November 30, 1987 |
Some of L.A.'s Rock 'n' Roll Landmarks: 1--Whiskey a Go Go: Birthplace of the Doors and Buffalo Springfield and one-time home to Otis Redding, Them, Van Halen. 2--Beverly Hills Hotel: The original "Hotel California." 3--Hard Rock Cafe: Elvis' motorcycle and guitar are inside, a 1950s Cadillac outside. 4--Alta Cienega Motel: Where Jim Morrison lived much of his adult life. 5--A&M Records: Former Charlie Chaplin studio that became site of "We Are the World" recording by USA for Africa.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
May 14, 1989 |
FIREHOSE "fROMOHIO." SST . 1/2 Guitarist and singer Ed Crawford is, like this recording, a product of Ohio, and the San Pedro-based power trio's third LP finds them aiming for a straight-to-the-heartland message. They balance their familiar dice 'n' slice, genre-leapin' riffin' with more straightforward song structures, ranging from the edgy "What Gets Heard" and the jittery Latino funk of "In My Mind" to the road-dog rockers "Time With You" and "Some Things" to the anthemic "The Softest Hammer."
July 20, 1986 |
"JOHN EDDIE." Columbia. Max Weinberg's drums pound, the songs build to big, emotional climaxes and the singer's got a lump in his throat as big as Asbury Park. In other words, here's Another Jersey Rocker with more than a superficial resemblance to you-know-who. Eddie's style is simpler and less ambitious: He alternates odes to lost love with chunky, sassy riff-rockers and writes more about youthful lust and heartbreak than the streets of his hometown.
November 4, 1986 |
When Iggy Pop (then Iggy Stooge) whirled out of Detroit in the late '60s dancing like James Brown and singing his cranked-up white suburban blues, he came on as a nightmare offspring of American culture, a vision of the heartland gone haywire. He hit the rock world like a fragment of anti-matter trailing a comet's tail of debris. His confrontational performances and crude intensity formed the foundations of heavy-metal, and he embodied the attitude that would later crystallize as punk.
June 21, 1987 |
* * * "GYPSY BLOOD." Mason Ruffner. CBS Associated. If the success of Robert Cray and the Fabulous Thunderbirds means that record buyers are developing a taste for blues-based American rock 'n' roll, Mason Ruffner deserves to be that audience's next discovery. On his second album, the Texas-based guitarist, singer and songwriter stomps his way through a batch of greasy, trashy roadhouse rockers, some of them dressed up in synthesizers and other modern duds.