During a gig in the early ‘70s, Queen frontman Freddie Mercury tried to remove his mic from its stand. Instead, the bottom half of the mic broke leaving it attached to half of the shaft. Mercury liked the mic and stick prop and used it for much of the rest of his career.
#queen

Rod Stewart’s first major solo success was his 1971 song “Maggie May” which recounted the true story of Stewart’s first sexual encounter with an older woman when he was 16, at the 1961 Beaulieu Jazz Festival.
#rock #rodstewart #maggiemay

In 1989, Irish rock band The Cranberry Saw Us formed in Limerick. The name was a pun on “the cranberry sauce.” A year later, lead singer Niall Quinn departed to focus on his own group. Quinn introduced the remaining group to a female signer-songwriter… #rock #thecranberries

Four Canadians and an American formed a band that played back-up for Bob Dylan on his ill-fated electric tour in 1966. When Dylan was injured in a motorcycle accident, the guys rented a pink house in Woodstock, New York. When locals would see one of them, they would say… #rock

In 1961, 11-year-old Tom Petty was growing up in Gainesville, Florida. His uncle was working on the set of the movie “Follow That Dream” and brought his nephew along. That’s where Petty got to meet the film’s star, Elvis Presley… #rock #TomPetty #Elvis

Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones was friends with Jimi Hendrix. Jones played the vibraslap, the rattling percussion sound, in the intro to Hendrix’s cover of “All Along the Watchtower”

Two years after the release of the song, both Hendrix and Jones would be dead. #rock #music

The father of Tom Morello, guitarist with Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, was a Mau Mau guerilla and the first representative of Kenya to the UN. Morello’s great uncle was Kenya’s first president.
#rock #TomMorello #ratm

.M-Squared Productions

I was compelled to order these after hearing the Moe Berg interview. Great stuff. Hopefully there are more volumes to come!

In 1973, Milwaukee-born rock and blues guitarist Steve Miller recorded his song, “The Joker,” for many, a go-to summer tune for the next 50 years. The song reached No. 1 early in 1974…then again nearly 20 years later when the song appeared in a Levi jeans ad in the UK in 1990.

Paul Simon’s first solo single, “Mother and Child Reunion” was named after a chicken and egg menu item in a New York Chinese restaurant.

The song was recorded in Jamaica using reggae star Jimmy Cliff’s band and Cissy Houston, Whitney’s mom, on backup vocals. #rock #paulsimon

In 1985, guitarist Vernon Reid was at a birthday party. The birthday celebrant asked her ex, Corey Glover, to alone sing “Happy Birthday”. Thinking it might lead to a reunion with her, Glover gave the song his all… #rock #livingcolour

There had long been rumours about who was the subject of Carly Simon’s 1972 hit “You’re So Vain”. Many assumed it was actor Warren Beatty.

Angie Bowie, David’s first wife, claimed she was the “wife of a close friend” and the song was about Mick Jagger… #rock #carlysimon #pop

UK pop rock group Herman’s Hermits had more of a hard rocking pedigree than many thought. Before Led Zeppelin, both Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones were session musicians on albums for the Hermits, most famously in the song, “Silhouettes”… #rock #hermanshermits #jimmypage #thewho

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As for the “pompatus of love,” Miller misheard a lyric in a song by The Medallions that mentions the “puppetutes of love”: secret erotic fantasy figures.

“Hail Hail Rock ‘n’ Roll: The Story of Rock” podcast

The song would go on to win the band a Grammy, two MTV video awards and be listed as having one of the top 100 guitar solos of all time.

“Hail Hail Rock ‘n’ Roll: The Story of Rock” podcast

Queen had over 50 songs in the top 40 and each member of the group is sole writer of at least one number one song.

“Hail Hail Rock ‘n’ Roll: The Story of Rock” podcast

Simon hadn’t experienced close death in his family, but after his beloved dog was killed by a car, he tried to imagine the emotion of losing someone close to him like his wife or mother.

Happy Mothers, Day to all you rockin’ mamas out there!

The title name was taken from an old Liverpool-area folk ballad. “Maggie May” was originally released as the B side for “Reason to Believe” but it ended up being much more popular.

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“That’s one of the guys in the band”. The name stuck.

The Band was hugely influential and are often cited as a major factor in the careers of many musicians like George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Elton John and Wilco.

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