desdemona

here's hoping new members and old will see this in "view new posts". I would like to suggest that all members that haven't done it, just post a short one about what kind of music they like and what topics they'd like to see more of, about the only way to judge now, is the amount of views a post gets. I haven't been here that long but if I haven't welcomed anyone new, sowwwwwwweeeeeeeeeee, please post and let us know you're there!

oh yeah kiwi, I saw that alice cooper concert too, that's the one with the guillotine right? where he chopped his head off, lol I thought it was Billion Dollar Babies, maybe I was wrong.

best bands I have seen live The Allman Brothers Band - then and now ( I'm sure that doesn't surprise anybody) lol Led Zeppelin Yes Emerson, Lake, Palmer Jethro Tull CSN&Y The Outlaws The Band Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers Joe Walsh Ten Years After Billy Preston Dave Mason I never got to see some of my favorite artists but too many to list here it seems

Filled With Hate A white supremacist group called Stormfront has threatened to vandalize a bronze statue of late Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott that is expected to be erected in Dublin, Ireland, in 2005. "They are faceless people who write anonymous letters," Lynott's mother, Philomena, is quoted as saying in an Irish newspaper. "I hate such people with racism in their blood." Lynott, whose father was black, died in 1986 from the effects of drug abuse. Below is a link if you want to hear what Stormfront had to say: http://www.thin-lizzy.net/news-info.htm

July Encounter sparks a musical revolution July 6, 1957: John Lennon, Paul McCartney meet By Stephanie Snipes CNN Monday, July 5, 2004 Posted: 11:34 AM EDT (1534 GMT) (CNN) -- In 1957, as the gritty sounds of rock 'n' roll started filling the airwaves, two teens named John and Paul met for the first time just outside the industrial English town of Liverpool, trading riffs and setting the stage for a musical revolution. Seven years later, the Beatles -- as John and Paul's group became known -- famously "invaded" America and took the musical world by storm. By the time the band broke up in 1970, it had broken numerous sales records and transformed the face of popular music. The Beatles succeeded in large part because they were able to blend catchy melodies with meaningful lyrics and were willing to experiment with a variety of musical instruments and styles. "As a cultural phenomenon, as musicians, to the way they changed people's dress, to the way they changed people's outlook on life, I don't think there's been any entertainers since that have had that kind of an impact," said Larry Kane, author of the book "Ticket To Ride" and the only American journalist allowed to tour with the group on their entire 1964 trek across America. Despite recording together only from 1963 to 1970, the Beatles consistently ruled the charts and shattered music industry records. The Beatles had the most No. 1 singles, 20, in the United States (topping even Elvis Presley, who holds the No. 2 spot with 17), and more than 40 top 40 hits. In the week of April 4, 1964, two months after making their American debut on "The Ed Sullivan Show," the Beatles held the first five slots on Billboard's Top Singles Chart -- a feat never achieved before or repeated since. "The Beatles sang 'Until There Was You,' and they sang 'All You Need is Love,' and they sang 'I'll Follow The Sun,' and they sang 'I Want to Hold Your Hand,' and 'She Loves You.' And those songs hung in there and they were very meaningful and they have great melodies and beautiful lyrics," said Joe Johnson, host of Westwood One's "Beatles Brunch," a syndicated radio show that pays tribute to the group. Fateful meeting As Paul McCartney tells it, the beginning came on a warm summer day in the small town of Woolton, England. The year was 1957. John Lennon, then 16 years old, was in the Liverpool suburb to play at a church picnic with his band, the Quarrymen. Lennon arrived in the back of a pickup truck with his band mates, his hair in a short buzz-cut with a little flop of dark locks in front. He wore a checked shirt and carried an acoustic guitar. In the audience a chubby faced 15-year-old named Paul McCartney, a stranger to Lennon even though both grew up only a few streets apart in their hometown of Liverpool, watched the Quarrymen perform. McCartney was entranced by Lennon's rendition of the Dell Vikings' song "Come Go With Me," even though Lennon didn't know the words. "Back then ... if you wanted the lyrics to a song you had to play it on the record and stop it, and then write it down, then play it again, then stop it," said Johnson. (In 1967, the Beatles would remedy this nuisance with the release of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," the first album in history to include song lyrics, according to Johnson.) McCartney, left, and Lennon pose for a picture in the early 1960s, prior to their first U.S. tour. During a break from performing, a mutual friend introduced McCartney to Lennon and the band. McCartney, who was well versed in popular music, impressed Lennon by teaching the band to play the Eddie Cochran song "Twenty Flight Rock." He also taught them the song lyrics to "Come Go With Me," which McCartney had studied mercilessly. A few days later, Lennon, impressed with McCartney's musical abilities, invited him to join the Quarrymen. Making history For the first six years, there were a lot of changes within the group -- for starters, its name. The Quarrymen became the Silver Beetles, which then became simply, the Beatles. As the name evolved, so did the band. George Harrison, a friend of McCartney's, joined in 1958. Stu Sutcliffe, who had been with the group for several years, left in 1961 to pursue his art. (He died a year later of a brain hemorrhage.) Ringo Starr replaced Pete Best, who served as the drummer from 1960 to 1962. With these final changes, the "Fab Four" was set, and a few months later, guided by the foresight and perseverance of their manager, Brian Epstein, Beatlemania swept through the British Isles, then America, then the world. The Beatles attained success, longevity and a massive cultural impact without the many trappings and gimmicks that defined big-name acts of their era and today. "How many superstars have we had in music that didn't need, and think about this, that didn't need laser lights and an accompanying show of glitter and glamour to be successful?" asked Kane. "The Beatles were four guys with guitars and drums, and their music stands alone." They not only earned millions from record sales, movies, merchandise and more, but the Beatles also garnered widespread respect from the music industry as a whole. McCartney signs the press pass of Larry Kane, the only U.S. journalist to tour with the Beatles in 1964. "As much as the R&B people, and the gospel people, and spiritual music, and the country-western people influenced them, I think the Beatles were the bar. And they set the bar, and nobody's quite been able to jump beyond it," Kane said. According to Kane, the "bar" is the quality and individuality of their music. Whether they were adding Indian influences, orchestral arrangements or thumbing a matchbook, the Beatles found new and refreshing ways to bring their message, their words, to the world. "I think that their impact is yet to be felt, their full impact. First of all, their music is now listened to as part of the psyche of everybody, day in and day out. It's the most recorded music in the world, the most copied music in the world, the most enviable music in the world. It's inspired thousands and thousands of artists," Kane said. "Culturally they've had a tremendous impact on the entire 20th century." Throughout all the songs, all the performances, all the fashion and all the films, Kane attributed the Beatles' success and continued influence to three factors. "I think the first factor is the music. I think the second is their individuality. And I really think the third was that if you take their music today, and you played it to an audience that never heard of the Beatles, and played their 20 or 30 best songs, the music would be as fresh today as it was in 1970 or 1966," Kane said. "It's timeless." http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/07/02/beatles/ story.johnpaul.vert

Slow burn over fast burns June 30, 2004 BY JIM DEROGATIS POP MUSIC CRITIC One of the most innovative and promising developments to hit the concert scene in years is a new program that allows fans to purchase a CD recording of the show they just witnessed before leaving the venue that night. But a battle is shaping up between independent artists and several small companies offering this service -- including eMusicLive, which began recording shows at Metro, Double Door and Schubas in March -- and concert giant Clear Channel Entertainment, which patented the technology that makes the process possible. Based in San Antonio, Texas, Clear Channel is the biggest concert promoter in the country. It owns 130 venues in the United States, including the Tweeter Center in Tinley Park and Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wis., although it has not yet implemented its live recording program in the Chicago area. The Clear Channel program originated in Boston and is called Instant Live. It's based on new technology that is able to process a CD of a live recording within five minutes of the end of a concert, producing as many as 50 CDs every 10 minutes. On Monday, Clear Channel announced that this summer, it will offer some 100 live recordings of various artists who will be taped throughout the country, including Jewel, whose live discs will be issued in conjunction with Atlantic Records. Other participating artists will include the Allman Brothers Band, the jam band moe., Michael Franti and Spearhead, George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic, the Samples and the Smithereens. Clear Channel bought the patent for the live-recording technology from its inventors, and the company now claims it owns exclusive rights to the concept of selling concert CDs after shows. "We want to be artist-friendly," Clear Channel executive and Instant Live director Steve Simon told Rolling Stone magazine. "But it is a business, and it's not going to be, 'We have the patent, now everybody can use it for free.' " In an interview with the Reuters news service, Brian Becker, chief executive of Clear Channel's live entertainment unit, added, "We want this service to be in widespread use and welcome all legitimate and serious conversations with those interested in licensing our patent. We will not, however, conduct licensing conversations in public or via the media." Countered Danny Stein, CEO of Dimensional Associates, the New York equity firm that owns eMusicLive, "We don't believe that our business practices infringe on anybody's intellectual property." His company is ready to fight Clear Channel on the issue. "We're an enterprise that has patent lawyers that are equal to their patent lawyers," Stein said. "Basically, they're trying to intimidate bands and smaller companies. We're in a more advantageous spot than the other 80 people they're hunting, because they're going after a lot of artists and people with no resources." Though it's been gaining in popularity, the concept of recording shows and selling the CDs to fans as they leave the venue isn't new. Bands including the Allman Brothers, moe. and Billy Idol have done it nationally for several years. Train did it during a stint at Schubas earlier this year in a process independent of eMusicLive, and Buddy Guy did it during his traditional January run at Legends, working with a Chicago company called Pirate Entertainment. Reunited alt-rock legends the Pixies were planning to use a company called DiscLive to offer the service on their summer tour. But the band is performing at many Clear Channel venues, and the concert promoter forced the group to work with its own Instant Live service instead of any rival companies. "I'm not fond of doing business with my arm twisted behind my back," Pixies manager Ken Goes told Rolling Stone. So far, Clear Channel's declaration of war has not affected eMusicLive's operations in Chicago, and the company still hopes to expand to other clubs here and across the country. eMusicLive charges $10 for a single-disc recording ($15 for a double-disc) and splits the net profits (usually about $6) with the band. The CDs also have been made available at select independent record stores, and MP3s of some shows can be downloaded from the company's Web site, emusiclive.com. The clubs -- which get a cut of the gross -- leave it up to the artists to decide whether they want to participate. Some cannot because their recording contracts prohibit releasing any CD that isn't sanctioned by their label. Others opt out because they'd rather do it themselves, or they'd prefer not to have live documents of less-than-stellar shows in the marketplace. Joe Shanahan, owner of Metro and a co-owner of the Double Door, said the program has been off to a slow start, with CD sales ranging from two to 10 copies a night. Schubas reports similar numbers. Both promoters say smaller unsigned artists have been the prime users of the program. But they believe it has a lot of promise. "I think it's a great idea, and the CDs sound better than most live recordings I've ever heard," said Schubas talent booker Matt Rucins. "People often want a remembrance of a special night of music, and this is much better than a tour T-shirt," Shanahan said. He believes the program will grow in popularity as artists and fans become more familiar with it and as eMusicLive moves to the next phase of its implementation. The company is gearing up to introduce onsite kiosks where concertgoers can download the show they just saw to a 128-MB USB pen drive (a small device that can be purchased for about $50), prior to transferring it to their computer or iPod or burning their own CD at home. The first of these kiosks just debuted at Maxwell's in Hoboken, N.J. "It takes 10 seconds, and it's even easier than buying a CD because you don't have to carry it home," said the company's Stein. "You can bring your own pen drive, or you can buy one right there at the kiosk if you don't already have one." http://www.suntimes.com/output/entertainme...r-record30.html

Friday, July 2, 2004 Gregg Allman heeds the call to play a little organ and a whole lot of blues By GENE STOUT SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER POP MUSIC CRITIC Gregg Allman has always been a huge Ray Charles fan. His last solo album, "Searching for Simplicity," included a bluesy rendition of the 1961 Charles R&B hit, "I've Got News for You." But the leader of the Allman Brothers Band wasn't prepared for the soul legend's death earlier this month. "I really wasn't ready for that," Allman said in a phone call from his home in Savannah, Ga. "I thought the old boy had another 10 years in him. He was an alien, man. There'll never be anybody like him, or even close. Did you ever hear the guy sing off-key?" When Allman was married to Cher and living in the exclusive Holmby Hills section of Los Angeles, she invited Charles to appear on her TV show at Allman's suggestion. She called her husband when Charles arrived unexpectedly for rehearsals. "I got in that Dino Ferrari of hers and made it from Holmby Hills to Fairfax Avenue in probably ... it was like I was doing the quarter mile," Allman said with a guffaw. "Brother Ray was in this airplane hangar, sitting at a white piano in a brown suit, with two big goons standing behind him on each side." Meeting Charles was quite a thrill for the veteran singer and organist. Allman saw his idol six times before he died. "Nobody could scream like Ray," he said. "Wooo!" Allman and the famous Southern rock band that once featured his late brother, Duane, on guitar perform tomorrow night at The Gorge with The Dead and lyricist Robert Hunter. The concert is unique to The Gorge. It's the only show the two bands will do together this summer. In addition to Gregg Allman on vocals and Hammond B-3 organ, the Allman Brothers band features Butch Trucks (drums and tympani); Jaimoe (drums); Warren Hayes (vocals and lead and slide guitar); Marc Quinones (percussion and vocals); Oteil Burbridge (bass); and Derek Trucks (lead and slide guitar). The band's summer tour follows the release of the album "Hittin' the Note," featuring the Grammy-nominated track "Instrumental Illness," as well as the group's "One Way Out: Live at the Beacon Theatre" CD, a companion to the "Live at the Beacon Theatre" DVD released last year. Among the songs featured on the Beacon Theatre collections are "Midnight Rider," Desdemona," "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl," "Instrumental Illness," "Ain't Wasting Time No More" and "Worried Down With the Blues." Since 1989, the Allman Brothers Band has performed more than 150 times at the historic New York theater. The CD was recorded in March 2003. "We were maybe subconsciously looking for a place that sounded like and felt like, vibe wise, the old Fillmore East," Allman said. The band hasn't decided when it will record its next studio album. "The record business has changed so much, just like the radio business," Allman said. "Making records, you just don't know what's going to happen to them. People can burn a CD of anything you write and arrange and go over and over 50 times until it's perfect. The thought of somebody just burning that right off is pretty discouraging. It doesn't do much for us writers. It's like, why? Why even bother? "But the music still keeps coming and we'll still keep recording it, but definitely on our own terms." Born in Nashville and raised in Daytona Beach, Fla., Allman went on the road with his brother as a teenager. When he was 21, he joined the Allman Brothers Band. Allman played piano, but hadn't played the Hammond B-3, the organ known for its rich, full, distinctive sound. "They brought me a B-3 and they rolled me about five joints and put them on the keys and said, 'We'll see you in a few days after you learn how to play this thing,' " Allman recalled with a hearty laugh. "Playing a piano and an organ are two totally different things. Playing a piano is like fighting Evander Holyfield, compared to playing an organ, which is like kissing a lady." The B-3 his brother gave him wore out years ago, but he currently owns four others. "I just bought one on eBay that is just slick. I always take two with me on the road because if one of them breaks down, it's like Chinese arithmetic back there. There aren't any printed circuits," he said. The Allman Brothers Band was among the first recording acts to release an Instant Live album of one of its shows, allowing concertgoers to purchase a live recording of the concert they had just heard. "I guess we were like the guinea pigs, but those machines they got are incredible. The sound quality is just perfect," Allman said. But Allman said live recordings -- the Beacon Theatre releases notwithstanding -- make him self-conscious, especially when he's playing piano. "I start thinking about that when I'm playing and it doesn't help," he said. "It's like having your grandma in the audience -- or the best piano player in the world in the audience. "Dr. John walked into one of my shows one day while I was playing piano. I asked myself, why? Why didn't he come in during one of the 18 organ songs?" http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/pop/180356_allman02.html

I can share the Dreams anthology with you if you want rickio, just contact me.

I agree with the author in the article below, there's been a lack of tribute to the genius of ray charles and his contribution. This is a great example of how radio stations are so programmed now, they leave no space for interpretation, the same with television. I mourned his death more than I did President Reagan that consumed the airwaves for a week. Just some reflection here in an article I found. RAY CHARLES: AN AMERICAN GENIUS [22 June 2004] by Hank Kalet When I think of Ray Charles, I think of his role in The Blues Brothers. The band -- led by "Joliet Jake" and Ellwood Blues (John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd) -- pay a visit to Ray's Music Exchange, looking for some instruments. As the band is talking with the blind proprietor -- Ray -- about some amplifiers, a kid sneaks in and attempts to pull a guitar down from the wall. As quickly as the kid is there, Charles pulls out a handgun and blasts a hole above the kid, chasing him from the store. "Now, go on! Git!" he yells. "It breaks my heart, a boy that young goin' bad." And there, for me, is Brother Ray in a nutshell, taking nothing from no one and staking his claim to the world, thriving despite his blindness to become one of a handful of truly legendary and groundbreaking artists in the history of music. The New York Times, in its obituary of Charles on June 11, said that Charles recently told an interviewer that his blindness had no effect on his career. "I was going to do what I was going to do anyway," he said. "I played music since I was three. I could see then. I lost my sight when I was seven. So blindness didn't have anything to do with it. It didn't give me anything. And it didn't take nothing." * * * Ray Charles died June 10, 2004 of complications related to liver disease and leaves behind an amazing legacy of sound; a trailblazing collection of music that helped define much of the last 50 years. I could list the hits, but that would be fruitless. There were dozens -- everything from hard-edged blues shouters to touching, sentimental ballads, to country and western songs and seemingly everything else in between. But that was the genius of Ray Charles. I am not engaging in hyperbole to say that Charles (along with, perhaps, Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson) invented what was to become known as soul by using the intensity and vibrancy of gospel music to explore secular themes. Charles started his career by imitating the softer sounds of Nat King Cole and other black pop artists, creating a smooth, but generic sound that garnered him a couple of minor hits on what was known as the race-records charts. Then came 1955 and the release of "I've Got a Woman," a fiery piece of rhythm and blues that signaled a new direction in black music. It quickly raced to No. 1 on the black charts. Charles managed 12 top 10 singles on the black charts -- including the rowdy "What'd I Say" at No.1 (which also hit No.6 on the pop charts). "What'd I Say" inspired one of the funniest Saturday Night Live skits I've ever seen as "The Young Caucasions" attempt to record a clean rendition of the song, leading into Ray's own rousing version of the song. Having helped transform rhythm and blues, Charles turned himself into a musical vagabond, exploring a wide range of music and recording some groundbreaking albums -- including the genre-bending Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, on which he applied his own inimitable style to some current and classic country songs. That Charles would even attempt to bring his singularly soulful approach to country music is a testament to his individuality. Country was the province of the white working class and there was a growing divide between country music and rock and soul in the early 1960s that only widened as the decade moved on. Charles was one of the few artists -- along with Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan and only a few others -- brave enough to venture away from his own safe musical haven. And the public repaid him in spades, pushing the album to No.1 and pushing its three singles -- "I Can't Stop Loving You," "You Don't Know Me" and "Your Cheating Heart" -- to the top of the adult contemporary charts. * * * I own probably 2,000 CDs, LPs and cassette tapes. Until the weekend after Charles' death, I did not own even one Ray Charles record. This actually surprised me. I got home from work the night he died planning to grab something by Charles only to realize that I had somehow, in 30-plus years of record and CD buying, failed to add the great soul man to my record collection. I mentioned this in an e-mail to my friend Steve. "I think most of us are in the same predicament that you are in," he responded. "The only Ray Charles record I own is a recording of "Lucky Ole Sun" that appears on the Malcolm X movie soundtrack." Perhaps he is right, especially for people my age or a little younger. Ray Charles had his greatest commercial success in the late 1950s and early 1960s, first with some vivid soul music and later with more sedate explorations of other genres. His success predates the Baby-boom generation and as the 1960s wore on it would have been easy to view him as nothing more than a supper-club act, something along the lines of Perry Como or Andy Williams, something one's parents might listen to. And, yet, this doesn't quite wash. I've always loved and been moved by Ray's music, in the same way that I've been moved by Billie Holiday or Tony Bennett. So where were the records? I spent the better part of the weekend after his death going from record store to record store looking for something, anything by Ray to play. The CD stores were sold out. The clerk at Borders told me they had several discs but they went quickly after his death was announced. I was lucky enough to find three discs at Walmart -- not the Ray we've all come to know, but the Ray Charles before he was Ray Charles, 30 songs recorded in the late 1940s and early 1950s when he was still trying to be Louis Jordan and Nat King Cole. The discs are far less satisfying than "I've Got a Woman" or "Hit the Road Jack," but it is hard not to hear the immense personality that Ray would later project buried in these songs. * * * "Ray Charles seduced with his voice," NAACP Chairman Julian Bond wrote in an op-ed piece in The Boston Globe on June 15, and that is the clearest, most pointed statement you will read on Ray Charles. He could be a joyful shouter or a sultry crooner, his imperfect baritone and raspy delivery taking over whatever it was that he sang and making it his own. Everything he sang was believable. Everything he sang became his. "No one 'owned' 'America the Beautiful' until he sang it, and no one else will now," Bonds went on to say. "He joined heartbreak and patriotism just as he married country music with soulful pathos, and the result will always be Ray Charles music." "America the Beautiful," which he recorded in 1972 and then played years later at the 1984 Republican convention, became America's soundtrack in the weeks following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. It is a remarkable recording. Ray's vocal captures the contradictions that came with being a patriot in 1972, the joy and the pain, the promise of freedom and the history that has always made it a promise not quite kept. * * * I spent the weekend after Charles' death searching the radio dial for his music. I was shocked at his absence - though his absence probably says everything you need to know about radio in the age of media consolidation. Radio stations are programmed down to the minute these days, with every song chosen for maximum advertising impact. In this kind of atmosphere, an artist with as eclectic a repertoire as Brother Ray has no place. Aside from a tribute on the Biography channel, some brief tributes on WXPN (a Philadelphia public radio station), and a couple of other stations Friday morning, Brother Ray was absent from the airwaves. But that is, as I said, more a comment on our times than on the importance of Ray Charles. * * * After the initial greetings, Murph, the electric piano player for the Blues Brothers Band, asks Ray about a particular organ. "You have a good eye, my man," Ray says. "That's the best in the city of Chicago." After haggling over the price, saying it's too high, Murph tells him "it's used, there's no action left in this keyboard." Ray steps to the keyboard and answers, "I don't think there's anything wrong with the action on this piano," twinkling the keys and launching into a raucous version of "Shake Your Tailfeather." Nothing wrong with the action at all. Rest in peace, Brother Ray. http://www.popmatters.com/music/features/0...aycharles.shtml

United States rich with musical streets By Michael Fink CNN Headline News Monday, July 5, 2004 Posted: 11:06 AM EDT (1506 GMT) (CNN) -- Advertising has Madison Avenue. The theatre has Broadway and finance has Wall Street. But it's hard to find one central stretch of road for the music industry. There are, however, certain streets and stretches where music history resides. Here's a quick drive-by of musical hot spots. Sunset Strip -- For 40 years the Sunset Strip in Hollywood has been the centerpiece of rock and roll excess and dreams. The area gave birth and nurtured bands such as The Doors, Guns and Roses and Motley Crue. You can still rock out at the strip's most famous nightclubs like the Whisky A Go-Go, The Roxy and the Rainbow Bar & Grill. Newer clubs like The Viper Room keep the strip's rock 'n' roll mystique alive and well. Nashville's Music Row -- It doesn't have the lights and billboards of Sunset, but 16th Avenue in Nashville is the epicenter of country music. As rock 'n' roll became popular in the 1950s, country's sound was smoothed and softened, thus giving birth to the "Nashville Sound." Recording studios and publishing houses grew along the avenue and still flourish. Located in the heart of Music Row, RCA Studio-B was the recording home for the likes of Dolly Parton, Elvis and the Everly Brothers. Today it's a classroom for recording technology students and a tour site through the Country Music Hall of Fame. You'll probably run into a country star taking a session break at Sammy B's. Haight-Ashbury -- When a band called the Warlocks moved to San Francisco near the intersection of Haight and Ashbury Streets, they changed their name to the Grateful Dead. At the same time, they created the center point of counter-culture. Other bands such as the Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother & The Holding Company and the Steve Miller Band became associated with the area, as would the hippy movement of the 1960s. Today it's home to an eclectic collection of bookstores, cafes and restaurants. Despite gentrification, it remains a focal point for alternative lifestyles. You can still see onetime headquarters of the Grateful Dead or the place where Janis Joplin's landlord reportedly evicted her for possession ... of a dog. Beale Street -- It's said W.C. Handy wrote the first blues song on Beale Street in Memphis in 1909. Nightlife was, at times, a dangerous mix of easy money, seedy characters and booze -- in other words, the atmosphere that gave birth to the blues. Beale is still an active and vibrant place. All-night partiers, street musicians and entertainers flock to the area and all types of music reverberates from the various bars and restaurants. While there, check out a show at W.C. Handy Park, Rum Boogie Café or B.B. King's Blues Museum. The Crossroads -- Legend says Robert Johnson went to the crossroads and gave his soul to the devil in exchange for the ability to play guitar. Immortalized in the song "Crossroads," this myth catapulted the popularity of blues and rock 'n' roll. Some say the crossroads is at the intersection of Highway 61 and 49 in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Others say it was on a long-forgotten farm path in a nameless cotton field. But no matter where it was, or if it existed, this intersection has undeniable influence in American music. The American road is rich with musical influence. If you wish to seek it out, hop into your car, turn on the radio and head toward Highway 61, Route 66 or a million places in between. http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Music/07/0...road/index.html

McAfee AVERT Reports New Bagle Virus In-the-Wild BEAVERTON, Oregon, July 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- McAfee, Inc. (NYSE: MFE) the leading provider of intrusion prevention solutions, today announced that McAfee® AVERT™ (Anti-virus and Vulnerability Emergency Response Team), the world-class research division of McAfee®, raised the risk assessment to medium on the recently discovered W32/Bagle.ad@MM, also known as Bagle.ad. This new variant is a mass-mailing worm that is packed using UPX and comes in the form of a password-protected .ZIP file, with the password included in the message body as plain text or within an image. To date, McAfee AVERT has received numerous reports of the virus being stopped or infecting users from the field -- with most of the reports arriving from Japan, Australia, Germany and the UK. The samples received by McAfee AVERT have been from users versus the virus, which is similar to other Bagle reports. Symptoms The Bagle.ad worm is a mass mailing threat that harvests addresses from local files and then uses the harvested addresses in the 'From' field to send itself. Once activated, the worm copies itself to folders in the System Directory that have the phrase "shar" in the name, such as common peer-to-peer applications, and adds a registry key to the system start-up. The worm then proceeds into the remote access component of the virus, which listens to TCP port 1234 for remote connections. Users should be very weary and should most likely delete any email containing the following: From: (address is spoofed) Subject: * Re: Msg reply * Re: Hello * Re: Yahoo! * Re: Thank you! * Re: Thanks :) * RE: Text message * Re: Document * Incoming message * Re: Incoming Message * RE: Incoming Msg * RE: Message Notify * Notification * Changes.. * Update * Fax Message * Protected message * RE: Protected message * Forum notify * Site changes * Re: Hi * Encrypted document,0 Body Text: Various message bodies are used and in some cases contain the password for an encrypted attachment, either in plain text or within an image. Pathology After being executed, Bagle.ad emails itself to addresses found on the infected host as a password protected .ZIP file with the password included in the message body. The virus listens on TCP port for remote connections. It attempts to notify the author that the infected system is ready to accept commands, by contacting various Web sites and calling a PHP script on the remote sites. After January 25, 2005, this component of the worm will be deactivated. The worm also carries its source code (assembler) in its body, encrypted. When mass-mailing itself, the worm may also include a copy of the source code within a ZIP archive-making it likely that there could be additional trivial variants based on this source. Cure Immediate information and cure for this worm can be found online at the McAfee AVERT site located at http://vil.nai.com/vil/content/v_126562.htm . McAfee AVERT is advising its customers to update to the 4373 DATs to stay protected from all the current Bagle threats. http://www.prnewswire.com/

Willie Dixon Born Jul 1, 1915 in Vicksburg, MS just a little tidbit: Arc Music had sued Led Zeppelin for copyright infringement over "Bring It on Home" on Led Zeppelin II, saying that it was Dixon's song, and won a settlement that Dixon never saw any part of until his manager did an audit of Arc's accounts. Dixon and Muddy Waters would later file suit against Arc Music to recover royalties and the ownership of their copyrights. Additionally, many years later Dixon brought suit against Led Zeppelin for copyright infringement over "Whole Lotta Love" and its resemblance to Dixon's "You Need Love." Both cases resulted in out-of-court settlements that were generous to the songwriter. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&u...l=B7ep1z88ajyv1

The Last Days of Jim Morrison A rare look into the rock god's journals By STEPHEN DAVIS The retired Hollywood lawyer who played golf with Max Fink -- the attorney who defended Jim Morrison on the 1969 Miami obscenity and indecent-exposure charges -- said in 2002 that he believed Fink might have received a warning concerning Morrison about a month before Jim left for Paris, which would have been in early February 1971. According to this attorney, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Fink was given a tip by an associate of Mickey Rudin, the prominent Beverly Hills attorney whose clients included Frank Sinatra and who had ties to the Nixon administration. This retired lawyer was given to understand that Fink was quietly told that his famous client would be neutralized in prison -- murdered or incapacitated -- and should get out of the country before his legal appeals were exhausted and his passport confiscated. France, which has no extradition treaty with the United States for so-called sex crimes, was suggested as a logical place for Jim to take refuge. No direct or documentary evidence for this warning exists, only the unverifiable word of a respected former associate of both Rudin and Fink. Whatever the accuracy of this account, within one month Jim Morrison was in Paris, living incognito as a lodger in an apartment house, under the assumed names of James Douglas and/or Douglas James. Pamela left for Paris first, on February 14th. The next day she checked into the Hotel George V and hooked up with her sometime boyfriend, Count Jean de Breteuil, a playboy and classy dope dealer -- his hashish and opium supposedly came from a Moroccan chauffeur attached to the French consulate in L.A. The de Breteuil family owned all the French-language newspapers in North Africa. When his father had died a few years earlier, Jean inherited his title of Comte de Breteuil, so he was an actual French count whose lineage went back 700 years. Jim himself left four weeks later. He didn't pack much. He took prints of his two films, Feast of Friends and HWY; as many notebooks as he could find; the typed manuscripts of his unpublished poetry; the two quarter-inch-tape reels of his solo poetry readings; his Super-8 movie camera; a few copies of his poetry books; his personal photo file (including color transparencies of himself, a recent publicity photo of Joan Baez, pictures from the Miami trial and selected Elektra eight-by-ten-inch promotional glossies of himself); and a few precious books and clothes. He left his library and some files in Pamela's apartment and told the Doors' accountant to pay the rent while they were gone. read the entire article here: http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story?id=...eregion=single1 Jim_Morrison___RS_952_article_image.6184974

FCC Proposes Fining CBS Stations $550,000 For Singer's Exposure By Frank Ahrens Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, July 1, 2004; Page C01 The Federal Communications Commission has determined this week that singer Janet Jackson's brief breast-baring incident during CBS's broadcast of the Super Bowl halftime show in February was indecent and has proposed fining 20 CBS-owned stations a total of $550,000, according to FCC sources. If approved, it would be the largest indecency fine ever levied against a television broadcaster. The show also featured a crotch-grabbing rapper and several S&M-clad dancers gyrating behind Jackson and fellow pop star Justin Timberlake. Toward the end of the routine, Timberlake ripped off part of Jackson's leather bodice, exposing her breast for a few seconds. "A wardrobe malfunction," Timberlake said later. FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell took the unusual step of personally launching an indecency investigation on the Monday after the Super Bowl, which was seen by about 90 million viewers. The FCC's enforcement bureau took up the case and concluded the investigation faster than usual. The bureau has ruled that the halftime show violated the agency's indecency standards, which say that sexual or scatological material may not be broadcast over the airwaves between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., when children are most likely to be watching. The finding led to Powell's office placing an order before the five FCC commissioners, assessing the 20 CBS-owned stations the maximum fine of $27,500 each. If three of the five commissioners approve the order, parent company Viacom Inc. would be liable for the fine. It would be only the third fine levied against a television broadcaster in FCC history and is by far the largest. The agency has fined numerous radio broadcasters over the years for millions. It recently proposed fining Viacom's radio unit, Infinity Broadcasting, about $400,000 for remarks by shock jock Howard Stern and others. The FCC would not comment yesterday. Viacom owns 20 CBS and 19 UPN stations. CBS programming, however, is seen on more than 200 affiliate stations, including Washington's WUSA, Channel 9. The FCC chose not to fine the affiliates, saying they had no control over the production of the halftime show and no knowledge it would contain the racy material, said FCC sources, who would not comment on the record on a pending proceeding. The halftime show was produced by another Viacom subsidiary, MTV, known for its sexually suggestive videos and original series read the entire article here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2004Jun30.html

Only 636 years left in longest concert Germans playing John Cage organ work very slowly Monday, July 5, 2004 Posted: 2:18 PM EDT (1818 GMT) BERLIN, Germany (AP) -- In an abandoned church in the German town of Halberstadt, the world's longest concert was coming two notes closer to its end Monday: Three years down, 636 to go. The addition of an E and E-sharp complement the G-sharp, B and G-sharp that have been playing since February 2003 in composer John Cage's "Organ2/ASLSP" -- or "Organ squared/As slow as possible." The five notes are the initial sounds played on a specially built organ -- one in which keys are held down by weights, and new organ pipes will be added as needed as the piece is stretched out to last generations. The concert is more than just an avant-garde riff on Cage's already avant-garde oeuvre, which includes a piece consisting of 4 minutes and 33 seconds of silence and one for a piano rejiggered with screws and wood stuck between the strings. "It has a philosophical background: in the hectic times in which we live, to find calm through this slowness," said Georg Bandarau, a businessman who helps run the private foundation behind the concert. "In 639 years, maybe they will only have peace." The concert began Sept. 5, 2001 -- the day Cage would have turned 89. The composition, originally written to last 20 minutes, starts with a silence, and the only sound for a first 1 1/2 years was air. The first notes were played in February 2003. After debates in Germany about what exactly "as slow as possible" could mean -- anywhere from a day to stretching on infinitely -- the group of German music experts and organ builder behind the project chose the concert's 639-year running time to commemorate to the creation of the city's historic Blockwerk organ in 1361. Halberstadt's disused Burchardi church, once a monastery complex and now an appropriately simple and unadorned building, was chosen as a concert hall. About 10,000 tourists visited the city, 60 miles southeast of Hanover, between April and September of last year to hear the first three notes, Bandarau said. Cage was born in Los Angeles in 1912, and like his teacher, Arnold Schoenberg, was influential both as a musician and a thinker. "Organ2/ASLSP" was composed in 1985 for piano, but two years later was rearranged for organ. Cage died in 1992. The next change arrives in March 2006. The music then will become even simpler: Two notes are being taken away, Bandarau said. The foundation is now seeking sponsors to fund the organ's estimated $246,000 cost. "We need to secure the future," Bandarau said. http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Music/07/0...t.ap/index.html

Prince marks 'Purple' anniversary Sunday, July 4, 2004 Posted: 9:10 PM EDT (0110 GMT) NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- Anniversaries often bring reunions. And to mark the 20th anniversary of "Purple Rain," Prince reunited with some of the players in his musical past -- Morris Day and The Time, guitarist Wendy Melvoin and former protege Sheila E. "This hasn't been done like this in a long time," said veteran musician Larry Graham, who performed at Friday's Essence Music Festival show at the Superdome in New Orleans. "This is just right on time." Prince's show, the kickoff to the three-day annual concert festival in the city, was a five-hour party attended by 50,000 people, the largest crowd for a concert in the festival's 10-year history. The show started out on a bizarre note -- Prince, onstage in a disguise of a straight-haired wig, hat and beard, playing the guitar on inline skates as relatively unknown performers danced or sang around him. The most famous person to come on stage at that point was Graham, formerly of Sly and the Family Stone and Graham Central Station. Then, the mysterious figure onstage announced Sheila E., and the audience erupted in cheers as she ran through her 1984 hit "The Glamorous Life." Day and the Time, billed as the opening act to Prince, emerged later. Day, who starred with Prince in the groundbreaking film version of "Purple Rain," joined his preening sidekick Jerome as they sang old hits like "The Bird" and "Cool." Prince didn't hit the stage until nearly 11 p.m., but the crowd didn't seem to mind -- middle-aged women squealed like schoolgirls and young men barely older than Prince's 25-year career bounced up and down as he performed classics like "Little Red Corvette," "Controversy" and "Adore," as well as material from his most recent album, "Musicology." Sheila E. rejoined her former mentor onstage to perform along side him on "A Love Bizarre" and other tunes, while Melvoin -- who along with keyboardist Lisa Coleman were simply referred to as Wendy & Lisa in his old Revolution band -- also sat in with his New Power Generation band. Other surprise guests included Chaka Khan, who joined Prince to sing "I Feel For You" -- a cover of his song that she made a monster hit in the 1980s; and old school rapper Doug E. Fresh. The high-energy show ended on an emotional note as Prince performed "Purple Rain" and spotlighted drummer John Blackwell, whose 2-year-old daughter, Jia, accidentally drowned just days earlier. An emotional Blackwell pointed to the image of his little girl on his T-shirt, as Sheila E. embraced him and the band walked off the stage. http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Music/07/0...e.ap/index.html

During the 70's there was so much diversity, country rock became popular, some bands emerged and expanded into blues rock, but one band that disbanded but was one of the forerunners was NRPS, Jerry Garicia played with them for a time, I liked the first album "New Riders of the Purple sage" 1971. Below is a biography and track listing for this really sweet album. In the summer of 1969, John Dawson was looking to showcase his songs while Jerry Garcia was looking to practice his brand new pedal steel guitar. The two played in coffeehouses and small clubs initially, and the music they made became the nucleus for a band—the New Riders of the Purple Sage. That same year, David Nelson, expert in both country and rock guitar, joined the group on electric lead guitar. Filling out the rhythm section in those early days were two other members of the Grateful Dead, Mickey Hart on drums and Phil Lesh on bass. In 1970, Dave Torbert took over on bass and the New Riders played every chance they got. Soon enough, smoky clubs all over the San Francisco bay area were filling up with whooping, foot-stomping crowds as their music got tighter and more dynamic. They began to tour extensively with the Dead, and in December of 1970, Spencer Dryden, who had previously showed his impeccable drumming style with the Jefferson Airplane, had stepped in on drums. One of the many gigs with the Dead included the Trans-Canadian Festival Express with Janis Joplin, The Band, and other American and Canadian artists like Ian and Sylvia, who had with them a brilliant, innovative pedal steel player named Buddy Cage. When Garcia's busy schedule made it increasingly difficult for him to play with the New Riders, the talented Cage was the perfect choice to fill the pedal steel spot. He moved from Toronto where he had been working in Anne Murray's band, to California in the fall of 1971 to join the New Riders. With the addition of Cage, the New Riders emerged as a fully independent unit. An excitingly creative band with a special brand of music—sweet country harmonies mixed with pulsing rock rhythms. The New Riders were signed to Columbia Records in 1971 by Clive Davis and their eponymous first album, New Riders of the Purple Sage, was released in September of that year to widespread acclaim. In December, 1971 they played a live radio broadcast with the Dead over WNEW-FM in New York to an audience of millions. In 1972 the pattern of their success continued to grow, with their first European tour followed in June by the release of their second album, Powerglide. They toured the United States extensively in response to increasing demand, and in November, 1972 released their third album Gypsy Cowboy. In May of 1973, the New Riders appeared on ABC-TV's "In Concert" program to a nationwide audience. Working hard on the road for much of the year, including gigs with the Dead at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco and R.F.K. Stadium in Washington, DC, they took a brief time out to go into the recording studio in Nashville with producer Norbert Putnam. The result was The Adventures of Panama Red, released in September of 1973 and with Peter Rowan's title track, this became an FM radio staple and the first gold record for the band. In November they embarked on an east coast tour that included them setting the box office record at New York City's Academy of Music. This tour was recorded for the group's first live album, Home, Home on the Road, which was produced by Jerry Garcia. Early 1974 found bassist Dave Torbert wanting to pursue a more rock and roll direction as he left the New Riders to form Kingfish with old friends Matthew Kelly and Bob Weir. Skip Battin, formerly with the Byrds, joined the band on bass as they kept to their solid touring schedule which had become one of the band's trademarks. In August, 1974, the New Riders gave a free thank you concert in Central Park on a Tuesday afternoon to 50,000 New York fans. Their sixth album, entitled Brujo, was released in October, 1974 and found their recorded sound getting crisper with delicate harmonies and more original songs. Searching for expanded musical horizons, the New Riders hooked up with producer Bob Johnston, known for his work with Bob Dylan, in 1975. Letting Johnston take them down uncharted terrain, the resulting Oh, What A Mighty Time found the band hooking up with Sly Stone and a bevy of female background singers. Mighty Time also features Jerry Garcia's electric guitar leads on "Take A Letter Maria." Just about this time, the music business was entering another era and the New Riders ended their relationship with Columbia Records. The subsequent release of the Best of the New Riders of the Purple Sage, with its infamous cover, fulfilled their obligation to Columbia and the band then signed with MCA Records in 1976. New Riders, the bands first release for MCA, was comprised of mostly cover material and was the last album to feature Skip Battin, who had left to join his cohorts in the Flying Burrito Brothers. Once again, mining from the Byrds/Roger McGuinn stable of bass players, Stephen Love, also an alum of Rick Nelson's Stone Canyon Band, joined the band and inserted a renewed energy to the live shows. Love's songwriting talents contributed heavily to Who Are Those Guys?, which was released in the Spring of 1977. At this point, Spencer Dryden traded in his drum sticks to begin managing the band. Patrick Shanahan, another Stone Canyon Band alumnus, fit right in on drums and is featured on Marin County Line, the late 1977 release that ended the bands association with MCA. Many more changes would engulf the New Riders personnel from this point on. Buddy Cage and Stephen Love departed in 1978 to join the short-lived San Francisco All Stars with John Cippolina. Skip Battin and his Burrito Brother pals Gib Gilbeau and Sneaky Pete Kleinow were then brought in for what would seem like a dynamic mix. But after a brief tour of the Northeast, they had exited as quickly as they entered. Bobby Black from Commander Cody's Lost Planet Airmen took over on pedal steel and another Rick Nelson alum, Allen Kemp, took over on bass. Cage would re-join the band in 1980 and the band would make their last major label release for A&M with Feelin' Alright. New Riders of the Purple Sage (1971) Tracks: I Don't Know You Whatcha Gonna Do Portland Woman Henry Dirty Business Glendale Train Garden Of Eden All I Ever Wanted Last Lonely Eagle Louisiana Lady

South African lawyers are suing U.S. entertainment giant Walt Disney Co for infringement of copyright on "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," the most popular song to emerge from Africa, the lawyers said on Friday. If Disney loses, South African proceeds from its trademarks -- including Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck -- could be seized by the courts, lawyers representing relatives of the song's composer said. The lilting song, initially called "Mbube," earned an estimated $15 million in royalties since it was written by Zulu migrant worker Solomon Linda in 1939, and featured in Walt Disney's "Lion King" movies. However, Linda's impoverished family have only received about $15,000, the lawyers said. read the entire article here: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?t...storyID=5583181

I have an acoustic version of "walls" too req, if you want it.

July 3, 1971: American rock singer Jim Morrison, leader of the Doors, dies in Paris of a drug overdose. Morrison, Jim (1943-1971), American singer and songwriter, born in Melbourne, Florida, and educated at the University of California at Los Angeles. In 1965 he formed a group called the Doors with Ray Manzarek, John Densmore, and Robby Krieger. The group became known for its extravagant performing style, combining sensual movements and a hard-hitting sound, amplified to huge proportions. Morrison and other group members also had a reputation for using drugs. After a 1969 performance in Miami, obscenity accusations led ten concert organizers to cancel scheduled dates; although the Miami case was dropped, the group never lost its reputation for obscenity. Eventually Morrison took a vacation in France in order to rethink the course his life was taking. He died there of a drug overdose. The group's first album, The Doors (1967)— which included the singles “Light My Fire” and “The End”—became a number-one hit. Other albums included Waiting for the Sun (1968) and L.A. Woman (1971). The Lords and the New Creatures (1971) was one of several published collections of Morrison's poetry. Oliver Stone's film The Doors (1991), with Val Kilmer in the part of Jim Morrison, recounts the history of the group and its lead artist.

His best, I think it went downhill from there.

That is a great album, my favorite aside from the album Superstition. I remember listening to this the whole way to florida from ohio on spring break. The music just seemed perfect for the trip and the florida scene.

Military on alert for Coke's chip contest Friday, July 2, 2004 Posted: 10:32 AM EDT (1432 GMT) NEW YORK (AP) -- There's a new security threat at some of the nation's military bases -- and it looks uncannily like a can of Coke. Specially rigged Coke cans, part of a summer promotion, contain cell phones and global positioning chips. That has officials at some installations worried the cans could be used to eavesdrop, and they are instituting protective measures. Coca-Cola Co. says such concerns are nothing but fizz. Mart Martin, a Coca-Cola spokesman, said no one would mistake one of the winning cans from the company's "Unexpected Summer" promotion for a regular Coke. "The can is dramatically different looking," he said. The cans have a recessed panel on the outside and a big red button. "It's very clear that there's a cell phone device." Winners activate it by pushing the button, which can only call Coke's prize center, he said. Data from the GPS device can only be received by Coke's prize center. Prizes include cash, a home entertainment center and an SUV. "It cannot be an eavesdropping device," he said. Nonetheless, military bases, including the U.S. Army Armor Center at Fort Knox, Ky., are asking soldiers to examine their Coke cans before bringing them in to classified meetings. "We're asking people to open the cans and not bring it in if there's a GPS in it," said Master Sgt. Jerry Meredith, a Fort Knox spokesman. "It's not like we're examining cans at the store. It's a pretty commonsense thing." Sue Murphy, a spokeswoman for Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio said personal electronic devices aren't permitted in some buildings and conference rooms on base. "We've taken measures to make sure everyone's aware of this contest and to make sure devices are cleared before they're taken in" to restricted areas, she said. "In the remote possibility a can were found in one of these areas, we'd make sure the can wasn't activated, try to return it to its original owner and ask that they activate it at home," she said. "It's just another measure we have to take to keep everyone out here safe and secure." The Marine Corps said all personnel had been advised of the cans and to keep them away from secure areas. Paul Saffo, research director at The Institute for the Future, a technology research firm, compared the concern about the Coke cans to when the Central Intelligence Agency banned Furbies, the stuffed toys that could repeat phrases. "There's things generals should stay up late at night worrying about," he said. "A talking Coke can isn't one of them." But Bruce Don, a senior analyst at the Rand Corp. said the military's concern is rational and appropriate. "There's a lot of reason to worry about how that technology could be taken advantage of by a third party without Coke's knowledge," he said. "I wouldn't worry if one was in my refrigerator, but if you had a sensitive discussion or location, it's not inconceivable the thing could be used for something it was not designed for," he said. Martin said Thursday the world's largest soft drink maker has received phone calls inquiring about the promotion from Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah, and from a military base in Anchorage, Alaska. The callers did not mention any concerns, and Coke has not been contacted by the bases in Ohio and Kentucky, Martin said. Asked if Coke would curtail the promotional campaign because of the security issues raised, Martin said, "No. There's no reason to." http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/07/02/coke.mi...t.ap/index.html story.coke.can.ap

U.S. Army Charges 4 Soldiers in the Drowning Death of an Iraqi Man By ERIC SCHMITT Published: July 3, 2004 WASHINGTON, July 2 — Four American soldiers have been charged in the drowning death of an Iraqi detainee who was pushed off a bridge north of Baghdad along with another Iraqi man in January, the Army said Friday. Three of the soldiers, including one officer, face manslaughter charges, while the fourth has been charged with assault in the nighttime incident that happened on a bridge over the Tigris River in Samarra, 60 miles north of the Iraqi capital. All four soldiers were also accused of making false statements about the incident. The new charges filed against the four soldiers, who are with the Fourth Infantry Division, come just two weeks after a captain in the First Armored Division was charged with murder and dereliction of duty in the shooting death of an Iraqi civilian on May 21 after a chase in Kufa, in south-central Iraq. Word of the charges was reported in Colorado newspapers on Friday after the Army issued a news release locally, and the full details of the charges were released by the Army later in the day. The Army has now opened investigations into the deaths of at least 40 Iraqi detainees, and the new charges announced reflect a widening pattern of prisoner abuse, including deaths and assault, that took place beyond the confines of the Abu Ghraib prison. Two military intelligence soldiers with the Third Armored Cavalry Regiment, based in Fort Carson, Colo., are expected to face criminal charges in the death of a senior Iraqi officer, Maj. Gen. Abed Hamed Mowhoush, who died last November at a detention center run by the unit, a senior Army official said Friday. The soldiers had acknowledged to investigators that interviews with the general involved "physical assaults," but investigators later determined that General Mowhoush died after being shoved head-first into a sleeping bag and smothered during questioning. With the transfer of sovereignty to the interim Iraqi government this week, the charges also raise new questions about the legal authority over American soldiers who are accused of crimes against Iraqis. Despite an agreement to consult on military matters, Iraq and the United States lack a formal accord governing the status of foreign forces and are relying on an American occupation directive covering several important matters. But no commander believes American troops will be subject to Iraqi justice at this time. The incident on the bridge in Samarra had been under investigation by the Army Criminal Investigative Command for five months. Initially, the soldiers involved told investigators that they were part of a patrol that detained two Iraqi men for a late-night curfew violation on Jan. 3, according to Army documents released Friday. The two Iraqis were identified in the documents only as "Mr. Fadel" and "Mr. Fadhil." The soldiers said they had stopped the two men, searched them and then released them at the side of the road, near the river, according to the documents. But investigators concluded that the soldiers had transported the two Iraqis to the bridge and pushed them off. Mr. Fadhil drowned, and Mr. Fadel swam ashore and later filed a formal complaint, the Army said. Military officials at Fort Carson and Pentagon later offered conflicting reports about whether any detainee actually died in the bridge incident. Lt. Jack M. Saville and Sgt. First Class Tracey E. Perkins were charged with manslaughter, assault, conspiracy, making false statements and obstruction of justice. Sgt. Reggie Martinez was charged with manslaughter. Specialist Terry Bowman was charged with assault. Sergeant Martinez and Specialist Bowman were also charged with making a false official statement. Sergeant Perkins was further charged with pushing another Iraqi civilian off a different bridge into the Tigris near Balad, Iraq, on or about Dec. 8, 2003. The four soldiers are from the Third Brigade of the Fourth Division, based at Fort Carson, Colo. Among various assignments, the 5,000-member brigade conducted scouting and security missions in and around the Sunni triangle region north of Baghdad. At least four senior officers, including the soldiers' battalion commander, Lt. Col. Nate Sassaman, were reprimanded for impeding the investigation into the incident, Army officials said. The four soldiers charged now face what the armed forces call an Article 32, the military equivalent of a grand jury proceeding, which will be held at Fort Carson at an unspecified date, the Army said. At the conclusion of the proceeding, the investigating officer will recommend whether the charges should be referred to court-martial. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/03/internat.../03ABUS.html?th

My favorite steve miller album from the seventies Anthology 1. I Love You performed by Steve Miller Band - 2:46 2. Going to the Country performed by Steve Miller Band - 3:14 3. Baby's House performed by Steve Miller Band - 8:07 4. Kow Kow performed by Steve Miller Band - 4:26 5. Your Saving Grace performed by Steve Miller Band - 4:50 6. Going to Mexico performed by Steve Miller Band - 2:29 7. Space Cowboy performed by Steve Miller Band - 4:55 8. Living in the U.S.A. performed by Steve Miller Band - 4:06 9. Journey from Eden performed by Steve Miller Band - 6:25 10. Seasons performed by Steve Miller Band - 3:51 11. Motherless Children performed by Steve Miller Band - 4:22 12. Never Kill Another Man performed by Steve Miller Band - 2:44 13. Don't You Let Nobody Turn You Around performed by Steve Miller Band - 2:29 14. Little Girl performed by Steve Miller Band - 3:24 15. Celebration Song performed by Steve Miller Band - 2:32 16. My Dark Hour A short profile: It's one thing for an experienced guitarist to pass along some playing tips, and it's another when jazzman Les Paul -- the man credited with inventing the solid-body electric guitar -- is the one passing along instructional information. Such was the case during Steve Miller's youth, as family friend Paul showed the fellow Wisconsin native his first chords. During the 1970s and 1980s, Miller often employed Paul's pioneering multitracking technique in the studio for the vocal parts on his bluesy rock albums, many of which became best sellers. In 1950, Miller and his family moved to Dallas, where he formed his first band, the Marksmen, at age 12. At one point, the group included future solo star Boz Scaggs, who would collaborate with Miller again on later projects. The Marksmen disbanded when Miller attended college in Wisconsin; he later moved to Chicago, then returned to Texas before settling in San Francisco. While living in the Bay Area, he put together the first incarnation of the Steve Miller Band, which signed with Capitol Records following their June 1967 performance at the star-studded Monterey International Pop Festival in Monterey, Calif. Seven albums released between 1968 and 1972 –- the first two featuring old pal Scaggs on vocals and guitar -- produced just two minor chart singles. The Steve Miller Band finally broke through commercially with 1973's The Joker -- its title track peaked at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100. The multiplatinum, keyboard-flavored follow-up, 1976's Fly Like an Eagle, spawned a trio of major hits -- "Rock'n Me" (No. 1), "Fly Like an Eagle" (No. 2) and "Take the Money and Run (No. 11). The similarly successful and similar-sounding 1977 album, Book of Dreams, offered three more classics -- "Jet Airliner (No. 8), "Swingtown" (No. 17) and "Jungle Love" (No. 23). http://www.y-103.com/