Merry Christmas - Welcome To My Super Blog - Happy New Year!

Welcome dear friends to Rob Lattin Music's SUPER BLOG.

Rob Lattin's Super Blog

First of all, I want to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I have tried to do something that few are doing. I've created a super blog. This super blog is like a website with many pages and links but not static - or a boring - as a standard website. Each page has a different cursor and some special ".gif magic" there. Each page has its own theme which is related to my particular types of music or information.

Obviously, this blog has links to my Facebook pages and Twitter pages. Also linked is my account to Revebnation and Soundcloud. I will be connected with other types of music sites for promoting or merchandising my music as well. In addition, I can connect you to my Hub Pages (haven't been on there for a while) and eventually Google Music.

This page is sort of a landing page but not really - I call it my main page and soon will be adding a table of contents to link you to songs, videos, lyrics and pictures I have and in some instances, links to others as well. I have a lot of musician friends who need promotion and I am willing to help them out.

One of my older pages is Now Whatcha Playin? which generally talks about what others have done and my opinions about them. Many times the blog post will just be about a particular group and I'll share a You Tube video. On that page I list which bands or musicians I wrote about.

On my main page, tabs are specific to my own recordings and compositions: Sonic Dimension - standard or not-so standard rock/prog rock/classic rock; God Rules and Other Songs - hard rock and acoustic music related to religion named after a song I recorded soon to be released; Mad Experiment - original compositions which are more pop but not suitable for radio airplay because regular radio stations won't play music of anyone over 25; Fantom Phactory - horror and monster movie theme music. There's also a tab for you to buy other folks music. You can also buy mine at Reverbnation and some T shirts I had made up.

I hoping soon to reprint some of my old cartoons I used to draw for the Illinois Entertainer and the Indiana Beat back in the 80's when I used to be a punk rocker. (Yes, I used to be a semi-professional cartoonist and artist.) I'd like to put this stuff on the Super Blog and also include some old music I recorded in 2009.

Well, this is my Super Blog and I expect it to grow and if you feel you deserve a tab on it, drop me a line and we'll discuss it. Bigger is better and I've learned that the more I give the more my life is enriched.

Frank Sinatra, Suzy, Joe and Mark Farner Christmas Gifts

GREETINGS and GOOD TIDINGS!

Moe Larry and Shemp
Wish You a Merry Christmas
(Curly took the picture.)

I must say that Christmas music is one of my favorite music genres. I love choirs and Transiberian Orchestra, the Morman Tabernacle Choir, Mannheim Steamroller. I love all the sacred music at Church and some of the stupid sappy songs played on the radio.

I love Christmas music so much that I even recorded my own original stuff. Some of my instrumentals won't be available until next year so what I've been sharing on my other pages and on Facebook, Twitter and Soundcloud were two of my vocal works - one an original recording done in 96 and a new one I recorded last month. Go to the left and under FREE downloads clock on the song titles to hear the music.

I also wanted to take this opportunity  to share some music I loved growing up, some music I discovered and some music that's relatively recent (for Christmas genres, that is).

One of my favorite singers is Frank Sinatra. Along with Bing Crosby and Steve Lawrence, no one has a corner on having the best voice of all time. Well, everyone heard of "Jingle Bells". I'm sure you even heard Ole Blue Eyes singing this timeless classic BUT I bet you hardly ever heard this 50's version:

Growing up in a little town called Chicago, I sang along to this unique song:

Another song we used to listen to and have fun singing is this one (. . .and Joe!)

And then there's Mark Farner!

And then for the first time yesterday I heard the following tune from Sheryl Crow and Eric "Slowhand" Clapton.

I love Paul Revere and the Raiders and you know what? They did a Christmas album - but not your typical one. Here's a song for novelty purposes only.

Here's a fun song from the fun group - the Beach Boys

I hope you like these songs! Save this blog so you can come back next year and listen to them!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Lead Guitarist VS Lead Vocalist - Who Is More Important?

Lead Guitarists VS Lead Vocalists

Or a practical way to compare apples to oranges

It’s no secret that I use blogs and social media and other forms of marketing to promote my music. I have written thousands of songs and recorded thousands of hours of raw music over the years. My musical career took a big long hiatus for personal reasons and so a lot of stuff never got out into the public.

 

"Image courtesy of Dan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net"

So what . . . as a recording artist I prefer the creating and recording part of music first, performing second so that’s the reason I do not tour. As a composer I play most of the rhythm and lead guitar. I write all my music using the guitar. 

Many of my lyrics come from the chord progression of an already written musical piece (like “Hey Mr. Cloud”). For some of my stuff I write the words first and then adapt the music (like “I Am A Sinner”).

So from what I have just told you, I am both a lead guitarist and a lead singer. To me, they can be the same. Which all of this brings us to the point where there is a continuing argument, “Who is more important to the band – the lead singer or the lead guitarist?”

Obviously many groups do and need both dominant talents. HOWEVER, if a choice had to be made (and many groups have found themselves in this predicament), one or the other has to go.

The first group that comes to mind is Van Halen. Is Van Halen still Van Halen without the super ego of David Lee Roth? Would Van Halen be better without Eddie? Roth was replaced by Sammy Hagar and he brought more of TV commercial sound to the band, not the creative energy Roth developed. On the opposite side, who could replace Eddie Van Halen? Ronnie Montrose? Joe Walsh? Joe Satriani? Joe Bonamossa? (A lot of Joes!). Anybody less than Eddie would make the band sound like Loverboy.

A while back I wrote a Hub Pages article about Top 50 guitarists. I pushed Hendrix back because I believe the only reason people still include him as a great axeman is for nostalgic reasons, not that he is the all-time best. Read about how Hendrix Drops To #50 Greatest Guitarist Of All Time

I wanted to couple my Top 50 guitarists with Top 50 Singers but that was too big a task. Rock singers, Crooners, Blues or Jazz vocalists I had to narrow it down. You can’t have Sinatra included with Elvis and Roger Daltrey! You can’t compare apples to oranges.

So I went back to see if I can do a competition between rock guitarists and rock singers. This is not a competition against one another, but a competition for one another. In other words, which guitarists could vie for the lead spot of a particular singer and should they get together put out some awesome tracks. And I thought also that a lead singer could “audition” for the top spot in a guitarist’s band.

Well, to keep it brief, I am choosing 10 lead singers who may be looking for a new lead guitarist and 10 lead guitarists who need a new vocalist.

Here are the rules: 

1. Classic rock only (sorry punk rockers and rappers)

2. The pair should not have been matched on record anywhere before

3. If they were matched and I was not aware of it you need to email me so I may disqualify those contestants and pick two new ones

4. Only doing male performers this time

5. This is a fantasy game, folks, don’t start spreading rumors!

6. If you have your own pairing email me and let me know so I can put on an addendum.

7. Don’t get angry at the results – it’s just a game!

GAME 1

Lead Singer and Group Seeking

Experienced Lead Guitarist                          Guitarist                                 Runner Up

1. Robert Plant/Led Zeppelin                   Joe Perry                                  Mike Pinera
2. Rick Ocasek and the Cars                   G E Smith                                 Bill Spooner
3. Alice Cooper                                       Richie Blackmore                     Randy Rhodes
4. Robert Lamm and Chicago                   Mick Box                                Andy Scott
5. Roger Daltrey and the Who                  Joe Walsh                                Steve Mille
6. Dennis DeYoung and Styx                    Chris DeGarmo                        Rick Derringer
7. Rick Springfield                                    Eddie Van Halen                      Randy Bachman
8. Mark Lindsay & Raiders                      George Harrison                      Glen Buxton
9. John Kay & Steppenwolf                      Ted Nugent                              Jim McCarty
10. Mark Farner and Grand Funk               Rory Gallagher                        Mick Taylor

GAME 2

Lead Guitarist and Group Seeking

Experienced Lead Vocalist                           Singer                                     Runner Up

Keith Richards Rolling Stones                       Mitch Ryder                               Bob Seger

Jeff Beck and Yardbirds                               Van Morrison                             John Lennon

Ace Frehley and Kiss                                   Don Brewer                                Pete Rivera

Steve Howe and Yes                                    Mickey Dolenz                           Kevin Cronin

Michael Schenker                                         David Coverdale                        Ronnie Dio

Santana                                                        Dave Peverett                             Rusty Day

Richie Sambora and Bon Jovi                       Barry Manilow                            Iggy Pop

Rick Nielsen & Cheap Trick                        Bryan Adams                              Peter Gabriel

Alex Lifeson & Rush                                    Peter Cetera                                Mickey Thomas

Brian May & Queen                                    Tommy Shaw                               Barry Gibb      

Ok I don’t think the bands might go for my choices but who cares – this is not real.

Here’s another competition I concocted two years ago: Chicago or Detroit? Which had the better music?

I hope you music afficionados had fun with this game and yes, I think Barry Manilow had the energy needed to replace Bon Jov himself.

Great News! "God Rules" Adding New Songs

News for you guys!

Finished creating my Reverbnation Page for my religious Rock and Roll that is to be featured on my page "God Rules and Other Songs".

Driven . . . I'm Driven

On the playlist on Reverbnation is an oldie of mine "Monuments" with new remixes and a completely newly recorded solo centerpiece.  Like psychedlica, man! Far Out, but listen to the lyrics. Check out the ending of woeful singers!

Also added the song "Voices and Visions" which is more recent. The guitar is a bit influenced by Cactus but beyond that it is all Rob Lattin. How do you like the ethereal whispering in the song? If you want to now more about the lyrics, drop me a line.

I've added at my Reverb Store, in addition to these two songs the song "I Am A Sinner" and "Closer To God." With I Am A Sinner, I originally had the vocal idea from a Pink Floyd song that transformed into something completely different and with the adding of Creedence Clearwater Revival style guitar playing. The song sounds nothing like Pink Floyd or CCR. Maybe you can see some of my influences from Mark Lindsay  (Paul Revere & the Raiders) and Rusty Day (Amboy Dukes).

Closer to God is an older song which was actually influenced by a sermon (Homily) given by a firey young priest in Chicago back in the 80's. Originally title "Bones A Shaken" which was to be my second CD, until my computer died and destroyed all my artwork, I re-titled the song to Closer To God. This is the remix of the original which was recorded around 2001 and got great reviews from my test audience. The song, which was mostly acoustic now has a Cuban flavor which is what I intended it to be - not a doom and gloom song but a song of hope and joy and awe.

I've added a link to my Reverbnation store at the side panel. So you can enjoy listening to these songs, either on God Rules page or at Reverbnation.
Thanks!
RL

More Music Posted - Happy Dude & Rajneesh

Hey people - I'm posting more music on these pages. I know, I know . . . I'm slow - but hey I have a full-time job. I've got a huge catalog of songs and I'm cleaning up the sound quality on all the old stuff and tweaking the new stuff. Go to The Sonic Dimension Page and view my video of "Happy Dude". Recorded in Detroit - it has Detroit attitude Uh huh! The video is also available on Youtube. Then check out an oldie released by TeknoGeek GoonSquad back in '09 recorded in Chicago. This tune is called "Rajneesh" and is written as a soundtrack. I wanted to mix my love of the music of India and blending jungle sounds and the necessary rock guitar.

New Samplers and Song Posted

Hi Everybody! I just uploaded 2 samplers: "Uncle Monkey" for the lighter side of music (Novelty instrumental) and "My King" a heavy song with horns and a fusion of rock jazz and blues, along with my acoustic guitar. This is a vocal song but edited for the sampler. Also, I uploaded the full version of El Destructo Mundo. An abridged version was available for it back in 2009-10 through Tune Core, this is the complete song which opens with missiles firing and explosion. The song shows that if we blow up the world, somehow we will survive a la Twilight Zone. Mixture of metal and jazz - I love to blend styles together. My King is on the God Rules page and Uncle Monkey and El Destructo Mundo are on the Mad Experiment page.