Showing posts with label John Lennon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Lennon. Show all posts

Saturday, March 28, 2015

How They Won Their War: The Grip Weeds

The Grip Weeds 
"How I Won The War" 
coming April 7th via Jem Records

"We like to mix it up in Jersey and The Grip Weeds are a great example. A touch of John Lennon, a bit of The Byrds, a dash of The Kinks, pinch of The Who, and a dollop of more muscular Zombies and you get something quite original actually. And quite cool." 
-Steven Van Zandt (Sirius XM, Bruce Springsteen, Sopranos)

"...Slightly trippy sonic land mines that are simultaneously catchy  as hell and slightly dangerous." 
- John M. Borack, Goldmine Magazine

Yep The Beatles influenced band are reunited and feeling groovy with a new CD, you go Grip Weeds!
The Beatles are remembered as purveyors of peace, but their existence as a creative unit ended in acrimony in April of 1970. On April 7, 2015, one of the greatest Beatles-influenced bands to come down the pike will celebrate their reunification with the release of their new album "How I Won The War".

"Our sound isn't overtly Beatle-y but an observant listener can hear the connection," says Kurt Reil, drummer/vocalist for The Grip Weeds. "Our approach to song craft and the idea of using the recording studio as an instrument are both heavily influenced by The Beatles and George Martin."

In his capacity as producer at The Grip Weeds' legendary House Of Vibes Studio, Reil has worked with luminaries such as Mark Lindsay and Paul Simon collaborators Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Platinum selling Captiol Records artists The Smithereens recorded their two highly regarded Beatles projects ("Meet The Smithereens!", "B-Sides The Beatles") with Kurt Reil producing at the HOV. The Smithereens sessions also featured a performance by drummer Andy White, best known for playing on The Beatles "Love Me Do".

According to Reil, The Grip Weeds' connection to The Beatles goes all the way back to the band's origins.

"We named our band after a character John Lennon played in the film adaptation of 'How I Won The War'," Reil said. "As it happens, we went through an internal war during the making of the record that nearly split us up, so the title of the movie seemed apt for our new album as well."

The Beatles dissolved into a myriad of lawsuits and thinly veiled insults delivered via solo albums. It would be years before the wounds between John, Paul, George and Ringo would come close to healing. By the time the former band mates were on speaking terms again, John Lennon's life was obscenely cut short.

"The Beatles never got to write a reconciliation album," Reil said. "Who knows what kind of music they would have made if they came back together."

Although it's impossible to compare a band with a loyal international cult following such as The Grip Weeds to a behemoth such as The Beatles, the troubles that dogged the four lads from Liverpool are universal.
                                                           Preview: How I Won The War                                              

"The Beatles lived in each other's pockets but The Grip Weeds go way beyond that," Reil said. "Our lead guitarist Kristin Pinell is my wife; my brother Rick plays guitar and shares lead vocals with me."

The family dynamic within The Grip Weeds has been a double edged sword. Sometimes the familial ties have acted as a safety net, while at other times the band has been nearly impaled by them.

"Keeping a band together on any level is incredibly difficult," Reil said. "The fact that 3/4 of The Grip Weeds are related has at times helped us weather some rocky terrain. The B-side to that is when an argument erupts during a rehearsal or recording session it follows you home, thus intensifying an already volatile situation."

Reil is quick to point out that the Grip Weeds have never had trouble making music together, even when the pressures of running a band and studio have taken their toll.

"It's the peripheral aspects of making music that have sparked most of our troubles," Reil said.

Adding to the pressures of the group/family dynamic was the departure of Grip Weeds bassist Michael Kelly.

"When MK left, we considered breaking up the band, but family ties are strong and we also felt there was more for us to to do musically." Reil said.

Enter bass player extraordinaire Dave DeSantis, a veteran of New Jersey music scene.

"What Dave did for The Grip Weeds is similar to what Billy Preston did for The Beatles," Reil said. "As George Harrison said in relation to Billy Preston, when you have company around you tend to be less bitchy. Dave's easy going demeanor put everyone at ease, and his musicianship inspired everyone in the band."

The new Grip Weeds album "How I Won The War" features 17 tracks that chart the behind the scenes turmoil and eventual triumph of the recording sessions. Included on the album is a radical take on The Beatles' "The Inner Light".

While The Beatles didn't actually play on the original recording, The Grip Weeds veered away from a classical Indian Raga treatment for their version, instead re-imagining the song in a Rock context. Oddly, the band hadn't considered including the song on "How I Won The War" until Marty Scott from Jem Records - the band's new label - connected the dots.

"Marty pointed out that we had Private Grip Weed on the cover with an 'inner light' coming out of his chest," Reil said. "He was emphatic that we had to include it on the album."

The cover art for "How I Won The War" is an homage to John Lennon's portrayal of Private Grip Weed. "The message you draw from it could be that John Lennon is now a ball of light, a spirit," Reil said, "but you could also conclude that how you truly win a war is with love."

Instead of just covering a Beatles song, The Grip Weeds folded "The Inner Light" into the album's narrative. For a collection of songs about conflict, "The Inner Light" is the perfect summation of what the band had gone through and learned from their struggle. It's how they won their war.

"How I Won The War" by The Grip Weeds will be released by Jem Records on April 7th. It is available now for Pre Order from Amazon and iTunes with a pre-sale for fan club members beginning March 24th.


Pre-Orderhttp://bit.ly/19rBctG 

Sunday, February 15, 2015

They're Here To Make You Rock - Hollywood Vampires

Johnny Depp & Alice Cooper
Johnny Depp will get to play rock star with two past collaborators and rock legends.
The movie star has formed a supergroup  Hollywood Vampires, with the original Marilyn Manson Alice Cooper and Aerosmith lead guitarist Joe Perry. The band will perform its first major gig at the 2015 Rock in Rio music festival that will take place in September in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, they have also recorded an album.
"Alice Cooper and Johnny Depp have been partners for a while and now with Joe Perry also on Hollywood Vampires, they will 'rock it out' yet once again."  Alice Cooper stated.
The name of the supergroup is an homage to The Hollywood Vampires, a posse of famous musicians who used alcohol as their method of initiation back in the '70s, according to the festival's statement and Rolling Stone. The "Lair of the Hollywood Vampires" was the famed Rainbow Bar and Grill in West Hollywood. Cooper, The Who's Keith MoonThe BeatlesJohn Lennon and Ringo Star and Harry Nilsson were among the members.

I've been to the Rainbow Bar and Grill - guess that makes me an alcohol sucker too!

Get the HV 411 online at: 
http://www.alicecooper.com/
http://joeperry.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Johnny-Depp-Now/166632103391155

Monday, February 10, 2014

John Lennon & Yoko Ono "I'm Not The Beatles"




I'm Not the Beatles: The John & Yoko Interviews 

with Howard Smith, 1969-1972
 Available as 8 CD Set on April 14th

Here it comes all you hardcore John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Beatles fans - it's the transition from being one of the Beatles to being a revolutionary, all the dish straight from John Lennon and Yoko Ono themselves...

This eight CD box set features John Lennon & Yoko Ono's five iconic conversations with Village Voice journalist and radio personality Howard Smith. These in-depth discussions about music, love, creativity, peace and politics illuminate the couple's transformation from Beatles into revolutionaries.


These interviews have been mastered from Smith's original audio recordings, which had been buried in the back of his West Village loft for 40 years. Never before released on CD.  

May 28 - 29, 1969 - Live phone interview, the Bed-In Montreal (35 min)
Smith speaks on the phone with John & Yoko, who are in their suite at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal. Among other things, they discuss selling Peace as a commodity, the Activist Movement, and Lennonʼs denial of being, nor intention of being, a leader.  

Dec. 17, 1969 - Ronnie Hawkinʼs Ranch, Ontario Canada (89 min)
Smith traveled to Ronnie Hawkinʼs Ranch outside of Toronto to interview John & Yoko. While eating shrimp tempura, they discuss the ins and outs of recording with the Beatles, the bandʼs uncertain future, Woodstock vs. Altamont, and the impact of the Youth Movement. 

Dec. 12, 1970 - Regency Hotel, NYC (86 min)
Smith interviews John & Yoko the day after the Plastic Ono Band albums are released, and they are in the midst of shooting 2 art films. They discuss the emotional process of their music including specific songs from the albums, their time in Janov therapy, how they handle fame, and whether the Beatles will ever get back together.  

Sept. 9, 1971 - St. Regis Hotel, NYC (71 min)
Smith interviews John & Yoko on the day Lennonʼs album Imagine is released. They discuss the album, Onoʼs upcoming artist retrospective, Paulʼs, Georgeʼs and Ringoʼs own individual albums, the mediaʼs criticisms of their relationship, Johnʼs "working class" nature, and future plans. 

Jan. 23, 1972 - The Lennonsʼ Bank St. apartment, NYC (86 min)
Smith drops by John & Yokoʼs West Village apartment on the day of a WPLJ Beatles marathon which can be heard at times playing in the background, often inspiring and directing the conversation. They discuss the experience of being a Beatle (and a Beatle wife) and the break up, stage fright and the emotional rollercoaster of performing, breakthroughs acquired in Janov therapy, love, and Revolution. 

About Howard Smith:
Howard Smith is an Oscar winning film director, journalist and broadcaster. As a writer for more than 30 years, his articles have appeared in, among others, Playboy and The New York Times. Smithʼs weekly column "Scenes" in the Village Voice helped cement the paperʼs position within the emerging counterculture.