Way back in the late 80s, as an impressionable fifteen year old, I saw Martin Scorsese’s movie ‘The Last Waltz’ for the first time.  The film documented the star-studded final fling for The Band, showing them playing alongside a whole bunch of famous friends.  I have to be honest, initially I only recorded it since Eric Clapton was featured and I was a huge fan at that time.

I enjoyed the previously unseen Clapton footage, but as the years passed, I began to enjoy other aspects of the movie far more, opening my ears to the work of Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison and Bob Dylan – all of whom I knew before, but never really knew.  And then there was the wonderfully eccentric Dr John, Mac Rebennack, bringing New Orleans style to the stage as only he can.  Yes, this was a wonderful movie indeed.

Between the guest stars, that movie bought The Band into my teenage world.  For that, I’m eternally grateful.  In the late 1960’s, as their closest contemporaries were experimenting with mind bending sounds and substances, The Band were different: at a life-changing time, as other musicians pushed forward, The Band donned facial hair and great coats and made music that, too, harked back to the past: music with strong elements of folk, of country and of blues; music which often had strong story-telling elements at its core.

While The Band’s chief songwriter, Jaime ‘Robbie’ Robertson has often been praised for his gift as both song writer and arranger, in terms of stage presence and performance, The Band had a stronger figure.  Drummer Levon Helm just oozed charm.  He may not have written much material – contributing just three numbers to The Band’s 1970s catalogue – but his laid back drumming style, and equally laid back voice were absolutely essential to what made The Band’s sound so captivating.  Helm knew he didn’t need to be flashy to create magic behind the kit – his solid grooves and Southern vocals were just perfect.

While later incarnations of The Band during the 90s never quite captured the gloriousness of the original line up, Helm could always be relied upon for his unmatchable style to hold everything together, like a true professional.  His solo works in the late 2000’s and beyond have been critically acclaimed, with his 2009 release ‘Electric Dirt’ winning a Grammy Award for Best Americana Album in 2010.  Despite high praise, it will always be for The Band he’ll be best remembered.  Scorsese’s ‘The Last Waltz’ is a near perfect representation of the man’s charm, talent and his love of playing music. While he’ll never be replaced, let’s be thankful he left so many great recordings behind, and   thanks to having an old heart when they were first recorded, most of The Band’s recordings are truly timeless.   Just as I embraced the music Levon Helm helped make for the generation before mine, let us hope that future generations will also understand what made it – and continues to make it – so special.

Goodbye Levon.  Wherever you are, may Spike Jones be on the box.

On March 23rd, 2012 singer-songwriter Eric Lowen passed away following complications with ALS (aka Lou Gehrig’s Disease or motor neurone disease), a condition with which he had lived since 2004.

While Eric’s work as one half of acoustic pop duo Lowen & Navarro (also featuring Dan Navarro, cousin of Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro) may not be so familiar to those outside the US, the duo’s work from the 90s and beyond truly raised the bar with regards to singer-songwriter pop.

Best known for writing ‘We Belong’ (a hit for Pat Benetar), ‘I’ll Set You Free’ (a worldwide hit for The Bangles) and ‘Hammerhead Shark’ (covered by David Lee Roth in 1991), the duo wrote dozens of fantastic songs.

The duo released eight studio albums between (including a yuletide release in 2004 and a covers record in 2006) and a handful of live albums between 1990 and 2008, with their second release, 1993’s ‘Broken Moon’ being one of the most consistent; a near perfect album, which showcases the duo’s effortless skills as both musicians and song writers.

After Eric Lowen became too ill to perform, Dan Navarro continued to perform as a solo artist, while Lowen himself oversaw archive releases from the band’s catalogue.

For those unfamiliar with Eric Lowen’s gift as a songwriter, checking out ‘Broken Moon’ or L&N’s underrated follow up, ‘Pendulum’ is strongly advised. If you already own either of these albums, try and remember Eric by giving them a listen if you’ve not recently done so.

You can find out more about Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis by visiting the ALS Association’s official website.

A few highlights from Eric Lowen’s career can be seen below.

On March 3rd 2012, guitarist Ronnie Montrose passed away.

For many classic rock fans,  he is a man who needs no introduction. A hard working guitarist, Montrose was responsible for a handful of genuine rock classics in his own right as well as having appeared on various other well known sessions.

His eponymously named band propelled the now legendary vocalist Sammy Hagar into the spotlight, with their 1973 debut release hosting a couple of well-worn and often covered tracks: ‘Bad Motor Scooter’ and ‘Space Station #5’. The album inspired a generation of musicians, not least of all Edward Van Halen, who cited Montrose as a key influence and eventually hired Hagar for his own band just over a decade later.

Most rock guitarists would consider it a great achievement to have such a great album within their back catalogue, but Montrose’s legacy runs far deeper. Not only did he put his stamp on a few other greatly enjoyable Montrose records during the 1970s, but his follow up band – the often overlooked Gamma – recorded material which has worn the test of time incredibly well. Just check out 1980’s ‘Gamma 2’ (more specifically, the wondrous ‘Voyager’) for instant proof. [At the beginning of 2012, UK vocalist Lee Small played tribute to Montrose on his ‘Jamaica Inn‘ album with a great cover of this tune.]

In addition, Montrose can also be heard on Van Morrison’s ‘Saint Dominic’s Preview’, where his guitar lines are absolutely pivotal to the wandering slow-burner ‘Listen To The Lion’ and parts of Edgar Winter’s 1973 outing ‘They Only Come Out at Night’, both albums which have achieved a cult classic status.

Ronnie revived the Montrose moniker in the 80s and Gamma in the 00s, but also released a string of solo releases throughout the 1990s. He also never forgot those whose who had strong connections with his earlier work, appearing as a session man for both Sammy Hagar and Edgar Winter in the 1990s. For the last decade of his life, his output became more sporadic, but he lent his style and guitar chops to a few sessions, appearing on a couple of “all star tribute albums. The last few years were hardly a fitting epitaph for such an influential figure, but after his Montrose and Gamma works, Ronnie Montrose was a man who had nothing to prove.

Look back at a couple of Ronnie Montrose’s 1970 career highlights below.

READ UPDATE HERE.

Mark Reale will be best known to all as the guitarist and founding member of hard rock band Riot.  On January 25th, the much-loved musician died following complications with Crohn’s Disease. He was 57 years old.

At the beginning of January, Reale was hospitalised; reports suggested he had suffered a Subarachnoid Hemorrhage and was in a coma.  At the time Reale was taken ill, Riot were touring to promote their 2011 release ‘Immortal Soul’, released only two months previously.

A band seemingly dogged by bad luck, Reale is the third key figure in Riot’s history to pass away prematurely:  the band’s first vocalist, Guy Speranza lost his life to pancreatic cancer at age 46, while second vocalist Rhett Forrester was shot and killed during a carjacking in 1994.  The perpetrators have never been caught.

Riot formed in 1975 and released their first album ‘Rock City’ in 1977, followed by ‘Narita’ two years later.  While these albums were instrumental in creating and tightening Riot’s sound, for many fans, 1981’s ‘Fire Down Under’ acted as the band’s breakthrough.  In 1982, following the departure of vocalist Guy Speranza, Riot acheived greater attention with ‘Restless Breed’ – the band’s first album to feature vocalist Rhett Forrester.

After the first Riot break-up in the mid-80’s, Reale formed a new band named Narita which failed to get off the ground.  He revived Riot in  1988, who subsequently released ‘Thundersteel’ – the first release with vocalist Tony Moore.  As a sideline, Reale also teamed up with ex-TNT vocalist Tony Harnell in the late 90s to form the hard rock powerhouse Westworld.  With Westworld, Reale never achieved any huge commercial success, but critically, the hard rock press were often more than enthusiastic with regards to the band.

Meanwhile, shifting line-ups in Riot never deterred Reale, who continued to record with the band throughout the 90s and beyond.  The arrival of 2011’s ‘Immortal Soul’ had been particularly anticipated by the band’s fans, since not only was it Riot’s first studio record in five years, but it also marked the return of vocalist Tony Moore.

On Wednesday January 18th, just a week prior to his passing, Riot performed their first gig without Mark Reale.

He will be sadly missed by many fans of classic rock and melodic metal the world over.