Roots Rock Archives - Renaissance Granddad

Today in Music – Nov 30, 1943 – Happy Birthday – Ten Years After – Bassist Leo Lyons!!

So the first time I heard Leo Lyons name mentioned was at the end of one of my favorite Ten Years After songs, their cover of “Woodchopper’s Ball” When Alvin Lee said: TYA Intros And today 40 plus years after, I wish Leo Lyons a Happy 71st Birthday to Leo!! Now I could tell you all about Ten Years After as they were one of my favorite bands in the late 60s and early 70s and while much of my love came from the blues and guitar of Alvin Lee, another aspect was the influences of jazz on their music, particularly the early music, ,and part of that jazz sound came from the keyboards of Chick Churchill and the bass of Leo Lyons. But how about I let Leo tell you a little about himself – from Leo’s Blog at Cyclone Music: “Ten Years After is probably best remembered for the bands performance at the historic 1969 Woodstock Festival and featuring in the subsequent film of the event. Original guitarist Alvin Lee sadly passed away in March 2013 and will be missed, as Alvin and I started out together and shared many of life’s experiences, he was like the brother that I never had. After many Gold and Platinum Albums and thousands of concerts under our belts TYA is still going strong and, with the addition of new guitarist/vocalist Joe Gooch, the three original members are still touring and have recorded three new CDs. and I love those new albums…

Today in Music – Oct 21st – Happy Birthday – Steve Cropper and Elvin Bishop!

Originally, posted October 21, 2012 Today we celebrate the birthday of guitarist and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – Steve Cropper (1941). From Wikipedia: Steve Cropper (born Steven Lee Cropper, October 21, 1941, Dora, Missouri),[1] also known as Steve “The Colonel” Cropper, is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T. & the M.G.’s, and has backed artists such as Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas and Johnnie Taylor, also acting as producer on many of these records. He later gained fame as a member of the Blues Brothers band.[2] Rolling Stone lists him 36th on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.[3] Mojo ranks Cropper as the second-best guitarist ever. continue reading You can check out Steve Cooper telling the story of writing the song “Dock of the Bay” and the song itself at Steve’s website. But you know that writing about Steve Cropper gives me a chance again to listen to……. Green Onions!! Today is also the birthday of another musician Elvin Bishop. Elvin started out with The Paul Butterfield Blues Band and then carved out a solo career that’s still going strong. Here’s what Rolling Stone says about Elvin: “…careening slide and razor-edged bursts, all delivered with unflagging enthusiasm and wit.” – Rolling Stone His two most recent efforts The Blues Roll On and Red Dog Speaks are both fine albums, though I do…