The Group That Changed The World - The Beatles

In 1960, in Liverpool, England, four young men joined together to form one of the most accomplished bands of all time. They would go on to become inspirational to all other bands that came after, leaving a legacy as legends of rock. They continue to find more listeners every day and changed the face of music as we knew it.
Officially making them international stars, all four members of the ensemble were welcomed by Queen Elizabeth II when they were given the highest honor as she knighted them in 1965. From that point on, their unreal popularity only grew and they continued to extend their fan base around the world.
Fans loyally support the remaining members to this day, and even although they were only together for 10 years, The Beatles each worked steadily after the band's disbandment. On December 8th, 1980, when John Lennon was murdered, fans all around the world were saddened and mourned his loss as a whole. The remaining Beatles all took part in musical tributes to their fallen comrade in arms, and though they hadn't formally been a group in 10 years, Lennon's death hit them all very hard.
The next Beatle was lost on November 29th, 2001, when George Harrison fell to lung cancer, leaving only Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr to carry on the legacy of The Beatles. Even after all this time, their esteem has never faltered and still to this day, Beatles vinyl is some of the most enjoyed on the market.
The Beatles were one of the most successful groups of all time, winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score for the film 'Let It Be' in 1971, and have also received seven Grammy Awards and fifteen Ivor Novello Awards. They have been earned 6 Diamond albums, 24 Multi-Platinum albums, thirty-nine Platinum albums, and forty-five Gold albums in the United States alone, on top of the four Multi-Platinum albums, 4 Platinum albums, 8 Gold albums, and one Silver album in the United Kingdom, selling more record albums than almost any other band in history.
The Beatles have inspired films, as well as countless other bands, and have proved to be over multiple decades. Although they have been apart for over forty years, they still hold a special place in hearts all over the globe, sculptors have even dedicated pieces of art to the band. Even as their fans continue to age, their songs continue to stay true, entertaining crowds everywhere without fail and setting the bar for all other groups that follow, The Beatles really are legends of rock and roll.

The 70's: Storytellers, Rockers, and Disco

The '70's rolled in and pretty much took up where the '60's had left off. The turbulent '60's had seen the assassination of president John Kennedy and soon after, the shooting of his brother, Robert, an unpopular and seemingly no win situation with the war in Vietnam, and another assassination of a man who was trying to bring about great change, Martin Luther King Jr. But there was light at the end of the tunnel for the U.S. In May of 1969, the first manned- moon landing took place.
Not only did America beat the Soviets to the lunar surface, but we did it within the time frame that President Kennedy had proposed some eight years earlier. With all this going on, the music was there throughout.
Music would take a hard shot as well, however, right at the opening of the new decade. After six years of creating and playing music that changed and made history, the Beatles went their separate ways. After about four years of artistic, financial, and personal differences, John, Paul, George, and Ringo called it quits. Their fans were devastated. Their last no. 1 hit was Paul McCartney's, moving 'Let It Be'. All four would have success on their own, but the chemistry and charisma that was the 'Beatles', was gone.
A huge gear was missing in the machine that was rock 'n' roll, but the machine wasn't broke. How could it be? There were still so many great artists that were and had been there. Not to mention new stars that were on the horizon. The hard rocking Led Zeppelin got mellow and poetic with '71's No. 1 smash, 'Stairway to Heaven'. Singer/songwriters like Elton John, James Taylor, Carly Simon, Neil Young, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, and the late great Jim Croce were filling the airwaves with songs that told stories that spoke to us all, then and now. Black Sabbath, along with front-man Ozzy Osbourne introduced the music to 'Metal Rock'. Hard-driving, in-your-face, and with no apologies, it struck a very loud core with listeners. Love it, hate it, face it, Metal was here and impossible to ignore. African American artist like "the godfather of soul", James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Al Green, and Sly and the family Stone, were educating and bringing folks of different races together, as well as entertaining. Marvin Gaye's unforgettable classic, 'What's Going On', spoke to rising poverty and crime of the inner-cities.
A new word, "funk" was being used more and more to describe the music that was coming from the black artists of the day. Stevie Wonder expertly mixed soul, funk, and a little touch of rock with mega-hit, 'Superstition', (challenge you not to move to it).
Another genre of rock was developing and growing popular, especially with southern listeners. A combination of country and rock, this new sound was known as 'Country' or 'Southern' Rock. Leading the way were bands like .38 Special, the Almond Brothers, Bad Company, and the legendary, Lynyrd Skynyrd. Their huge classic, "Freebird", is probably being sung along to by partially inebriated, enthusiastic, rednecks as I write this. God knows I have. Another band with a 'country' twang was the Eagles. Always just a little more rock than country, songs like, "Take It Easy", "One of These Nights", Best of My Love", and the ultra-classic, "Hotel California", along with an almost perfect melodic harmony between the members, made the Eagles one of the most popular, influential bands in pop-music history.
Then, in 1977, the film, "Saturday Night Fever", opened up in theatres. Creating a mega-celebrity out of 23 year-old star, John Travolta. The movie's soundtrack introduced America to the 'Bee Gees' and 'Disco'. The Bee Gees, hit 'Staying Alive' was the no. 1 hit of that year. Lasting only 4 years the "disco era", made stars out of artist like, Donna Summer, Gloria Gaynor, Chic, and, at the top of the totem-pole,the Bee Gees. A pulsing rhythmic beat, along with a soaring choir of instruments like trumpets, the music was 100% dance driven. Although it's reign was short, disco's legacy has out-lived it's sound. Whenever you hear today's dance-club music, your listening to disco, (slightly evolved), but still there.
For just regular, good old-fashioned rock 'n' roll, there was Paul McCartney and his band,' Wings'. The former Beatle was pumping out hit tunes like, "Band on the Run", "Juniors Farm", "With A Little Luck", and the simplistic but very catchy, "Let 'em In". Newcomers', Fleetwood Mac and their ground-breaking album, "Rumors", swept the airwaves in 1976. In 1979, Pink Floyd built an album and called it, "The Wall". It became an instant classic. Blondie sang about a "Heart of Glass", the Kinks met "Lola", but stayed just friends, and Queen promised, "We Will Rock You".
In 1977, an unexpected tragedy occurred. Legendary performer, and the 'King of Rock 'n' Roll', Elvis Aaron Pressley died in a Memphis, Tenn. hospital at the age of 42. He had been found unconscious in the bathroom of his Graceland home. Prescription drug abuse was the primary cause.
An entire nation mourned the once dynamic singer's passing. 24-48 hr. musical tributes on the radio and constant television coverage. One got the feeling that some head of state had died, and the truth was not far off. Elvis Pressley, it seemed had touched so many people with his music, movies, and his down-home country, manner. He is greatly missed to this day. "Long live the King".
The '70's. Some musical genres came and stayed, some came and went. We regretfully said good-bye to performers that were dearly loved like, Elvis, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Croce, and Janis Joplin. But like the Righteous Brothers sang, "If there's a rock 'n' roll heaven, you know they got a hell of a band"!

The Best Hip-Hop Album of May 2011 - HeartBeat by Pennjamin Bannekar

My initial choice for the rap album of May 2011 was a bit controversial with some friends. They thought I was crazy for even thinking about naming Tyler, the Creator's album Goblin but I found his lyrics very entertaining and unique. However, a late entry into the race came out of nowhere and won by a nose.
Tinnie Tempah's album Disc-Overy was awful to me. I thought that JadaKiss's album I LOVE YOU, Killer Mike's album Pl3edge and Still On The Hustle by Neek the Exotic and Large Professor crushed that garbage. People, please don't believe the hype.
The album that won was dropped by a dude that I have to say in all honesty, I'd never heard of before and almost decided not to bother listening to it. But if I am going to do this blog each month and be honest I have to put in the work and listen to everything which brings me to another point.
Just because I didn't mention an album released this month doesn't mean I didn't hear it. Everything that was released on iTunes or Rhapsody I heard and if your stuff isn't on one of these digital services then that's on you as the artist and your company. I have a job and bills to pay I am not about to runaround chasing down every loose mix tape and 12". Just not doin' it.
From a hot new artist coming out of Chicago, Illinois I present to you The Best Hip-Hop Album of May 2011- HeartBeat by Pennjamin Bannekar.
Although this cats style is nothing like Common who is also from Chi-town there is a respect and appreciation for soul music that is shared by these cats which is so appreciated in this current age of not so clever synthesized beats and out of tune hooks.
The dopest song on the album in my opinion is Illwrite. The chord progressions of the horns chosen as the central tone work perfectly to create a modern day "player" feel as his lyrics performs the obligatory brags and boasts but at the same time subtly crushes all the foolish Illuminati slick talk being bandied about regarding successful rap artists.
There are a couple of misses on the album like Counterfeit and Worlds Apart but the songs that do work are outstanding and are sure to be heard bouncing in the cars and jeeps this summer.
Program these tracks on your mp3 player: 3,4,6,7,9,10,11 and 13
The Rap Album of May 2011 - HeartBeat by Pennjamin Bannekar, for real.

The History of the Smaller Advent Speaker

If you are a retro speaker enthusiast, chances are you have heard of the Large Advent Speaker, but have you ever heard of the Small Advent Loudspeaker? For audiophiles looking for that classic uncolored Advent sound without the huge footprint of the large advent speaker, the smaller advent speaker was the perfect solution. It reallt is a testament to the smaller advent speaker that even today, a pair of these bought in 1972 holds up against the current speaker technology of the day. This really can't be said of the large advent speakers or speakers from similar brands like Bose and JBL from that era.
You could call the early 1970's approach of advent speakers as groundbreaking. They were the consummate innovators led by Kloss and his team of mad audio geniuses. Since Kloss's goal when he founded advent in 1967 was to develop a commercially viable large screen TV, the Advent Loudspeaker was something he arrived to somewhat circuitously. Lucky for us, he did! The Large Advent Speaker as we all know was the state of the art method of acoustic suspension "book shelf" speaker of the day. Featuring a smaller hard domed tweeter and a 1 foot air suspended woofer, this speaker packed a reasonable punch in a small package. The cabinet of the large advent loudspeaker was made out of wood or MDF (customer choice). It included 1 tweeter control.
So anyhow, come 1972 Kloss fresh off the success of the large advent loudspeaker decided he needed to design a smaller model. The smaller advent loudspeaker was very similar to the original advent speaker though with an 8 and a half-inch woofer and a nine and a half inch diaphragm in its smaller cabinet. The crossover and tweeter frequencies were actually the same as the large advent loudspeaker but they lacked the control that was standard with the original advent loudspeaker. It also lacked the option for a real wood cabinet. That said, the price was about 30% cheaper at about $140 a pair at product release.
To found the smaller advent speaker team, Kloss brought in respected colleague Andy Kostatos (who went on to found Boston Acoustics later), and he offered his expert talents to the speaker, specifically in the fine tuning of the cross over. Eventually Kostatos left advent in 1974 after a recapitalization effort shook up the company.
The stock Small Advent Loudspeaker was a real beauty and due to its more compact components, when shopping for these speakers now on the used market, there is a great chance that you will find a loudspeaker that is like new or at wost with only some minor refurbishments such as the rubber gaskets or the cones.
There are a few interesting things to take note of when dealing with the Small Advent monitor. The first thing is that they really aren't that "small". Truthfully, the smaller advent cabinet is actually larger than 90% of what would be considered bookshelf speakers today. Secondly, the construction quality was pretty rough and not as slick or glossed as current day speaker / cabinet builds are. That said, the smaller advent loudspeaker bindings were in particular were actually pretty sophisticated for the time and remain so today. Finally, if you are shopping for smaller advent loudspeakers, do your best to find a pair with the original documents - the manual that came with these bad boy's was awesome! It was clear even back then that the Small Advent Loudspeaker was directed towards and manufactured for serious audiophiles - the same folks who covet these loudspeakers even today. The smaller advent loudspeaker is a great introduction to advent monitor and a time-tested loudspeaker in the world of audio!