Personal Fav : New Grass Revival (best mando in the world)

New Grass Revival was a progressive bluegrass band founded in 1971 and composed of Sam Bush, Courtney Johnson, Ebo Walker, Curtis Burch, Butch Robins, Béla Fleck and Pat Flynn. They were active between 1971 and 1989, releasing more than twenty albums as well as six singles. Their highest-charting single is "Callin' Baton Rouge", which peaked at #37 on the U.S. country charts in 1989 and was a Top 5 country hit for Garth Brooks five years later.

Screw anything more. The lineup that I had seen in the day (3 times) was Bela Fleck, Banjo, Sam Bush Mandolin (a genius), John Cowan bass and lead vocals and Pat Flynn guitar. these guys were absolutely amazing. Fleck has done things with banjo that haven't been done (and it worked!) Sam Bush plays the mando like no one I have ever seen play before or since, Pat Flynn plays some really great Flat picking guitar and John Cowan...Bass...4 octave range.

They all sing and they were just amazing onstage. A quartet that was unbelievable. Just as they were really gonna make it big time, they split.

Watch the videos. You will see what I mean. What's a couple of minutes for an education in music? first two are instrumentals. Just see what they can do.

Seven by Seven
(watch how they hand the lick off to each other. Particularly the mandolin



Metric Lips



Can't Stop Now



every now and then, they went back to roots. In this video, Bela not only sings, but has no Banjo (very rare in both cases) 4 part harmony "gospel". Figured PJ would appreciate it.



Looking Past You



There's a lot of others, but now to the "Off Shoots" I will focus on the two best; Sam Bush and John Cowan.

Sam Bush

Sam Bush (b. April 13, 1952 in Bowling Green, Kentucky) is an American bluegrass mandolin player considered an originator of the Newgrass style.

Sam Bush & Pastor Mustard Jam; Sam Bush and Pastor Mustard of Aspen Public Radio have an impromptu jam. Recorded January 11th 2009



John Cowan (b. Aug 24, 1952 in Evansville, Indiana) is an American soul music and progressive bluegrass vocalist and bass guitar player. He was the lead vocalist and bass player for the New Grass Revival.

John Cowan "Carla's Got a New Tattoo"



Together....

John Cowan and Sam Bush - Dark As A Dungeon



Sam Bush and John Cowan -Sailin' Shoes (one of my favorite songs by them)



Talk About Suffering (acapella)- John Cowan



Sam Bush and John Cowan - Body And Soul



These guys were (and are) the best of the best...separate and together.

Chicago Transit Authority/Chicago/Terry Kath part one

Terry Alan Kath (January 31, 1946 – January 23, 1978) born in Chicago, Illinois, was the original guitarist and founding member of the rock band Chicago. He died in 1978 at the age of 31 from an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound. Kath reportedly had a history of using alcohol and drugs, including cocaine and marijuana, in his last few years.Kath was working on a solo album before he died). But despite his personal problems, this was not the cause of his accidental death.

Around 5 p.m., late in the afternoon of January 23, 1978, after a party at roadie Don Johnson's home in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, Kath — being a gun enthusiast — took a .38 revolver and put it to his head, pulling the trigger several times on the empty chambers. Picking up a semiautomatic 9 mm pistol, Kath put the gun to his temple and pulled the trigger, saying, "Don't worry, it's not loaded," after showing the empty magazine to his friend. However, one bullet remained in the chamber, killing him instantly when fired; a week shy of his 32nd birthday. The circumstances of his death gave him the dubious distinction of being one of the first celebrities to be nominated for a Darwin Award.

Chicago (Terry Kath) - I'm A Man 1968 (this is one of my fav's from them)



Chicago is an American pop rock/jazz fusion band formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. The band began as a politically charged, sometimes experimental, rock band and later moved to a predominantly softer sound, becoming famous for producing a number of hit ballads. They had a steady stream of hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Second only to the Beach Boys in terms of singles and albums, Chicago is one of the longest running and most successful U.S. pop/rock and roll groups.

Chicago Terry Kath 25 or 6 to 4 1977 Houston - Here is the late great Terry Kath in his last videotaped performance in the summer of 1977 in Houston, Texas.



Chicago- Terry Kath- "Uptown" (1977) Tell me Stevie Ray wasn't influenced by him.



Their first record (released in April 1969), the eponymous The Chicago Transit Authority, was an audacious debut: a double album, very rare for a rookie band, featuring jazzy instrumentals, extended jams featuring Latin percussion, and experimental, feedback-laden guitar abstraction. The album began to receive heavy airplay on the newly popular FM radio band; it included a number of pop-rock songs — "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?", "Beginnings", and "Questions 67 and 68" — which would later be edited to a radio-friendly length, released as singles, and eventually become rock radio staples.

Soon after the album's release, the band's name was shortened to Chicago, when the actual Chicago Transit Authority threatened legal action.

Dialogue (1975)



Chicago- Colour My World- "Live" 1977



(I've been) Searchin So Long



Chicago 1972-Make Me Smile



Beginnings (1970)

The Guess Who: AMERICAN WOMAN

The Guess Who were a Canadian rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Produced by Jack Richardson, C.M., they were the first Canadian rock group to have a No.1 hit in the United States.The Guess Who started out as a local Winnipeg band formed by singer/guitarist Chad Allan in 1960 and initially called Al and the Silvertones. This was changed to Chad Allan & the Reflections in 1962, by which point the band consisted of Chad Allan (vocals/guitar), Bob Ashley (keyboards), Randy Bachman (guitars), Jim Kale (bass), and Garry Peterson (drums). All the band members were born in Winnipeg.

The band's debut single ("Tribute To Buddy Holly") was released on Canadian-American Records in 1962. Chad Allan and the Reflections then signed with Quality Records and released several flop singles in 1963/64, including one mis-credited to Bob Ashley & The Reflections. By 1965, the group was forced to change its name to Chad Allan & the Expressions after a U.S. group called The Reflections had scored a hit with "Just Like Romeo & Juliet".

AMERICAN WOMAN - LIVE (1970)



It was at this point that the band scored their first hit, a 1965 rendition of Johnny Kidd & the Pirates' "Shakin' All Over". This track reached #1 in Canada, #22 in the U.S (where Quality had licensed the track to the American Scepter label for release in the U.S.) , and #27 in Australia. However, in an attempt to build a mystique around the record, Quality Records credited the single only to "Guess Who?" It was hoped that some listeners might assume the "Guess Who?" identity was deliberately masking several famous performers working under a pseudonym -- given the "beat group" nature of the record, perhaps even members of The Beatles and/or other popular British Invasion bands. In concealing the identity of the band in this fashion, Quality Records may have been influenced by a similar ploy made the previous year by "The You Know Who Group", an American outift whose Merseybeat-ish 1964 single "Roses Are Red My Love" had peaked at #43 in the US, and at #21 in Canada.

It is debatable as to whether anyone was really fooled by the "Guess Who?" ruse, or if the record would have been a hit regardless of the artist credit. But the upshot was that, even after Quality Records revealed the band was "really" Chad Allan & The Expressions, disc jockeys still announced the group as Guess Who?, effectively forcing the band to rename themselves. So although singles were issued as being by "Guess Who?", on their first two albums, the band was credited as both "Guess Who?" and "Chad Allan & The Expressions".

Laughing (1968)



No Sugar Tonight New Mother Nature live



Share The Land



She'd Rather Be with Me (1966?)



THESE EYES