Richie Supa, former guitarist for Aerosmith, at the12 Step Music Fest …. song he wrote just an excellent song for Kenny & RT for thier new website www.intherooms.com – titled, “In the rooms”
Richie is a New York Singer/songwriter with over 200 cuts and 5 solo albums to his name….”Amazing”…”Pink” and much more. We are blessed to have him in our lives.
Oct 23rd.
CNN) — Dion couldn’t understand it.
Dion gives such classics as “Summertime Blues” and “Jailhouse Rock” his interpretation on his new CD.
The rock ‘n’ roll legend, who dominated the charts in the ’50s and ’60s with such hits as “A Teenager in Love,” “Runaround Sue,” “The Wanderer” and “Abraham, Martin and John,” was asking a “young rock friend,” in Dion’s words, about some musical pioneers. Had he heard of Cliff Gallup? The Burnette brothers?
The friend had no idea what Dion, 69, was talking about.
“I said, ‘People like Jeff Beck revere them,’ ” the singer said from southern Florida.
“Rock ‘n’ roll started in the ’50s, not the ’60s. And I started thinking, a lot of people — even the kids buying the [old] records — they don’t understand the significance of Cliff Gallup, James Burton and Scotty Moore,” Dion continued, naming guitarists known for their work with Gene Vincent, Ricky Nelson and Elvis Presley, respectively.
“These guys infused freedom into the music,” he said. “And I thought it would be a fun thing to record the songs.”
Which led to Dion’s new album, “Heroes: Giants of Early Guitar Rock” (Saguaro Road). The CD features Dion’s take on songs including Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues,” the Everly Brothers’ “Bye Bye Love,” Presley’s “Jailhouse Rock” and Big Joe Turner’s “Shake, Rattle and Roll,” songs known as much for their big beats and driving guitars as their vocal performances.
Dion’s backed by a crack band he proudly describes as “under the radar,” including drummer Michael Harvey and guitarist Crow Richardson, and takes a few guitar leads himself.
But in front is the man himself, the guy born Dion DiMucci with the voice rock critic Dave Marsh described as “rough as sharkskin, smooth as Italian knit.” It’s the voice that, in rock history, rides “The Wanderer” like a horseman galloping on a stallion, eases into “Ruby Baby” as if putting on a butter-soft leather jacket and snarls “Daddy Rollin’ (In Your Arms)” — a song Dion wrote about his heroin addiction — like a defiantly frightened child.
“I describe myself as a rhythm singer,” Dion said. “There’s a place where you place words, and if you don’t place them there, you’re sunk. I learned from listening to horn players at the Apollo [Theater in Harlem]; they had to be right on the money.
“The biggest thing,” he added, warming to the subject, “is that people don’t dance [anymore].”
Dion and his colleagues routinely played halls where a crowd of teenagers would let the performer know right away if there was no groove: “It’s got a good beat, and you can dance to it” really meant something. Rock groups today, he observes, don’t get that kind of feedback from concert halls: “[The audience doesn't] feel it, and if they don’t feel it, you’re sunk.”
Dion revels in the history and depth of the “Heroes” tunes. “Take a song like [Del Shannon's] ‘Runaway’ — it’s like an opera,” he said. “Or [Buddy Holly's] ‘Rave On’ — just the title gets you going. And if you take a song like ‘Believe What You Say’: Johnny and Dorsey Burnette wrote it and the great Paul Burlison played behind it. … Ricky Nelson learns it, then James Burton plays behind it. So each song has such a history.”
Dion was in the middle of much of this history. He knew a number of rock pioneers personally. With his old group, the Belmonts, he was on the ill-fated Winter Dance Party tour during which which Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens lost their lives in a 1959 plane crash. Dion would have been on the plane himself but didn’t want to part with the $36 fee, a fortune to a boy who grew up poor in the Bronx.
He’s even on the cover of the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” one of just two rock-era singers to make the cut (Bob Dylan being the other).
On an accompanying DVD, Dion tells several stories about his old colleagues and demonstrates some of the guitar playing on the records. “I show how it was done,” he said, taking pride in his musicianship.
“I’m excited about this,” he said. “I had fun doing this. I heard these songs in person five times a day, so it’s in my DNA.”
Those songs, he adds, have developed a reputation as golden oldies, harmless tunes conflated with sock hops and neon-soaked diners. They were anything but.
“It wasn’t Sha Na Na. It was anything but dumb; it was bad,” he said, stressing every ounce of danger in the word.
And Dion? He’s not so bad anymore — clean for 40 years, laughing about how wife insisted that he include “The Wanderer” or “I’ll kick your ass if you don’t.” But, he says, he still has the fire of that young rock ‘n’ roller.
“There’s an 18-year-old inside me,” he said
This entry was posted on Thursday, October 23rd, 2008 at 1:36 pm and is filed under Celebs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
According to Time Magazine, Bill Wilson, the Co-Founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, is one of the “Most Important People of the Century.” Aldous Huxley called him “the greatest social architect of our century.”
Imagine a guy with an ego big enough to start a world wide movement, but smart enough to turn down Time Magazine’s offer to be on the cover, even backwards without his face showing. I guess he stayed connected to something much bigger.
Read the article, click here: http://www.time.com/time/time100/heroes/profile/wilson01.html
Jul 2nd.
Here’s praying that God continues blessing Scott Redman at that big meeting in the sky, for his magic, for all the service work he did and will continue to do, living through sponsorship and CD’s. If you haven’t heard the four CD series of Scott doing the Twelve Steps, you have missed something special. I will try to find out where you can buy them. It was a valiant fight Scott, thanks for trying so hard to stay with us.
Jun 20th.
Snow P., took all photos for this CD, American and Canadian versions. (one photo exception) for Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, Dion DiMucci.
Dion wrote a song for Paris Hilton this week…click here!
VH1′s “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew”
Today is National Call-in Day!
Call VH1 Network President Mr. Tom Calderone today and ask that the network take steps to address the damaging and dangerously inaccurate picture of treatment and recovery from addiction in “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.”
In a press release sent to the media on Monday, Faces & Voices called on VH1 to take immediate remedial steps to address the simple truth of Celebrity Rehab – the company is profiting from people struggling with addiction.
The show is being roundly criticized by many in the treatment and recovery communities for sensationalizing and trivializing the treatment process, and features celebrities at various stages of addiction. The portrayals in the show are edited for dramatic effect, further sending the signal that addiction is not a serious health issue.
The National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP) has written to VH1 (link to their letter) and on Sunday the New York Times wrote about the controversy in an article entitled, “Detox for the Camera, Doctor’s Order!”
Join Faces & Voices and our allies in asking VH1 to take three simple steps to put a little reality into its “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew” series.
To view the show, click here.
What You Can Do:
Thanks for speaking out against using people still struggling with their addiction for commercial gain.