The Art of Ranking Artists, Bands, and Songs for Publication

The Sites that Publish Music Rankings... Understood

Many Sites and Mags publish Lists of the all-time Classic Rock Songs and Artists bands... I cannot find one that truly gives the voice of Fans on their Lists. Sure, they get Critics and Industry pundants to make Lists and I found one that Lists Joan Jett as #1... pure CRAP! (Sorry Joan, you are good, but not #1)

The ratings on these sites are heavily influenced by the demographics and tastes of their Users, creating biases against certain Artists and Genres. The ratings are also inherently subjective and shouldn't be taken as objective measures of the quality of a Song and the Sounds generated by Bands and their Artists. To me, sites like rateyourmusic.com and Reddit tend to Rate more heavily with bias. In other words, we plan to let Music enthusiasts speak their Voice representing real life feelings!!! Rock On ♪♪♪

So, my plan is to see if my Friends want to use their Voice so make a consensus view that can be debated openingly amongst the Community without discourse... I am posting here my Top 10 Classic Rock Songs that are Personal to me. Meaning I am disregarding the technical and Wow factors in my Rating System that I teach in the Asheville School of Classic Rock... there are Songs I can listen to every day, indeed.

Willie’s Top 10 Personal Classic Rock Songs:

1. “Take it Easy” (1972) Eagles - Jackson Brown and Glen Fry

2. "(I Can't Get NO) Satisfaction" (1965) Rolling Stones - Mick Jagger and Keith Richards

3. "Free Bird" (1974) Lynyrd Skynyrd - Allen Collins, Ronnie Van Zant

4. “Proud Mary” (1969) Credance Clearwater Revival - John Fogerty... covered by Tina Turner

5. "Roll Over Beethoven" (1956) Chuck Berry - Chuck Berry... covered by ELO

6. "Kashmir" (1975) Led Zeppelin - Jimmy Page with Robert plant and Jon Bonham

7. “Evil Woman” (1975) Electric Light Orchestra - Jeff Lynne

8. "American Woman" (1970) Guess Who - Band Members with Randy Bachman

9. "Hotel California" (1977) Eagles - Don Felder, Don Henley, Glenn Frey

10. "Layla” (1971) Derek and the Dominos - Eric Clapton, Jim Gordon

Now, never in my wildest Dreams do I expect ANYONE to agree with my List... and that is the Point!

So, here is how to play this Game... you must signup for the free Chronicle Newsletter... you will receive a form to submit your Classic Rock Profile to get a password that will be used to access future Member Content... you will then receive a form to enter you Top 10 personal Classic Rock Songs to submit.

My system will collate all submissions and publish a new List weekly for 4 weeks until the final List is tabulated and placed in the List Archives where new Members can post theirs and I will repost it in a future Newsletter so we all can see how it evolves. Also, in a june Issue, I will post my Top 10 Classic Rock Bands to all existing subscribers to repeat the process... I will do one a Month after that to build a File for all Members toaccess.

I am certain there will be discussions in the Newsletter Blog that is planned to be ready by June I... Enjoy, Mates... Willie Rock On ♪♪♪

The Yellow Brick Road to Woodstock... Peace and Love

Woodstock in the Early 60s... Rock On ♪♪♪

Background

Nestled in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains in Upstate New York lies a small Arts Colony called Woodstock. First established in 1787 and founded formally in 1902, the Colony attracted Painters and Musicians alike... it quickly garnered a reputation as a hippie arts commune of sorts. It became the home of music festivals such as the Maverick Festivals and the Woodstock Sound-Outs. As time went on, the small village also served as a secluded oasis for legendary musicians such as folk artist Bob Dylan.

By the 1800’s, however, the economic focus of the town began to shift towards more industrial ends. In 1809, in addition to the Sawmills and Gristmills already operating along Woodstock’s many streams, the first Glass factory was built in the Hamlet of Shady. By the 1830s, Tanning, which required a plentiful water supply and tannic acid obtained from Hemlock trees, found both resources in abundant quantities in Woodstock. With the urban expansion in the mid-nineteenth century, Woodstockers also turned to mining Bluestone along the base of Overlook and Ohayo Mountain for shipment to Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. News of the natural elements of the area significantly brought Tourists there to take it all in.

Woodstock began to transform when one Ralph Whitehood employed Naturalists to seek a physical location that would match his vision for a utopian Art Colony. One Bolton Brown, upon beholding the vista before him wrote of that moment, “Exactly here the story of modern Woodstock really begins.” With the founding of Whitehead’s "Byrdcliffe Colony" in 1903, the Arts had arrived in Woodstock. This was followed by one Hervey White who would go on to establish the "Maverick Art Colony" in 1905, while the "Art Students League", led by Birge Harrison, would begin operation in Woodstock a year later. That brought upwards of 200 Students each Summer starting in 1947.

Before achieving superstar status, Dylan lived in a room above the Café Espresso (later the Tinker Street Café) in downtown Woodstock in early 1963. It was there in the winter of 1963-64 that he wrote Songs that would appear on his "Another Side of Bob Dylan" Album. He married and bought a House on Ohayo Mountain Road. In July 1966, a motorcycle accident led to Dylan's withdrawal from touring, and he moved back into the House with his family. His neighbor was Van Morrison who was also seeking a peaceful place to create.

His backing Band members Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, and Richard Manuel rented a house known as "Big Pink" in West Saugerties, just outside of Woodstock, where they recorded the famous Basement Tapes with Dylan. They wrote their album Music from Big Pink in 1968. Dylan was never invited to attend the Festival as he was committed to attending the "Wight Festival" performing a set that included songs like "She Belongs to Me", "Maggie's Farm", and "Like a Rolling Stone".

Makin Plans

The idea of the iconic Woodstock festival of 1969 was originally conceived by four men from New York City named Michael Lang, Artie Kornfeld, John Roberts, and Joel Rosenman. Lang and Kornfeld both held experience in the music industry with Lang having headed the Miami Pop Festival of 1968 and Kornfeld having served as the youngest vice president at Capitol Records. Roberts and Rosenman were wealthy New York entrepreneurs interested in making a new investment. When they combined forces, the idea was proposed to create a recording studio in Woodstock, NY under the name Woodstock Ventures.

Michael Lang was the owner of what could have possibly been the first head shop in the U.S. He had organized the Miami Pop Festival which was the largest Music Event to that date drawing over 40,000 people in 1968, a year before Woodstock. After he moved to New York, he met Artie Kornfeld, and his vision of a music-related project in upstate New York was set into motion. (Note: I was there and will write an Article on that adventure in a later Issue of the Chronicle).

Lang got an appointment with Artie Kornfeld, the first and youngest Vice President of Rock Music ever by telling the receptionist that he was from the same neighborhood as Kornfeld (Bensonhurst, Queens, NY). The two became close friends and Lang moved in with Kornfeld and his wife, Linda. Amidst the conversations between Kornfeld and Lang, the ideas of a music festival as well as a recording studio came up. Meanwhile, two young and wealthy individuals by the name of John Roberts and Joel Rosenman had run an ad in The New York Times seeking investment opportunities. There is some controversy as to whether or not, Lang and Kornfeld had actually seen the ad, but according to Kornfeld, they were referred to Roberts and Rosenman by their lawyer.

Lang and Kornfeld teamed up with Joel Rosenman and John Roberts who were in charge of the finances behind the operation. The company was called Woodstock Ventures Inc., and the profits were split four ways among the founders. Rosenman and Roberts settled on the idea that they would throw a party and use the profits gathered to finance a studio in the Woodstock area, which had become the center of the folk music culture. The company could not have imagined the response that their party would generate or its historical notoriety as being one of the largest blowouts of all time. The initial site for the Woodstock concert was Mills Industrial Park in Wallkill, NY, but the permit was rejected on the grounds that the portable toilets would not meet town code. After being denied by Wallkill, Lang was contacted by the owner of the El Monaco Motel named Elliot Tiber who already possessed permits to hold performances in White Lake, NY.

Tiber suggested the festival be held on the 15-acre property surrounding the El Monaco. Lang explained that 15 acres simply wouldn’t be enough to accommodate the foreseen 50,000 people who were expected to attend the concert and turned down the offer. The panicked Tiber in an attempt to save the life of the quickly declining El Monaco explained that his friend and milkman, Max Yasgur, may allow the concert to be held on his 600-acre Dairy Farm. Yasgur agreed, and the Woodstock vision was made a reality.

The Woodstock concert was billed as “An Aquarian Exposition” in order to appeal to their free-minded target audience. The title was a reference to the astrological connection contained in the Broadway play “Hair” which had been a recent mark of the counterculture. The mention of art as well as music described on the legendary Woodstock poster offered an element to the concert that expanded beyond the bounds of a regular concert during the period. The company decided on the slogan “Three Days of Peace and Music” to describe the Woodstock event.

Woodstock was initially designed as a profit-driven endeavor with 186,000 tickets being sold at $18 apiece. The concert was ultimately made into a free concert before the show opened in light of crowds greatly exceeding the expected 200,000 guests. The announcement and deliberate tearing down of the surrounding fence symbolized the ideals of peace and freedom associated with the event that became iconic within the music world. Lang’s vision, through a series of random and unlikely Events, had been manifested and engraved into the history of music and American culture.

Lang still lives in the Woodstock area with his family and oversees the production of current and future Woodstock-related entertainment. The Michael Lang Organization has also worked with artists such as Prince, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bruce Springsteen, Snoop Dogg, Outkast, and Avril Lavigne. Michael Lang will be played by actor Jonathan Groff in the upcoming film “Taking Woodstock” to be released in the Summer of 2009.

The initial projections of the Woodstock festival were extremely meager in relation to the end results. The budget was $500,000 and the estimated attendance was 100,000. Perhaps the young individuals had always known that they were going to orchestrate the largest music festival in history, but they grossly underestimated how big the event was actually going to be. (adapted from Source)

Ok, Mates... this is how it was conceived... the next Chronicle Issue on Woodstock will be published on Memorial Day, May 27. It will cover my trip to Boston (see Issue #3) to see Led Zeppelin at the Boston Tea Party... then onto Woodstock to work with the New York Telephone workers who had to bust their arses to finish the job of getting Telephone Booths installed.It will also cover a Tribute to CRockers who passed in the last year.

I want to be clear about my need for ALL Friends to keep in touch with the full Chronicle Issues to sign up for it here... The free Chronicle has no Ads or any incentives to join paying sites... if you desire to receive Content that will not be posted on my site, please take 5 minutes to fill out your Personal Profile for our database (kept confidential unless you want to make it Public)... Rock On ♪♪♪

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