Rock and Roll is Sexual Energy Expressed as Sound
"Rock and roll is sexual energy expressed in sound"
Have you ever heard a concise 9 word definition of rock and roll
that really nails it?
It all started with "Elvis the Pelvis". Why do you think all the
girls started screaming and fainting all over this country when
they saw Elvis for the first time? It was because nobody had
ever seen a man get up on stage and shake his booty around like
he did. Being sexy like that just came naturally for Elvis, and
the girls picked up on it immediately like some kind of sexual
email was being sent directly into their brains! And other rock
and roll stars followed in Elvis' steps very quickly. Jerry Lee
Lewis knew what to do and he got himself into a great big ball
of fire with his underage lover. Chuck Berry was another
natural, and he also created some serious trouble simply because
he was black and the white girls went for him big time. I think
that may have been the first time that the pathetic and hung up
white male population had to deal with the racial sex issue at
this level.
And then there were The Beatles. Same phenomenon as Elvis,
except all The Beatles really did was just stand up there, shake
their mop top heads around and look cute, and thousands of girls
got wet panties all at the very same time. Of course, it didn't
hurt their effect on everybody that their songs were
unbelievably memorable simple love songs, and those young girls
who were coming of age and dreaming about falling in love really
connected on that level too. Mick Jagger was another natural,
just like Elvis. "The Lips" knew what to do without even trying
very hard. Strangely enough, it wasn't Mick who actually got all
the girls into bed, it was Bill Wyman, the Stones' bass player.
In his autobiographical book Bill told all, and his groupies
totaled in the thousands. He never really made it clear in his
book exactly why that happened to him and not the same way to
Mick, who simply must have gotten and still be getting whoever
he really wants to have. But it did happen and all Bill ever did
was stand there completely still and play his bass guitar
looking sort of sad and forelorn. There simply has to be a
logical explanation for Bill's success, and I think I know what
it is. (Don't ask, I won't tell).
And then came Jimi Hendrix. The pun is intended. Jimi had to
have been the sexiest black musician of all time, and there were
few girls who didn't agree with that statement. They actually
used to line up outside his dressing room backstage and Jimi
would come out and choose whoever he wanted, one at a time or
more than one. He was another one who simply couldn't help
himself, although he did understand exactly what he was doing
and why. Later on in his career, he stopped it on purpose
because Jimi really was a serious musician who wanted people to
appreciate his playing and his songwriting for being as creative
as it was. He felt that his sex show was getting in the way of
that kind of appreciation toward the end of his life, so after
the Experience broke up, he just got out there and pretty much
stood still, playing with his eyes shut because he didn't even
want to see the girls out there anymore. In my not-so-humble
opinion, Jimi was the only true genius in rock and roll. That
word "genius" is highly overused and it's often applied to
people who are just extremely talented. I disagree with the
dictionary when it equates genius with "exceptional
intelligence", and what I think the word "genius" is supposed to
refer to is a person who creates something that's new, and not
only new, but significantly new, important, and somewhat of a
milestone in human development. And that's why I call Albert
Einstein the premier genius of the entire human race - because
the Theory of Relativity was a giant jump in the understanding
of the way our universe operates, and to this day, few people
actually understand anything other than the bomb part. I say
that Jimi Hendrix was the one true genius of rock and roll
because he was the only one who really did invent something new:
and that was his use of feedback, which nobody before Jimi even
thought of doing. And he even took his invention one step
further. Until that time, all music since the time of Mozart and
Beethoven has been built on chord structure. And rock and roll
music uses simple chord structure. Jimi actually used feedback
alone to construct song structure in a few, but not all of his
songs (i.e. Third Stone From the Sun). And to this day, nobody
has been able to do what Jimi did. In fact, Jeff Beck bought
Jimi's strat at an auction, and even the super talented Jeff
admitted that he couldn't get the same sounds out of the very
same guitar as Jimi got.
But I think the best example of sexual energy expressed in sound
has to be Led Zeppelin. Whenever they played live, Jimi Page
sort of staggered around the stage as if he was drunk, but he
wasn't drunk. It was just that the hurricane of sexual force
that blew out of his amp was too much for even Jimi to
withstand. And John Bonham, who was unquestionably the best rock
and roll drummer who ever walked the face of this planet,
pounded his drums with such force and shear creativity as a
drummer that Led Zep's sexual energy increased geometrically.
There are so many good reasons why Led Zeppelin is the #1 Rock
and Roll Band of All Time. That label has been pinned on The
Stones, probably because they toured more than anyone else and
Mick really does put on a great show every single time. But if
you think about it, there are only one, maybe two Stones albums
where every song is great. All the rest of their albums have a
diminishing number of great songs with the rest pretty much
being "fillers". On the other hand, Led Zep's debut album stands
up as being the best one of all time (including even Cream), and
Coda which was their last album is virtually perfect too. All
the rest of their albums are chock full of absolutely brilliant
tracks, so when you add up the sum total of their work, it
stands alone in terms of brilliant rock and roll intensity,
unmatched level of musicianship, creative songwriting, and the
shear volume of great tracks they recorded. Not even The Beatles
top Led Zep for all the great qualities thrown into one, and I
don't say that lightly at all because The Beatles were my major
musical influence. That's because I was knocked out by The
Beatles way before Led Zep was even formed, and I could
comprehend their music and attempt to derive something I could
work with to produce something of my own. I can't possibly begin
to play on the same level as Led Zep's four players, and nobody
else can either. That's why nobody with a shred of common sense
covers Led Zep's songs - you'd have to be able to play Jimi's
riffs and the drum and bass guitar parts if you wanted to do a
cover version, and nobody can do it.
OK, ending up with little ol' me. If I managed to get pure
sexual energy into my music at all, it would have to be in
"Knight in Shining Armor", in "Mona", and in "Favorite Toy".
That's not really my opinion here, it's what the young kids tell
me these days and have always told me in the past. Please don't
mistake what I'm saying here because I wouldn't begin to compare
myself or my music with the stars I've just discussed. And I had
to conclude my diatribe with something . . .