\nReliable purveyors of a kind of blue-collar, working-class, workaday meat \u2018n\u2019 potatoes brand of rock, Bachman-Turner Overdrive ruled the airwaves in the mid 1970s. Formed by guitarist Randy Bachman after he left the massively popular Guess Who, this Winnipeg, Manitoba group rocked hard and solid. Between 1973 and 1979, BTO landed 11 of its singles on the Canadian Top 40. They fared nearly as well in the U.S., with seven Top 40 singles. Among BTO\u2019s biggest hits were the worldwide #1 smash, \u201cYou Ain\u2019t Seen Noting Yet,\u201d and other no-filigree singalong rockers like \u201cTakin\u2019 Care of Business,\u201d \u201cRoll on Down the Highway\u201d and \u201cLet it Ride.\u201d The band\u2019s 1976 best-of LP went Platinum in the U.S. and Canada. Bachman-Turner Overdrive\u2019s style of rock fell out of favor in the \u201880s, and the band went inactive for a brief time, but they returned on and off well into the 21st<\/sup> century. Today, singer-bassist Fred Turner appears only on select dates; it\u2019s left to guitarist (and sometime lead singer) Bachman to lead the current lineup, one that includes his son Tal (who had a hit of his own in 1999 with \u201cShe\u2019s So High\u201d) on second guitar. 2014 Canadian Muisc Hall of Fame inductees, BTO remain one of Canada\u2019s proudest musical exports, and the band is still takin\u2019 care of musical business more than a half-century after their start.<\/p>\n
Brit Floyd<\/b> Chicano Batman<\/b> A.J. Croce<\/b> For awhile now, I\u2019ve been writing \u201cblurbs\u201d for several altweeklies. These brief write-ups are a sort of capsule preview of artists who are (were) coming to town in the various […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28414,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essay","cat-27-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28413"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28415,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28413\/revisions\/28415"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nPink Floyd was in the top echelon of the rock era. The British foursome\u2019s eighth album \u2013 1973\u2019s landmark The Dark Side of the Moon<\/i> broke the band through to a massive, worldwide audience; that work would go on to break records as one of the most enduring albums in history, remaining on the Billboard<\/i> 200 charts for 900 consecutive weeks and selling in excess of 45 million copies worldwide. Its critical status is well-established too; DSOTM<\/i> consistently ranks among critics\u2019 picks for the greatest album of all time. And in 1979, Pink Floyd released another juggernaut, the double-LP concept record The Wall<\/i>. Founding bassist and lyricist Roger Waters left the group in the \u201880s; lead vocalist and guitarist David Gilmour continued on with founding members Nick Mason (drums) and Richard Wright (keyboards). That latter-day Pink Floyd lineup toured worldwide to great acclaim, releasing two studio albums and two live releases during their time together. Pink Floyd was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. After the death of Wright in 2008, the band ceased activity. But along the way, a set of tribute groups sprang up to fill the void. One of the most popular and long-running Floyd tribute groups is Liverpool-based Brit Floyd; founded in 2011, the group recreates the feeling of a Pink Floyd concert for 21st<\/sup> century audiences. This current tour celebrates the 30th<\/sup> anniversary of Pink Floyd\u2019s 1995 live album, P*U*L*S*E<\/i>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/chicano_batman.jpg\")
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\nThe style of music known as \u201cpsychedelic soul\u201d enjoyed an all-too-brief heyday in the late 1960s. Deftly fusing elements of Black American soul and the dreamier end of psychedelic rock, the genre was exemplified by music from artists including Sly & the Family Stone and The Chambers Brothers. In the 21st century, southern California-based Chicano Batman has developed its own distinctive, modern and original musical personality, based in large part on the influence of psychedelic soul. Chicano Batman\u2019s sound borrows timeless elements from music\u2019s past; songs like \u201cFriendship (Is a Small Boat in a Storm)\u201d \u2013 a standout track on the group’s third album (2017’s Freedom is Free<\/i>) draw upon the music that the group members\u2019 parents and grandparents loved. And while Chicano Batman is not explicitly politically-focused, there\u2019s no mistaking some of the lyrical messages in the group’s music. The group takes an upbeat and positive approach to addressing social issues, with a goal of encouraging togetherness and driving away fear. Onstage, Chicano Batman cuts a memorable and striking visual image, with members often attired in matching ruffled-shirt tuxedos. But at its core the band remains primarily focused on the music. Their fifth and latest album Notebook Fantasy<\/i> was released in March.<\/p>\n
\nJim Croce was a giant among singer-songwriters. Though his time in the national spotlight was comparatively brief, he left an indelible impression upon popular music. His musical vignettes were portraits of characters \u2013 some partly real, some the product of his fertile and creative imagination \u2013 and his straightforward way with words and melody earned him fame. Croce\u2019s success would come comparatively late; after two non-charting albums, he struck gold with 1972\u2019s You Don\u2019t Mess Around With Jim<\/i>. That LP spawned three hit singles: the title track, \u201cOperator (That\u2019s Not the Way it Feels)\u201d and the classic \u201cTime in a Bottle.\u201d Two more successful albums and four more hit singles (including \u201cBad, Bad Leroy Brown\u201d) followed in rapid succession, but his career was cut short when a plane carrying him crashed, killing him and five others. He was 30, and left behind a wife and toddler son, A.J. As the younger Croce grew to adulthood, he launched a creatively successful career all his own, with a style that drew upon musical traditions across the American landscape. Now in honor of the 50th<\/sup> anniversary of Jim Croce\u2019s best-loved works, A.J. has mounted a tour honoring the life, music and stories of his late father.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"