-Concert Review
By Ray Shasho
Rock ‘N’ Blues ‘Hippiefest’ –‘A Tribute to
Johnny Winter’ was welcomed with open and
peace-loving arms by an enthusiastic Ruth Eckerd crowd on Saturday night. The
show was originally to be headlined by blues guitar legend Johnny Winter who
passed away on July 16th. Without the shows most noted and consistent act
over the decades, you’d think there might be some mixed emotions encompassing
the Hall about the evening’s events …. But not in Clearwater baby! The crowd
responded energetically and altogether entertained by four captivating
performances embodied with Rock, Blues, R&B, Jazz, and Psychedelic
melodies.
KIM SIMMONDS: A
near capacity Ruth Eckerd audience began an evening of ‘Hippiefest’ fun and
festivities with British Blues legend Kim Simmonds of Savoy Brown. Since
1966, Simmonds has been founding member, lead guitarist, vocalist,
and songwriter of the band. Savoy Brown was part of the UK blues
progression that helped to regenerate and popularize blues music in America
throughout the 60’s. Kim Simmonds /Savoy Brown are the epitome of what
rock and roll was and should always be. Deep-rooted, pure, artistic, manifesto,
virtuoso, everlasting … these are the components that should land Kim
Simmonds in the rock and roll hall of fame. Savoy Brown was also
responsible for launching classic rock favorites Foghat. Simmonds is genuine
rock and roll heritage. He opened the show with “Going to the Delta”
spotlighting a track from his latest album with the same title. Simmonds ensued
with “Nothing Like the Blues” and “Cobra,” more tracks from his latest release
Going to the Delta. Kim Simmonds concluded his set with “Poor Girl” from the
1970 release Looking In followed by a rousing applause from a jubilant
Clearwater crowd which truly appreciated rock prodigiousness throughout
the night.
PETER RIVERA: Onstage
next and quietly slipping behind a huge set of drums was the heart, soul,
original voice and beat of Rare Earth, a very hip band of musicians that
played an incredible mix of music comprised of rock, funk, soul, and
psychedelic fusion. Rivera became the undisputed leader of Rare Earth, the only
white band to score hits with the Berry Gordy, Jr. Motown Record label. In
1974, Rare Earth was the opening act for the California Jam …sharing
the stage with Earth Wind & Fire, The Eagles, Seals & Crofts, Black Oak
Arkansas, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Emerson, Lake and Palmer.
In 1992, Peter
Rivera performed with the Classic Rock All Stars. The core lineup
became Jerry Corbetta(Sugarloaf), Mike Pinera (Blues Image, Iron
Butterfly & Alice Cooper), and Dennis Noda (Cannibal & the
Headhunters). The band became very successful and toured extensively until
Dennis Noda’s death, and the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s to Jerry Corbetta.
Although Rare Earth was at the
height of its success between 1970 to the mid 70s, a resurgence of their material
has been spotlighted on countless advertisements, television shows, movie
trailers and motion pictures. Rare Earth has sold over 30-million records
worldwide and was inducted into The Michigan Rock and Roll Legends
Hall of Fame.
Peter Rivera immediately
‘Funked Up’ the house with the Rare Earth classic “Hey Big Brother” a huge
crowd-pleaser at the California Jam in 1974. Rivera commented during the song
that ‘Big Brother’ is watching us more than ever …through Facebook, cell
phones, and late night internet surfing … while stirring the crowd. The song
was a Top 40 hit and featured on the critically acclaimed Rare Earth In Concert
album (1971). Rivera followed with Rare Earth’s psychedelic rock version of “(I
Know) I’m Losing You”(1970) from the Ecology album. Peter Rivera was phenomenal
throughout the night … looking extremely fit and dapper while his prodigious
drumming skills and vocals were impeccable. Rivera’s next classic tune … “Get
Ready” lifted Rare Earth into superstardom. Rare Earth’s 21:30 version on their
1969 album by the same name was shortened for Top 40 radio airplay. “Get Ready”
reached #4 on Billboard’s Hot 100. Peter Rivera concluded his set with a song
that instantly raised the Ruth Eckerd audience to their feet, while they boogied
to the soulful/ rock/ funk/ Top 40 classic “I Just Want to Celebrate” (1971)
from The One World album. …While all the performances of the evening were
outstanding … Peter Rivera’s set was simply the best of the evening.
VANILLA FUDGE: While
each of the acts on the bill had the same supporting musicians, most likely to
save time between acts … Vanilla Fudge had (3) original members onstage.
Legendary drummer/singer/songwriter/ Carmine Appice … lead singer/
keyboardist/composer/ Mark Stein, and lead guitarist/ vocalist … Vince Martell.
‘The Fudge’ opened with “Take Me for a Little While” from their debut album
Vanilla Fudge (1967). The band dedicated their next song to Johnny
Winter, a profound and beautifully performed Curtis Mayfield composition …
“People Get Ready.” Carmine Appice’s vocal rendition of the song was
awe-inspiring. The band followed with the Jr. Walker & the All-Star classic
hit “Shotgun” which was performed by Vanilla Fudge on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’ in
1969.
One of the evening’s magical
moments was Carmine Appice performing an incredible drum solo. Brooklyn
native Carmine Appice has attained one of the most illustrious rock
resumes in music history. The accomplished drummer, singer, and songwriter
tours as a key member with classic rock legends Vanilla
Fudge and Cactus. Appice also tours with The Rod Experience, a
historical tribute to Rod Stewart and his band featuring original
members. Carmine Appice joined Rod Stewart’s band in 1977 and co-wrote the mega
hit “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy” and “Young Turks.” Vanilla Fudge concluded
their set while raising the Ruth Eckerd roof with their psychedelic/ rock/ mega
hit of 1967 “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” (#6 Billboard Hot 100 Hit). It was a truly
remarkable set by rock folklore.
EDGAR WINTER: Winter
entered the stage wearing an all-white outfit, coordinating perfectly with his
long blondish/white hair. Edgar’s appearance and persona exhibited
‘professional rock star and performer’ all the way! Winter expressed his
gratitude to everyone for letting him continue with the series of ‘Rock ‘N’
Blues Fest /Hippiefest’ concerts as a tribute to his late big brother Johnny
Winter. An emotional Edgar Winter stated that performing music helps him with
the healing process. Winter performed an interesting mix of rock, jazz, and the
blues. The second half of his set was devoted to Johnny Winter. Edgar Winter
always lights up his audiences with charismatic and energetic performances.
Winter’s eclectic musical styles crossover into multiple genres including
…blues, jazz, pop, and country, but he’s especially revered as a rock hero.
Edgar Winter opened his set with the Chuck Berry penned classic “Johnny B.
Goode” which was also a favorite of Brother Johnny’s.
He followed with “Tobacco
Road.” In 1970, Edgar Winter released his first studio album entitled Entrance
and the “Tobacco Road” track featured Brother Johnny on guitar, harmonica, and
vocals. The song also successfully lifted Edgar into the limelight. Next
…Winter told the Clearwater audience the story behind the next song on his
setlist “Frankenstein.”Winter stated … “I wrote the song years before it was
recorded, or at least I came up with the original riff. When I was playing with
my Brother Johnny in the late 60’s and no one knew who I was or if Johnny even
had a brother and I had not yet recorded an album. He’d do the first part of
his set with a blues trio and then say … “And now I’m going to bring on my
little Brother Edgar!” So I’d walk out and the crowd would go … Oh, look
there’s two of them!” Winter demonstrated both instrumental and athletic
abilities on his performance of “Frankenstein.” The 67 year old Winter
performed unwaveringly across the stage … wailing on saxophone, dropping to his
knees while manipulating the keyboards and synthesizer, and aggressively
beating out musical rhythms on the standup drums. Edgar’s performance of
“Frankenstein” was simply explosive!!!
In 1972, the classic lineup of
The Edgar Winter Group was born … Edgar Winter (vocals, keyboards,
synthesizers, saxophone, and drums), Dan Hartman (bass, vocals), Ronnie
Montrose (guitar, vocals), and Chuck Ruff (drums, vocals). The Edgar Winter
Group scored huge commercially with the release of … They Only Come Out at
Night. The album landed at #3 on Billboard’s Hot 200 and remained on the charts
for an amazing 80 weeks. By 1986 the album became double platinum. They Only
Come Out at Night spawned the classic rock mainstays … “Frankenstein,” (#1
Billboard hit -written by Edgar Winter).
Winter performed “Free Ride”
(#14 Billboard hit -written by Dan Hartman) next which was definitely a
crowd-pleaser bringing everyone at the Hall to its feet. Winter then played
musical conductor, singing Scat (using his voice as an instrument) ala Ella
Fitzgerald while exhibiting his jazz influence. Winter would scat a particular
piece vocally and each member of the band would have to play it on their
instruments verbatim. There were also hints of Blind Willie Johnson’s/Zeppelin
arrangement “Nobody’s Fault But Mine” and The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again”
riffs.
Edgar Winter devoted the second
half of his set to Brother Johnny performing “Highway 61 Revisited” with Savoy
Brown’s Kim Simmonds joining him onstage. The finale of the evening was an
incredible rendition of “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” that featured Edgar as conductor
of a band with Peter Rivera, all the members of Vanilla Fudge, and the shows
band of proficient musicians … guitarist- Doug Rappoport, bassist- Koko Powell,
and drummer- Jason Carpenter. All three are incredible musicians and had
multiple moments during the show to shine.
If there was any part of the
show I would change, it would be during Edgar Winter’s set. Although
Rappoport was an excellent guitarist, it appeared as though Winter was
spotlighting the performer with lengthy guitar solos. I would have
preferred more Edgar Winter tunes and Johnny Winter tribute songs and perhaps a
little less scatting and guitar solos.
All in all it was an incredible
evening enjoyed by all!
Special thanks to Jeff
Albright of
the Albright
Entertainment Group.
Coming up NEXT …
Legendary guitarist/singer/songwriter Randy Bachman (The
Guess Who, BTO, Bachman & Turner) …
Don Wilson guitarist,
pioneer, and co-founder of ‘The Ventures’… Keyboard extraordinaire Patrick
Moraz (YES/The Moody Blues)… Al Kooper (The
Blues Project, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Bob Dylan, and responsible for the
success of Lynyrd Skynyrd… Country Music’s shining new star -19 year old Mary
Sarah …
Folk/Rock singer & songwriter Jonathan Edwards (“Sunshine”)
and …Legendary keyboardist Keith Emerson (The
Nice, Emerson, Lake & Palmer)
Contact music journalist
Ray Shasho at rockraymond.shasho@gmail.com
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