Music-Drop Magazine

Leonard Cohen, Bap Kennedy, Bob Cranshaw, Kay Starr, Jean-Jacques Perrey, Biser Kirov, Victor Bailey, Eddie Harsch and now Leon Russell. Those are notable musicians who have died this November so far. That’s quite a few, and I would love to write a piece on each of them following each of their sad passings. But if I did, this blog would just become a musician’s obituary page.  However Leon Russell is different.  I mean… who else could pull of this look? Leon Russell is possibly the most notable sideman of rock history. He played with The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, and many more, including artists outside of Rock, like Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, BB King and many others. Rather than doing a standard obituary piece on one of the greatest pianists in rock history, I decided that perhaps a better thing to do would be to simply make a list of accomplishments.  18 things Leon Russell can present to the after...

If you’ve read the news recently you know that Bob Dylan has become the new Nobel Laureate for Literature, and as such you might have read the masses of comments about his receiving the award. Amidst the comments commenting on whether he deserves it or not you've probably seen the people saying that if Bob Dylan receives it, so should Leonard Cohen.  There are a lot of things that connect Dylan and Cohen. They are both poetic songwriters, they both wear a large folk influence on their shoulders, both have abstract singing voices for popular music, and both have always been inspiration for outsiders and vagabonds. Leonard Cohen with Joni Mitchell Another thing they share in common is that they both considered having a cologne line. Cohen considered a cologne with the name "Indifference" which would have the slogan "I don't give a shit what happens." Which is so incredibly like Cohen's public image that you almost believe it isn't t...

Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Phil Ochs and Koerner Ray & Glover. 1 of these names is a household name, 2 of these names recognisable for most music fans, but 1 is left to be ignored by all who are not experts on folk. Koerner, Ray & Glover met at the university of Minnesota, and became stars of the Folk revival. Their breakthrough album Blues, Rags and Hollers  was released in 1963, to heaps of success which gave them a recording contract for 2 albums with Elektra. Together they have been credited with influencing many musicians including: Bob Dylan & Bonnie Raitt. The trio continued to reunite throughout the 20th century, until 2002, when Ray died on the 28th of November. Koerner & Glover meanwhile still perform together infrequently. This post was made today in appreciation of Dave "Snaker" Ray who passed on today, 12 years ago.

Tom Petty has recently done a interview with Classic Rock Magazine ( Read it here) . In the interview Petty talked about The Travelling Wilburys, the supergroup he was part of alongside George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne & Roy Orbison. The band came about due to Harrison needing a B-side for This Is Love. The song which came about Handle With Care  was deemed far too good for a simple B-side by the band. So they decided to form The Travelling Wilburys (A recurring joke of Harrison's). In the interview Petty said "That extra track turned into the Travelling Wilburys. It was a wonderful time. There was never a negative moment doing that. We really enjoyed that. I think we made that record for us really" "Those 10 tracks were all we did. We'd go and cut the track. We'd have to dinner, and work on the lyrics over dinner, and then go to do the vocals - Bang. I love those guys" said Petty. The Band released two albums Vol 1 & Vol 3.

Yesterday afternoon about 3pm I was in the supermarket. I bought a pack of roll, A pack of chargrilled chicken and a packet of Crackers. I then walked back to my dorm in the rain, and listened to some Replacements on the way back. While I was listening to I Will Dare one Swedish lucky 41 year old fellow named Fredrik Wikingsson was sitting in Philadelphia's Academy of Music. To his left was no-one, to his right was no-one, behind him was no-one, but in front of him was the greatest artist of the 20th century, and the voice of more than one generation; Bob Dylan, or Zimmy to his weirder fans.  In the amazing concert Wikingsson was alone, he sat in the second row of the arena. Because as he told Rolling Stone, he thought "the front row might freak him [Dylan] out".  Photo by Getty. In the unique concert experience Dylan played 4 songs, Covers of Buddy Holly's Heartbeat , Fats Domino's Blueberry Hill  and Chuck Will's It's Too Late (She...

A few rules a notes for this post, firstly this i'm forcing myself to only include one album of each artist hence why there is only one Beatles album and One Bob Dylan album. Also this is personal opinion so don't start raising the townsfolk in arms just because you disagree.  10. Let It Bleed - Rolling Stones  The Beatles' great rivals finally succeeded in releasing a album to match the Beatles in 1969 thus cementing them into Rock's history.  9. Music From Big Pink - The Band The world's greatest backing band's first solo effort truly destroyed the minds of the musicians of 1968 and left many of them questioning the meaning of their music.  8. Piper At The Gates Of Dawn - Pink Floyd Syd Barrett's masterpiece was glorious and was the best Floyd effort until Dark Side. However i consider this their 2nd best album overall with only Wish You Were Here topping it.  7. Tommy - The Who  The first true Rock Opera. No on ...

As i'm certain you all know a royal baby is on its way, whether you're a member of the commonwealth or not I'm certain the media has force-fed you this information. Or maybe you're going to have a child yourself, congratulations if that is the case. So what songs will be on this list? Mainly Rock Songs, and some songs you may not believe are about children, they are in fact. 1. Pearl Jam - Daughter A song about a young girl with learning disabilities, this song attempts to highlight her everyday struggles.  2. Thin Lizzy - Sarah This song was about Phil Lynott's hopes and dreams for his new born daughter. 3. John Lennon - Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy) A song about John comforting his son Sean after he had a nightmare. 4. Elton John - Blessed This song expresses the hope of Elton's Songwriting partner Bernie Taupin that he will have a child before he gets too old. 5. Bob Dylan - Forever Young A Song reflecting his sons birth. 6. Stevie Wond...