Racin' and Rockin'..."JB's Take"

Here's where we go to kick back after the races with our pals. Pour a tall one, punch a few buttons on the jukebox, and relax...
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Re: Racin' and Rockin'..."JB's Take"

Postby WildcatOne » Mon Aug 01, 2016 9:18 pm

My pick for Racer of the Week is Shawn Earp from Fertigs, Pennsylvania. Shawn was recommended to me by our friend and former Racer of the Week, Don Turner. Thanks, Don! Shawn's graphic and feature has come in 3rd place all-time on Facebook for Likes and Shares. This speaks highly of Shawn's popularity among his fellow Racers. The Drag Race America Page that Shawn and Don are frequently featured is a great source of information, stories, pictures and people, and I highly recommend visiting the page when you're on the internet looking for updates. Shawn sent me the following information:

"I'm Shawn Earp, age 34, occupation machinist, married to Lisa Earp. We have two children: Ava Earp age 7 and Anna Earp age 3. My first car was a 75 monza that was my uncle's prior to my having it. I put a 400" sbc and some squeeze in and had a ball of fun with it. I've been wrenching since I was old enough to hold one. And driving since I could see over the wheel literally. My uncles and my dad would probably advise against me telling this but they used to carry a pillow for me to sit on, slide the seat up as far as it would go, plop me on the pillow and let me drive them all over the country side from the time I was about 7or 8 lol.

I raced atv's for a while but always came back to the drag racing. We street raced for a good many years with drag strips 2.5+ hours away that was what we did until I almost piled up my dad's car one night (no I didn't take it he was at the starting line lol) and that was the end of it. We bought a trailer and kept good tow vehicles and headed for the drag strip and haven't stopped since. This stuff is in my blood. My dad has a 71 nova with a 540 he's had the car for over 25 years with may others prior, my uncle has an 87 Buick regal with 455 Buick power also with many cars prior and I'm surrounded with friends that are into this stuff from a Valiant with a 572 BBM to a full chassis pro street 82 Malibu with a twin turbo LS.

This is what we do in NW PA. I am part of a small group that put together a drag racing series called DADs Streetcar Shootout. It's 4 classes: Outlaw Limited Street, Modified Street Outlaw, Street Outlaw, and True Street held at Quaker City Motorsports Park. We love heads up racing and that is what the series is all about! My current car I've had since I was about 20. It took me a few years to complete. It started out to be a pro street car and then things got out of hand lol. It's a 1969 chevy Camaro 4 link backhalf car built by myself, 3200lbs race weight, it has a 565 ci Brodix -3xtra 380's and an SV565, both ported by Eric Weingartner, cam shaft from Paul Klyzcek of PKRE, a Callies crank and rods, JE nitrous pistons, machine work by Travis Harry of Les Frickshun, all assembly work I do myself, it has two NX foggers flowed by Monte Smith, 1.80 powerglide, 29.5 x 10.5 tire, afco shocks by Menscer, my best et to date is 5.28@135 in the eighth-mile, 8.27@164 in the quarter-mile on one kit."

I would like to thank the sponsors of all these big events being involved personally with a racing series. You guys are the ones that make this stuff happen with the racers being a hard second! Thanks to my understanding wife and probably my biggest thanks to my dad without him i wouldn't have any of the knowledge I do today he is involved in about every part of my racing!! I really don't have any goals or accomplishments that I can think of i do this as a true passion or hobby I love it and will continue to do so whether I'm winning or losing."

That's Shawn Earp, folks. I noticed that he had his family first in his message. Shawn, we wish you good luck, safe racing and the best of times in the future!

I was talking with Danny White last week about the music I was going to talk about tonight and he suggested I give the history of the great American band from the early to mid 70s that was called Big Star. Danny doesn't agree with my comparison of Big Star to Badfinger as 2 bands that had absolutely beautiful music and songs but never made it to mainstream success. I agree with what he's saying, but I do see similarities in the two, even with different circumstances. Badfinger had some hits, but Big Star didn't. Badfinger was a British band and Big Star was from Memphis. But both bands lost both of their main songwriters, Badfinger to suicides and Big Star to an auto accident and illness many years after the band broke up. Anyway, now that I've got that out of the way with apologies to my buddy, here is the story of Big Star, the band from Memphis who made 3 of the most gorgeous albums I ever heard, who never got decent airplay and who ended up as a footnote in Rock History but whose influence has to this day inspired bands who made it big. But Big Star didn't make it.

The band was together between 1971 and 1974. They produced 3 albums, and they went down in history as the quintessential American Band, foreshadowing the alternative rock of the 90s by a good 20 years, and leaving a body of work that simply glows with beauty.

Alex Chilton was the lead singer for the blue-eyed soul group the Box Tops from 1967 to 1970, he scored a No. 1 hit with the song "The Letter" when he was sixteen. Following his stint with the Box Tops, he recorded a solo studio album. He was offered the role of lead vocalist for Blood, Sweat & Tears, but he turned the offer down as being "too commercial".

Chilton had known Chris Bell for some time: they both lived in Memphis, each had spent time recording music at Ardent Studios and each, when aged 13, had been struck by the music of the Beatles during the band's 1964 debut US tour. A song Chilton wrote nearly six years after he first witnessed a Beatles performance, "Thirteen", referred to the event with the line "Rock 'n' roll is here to stay". Chilton asked Bell to work with him as a duo modeled on Simon & Garfunkel; Bell declined, but invited Chilton to a performance by his own band, Icewater, comprising Bell, drummer Jody Stephens, and bassist Andy Hummel.

Attracted by Icewater's music, Chilton showed them his new song "Watch the Sunrise", and was immediately asked to join the band. Both "Watch the Sunrise" and "Thirteen" were subsequently included on Big Star's first album, which was titled #1 Record. The band adopted the name Big Star when one member was given the idea from a grocery store they often visited for snacks during recording sessions. One of many Big Star Markets outlets in the Memphis region at the time, it had a logo consisting of a five-pointed star enclosing the words "Big Star"; as well as the store's name, the band used its logo but without the word "Star" to avoid infringing copyright and they just put "Big" in it.

For the first time ever, last week I listened to the entire #1 Record album at Danny's suggestion, and I was utterly mesmerized by the incredible beauty that's there.

Gonna call it a night till next week, folks. This story is a classic, and I'm thanking Danny White for his input and advice in helping me put these stories together.

Y'all be sure to tune in tomorrow evening at 7 PM Eastern on Racers Reunion Radio for Racing Through History. It's Thee Goat Rodeo you don't want to miss! Thanks, I'll see y'all next week!
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Re: Racin' and Rockin'..."JB's Take"

Postby Wheelzman » Wed Aug 03, 2016 10:45 am

John, Big Star sounds like a mix of the Eagles and 10 CC in a much more laid back fashion. Never heard of them but very interesting. Thanks.

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Re: Racin' and Rockin'..."JB's Take"

Postby draglist » Wed Aug 03, 2016 9:45 pm

Cool. Will have to YouTube them. bp
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Re: Racin' and Rockin'..."JB's Take"

Postby WildcatOne » Mon Aug 08, 2016 9:11 pm

Highly recommended band. They were as good as anybody; better than most. They were there but for fortune.

Today is Pee Wee Bowen's 73rd birthday. We had a couple of great gigs over the weekend in Kemah and Galveston. Happy birthday to Pee Wee, who is one of my life's heroes and best friends. Pee Wee just got an Ensign blue '62 Pontiac Catalina which is nearly identical to the one Don Gay won the US Nationals with in A/Stock 1963 and the Winternationals in '64. Being from Dickinson, Texas, which Don Gay was also from, it's a dream come true for Pee Wee.

A big shout-out to Racers of the Week Arran Brattle and Pauline Lane from New Zealand. They sent me the very first Angry Azz Racing hat. I'm the first person to ever have one. Thank you, Arran and Pauline! It's an awesome hat and I'm honored to wear it!

My pick for Racer of the Week is Chris Graves, from Denton, Texas. Chris' story could go in a number of directions, folks. He's been a guest on our show in the past, and he was recommended to me by our friend and former two-time Racer of the Week, Gary Riley. Thanks, Gary! Chris is simply put, an amazing human being. He has a degree in psychology from North Texas State University, he is the track photographer at North Star Dragway just North of Denton, he is the owner of Max Cackle Photography, whose photos we've all seen and loved, he is the president of the Southwest Heritage Racing Association, and he owns and pilots his blown Chevy dragster, which he named "Blown Inheritance". The engine is a 6-71 blown 427 Chevy that sits on a 1968 Ken Cox Chassis. It has the classic look of a late-60s rail, and it wins.

Chris and his wife Tera both drive nostalgia dragsters and are high in the points standings in the SHRA series. Check out his Facebook page for his latest adventures in his racing career. I know Chris is a very busy guy and I expect to hear from him soon about the car. When I get his info I will add it to his feature in the Forum on DragList. Chris, we wish you good luck, safe racing and the best of times in the future!

The critics said Big Star's #1 Record is one of those times when everything falls together as a total sound and they called it "an important record that should go to the top with proper handling". Proper handling, however, was not forthcoming: Stax Records proved unable to either promote or distribute the record with any degree of success, and even when the band's own efforts to get airplay generated interest, fans were unable to buy it as Stax couldn't make it available in very many stores. In an effort to improve its catalog's availability, Stax signed a deal with Columbia, making them responsible for the entire Stax catalog. But Columbia had no interest in dealing with the independent distributors previously used by Stax and removed even the existing copies of #1 Record from the stores. They totally killed the album. The frustration at #1 Record's obstructed sales contributed to tension within the band. In November 1972, Bell quit the band. When work continued on songs for a second album, he rejoined, but further conflict soon erupted. A master tape of the new songs inexplicably went missing. In late 1972, struggling with severe depression, Chris Bell quit the band once more, and by the end of the year Big Star disbanded.

After a few months Chilton, Stephens and Hummel decided to reform Big Star, and they resumed work on the second album. The title chosen, Radio City, continued the play on the theme of a big star's popularity and success. Calling an LP Radio City would be kind of wishful thinking. They hoped it would be played on the radio a lot, making it "radio city". It didn't pan out that way. Being a three-piece really opened things up in terms of everybody playing. Radio City was more spontaneous, and the performances on the record were pretty close to live performances.

Although he was uncredited, Bell contributed to the writing of some of the album's songs, including "O My Soul" and "Back of a Car". Shortly before the album's release, Hummel left the band: judging that it would not last, and in his final year at college, he elected to concentrate on his studies and live a more normal life. He was replaced by John Lightman for a short tenure prior to the band dissolving once again. I listened to Radio City last week from start to finish. It is an unqualified all-time classic album. The record sold around 20,000 copies.

In September 1974, eight months after the release of Radio City, the two remaining members of Big Star returned to Ardent Studios to work on a third album. Chilton and Stephens were assisted by producer Jim Dickinson and an assortment of musicians including drummer Richard Rosebrough, and Lesa Aldridge, Chilton's girlfriend, who contributed on vocals. The sessions and mixing were completed in early 1975, and 250 copies of the album were pressed with plain labels for promotional use. The album is extraordinary. It is Alex Chilton's untidy masterpiece. It's beautiful and disturbing; "vehemently original" it contains "haunting brilliance". Without question, Third is one of the most idiosyncratic, deeply felt and fully realized albums in the history of pop music.

Fry and Dickinson flew to New York with promotional copies and met employees of a number of record labels, but they could not generate interest in the album. When a similar promotion attempt failed in California, the album was shelved as it was considered by them to be not commercial enough for release. Fry recalled, "We'd go in and play it and these guys would look at us like we were crazy". In late 1974, before the album was even named, the band broke up, bringing Big Star's first era to its end. Dickinson later said what he did for Alex was literally remove the yoke of oppressive production that he had been under since the first time he ever uttered a word into a microphone, for good or ill."

Since quitting the band in 1972, Chris Bell had spent time in several different countries trying to develop his solo career. In 1978, after his return to Memphis, the first two Big Star albums were released together in the UK as a double album, drawing enthusiastic reviews and interest from fans. Soon afterwards Big Star's recognition grew further when, four years after its completion, the third album too was released in both the US and the UK. By now,Third album had become known by several unofficial names including Third, Beale Street Green and Sister Lovers (because during the album's recording sessions, Chilton and Stephens were dating sisters Lesa and Holliday Aldridge).

Not long after the release of Third/Sister Lovers, Chris Bell died in a car accident. He apparently lost control of his car while driving alone and was killed when he struck a lamp post after hitting the curb a hundred feet before. A blood test found that he was not drunk at the time, and no drugs were found on him other than a bottle of vitamins. Bell is believed to have either fallen asleep at the wheel or become distracted.

That's part 2 of the Big Star story. Thanks to Danny White for his input and advice in helping me put these stories together.

Y'all be sure to tune in tomorrow evening at 7 PM Eastern on Racers Reunion Radio for Racing Through History. It's Thee Goat Rodeo you don't want to miss! Thanks, I'll see y'all next week!
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Re: Racin' and Rockin'..."JB's Take"

Postby WildcatOne » Mon Aug 15, 2016 9:08 pm

My pick for Racer of the Week is Mike Smith, from East Liverpool, Ohio. Mike was recommended to me by our friend and former Racer of the Week Don Turner and our friend Gorden Jenkins. Thanks, guys! Mike is a regular competitor in the DADs series in the Ohio / Pennsylvania region, and if I'm not mistaken, his best times have been run at Quaker City Motorsports Park, which is where we're having the 12th annual DragList Nationals in conjunction with the Funny Car Reunion next year.

Mike's car is a '62 Chevy II that he's had for 11 years and he built it himself in a 2-car garage. It has an absolutely gorgeous 3-tone grey primer paint job, offset by a red cowl, featuring an outstanding hand-cut air hole with a plexiglass plate on top to aid airflow. This piece of drag racing ingenuity sits on the one-piece removable fiberglass front end, which Mike got from Unlimited Fiberglass. The car stands out and if you ask me, it stands for something. To my eye, it's a beautiful, one of a kind piece of hot rod art.

Mike built the 23 degree small-block Chevy engine, which has 461 cubic inches. It has all-pro heads, a powerglide transmission, one nitrous system, the chassis is a 25 5/7ths, .50 certification. It still has stock suspension with leaf springs. It came with a 283 and a turbo 350 but Mike built it like this so now it runs 4.99 at 144mph in the eighth mile.

Mike is one of the most well-known, respected and well-liked racers out there. It's said of him that he will stop everything and lend a hand to anyone who needs help at the races. It's precisely this kind of guy who fits perfectly into the Racer of the Week family. Mike, we wish you good luck, safe racing and the best of times in the future!

After some time off, Big Star returned in 1993 with a new line-up when guitarist Jon Auer and bassist Ken Stringfellow joined Chilton and Stephens. The resurrected band made its debut at the 1993 University of Missouri spring music festival. A recording of the performance was issued on CD by Zoo Records as Columbia: Live at Missouri University. The concert was followed by tours of Europe and Japan, as well as an appearance on The Tonight Show.

Big Star's first post-reunion studio recording was the song "Hot Thing," recorded in the mid-1990s for the Big Star tribute album Big Star, Small World. As with their prior studio releases, however, the tribute album was delayed for years due to its record company going under. Originally scheduled for a 1998 release on Ignition Records, the album was eventually released in 2006 on Koch Records.

In Space was released in 2005 on the Rykodisc label. It was recorded during 2004. The album consisted of new material that was mostly co-written by Chilton, Stephens, Auer, and Stringfellow. Reviewing In Space, Rolling Stone's David Fricke first pointed out that the context of the release was now "a world expecting that American Beatles ideal all over again" from a band that "achieved its power-pop perfection when no one else was looking." He said, "In Space is no #1 Record, but at its brightest, it is Big Star in every way."

The band played at San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium in 2007. They also performed at the 2008 Rhythm Festival, in Bedfordshire, England. In 2009, the #1 Record/Radio City double album was reissued in remastered form. The same time the double record was released, it was announced that a film of Big Star's history, based on biographer Rob Jovanovic's book Big Star: The Story of Rock's Forgotten Band, was in pre-production. In July 2009, Big Star performed at a concert in Hyde Park, London, In September, 2009, Rhino Records issued a four-CD box set containing 98 recordings made by Chilton, Bell and the band between 1968 and 1975. Keep an Eye on the Sky included live and demo versions of Big Star songs, solo work, and material from Bell's earlier bands Rock City and Icewater.

On March 17, 2010, Alex Chilton suffered a fatal heart attack. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Tulane Medical Center in New Orleans. Big Star had been scheduled to play at SXSW Music Festival that same week. The remaining members were joined by special guests original bassist Andy Hummel, M. Ward, Evan Dando, R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills, and Chris Stamey. They staged the concert as a tribute to him. Andy Hummel died 3 months later of cancer.

Stephens re-formed the band and as of 2016, Big Star's Third continues to perform. there have been several posthumous releases. Big Star's performance on October 29, 1994 is the only known show by the band to be professionally filmed in its entirety. Alex Chilton's musicality was mesmerising as he drives the band. He alternated between lead and rhythym guitar with a laser focus and total cool.

A documentary titled Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me in 2012, chronicled the group's career and band members' solo efforts. In 2013, the documentary was released in theatres and on DVD, and it had a limited theatrical re-release in England in 2014. Also in 2014, Live in Memphis was released on CD, vinyl, and as a DVD. The DVD documents how Big Star's 1990s lineup defied expectations and endured for another 16 years. I have no doubt that Big Star's music will continue to endure well into decades of the future. It is unbelievable that this band didn't conquer the world, but their influence will no doubt be an inspiration to bands forever.

Thanks to Danny White for his input and advice in helping me put these stories together. We collaborated on a list that I will give part one of next week on the Top 20 guitarists of all time.

Y'all be sure to tune in tomorrow evening at 7 PM Eastern on Racers Reunion Radio for Racing Through History. It's Thee Goat Rodeo you don't want to miss! Thanks, I'll see y'all next week.
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Re: Racin' and Rockin'..."JB's Take"

Postby WildcatOne » Mon Aug 22, 2016 9:59 pm

First off tonight, I want to give a special shout-out to our buddy Rich Panicaro. Recently Rich had a mishap in his outstanding Old Cutlass hot rod, and he's been working nights rebuilding and painting it so he can get back out there as soon as possible. Rich, we've missed you here on the chat board, but we're keeping up with your progress and thanks for giving us a day-by-day report. Hope to see you back on track and I'm sure you will be soon.

My pick for Racer of the Week is Joe Bond, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Joe was a Racer of the Week in November of 2014 when he was the pilot of the Nuthin Fancy Fuel Altered. Since then, the team has built a new front-engine A/Fuel Dragster, and the Bond, Hannis and Osborne car is named "Nuthin II Fancy". The car is an outstanding dragster from stem to stern. As well as being one of those dragsters you just can't stop looking at, in July Joe and the team won Santa Pod's Dragstalgia event, running a 6.75 ET at 210 mph right out of the gate. It's the quickest methanol slingshot dragster in the country.

Joe spent 5 years racing in the Junior Dragster class, starting at the age of 12. He was one of the first 10 racers in the UK to get a Junior Dragster license. After 3 years in Junior Stock, in which he won the APIRA Championship in 2000, Joe stepped up to Junior Modified and was runner-up in the UK National Championship in 2002 and 2003. In June of 2006 at the age of 18, Joe made his debut in the Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association, racing the Nuthin Fancy blown alcohol Fiat Topolino. Joe drove the car into the mid-6's at close to 210 until the dragster was completed in the last year, and he's right at the top of his game.

The future for the team is as bright as it can be. Joe is a lead project engineer at Jaguar Land Rover, having worked for TRW before that. He graduated from Glyndwr University in 2008 with a degree in Motorsports Design & Management, and he is known throughout the UK as one of the best young drivers in the sport of drag racing. Joe says aside from being a mechanical engineer, he does motor racing as a hobby. He's got a great hobby, as his success on the track is as good or better than a lot of guys who have done it full-time.

Joe Bond, we wish you good luck, safe racing and the best of times in the future!

A few weeks ago, I put a list together of who I consider to be the Top 20 guitar players of all time. I showed it to Danny White and he completely agreed and even added a couple of points to make about some of those guys. Tonight I'm going to begin with #20 and if I have enough time, I'll take it to #18.

#20 is Roy Clark. We all saw him on Hee-Haw on TV, playing with Buck Owens and any other guest musician they had on the show, and he displayed dazzling technique mixed with feeling that is a rare gift for any musician to have. He's not only a guitar player. He plays several instruments and has been a major influence in popularizing Country and Bluegrass music in modern times. He guest-hosted the Tonight Show and had some hit singles on his way to being made a member of the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame. Roy is 83 years young now. He's from West Virginia and spent a lot of his teen years in Washington, DC, where his Dad worked in the Navy Yard. At 14, he began playing banjo, guitar, and mandolin, and by the age of 15 he had already won two National Banjo Championships and world banjo/guitar flatpicking championships. He was simultaneously pursuing a sporting career, first as a baseball player and then as a boxer, before dedicating himself solely to music.

At 17, he had his first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry. At the age of 23, Roy Clark obtained his pilot's license and then bought a 1953 Piper Tri-Pacer, which he flew for many years.

His career has spanned nearly 7 decades as an entertainer, but it's his talent as a musician that puts him on the Top 20 list as a guitarist. He has flawless chops. I've seen him play extremely difficult passages on his instrument and during his flurry of dead-letter-perfect solos, he turned his head, looked into the TV camera, smiled and winked! Roy Clark is a natural talent, one of our all-time greats, and I feel fortunate to have seen him play on those great TV shows.

#19 on the list of Top 20 guitarists of all time is Glen Campbell. He's a little younger than Roy, but he went in a lot of directions in his youth before settling down into his career as a country-pop vocalist and guitarist. In 1964, he replaced Brian Wilson as the touring bass player for the Beach Boys and also toured on bass with Rick Nelson. He was the vocalist on the strange 1967 hit by Sagittarius called "My World Fell Down", which if anybody heard the song, they'd think it was the Beach Boys doing it.

Glen was born in Billstown, Arkansas and began playing guitar early in his life. He started playing professionally in 1954 and in 1958 he formed his first band. In 1960, Glen moved to Los Angeles to become a session musician. Around this time he joined The Champs. Campbell soon was in demand as a session musician, and was part of a group of studio musicians known as The Wrecking Crew. During this period, he played on recordings by Bobby Darin, Ricky Nelson, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, The Monkees, Nancy Sinatra, Merle Haggard, Jan and Dean, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, and Phil Spector. Glen played by ear. He never did learn to read music. I have seen him play a note-perfect version of Mason Williams' "Classical Gas" on an electric guitar. There was nothing Glen Campbell couldn't do.

His biggest hits in the late 1960s were the songs written by Jimmy Webb: "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Wichita Lineman", "Galveston", and "Where's the Playground Susie". "Wichita Lineman" was selected as one of the greatest songs of the 20th century by Mojo magazine in 1997 and by Blender in 2001.

After he hosted a 1968 summer replacement for television's The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour variety show, Glen hosted his own weekly variety show, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, from January 1969 through June 1972. He helped to launch the careers of Anne Murray and Jerry Reed, who were regulars on his show. "Rhinestone Cowboy" in 1972, was his biggest-ever hit, selling over 2 million copies initially. "Southern Nights", by Allen Toussaint, his other number one pop-rock-country crossover hit, was generated with the help of Jimmy Webb, and Jerry Reed, who inspired the famous guitar lick introduction to the song, which was the most-played jukebox number of 1977. Country Disco! It don't get no better than that!

From 1971 to 1983, Glen Campbell was the celebrity host of the Los Angeles Open, an annual professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour.

As we all know, Glen Campbell is living in a long-term care facility. No doubt the media will keep us up-to-date on his condition, but his final albums are as brilliant and endearing as all of his early work is. He's in every Hall of Fame there is, and his work over the decades that he performed, recorded and entertained folks all over the world is a record that is only equaled by few.

#18 on our list is Vince Gill. Vince was born in Norman, Oklahoma in 1957. He began playing a number of musical instruments in his youth, encouraged by his father, who was a lawyer and part-time musician, and by the age of 15 he was on his way. He moved to Louisville and joined Ricky Skaggs' band and in 1979 he joined the great country-rock band Pure Prairie League. He contributed his songs and vocals to their album Can't Hold Back. That same year he turned down Mark Knopfler's offer to join Dire Straits, but he contributed to the Straits' album On Every Street. For the next few years, Vince worked in the studio and on stage, lending his talents to albums by Rodney Crowell, Tony Brown and Emory Gordy, Jr. He's been a member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1991. He plays in the country swing group the Time Jumpers, After doing a tribute to the Moody Blues, he backed Bonnie Tyler on her album and as of 2012, Vince Gill has only been performing Bluegrass songs.

Debby and I saw Vince Gill as a headline performer for the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo in 2000, and he was absolutely fantastic. Not only were his vocals perfect, his musicianship and guitar playing was some of the best I've ever seen.

As of now, Vince has sold over 25 million albums and he has more than 50 top 40 hits. As a musician, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better one than Vince Gill. His list of awards would take an entire segment to list, but suffice it to say that he's gotten as many for his songwriting as he has for his vocals and for his guitar playing.

I'm gonna call it a night with the list for this week, folks. Thanks to Danny White for his input and advice in helping me put these segments together.

Y'all be sure to tune in tomorrow evening at 7 PM Eastern on Racers Reunion Radio for Racing Through History. It's Thee Goat Rodeo you don't want to miss! Thanks, I'll see y'all next week.
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Re: Racin' and Rockin'..."JB's Take"

Postby Wheelzman » Tue Aug 23, 2016 8:46 am

Vince Gill, what a guitar player, song writer and singer. I bought his 4 CD set of "These Days" a long time ago and money well spent. The heartfelt soul and different styles of music is amazing. :D

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Re: Racin' and Rockin'..."JB's Take"

Postby WildcatOne » Tue Aug 23, 2016 7:23 pm

That's true, Wheelz. Although Vince is associated with modern country music, he is actually one of the most diversified musicians on the planet! I can say the same thing about Charlie Daniels as well. All styles, and they do them perfectly! Best, WC1
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Re: Racin' and Rockin'..."JB's Take"

Postby WildcatOne » Mon Aug 29, 2016 9:01 pm

My pick for Racer of the Week is T’Ryane Sakamoto, a 15 year old Jr. Dragster driver from Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. She was recommended to me by our friend Michael Baba Balbarino in Hilo. Thanks, Michael! T'Ryane is a sophomore at Kauai High School and she's an honor student. She started Jr. drag racing when she was 10. In 2013, shortly after T’Ryane started racing at Kauai Raceway Park, the track was closed for re-surfacing. She then began racing on the island of Maui until Kauai Raceway Park re-opened in July of 2014. In addition to her racing trophies, T’Ryane has been the recipient of the Garden Isle Jr. Dragsters Overall Award, Closest to dial in and Best Reaction prizes as well as numerous Academic Excellence Awards.

T’Ryane’s Dad Ryan was a drag racer himself and that is how she got the interest in the sport. She also has a sister Ryancie, who is 13 and a brother Ryant, who is 10 that both race Jr. Dragsters as well. Drag Racing has bonded the family even closer and they all look forward to race weekends together. T'Ryane's Mom Tracie is a wonderful lady who keeps the whole family centered and works with each of them to help them all. She gave me all this information and never mentioned herself, but without her, this feature wouldn't ever happen. Thanks, Tracie!

T’Ryane thanks God all the time for being the real provider of allowing her to enjoy this amazing sport. She also thanks Michael Baba Balbarino of 808 Fuels for recommending her and John Bockelman of JB’s picks/Racin' & Rockin' with Draglist.com for selecting her.

T'Ryane, we wish you good luck, safe racing and the best of times in the future!

I'm gonna wrap up my list of guitarists tonight by going straight to the top. There were a lot of great guitar players as we all know, but the one who stands by a mile at #1 is the great Jimi Hendrix. From his early days as a sideman to Little Richard, the Isley Brothers, Curtis Knight and a long list of bands that he played with until his discovery at the Cafe Wha? in Greenwich Village by Chas Chandler, he built a style and a sound that has yet to be duplicated by anybody, including Hendrix Tribute guys. Playing Hendrix songs is not that hard to do, but playing like Hendrix did is something that only happens when he shows up and takes over. That's where Hendrix exists now. I always believed that about him and I always will.

Hendrix was different in just about every way from his peers. He was completely left-handed; his setup was a perfect mirror-image of a right-handed player. He was half Native American and half African-American and he brought both of those genetic principles into his all-American music, which not only looked but sounded like nothing else anybody had ever heard before or since.

Hendrix personified the new age he brought to modern music. His guitar playing almost took a back seat to his image, but that image was cultivated and made presentable by Chas Chandler, who guided Hendrix in the early times of his exposure and once Jimi had the confidence and cooperation of the band that Chandler chose for him, he blossomed into a creation that was greater than the sum of its parts. However, from a purely musical standpoint, Hendrix wrote songs and played guitar in a way that was light years ahead of his contemporaries, and listening to his official and bootlegged recordings, I've heard phrasing and riffs that are absolutely mind-boggling. If anybody else ever tried that, it would sound horrible, but he made that stuff up as he went along, and it was more than perfect, it was profound.

I have a bootleg live Hendrix album that was recorded in Europe in 1968, and it's stripped-down without any studio effects added. I consider it to be the prize posession of all my Hendrix albums, and I have them all. He played his entire first and second albums and included a few cuts from his third...just him and his rhythym section. From that record is delivered the true genius of Jimi Hendrix. He didn't do the wild stage act that helped make him famous; he just stood there and played, and it is a truly magnificent document of Hendrix' talent and ability, which as I said before went above and beyond everything else that was being played at that time, and it wasn't a giant drunken orgy like so many rock concerts are 50 years later.

He'd be 73 next month, but we lost him when he was 27. The three years he gave us at the forefront have never been bettered and they never will. Ask any guitar player and they'll all agree on one thing. Jimi Hendrix was the greatest of all time.

Thanks to Danny White for his input and advice in helping me put these segments together.

Y'all be sure to tune in tomorrow evening at 7 PM Eastern on Racers Reunion Radio for Racing Through History. It's Thee Goat Rodeo you don't want to miss. Thanks, I'll see y'all next week.
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Re: Racin' and Rockin'..."JB's Take"

Postby WildcatOne » Mon Aug 29, 2016 9:01 pm

My pick for Racer of the Week is T’Ryane Sakamoto, a 15 year old Jr. Dragster driver from Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. She was recommended to me by our friend Michael Baba Balbarino in Hilo. Thanks, Michael! T'Ryane is a sophomore at Kauai High School and she's an honor student. She started Jr. drag racing when she was 10. In 2013, shortly after T’Ryane started racing at Kauai Raceway Park, the track was closed for re-surfacing. She then began racing on the island of Maui until Kauai Raceway Park re-opened in July of 2014. In addition to her racing trophies, T’Ryane has been the recipient of the Garden Isle Jr. Dragsters Overall Award, Closest to dial in and Best Reaction prizes as well as numerous Academic Excellence Awards.

T’Ryane’s Dad Ryan was a drag racer himself and that is how she got the interest in the sport. She also has a sister Ryancie, who is 13 and a brother Ryant, who is 10 that both race Jr. Dragsters as well. Drag Racing has bonded the family even closer and they all look forward to race weekends together. T'Ryane's Mom Tracie is a wonderful lady who keeps the whole family centered and works with each of them to help them all. She gave me all this information and never mentioned herself, but without her, this feature wouldn't ever happen. Thanks, Tracie!

T’Ryane thanks God all the time for being the real provider of allowing her to enjoy this amazing sport. She also thanks Michael Baba Balbarino of 808 Fuels for recommending her and John Bockelman of JB’s picks/Racin' & Rockin' with Draglist.com for selecting her.

T'Ryane, we wish you good luck, safe racing and the best of times in the future!

I'm gonna wrap up my list of guitarists tonight by going straight to the top. There were a lot of great guitar players as we all know, but the one who stands by a mile at #1 is the great Jimi Hendrix. From his early days as a sideman to Little Richard, the Isley Brothers, Curtis Knight and a long list of bands that he played with until his discovery at the Cafe Wha? in Greenwich Village by Chas Chandler, he built a style and a sound that has yet to be duplicated by anybody, including Hendrix Tribute guys. Playing Hendrix songs is not that hard to do, but playing like Hendrix did is something that only happens when he shows up and takes over. That's where Hendrix exists now. I always believed that about him and I always will.

Hendrix was different in just about every way from his peers. He was completely left-handed; his setup was a perfect mirror-image of a right-handed player. He was half Native American and half African-American and he brought both of those genetic principles into his all-American music, which not only looked but sounded like nothing else anybody had ever heard before or since.

Hendrix personified the new age he brought to modern music. His guitar playing almost took a back seat to his image, but that image was cultivated and made presentable by Chas Chandler, who guided Hendrix in the early times of his exposure and once Jimi had the confidence and cooperation of the band that Chandler chose for him, he blossomed into a creation that was greater than the sum of its parts. However, from a purely musical standpoint, Hendrix wrote songs and played guitar in a way that was light years ahead of his contemporaries, and listening to his official and bootlegged recordings, I've heard phrasing and riffs that are absolutely mind-boggling. If anybody else ever tried that, it would sound horrible, but he made that stuff up as he went along, and it was more than perfect, it was profound.

I have a bootleg live Hendrix album that was recorded in Europe in 1968, and it's stripped-down without any studio effects added. I consider it to be the prize posession of all my Hendrix albums, and I have them all. He played his entire first and second albums and included a few cuts from his third...just him and his rhythym section. From that record is delivered the true genius of Jimi Hendrix. He didn't do the wild stage act that helped make him famous; he just stood there and played, and it is a truly magnificent document of Hendrix' talent and ability, which as I said before went above and beyond everything else that was being played at that time, and it wasn't a giant drunken orgy like so many rock concerts are 50 years later.

He'd be 73 next month, but we lost him when he was 27. The three years he gave us at the forefront have never been bettered and they never will. Ask any guitar player and they'll all agree on one thing. Jimi Hendrix was the greatest of all time.

Thanks to Danny White for his input and advice in helping me put these segments together.

Y'all be sure to tune in tomorrow evening at 7 PM Eastern on Racers Reunion Radio for Racing Through History. It's Thee Goat Rodeo you don't want to miss. Thanks, I'll see y'all next week.
Life Is Good!
http://www.peeweebowenband.com
Support Live Music!


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