Drummer Ginger Baker was one of the 1st great rock drummers of the rock genre. Baker had a long and distinguished career but was best known as a part of the great power trio, Cream, with guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton and vocalist/bassist Jack Bruce. (More on Cream later).  Peter Edward Baker was born in  Lewisham, London in 1939. With his red hair, he was nicknamed “Ginger” and became interested in

     Neil Peart (1952-2020)is considered to be one of the all-time greats of rock drumming and for many reasons. Neil Peart overcame great personal tragedy in 1997 when his daughter, Selena, was killed in a car accident and within a year, his wife Jackie died from cancer. Neil abruptly left Rush and music. He spent the next few years traveling on his motorcycle all over North and Central America on a

Levon Helm – Master Musician and drummer of The Band   Levon Helm Levon Helm wore many musical hats throughout his  career, including multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, singer, actor, and producer. Levon was best know as the drummer and (one of many talented) vocalist in the iconic musical group know as The Band. Levon was easily one of the most musical drummers to ever play. But what musical qualities did he possess and how

                                              The legacy of drumming great Taylor Hawkins             Taylor Hawkins (1972-2022) was born in Dallas, Texas but his family moved to Laguna Beach, California where he began playing drumset at an early age. Some of Hawkins earliest gigs were with the experimental band Sylvia and

      Foo Fighters (1994-present) are an American band from Seattle (now an L.A. band) that was formed by ex-Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl in 1994. Foo Fighters almost didn’t happen because Grohl had considered joining Pearl Jam and then almost joined Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Grohl had written countless songs during his tenure with Nirvana but suppressed his urge to record them while in awe of his then bandleader, Kurt

         Coldplay (1996-present) is a very successful (post-Britpop) band that formed in 1996. Their lineup consists of vocalist/keyboardist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, and drummer Will Champion. They first released an EP, Brothers and Sisters, and then signed to Parlophone Records. They next released another EP, The Blue Room. This laid the groundwork for their 2000 debut album Parachutes and their hit single, “Yellow.” Parachutes went

     The Killers in concert      The Killers (2001-present) are an American rock band that formed in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2001. Their classic lineup is vocalist/keyboardist Brandon Flowers, guitarist Dave Keuning, bassist/guitarist Mark Stoermer, and drummer Ronnie Vannucci, Jr. The Killers have recorded many successful albums including 2o04’s debut of Hot Fuss, 2006’s Sam’s Town, 2008’s Day & Age, 2012’s Battle Born, and 2017’s Wonderful Wonderful. The later went

                                 “The Imbalanced History of Rock and Roll” Part II                                                by DJ’s/Podcasters Ray Koob and Markus Goldman In this special addition of The Rock Doc’s Rockin Blog Ray and Markus share four of their

                                            “The Imbalanced History of Rock and Roll”                                                by DJ’s/Podcasters Ray Koob and Markus Goldman   This podcast that was created to discuss the humongous tree of music

The Legendary Rock Band U2 The Legendary Rock Band U2           The seeds of U2 (1978-present) began in 1976 when Irish drummer Larry Mullen Jr., then only fourteen years old, decided to form a band. He recruited his Dublin Schoolmates guitarist David “The Edge” Evans, bassist Adam Clayton, and vocalist Paul “Bono” Hewson. Their original lineup, known as Feedback, also included Edge’s brother Dik Evans, Peter Martin, and Ivan

The ZOSO Masterpiece album by Led Zeppelin       The ZOSO Masterpiece album (Led Zeppelin IV) by Led Zeppelin remained on the charts for over 250 weeks in 1971 and went platinum a dozen times over! This set a record for chart longevity and became the fifth biggest selling album in music history! Unlike their first three albums, Page and Plant wrote most of the songs for Led Zeppelin IV before

Led Zeppelin – Part II      This Led Zeppelin- Part II post shows that things happened very quickly for Led Zeppelin. We are now moving into the period where Led Zeppelin will establish itself as one of (if not the) biggest rock bands in the world! The much anticipated release of Led Zeppelin II meant there was now pressure for the band to meet growing expectations to equal or surpass their

 Led Zeppelin -the Early Years       In 1968, Jimmy Page and Peter Grant (who had retained the legal rights to the Yardbirds name) were determined to carry on after the demise of The Yardbirds. Page slowly began reforming The New Yardbirds to fulfill some contracted performance dates in Europe. The session bassist, keyboardist, composer, and arranger, John Paul Jones had asked Page about his plans for The New Yardbirds.  The

  Guitar great Jeff Beck     Jeff Beck (1944-2023) arrived on the music scene when he replaced Eric Clapton in The Yardbirds in 1965.  He began his career as a solo artist in 1967 with the release of the single “Beck’s Bolero” that became an instrumental hit in the mid-1960s.  Beck led his own band, The Jeff Beck Group, from 1967 to 1972 that featured Rod Stewart on vocals.  From 1972

      The Yardbirds  (1963-1968) were an important English supergroup that also proved to be an important catalyst for the careers of Cream and Led Zeppelin.  In addition, they helped to launch the solo careers of guitarists Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton.  The original lineup was fronted by guitarist/vocalist Keith Reif and featured guitarists Chris Dreja and Anthony Topham, bassist Paul Samwell-Smith, and drummer Jim McCarty.  The Yardbirds assumed a residency

      Billy Joel (born 1949- ) is an American vocalist/pianist that was born in Hicksville, Long Island New York in 1949.  In his youth, he pursued two passions, playing the piano and street fighting. By 1964, Joel joined The Echoes, a band that covered British Invasion tunes.  In 1965, at the age of sixteen (after some amateur boxing matches), Joel was hired as a session musician and played on The

This month I am super excited to feature one of my all-time favorite bands – The Grateful Dead! The Dead are as much a part of Americana music as any band (including The Band). They created a legacy that is unmatched in American music history.  As unique as the Dead were, their fans (Deadheads) were a cultural phenomenon unto themselves- a virtual sub-culture within the counterculture of the 1960’s and beyond! The Grateful

Back by popular demand, I have decided to extend this month’s Rock Doc blog to more coverage of the great Jimi Hendrix!  Last month, we explored the life and music of Hendrix in some detail.  This month we will dig deeper into his legendary musicianship. In this article titled The Four Sides of Jimi Hendrix, I will state a case that he was one of the most complete musicians in virtually any style

I am really excited to explore the incredible musicianship of Jimi Hendrix this month!!  I really want to focus on his music and Hendrix’s many musical attributes rather than get side-tracked with “27-club” conspiracy theories about his death and other issues that pull us away from the music itself. This blog post will present some of Jimi’s musical history and then focus on his multi-faceted musical skills. It is truly amazing and