pat travers

Pink Floyd would score another big hit and some mainstream crossover success with their eleventh studio album, The Wall.  Originally conceived by bassist Roger Waters, The Wall explores the self-isolation of a cynical rock star named Pink, and portrays events in his life from the loss of his father, to childhood trauma, to the pressures of rock stardom as bricks forming the wall.  Parts of the story are autobiographical from Waters, and parts naturally are based on former front man Syd Barrett.  The album was a commercial success, the most successful double album of all time, the second most popular Pink Floyd album behind their monstrous hit "Dark Side of the Moon," and would produce the groups only number 1 single on the charts with "Another Brick in the Wall, part 2."  Critical reviews were mixed at first, with some considering the rock opera to be pretentious, but the reviews would turn more positive over time.

This would be the last album to feature the classic band lineup.  Richard Wright would be fired by Roger Waters during production, though he would stay on as a studio musician for the album.  One further studio album would be produced before acrimony would lead to Waters departure from the band.

What the Riff co-founder Brian Dickhute brings us this album for today's podcast.  Brian is also using this as a swan song of sorts as he takes a break from regular podcasting duties to spend more time with the family.  Thanks so much for all your work over these hundreds of podcasts, Brian!

Hey You
This well-known track leads off side three of the album and reflects the desperation as Pink realizes how the wall of isolation he has built has trapped him in a cell of his own creation.  The inspiration for this song was the breakup of Waters' marriage.

Is There Anybody Out There?
In the film this song is used to transition from Pink the rock star to Pink the dictator.  Session musician Joe DiBlasi was brought in to play the fingerstyle guitar on this piece.

Nobody's Home
The last song written for the album was the result of a fight between Roger Waters and David Gilmour.  It was inspired by the isolation Waters felt during their 1977 tour and musings on Syd Barrett.  Some of the lyrics are also built around Richard Wright, keyboardist, who was allegedly dealing with drug addiction at the time.

Vera
This song is a flashback to days of World War II.  The title was inspired by Vera Lynn, a British singer popular during the war who sang the song "We'll Meet Again."  Waters lost his grandfather in WWI and his father in WWII.

Bring the Boys Back Home
Roger Waters considers this brief song the central theme of the album.  The idea is that not just war, but all activity including business and rock music should not be allowed to isolate a person from friends and family. 

Comfortably Numb
One of the more popular songs from the album, the music was written by David Gilmour and the lyrics by Roger Waters.  A significant argument occurred between Gilmour and Waters on the arrangement of this piece, with Gilmour preferring a stripped-down format and Watters wanting a more symphonic approach.  The contrasting sections of orchestration and more simplistic riffs is the result of the compromise made for the piece.

ENTERTAINMENT TRACK:

Frosty the Snowman by Jimmy Durante 
No, it isn't Christmas again.  Popular entertainer Jimmy Durante passed away in January of 1980, and his is one of his best known songs. 

STAFF PICKS:

The Spirit of Radio by Rush 
Bruce sneaks another Rush song in for Brian's final episode as a regular podcaster.  The lead-off track to Rush's album "Permanent Waves" was inspired by the slogan of CFNY-FM in Toronto.  FM radio was moving from a more free-form format to a more commercial format, and CFNY was bucking the trend.  

Damned If I Do by the Alan Parsons Project
Rob brings us a piece from Alan Parsons' fourth studio album called "Eve."  The album is focused on the strength and characteristics of women and the difficulties they face in a world of men.  "Damned if I do, damned if I don't, but I love you."

Boom Boom (Out Go the Lights) by Pat Travers 
Wayne's staff pick is a boogie woogie cover of a blues song originally released by Little Walter in 1957.  It is a well known party song which would not be politically correct today.  There's some great guitar playing, and an excellent call-and-response in the live version.  

Ladies Night by Kool & The Gang
Brian's staff pick was a popular song in the dying days of disco.  This song would see a revitalization of Kool & the Gang's popularity going into the early 80's.  

INSTRUMENTAL TRACK:

Pipeline '76 by Roger Powell
It is unusual to find surfing instrumentals during the early 80's, but this one was around at the time.  

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Season 6 episode 2 went out live on 12 January 2023 on Rebel Rock Radio, once again the live show was ruined by the load shedding issues we are suffering with in South Africa.  Power out for around 6 hours every 24 hours so the cell phone towers just cannot cope.  The show kicked off with Aaron Keylock and cool slow bluesy track called ‘Just One Question’.  The slowish start was kicked into touch by Pat Travers and his party anthem ‘Snortin Whiskey’.  The Cult with ‘King Contrary Man’ was a breath of fresh air, Electric has stood the test of time, Rick Rubin did an amazing job and Billy Duffy was just magnificent on this album.   

Sadly, we heard about the passing of Jeff Beck this morning.  He died suddenly after contracting bacterial meningitis.  We took a listen to a track he did with Ozzy Osbourne on the latest Ozzy album (A Top 10 TSORR album for 2022), called ‘A Thousand Shades’.  I interspersed quite a bit of Jeff’s work throughout the show.  TSORR is all about guitar driven music and Jeff Beck was one of the finest exponents of that.  RIP Jeff.  On a happier note, fellow Yardbird Jimmy Page is doing just fine and turned 79 this week.  To celebrate I allowed ‘Whole Lotta Love’ to make its TSORR debut.  It was a bit like Judas Priest getting into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, everyone knows they should have been there but for some reason it took a long time.  Iron Maiden and Burning Witches out of Switzerland followed on .

Celebrating out the anniversary of the launch of a track that changed everything in 1991 was a highlight of the show. I am talking about Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, released this week 32 years ago.  Don’t you just feel ancient now? 😊.  We followed it with another classic from 1991 in the form of ‘ Bullet In The Head’ from Rage Against the Machine.  Poison and Bon Jovi represented the ‘80s and then we took in another track in the new series I am calling ‘Songs that could be written about South Africa’, Tom Petty with ‘Straight Into Darkness’.  From there it was goosebump time, Springsteen off his On Broadway album and a perfect version of 'My Hometown' originally on the Born In The USA album.  It's the lyrics and the way he tells the story that is just so visceral.

This show is probably as mellow as TSORR gets so we did some ACDC, Airbourne and Slayer to restore some balance before checking out this weeks track in the weekly Immortals section.  This is where we take an immortal rock song that is longer than 7 minutes and is as iconic as iconic can be.  David Bowie would have been 76 this week so it was fitting to feature 'The Width of a Circle' off The Man Who Sold The World as this weeks immortal track.  From there is was the downhill run, two more tracks to say cheers to Jeff Beck, ZZ Top's Rough Boy where Jeff takes a solo and a cover of 'Like A Rolling Stone' off the Chimes of Freedom compilation with Seal on vocals , it is absolutely superb.  We ended with some heavy stuff from Arch Enemy and Deangersmith off his brilliant Lead Me to Your Taker (Disable The Corrupt) album and a powerful swipe at the massive overreach we experienced during the pandemic.  

Artists featured:  Aaron Keylock, Pat Travers, Metallica, Rainbow, The Cult, Michael Monroe, Ozzy Osbourne, Danko Jones, Ignite, Therapy, Led Zeppelin, Burning Witches, Iron Maiden, Coheed & Cambria, Nirvana, Rage Against The Machine, Poison, Bon Jovi, The Temperance Movement, Sons of Liberty, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Bruce Springsteen, ACDC, Airbourne, Slayer, Porcupine Tree, David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, ZZ Top, Jeff Beck & Seal, Deangersmith, Arch Enemy, Obituary, Laura Cox

The Story of Rock and Roll. TSORR - Your one-stop shop for Rock

Pat Travers Returns to GRS with "The Art of Time Travel"

A Look back at Pat Travers Band Live!  Go For What You Know.
Can you name the riff?
Music from:
The Dangers
http://www.thedangers.net
The Well Wishers
https://thewellwishers.bandcamp.com
Damn The Planet
https://damntheplanet.bandcamp.com

Eddie brings a blast from the past on this double episode! First, guitarist Pat Travers discusses opening for Deep Purple, opportunities to be in bands that he turned away in favor of being a solo artist, the story behind the song title "Snortin' Whiskey," and more! Then, Punky Meadows, Frank Dimino, and Danny Farrow of Angel drop by and discuss their new album, 'Risen,' their big comeback, and more!

Catch Eddie Trunk every M-F from 3:00-5:00pm ET on Trunk Nation on SiriusXM Faction Talk Channel 103.

And don’t forget to follow Eddie on Twitter  and Instagram!

Follow the link to get your free 3-month trial of SiriusXM: http://siriusxm.com/eddietrunk