Jaw Dropping Musical Moments

I assume most music lovers have had a few of these. Specifically I'm talking about an album, live musical event, etc. where the very first time you heard/saw it you were so amazed that you had to pick your chin up off the floor. For me there are only a few instances where that initial blast was so incredible that I almost couldn't believe it:

The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show
Hearing "Who's Next" for the first time
Hearing "Born To Run" for the first time
Hearing "London Calling" for the first time
Hearing "Graceland" for the first time.
Seeing The Who for the first time in 1974
Seeing Bruce Springsteen for the first time in 1978

Semi-related movie sidebar:

Seeing "Apocalypse Now" for the first time in glorious 70MM at that huge domed theater on Sunset Blvd. in 1979.

Anyone have similar moments to share?

Jeff

 

Place: Randwick Racecourse Sydney.
Year: 1970(ish).
Present: a 15 year old kid at his first rock concert with about 40,000 others.
Scene: empty stage, electric atmosphere.
Moment: one man and strat emerge, walks to marshal amp, plugs in and.........CRAAAASSSSSHHHHH

It's Ritchie Blackmore all alone playing a note perfect Speed King intro as Paice, Glover, Lord and Gillan gradually emerge one by one to join him.

What a day, what a memory!

 

Listening to the Beach Boys Sea Of Tunes 3 CD Smile Sessions Box Set and the all the rest of the Sea Of Tunes stuff too!

 

late 1950's--
I heard a recording of rock and roll for the first time (Little Richard). I was hooked.

1963 or 64---
Attended my first rock and roll concert. Saw THE BEACH BOYS.

mid 60's---
Seeing the YARDBIRDS live in Chicago with Beck on lead guitar and Page on bass guitar. Just like in the movie "Blow Up".

1967 or 68---
Seeing THE BEATLES play in Comisky Park in Chicago. Screaming girls, crying girls, fainting girls. Couldn't hear the Beatles, but who cared. The tickets cost me $5.50 each.

1968--
Seeing CREAM live at The Cellar in a Chicago suburb. The Cellar was a teen club that had a capacity of about 500. I stood about 10 feet from the band. GREAT TIME.

1980's ??---
Seeing Stevie Ray Vaughan perform live on the night he died.

1970--
I was a drummer in a band called Haymarket Square and we played at a "New Bunny" party at the Playboy mansion in Chicago. I met Hef. What a drip.

--------------------------------------------------
Ludwig drums----The beat goes on

 

Fall 1981. I'm a senior in high school, and having just recently gotten into the Beach Boys compilation Endless Summer, I am about to sit down for my first listen to my newly bought green Capitol label mono copy of Pet Sounds.

 

The Who concert in Hershey a couple of nights ago could turn out to be another one, but only time will tell.

 

How was the performance? Where they as energetic as they were at the New York 9/11 concert? They seemed to be really enjoying themselves.

I have seen The Who a number of times, with and w/o Moon. They were great with Moon. When I saw them with Kenny Jones as their drummer they were awful. No energy, no fun. It was obvious that they didn't want to play. It seems that they got their energy back when Ringo's son became their drummer. Of course, that fact that they are off of drugs and booze helps a lot.

 

Unbelievably energetic, especially considering that it was an extermely hot and muggy night. Townshend was amazing, a man of 57 performing better than he has since the 70's. Daltrey was in fine voice, Pino Palladino simply added a bottom end to what everyone else was doing and kept out of the way, and I honestly feel that Zak Starkey is the glue that holds it all together. This is no half-hearted farewell tour, nor a "Who On Ice" affair with Pete playing acoustic all night with a backing band. Entwistle is missed, but they truly play like they mean it. If you've got the chance, go.

 

I saw The Who last night at MSG and I can concur that The Who have plenty of fire left in their belly. At times they were savage in their attack especially during My Generation.

Glad to hear this is not just a NY phenomenon. The Who always seem to play better at The Garden. I'm happy to see that they play great at other venues as well during this special tour.

NP: Bryan Ferry/ Frantic

 

Jaw Dropping Moment

June 1975. Outdoors at Carter Baron Amphitheater in DC. Second row center for Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band. I passed up Dave Mason and Little Feat in Baltimore on the same night as I recall and Feat was pretty much God in DC back then (in fact they are re-doing the entire "Waiting for Columbus" LP on Columbus Day (!) at Lisner in DC with "special guests" (Bonnie?? Mick Taylor??))

Anyway, Springsteen was everywhere: On the piano, on the speaker columns, in the audience. It was three hours of raw intensity the likes of which I had never before seen or frankly seen since. The band has been called "the '57 Chevy of Rock" and I can totally see that; big, loud, cool and timeless. It was my first Boss show and I am going to my 15th in nine days and my 16th in thirteen days...

Good weekend all.
Peace,
Norm

real name: Miami Norm

 

Seeing the Beatles in the Seventies on TV performing She Loves You before screaming girls. I went out and bought my first cheap electric guitar It was terrible and to this day it is imposible to play an F barre chord accross all 6 strings on it (guitarists will understand)

Seeing the Who (for the second time) in the mid Eighties at CNE in Toronto. I have never yelled so much in my life. John's bass playing amazed me.

December 5, 1994 - Standing in Abbey Road Studio 2 and realizing the enormity of what these walls had seen and heard. I was stunned.

 

Beatles on Sullivan - this changed everything.
Hearing the Grateful Dead - Live Dead the first time
Hearing the guitar work on Quicksilver's Happy Trails LP
Seeing my first rock concert - Cream's Farewell tour
Seeing Jimi in 1970
Seeing the Doors 1970
Being in the audience and being cussed out by Townsend "this is a f*cking rock and roll concert" etc...
Seeing Itzhak Perlman do a Beethoven violin concerto
Watching Mel Torme and George Shearing togethter at the Hollywood Bowl
Seeing Albert King the first time

This could go on and on

 

JAWS at a drive-in
Babes In Toyland In Cinemascope 180
Bonnie and Clyde
Elton John in Concert 1970
Its a Mad Mad World
Poco in Concert
Ali vs/ Joe Frasier
Edgar and Johnny Winters at Whiskey a Go Go 1972
Jethro Tull -Thick as a Brick in Concert

I better stop now....

 

Outdoor 'rigged up' screen, Middle East, mid 60's. Lulled to sleep by horrible music sound track. Tracer shells started flyin' overhead. My jaw sure as hell dropped!

 

Hi,

Warlocks 2nd Set Hampton, VA 10-9-89
First trip to Red Rocks Amp.
First trip to Alpine Valley
First trip to The Greek Theatre

-Jeffrey

 

That Series is a treasure! It's like being with Brian & the boys in the studio. I'm so glad I was able to hear the complete 58 CD set. Oh boy!

 

Sitting in row 10 watching "Return of the Jedi" in 70mm 6 track Dolby stereo in a Dayton, Ohio theater as the ships flew across the screen on the first night of it's release!!! (the second time that night was when the film broke in the middle and the lights came up for 10 minutes!!)

Listening to "Breakfast in America" on my only MFSL LP (which I think has only been played 3 times)

Hearing Steve Hoffman's "Hotel California" by the Eagles. I used to call my wife's old all in one rack stereo with full range 6 in. drivers, dual cassette, turntable, radio, coffee maker, etc. a "Kenner Close And Play"**

She got really offended and didn't understand why I thought it sounded so bad. For Christmas I bought a new $500 set of Klipsh speakers and she had bought a new CD player and I have an NAD 35 watt receiver/amp. She sat down with her "Hotel California", "Eagles Greatest Hits Vol. 1" and MFSL "Dark Side of the Moon".

She was impressed with it all, after she heard "Hotel"....she came and said, "That old stereo of mine certainly was a junky old Kenner close and play!" And put her old rack system out for a garage sale the next day!!
I realize the stereo system had something to do with it too, but I wanted to break her in good!

**While most of us remember, for the younger folks, a Kenner Close and Play was a battery operated turntable that had a needle connected to a plastic speaker using the old 78 victrola method of playing. The batteries only made the turntable spin. It was worse than listening to a hand held radio with a 1 inch speaker.

 

I have had many jaw dropping moments. I am going to take a different tack here. I saw the band Yes last night. The virtuosity of those fine musicians is certainly jaw dropping. Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Rick Wakeman and Allan White. Too bad Bill Bruford wasn't there, it would have been perfect. Yes, is progressive rock/art rock/classic rock at it's finest. The sound was impressive as well. The sound engineer knew what to do. Bands like this are a dying breed. See them if you can.

 

Chris Duarte

Does anyone out there know of this guy? I saw him last night at a little club in Annapolis MD (Rams Head Tavern...I have mentioned it in other threads). I went with three guitar players cause I have been hearing about this guy so much and enjoyed his "Texas Sugar/Strat Magik" CD. I told them he sounds like Stevie Ray.

Well I was right and I was wrong. Yeah, he sounds like Stevie Ray...
He also sounds like Zappa, Jeff Beck, Hendrix and a whole lot of stuff I have never heard or seen before. I am telling you that if you like rock and blues guitar and haven't seen this guy you simply have to.
The guys at my table were dumbfounded. He absolutely ripped the finish off this '63 Strat (which supposedly used to be Clapton's).

Before you dismiss him as just another long haired axe shredder let me mention that he also pulled out a hollow body Gibson (135 I think) and did two Coltrane tunes and a Monk piece. It was very impressive but the rock and blues stuff is truly jaw dropping.

I have seen some pretty heavy guitar players in my day. Jeff Beck amazed me on stage a number of times. I watch Richard Thompson without blinking. I have seen Clapton, Santana, Garcia, McLaughlin, Steve Morse, Tommy Bolin )), Al DiMeola, Blackmore, Lifeson, Howe...Plus I am from DC and got to watch Roy Buchanan, Nils Lofgren and Danny Gatton many times up close. Gatton once took my beer bottle from my table and played slide with it and didn't spill a drop.
I am telling you that this guy can hang with anyone.
If he is coming to a club near you DO NOT MISS IT.

Cheers!
Norm

 

Yeah, I have one of his cds. I like it a lot.

 

Thanks for the heads up on Duarte. Just had a used cd of his in my hand the other day for $3.00 and didn't picked it up. Guess I'll be dropping over to the CD shop tomorrow to see if it's still there.

 

My biggest jaw dropping musical experience was happened while I was playing my "Happy Jack" album for the first time. I was 15 at the time and believed that rock was played on guitars, drums, an dmaybe some keyboard or harmonica. I read the notes on the back indicating that John Entwistle was accomplished on the French Horn, trumpet, and tuba, but did not think much of it because I knew that rock was only played on guitars, etc, and that there was no chance of any of these brass instruments appearing anywhere on the album. After all, this band was noted for rocking and on stage violence. I did not have a copy of "My Generation" yet. I had to have this album because I was a Who fan and I had this Social Studies teacher who referred to people that He thought were fools as "happy jacks". there may have been another reason for buying that album first, but I can 't think of it off hand.

I'm enjoying the first several cuts when "Whiskey Man" comes on. Cute song about a drunk who sees an imaginaryfriend when he gets drunk. Well, along comes the third verse And WHAT"S THIS??? Along comes this beautiful French horn line.

I never listened to music the same way again.

 

The first time I heard American Woman on my AM car radio in 69 or 70.

Seeing the Rolling Stones in concert in 1972. I think that this was their last good concert.

Seeing Jethro Tull at the Warehouse in New Orleans in 1970 on their Aqualung tour. Opening act - a then unknown British band named "Yes".

Seeing Little Richard perform live at City Stages in Birmingham. I think that this was the best performance I have seen anywhere.

Jimmy Thackery at City Stages. Went to the stage early to get a seat for B.B. King. Thackery blew me away and B.B. was a stale afterthought.

 

Jimmy Thackery

Wow. Thanks for the reminder.
Here I am bragging about hotshot DC area guitarists Lofgren, Buchanan and Gatton and I completely forgot about all the times I watched Thackery when he was in the Nighthawks.
Good Call!

Peace,
Norm