti was mountain Dew and Diet Dr Pepper, no Diet Cokes. I would drink water, but I can't stand bottled water, only tap for me. Being the person I am I decided to get a case of them out of the cabinet and put them in for everyone. As I started to open the lower cabinet I got a call so I answered my Cell as I opened the door. As i was getting out the "Generic Company, this is me" I heard a crash and the upper door opened and paint cans started pouring out at me. Well i had to tell the customer I would get back to them because I was being attacked by paint cans, there was a pause and an OK, and I hung up and started the process of fixing the situation. I found one of the pegs came out and caused the shelf to tip forward. I fixed it and began to put all the cans back. I though i would be smart and put the heave cans on the outside and towards the back and put the lighter ones in the middle of the shelf. I pushed on the shelf to test it and all seemed OK, so I proceeded to grab the case of Diet Cokes again. As I reached down, there was a loud CRACK! and the shelf and paint cans came down on my left hand. Well, after I pulled back, i saw the edge of the shelf had cut the back of my hand, not bad, but it was bleeding. I straightened everything back up again, but this time I gave up on the shelf and put everything down with the drinks. After that my hand was hurting and I noticed it had stopped bleeding, but thought I should take care of it. looking around i couldn't find anything to put on it, then I remembered I had a tube of Neosporin in my pocket. I thought to myself the the odds were now in my favor and proceeded to take care of my cut. Afterwards, I found out it was my Boss who had put the paint in the cabinets two years ago, why they picked today to attack, but thanks to the power of Neosporin, I will live to fight another day.

Cover Songs

2009-07-12T19:21:00.005-05:00

One of the best things about music now is the cover songs that have been emerging over the past decade and a half. Tonight Is Black Sabbath "Into the Void" from Master of Reality. This particular song is in my top 100 song list I have. One day I may try to list that out. Anyway, of all the covers out there, Sabbath Covers are my favorite.

OK, now with that in mind, I have a few bands that have covered this one and all have a very unique sound, and one actually made the song better. First up is Monster Magnet

This was from the Nativity in Black II album from the 90's. I never did pick this one up because I did not like the bands on it. I might pick it up eventually, but here is the band list
1. Sweet Leaf - Godsmack Listen
2. Hole in the Sky - Machine Head Listen
3. Behind the Wall of Sleep - Static-X Listen
4. Never Say Die - Megadeth Listen
5. Snowblind - System of a Down Listen
6. Electric Funeral - Pantera Listen
7. N.I.B. - Primus w/ Ozzy Osbourne Listen
8. Hand of Doom - Slayer Listen
9. Under the Sun - Soulfly Listen
10. Sabbra Cadabra - (hed) p.e. Listen
11. Into the Void - Monster Magnet Listen
12. Iron Man (This Means War) - Busta Rhymes
Seriously....Busta Rymes????? this is the reason why we have iTunes. Anyway, Monster Magnet brings an interesting version of the song to the table, I really like it because not only does MM have a 70's supergroup sound, they put there sound to it and don't do a flat cover. The next band is Kyuss from the Kyuss/QOTSA Split EP. Granted I am not a big fan, but they do an awesome job on the song.

The greatest thing about Kyuss is their guitar work and once again they melded their sound into it with what sounds like the end of Black magic Woman in parts, but overall it kicks ass. The final cover is Soundgarden from the EP SOMMS that came with the re-release of Badmotorfinger.

Now I am a BIG Soundgarden. But I believe with their sound and this song they have surpassed the Ozz man. I may take flack for this, but there is now harm in making a song better. The sound that Black Sabbath had back in the day was superb, but if this song were released in the 90's, it would have been this. Arguments are welcome. Let me know. I am going to work on some more cover song posts and maybe a cool one that I have been thinking about hard. A post or series of post of songs to listen to while driving at night. Sounds weird, but I drove a lot at night for years and there are just certain songs that make the driving experience cool.

Still in the 60's

2009-07-06T20:07:00.002-05:00

This is by far my favorite from Jimi Hendrix

(Midnight)
I grew up listening to Hendrix on the radio. It was hard to find a station that played anyting by him because of Disco and "Soft Rock" being popular at the time I started listening. Of course the first time I heard him was on an AM rock station in South Carolina and the song was "Purple Haze". I wonder how many people thought he said "Excuse me while I kiss this guy" like I did. Oh well, though I had to tough out the millions of stations playing "Funky Town" and "Summer Breeze" I always was able to find that one AM station that played the music I was not supposed to listen to, mainly because it was "Hippie" music and I lived in a Military community. But since that day I first heard "Purple Haze" I attempted to collect everything over time that he did. Though there are really only 4 actual release 3 studio and 1 live album that were released, like Elvis and soon to be MJ, there are probably hundreds of un released material albums or collection albums out there. This particular one was from an Album I happened to stumble upon in the 80's while in a record store that used to be in Birmingham called "War Heroes".
Released: December 1972
Tracks:
• Bleeding Heart
• Highway Chile
• Tax Free
• Peter Gunn
• Catastrophe
• Stepping Stone
• Midnight
• Three Little Bears
• Beginning
• Izabella
In all it has a great sound and is a pretty good collection. If you are a Hendrix fan, this is a good one to have in your collection. I have very few Hendrix in my collection now, most was on cassette and I sold off my collection years ago, but I still have this album and a few others left that I still listen to now and then. Enjoy the song and let me know what you think.

Still in the 60's

2009-06-30T22:35:00.003-05:00

Apparently I have been stuck in the 60's lately with the last few posts. The latest song I have gotten hooked on is by the Lemon Drops.Even though the song is supposed to be an Anti-War song from the era, if you did not know this before listening to it it probably never occur to you that it is. To me it is just another great song from an era when music was once again going into a transformation and being used by rebellious youth. Kind of like what 80's metal was for me. Anyway, enjoy the song.

French Psychedelic?

2009-06-28T17:13:00.004-05:00

While having the Psychedelic 60's stuck in my head from the other day, I thought I would check Youtube for some more of the songs I listened to from when i was a teenager and found this really cool song from a band called Total Issue. The song is "Hauteville".

I have never heard anything by them until now. They had a really killer sound. Too bad I couldn't find any more info on them. I will have to do some more research though and see if I can grab this song to bestow its coolness on my iPod.

Saturday Psychedelics

2009-06-27T20:45:00.003-05:00

Back when I was a teenager, I used to listen to one of the better Radio stations in the greater Montgomery area. It was one of the last remaining AM rock stations if I remember right. It was really great to kick back and listen to it late at night when the classic stuff from the 60's was played. This was the early 80's so it wasn't really that classic I guess. This was when they played Hendrix and early stuff from the Who and Stones. One song I really enjoyed the first time was this one:

The Chambers Brothers - Time Has Come Today
Uploaded by Tushratta. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

That's right, The Chambers Brothers "Time". This is just one of the coolest songs from that era. It was out of the ordinary and hooked me the first time I heard it. I really like the video I found using Bing. It is a shortened studio performance because the original is close to 10 minutes which was common back then, don't know the date or show, but they had a really good live sound. One thing I do like about songs from that era, around this time there were cover songs starting to emerge. Now for some reason I did not hear the cover of this particular song until 86 when my Best Friend put it on a mix tape for me. We have been trading songs since 85 and for some reason I never picked up on The Ramones heavily until I heard this song from them:

After hearing this song I was all about The Ramones. I guess it was the combination of the Chambers Brothers and the newer sound that finally clicked to accept their sound since I had not really gotten into anything Punk at this time, it really just passed me by up until then. But the sound that The Ramones put to the cover was intense to say the least. I guess it was that they took all the psychedelic filler and made it even better. If you want to hear the full version of the original I actually found it. Isn't the Internet great, like an all request station.

Anyway, you decide which version you like the best and let me know.

Friday Night Metal

2009-06-19T22:57:00.002-05:00

Swiss Metal to be exact. Back in the 90's I was on a hunt for all types of music, I just couldn't get enough. I believe I spent a good bit of my time off from work scouring music stores in two or three state area looking for anything that looked like it would sound decent. Well, one day, I happened upon the new release from a Swiss band named Coroner. I had there earlier release Mental Vortex. It was pretty good, so i picked up Grin. I was in for a big surprise with this one. The bands sound had changed completely. The album is # 2 in my list of the ones i can play all the way through and enjoy EVERY song. #1 being Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. I have found two of my favorite songs from Grin for you to listen to, so I hope you enjoy them.
Grin(Nails Hurt)

Serpent Moves This one is my sons favorite, because he likes snakes. He has good taste in music.

90's Music on Wednesday

2009-06-10T21:51:00.003-05:00

As I have said before, I am a huge fan of the music that came out of the early 90's music scene. Though most of it was Metal, I did catch the Grunge wave also. I just liked hearing something different from time to time. Aprils Motel Room was one of those different bands. Even though they were in they were heralded as a "Grunge" band, I didn't really think they were. They had a more progressive rock sound. I guess that's why there songs are still in heavy rotation on the iPod. One of the songs, God has one of the bests sounds from any song on the album Black 14 you can watch the video here.

Another fun fact about this album is this is one that I picked up on a whim because I liked the album cover. Again, one of the better buys I made on a whim. While I was looking up some more info on them the other day i did find their Myspace Website that has some newer songs which are just as good as the ones on the album from 1994. I have no idea when they were produced, but they give me some newer stuff to listen to. The one to pay attention to on the site is a song called "Honey". Enjoy!