THE CLASSIC ROCK MUSIC REPORTER: 12/01/2017

Thursday, December 21, 2017

STEVE HUNTER LEGENDARY GUITARIST INTERVIEWED ON THE RAY SHASHO SHOW

S T E V E H U N T E R

LEGENDARY GUITARIST

W/LOU REED & ALICE COOPER

INCREDIBLE NEW RELEASE

“Before The Lights Go Out”

“Before The Lights Go Out” is long time Alice Cooper/Lou Reed Guitarist Steve Hunter's latest solo album. The cover art and title make a statement about his failing eyesight, but don't make the mistake of thinking this is a quiet wave goodbye. As soon as you put on the first track, you will know that this is more like a Blues Rock Declaration of Independence! There are sexy grooves, luscious guitar tones and melodies galore.

As with all Hunter's releases, there is some diversity and sound imagery, not least of which is Tienes Mi Corazón where alongside his nylon string improvisation comes the sound of his own heart. And listen out for Joe Satriani adding his fire to the heat of “Mojo Man.”
Also joining Steve on a couple of tracks are two great Bass players: Erik Scott can be heard on “Mojo Man,” Erik is also an Alice Cooper alumni. On “Under The Bodhi Tree” is Andy Stoller. Steve and Andy toured together with Tracy Chapman during the “Telling Stories” album period, most recently Andy has been touring with Ann Wilson of Heart.

Says Steve, “This album was a real joy for me on many levels. A big part of the inspiration and motivation that kept me going; was from all the people out there who had faith in me and encouraged me through the entire process with their donations and comments. It was really a wonderful experience having you all be a part of it. It's my deepest hope and desire that you all enjoy the music on this album as much as I enjoyed making it. Thank you and God bless!”
Steve Hunter is his own man; he has been around the block with a forty-five year career.

From his 1973 solos on Alice Cooper's “Billion Dollar Babies” album, his legendary acoustic work on Peter Gabriel's “Solsbury Hill,” his “Intro” to Lou Reed's “Sweet Jane” and his searing opening solos on Aerosmith's version of “Train Kept A Rolling.” Most recently he can be heard on Alice Cooper's 2017 album “Paranormal” making this his ninth Cooper album appearance. The Deacon is not done yet but his life is evolving! He has challenges playing live now but his honed skill, tone, power and soul, is dished up on this hot plate of guitar driven instrumental tastiness.

STEVE HUNTER

BEFORE
THE LIGHTS
GO OUT

AVAILABLE NOW

AMAZON.COM

For more information about Steve Hunter
visit http://www.stevehunter.com/ or

https://www.facebook.com/steve.hunter.54

S T E V E H U N T E R

INTERVIEWED ON

THE RAY SHASHO SHOW-BBS RADIO

CLICK BELOW TO LISTEN

THE RAY SHASHO SHOW

NEW TIME & DATE!

Bi-weekly Wednesday’s at 5 pm Pacific/8 pm Eastern

On the BBS Radio 1 Network

THE RAY SHASHO SHOW

IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY

‘THE PUBLICITY WORKS AGENCY’

We Shine Only When

We Make You Shine

Website http://www.publicityworksagency.com/

Email us at ray@publicityworksagency.com

http://bbsradio.com/therayshashoshow

And don’t forget to purchase a copy of my book entitled Check the Gs -the true story of an eclectic American family and their Wacky family business … or the second edition entitled … Wacky Shenanigans on F Street- ‘Proud to be Politically Incorrect in Washington DC’ ... available now at amazon.com. You’ll live it!!!

Have a great week everybody!

COMING SOON!

Saturday, December 16, 2017

DEREK SHULMAN 'GENTLE GIANT' LEGEND INTERVIEWED ON THE RAY SHASHO SHOW

D E R E K S H U L M A N

SINGER AND MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST

WITH PROGRESSIVE ROCK LEGENDS

'G E N T L E G I A N T'

Formed in the late 60's by the Shulman brothers, GENTLE GIANT is known as the paradigmatic progressive rock band. With an uncomparable musicianship, they went as far as no one ever did into unexplored grounds in the progressive music, navigating over dissonant 20th-century classical chamber music, medieval vocal music, jazz and rock. The multi-instrumentation capabilities of the musicians gave such dynamic to their music, which set parameters to a whole coming generation up to these very days. They explored Moogs, Mellotrons and Fender Rhodes usage with such majesty! Not to mention other instruments like oboes, violins, cellos and horns among others.
The band was able to come across the 70's maintaining an outstanding level on their music, altering their style over the years and keeping the quality as only a few bands were able to do. Among their magnificent discography, all the albums from "Acquiring the Taste" through "Playing the Fool" are essential progressive rock releases (with the possible exception of "Interview"). This portion of the band's career would see a fittingly grand conclusion on the live "Playing the Fool" album. What more is there to say about these masters of progressive music?

Renowned music industry veteran Derek Shulman has achieved success sitting on both sides of the desk. Born in the United Kingdom, his introduction to the music business was as lead vocalist with sixties pop sensation Simon Dupree And The Big Sound. Signed to the Beatles’ label Parlaphone, the group enjoyed TV appearances, Top 20 singles and toured Europe extensively. They even secured a talented keyboard player by the name of Reginald Dwight (Elton John) towards the latter part of their lifespan. In 1970 they changed their name to Gentle Giant going on to even bigger acclaim, recording a succession of best-selling record albums and touring the world as a major headlining attraction.

Following his recording career, Shulman became a prominent record executive. Starting as an A&R representative at PolyGram Records, where he rose to the ranks of Senior Vice President, he signed Bon Jovi, Dan Reed Network, Cinderella, and Kingdom Come, among many others. In 1988 he became President and C.E.O of Atco Records (where he signed the progressive metal band Dream Theater as well as Pantera). He also re-established the careers of AC/DC and Bad Company both of whom sold multi-platinum albums under his watch. He then went on to become President of Roadrunner Records overseeing signings like Slipknot and Nickelback. In March 2010 Derek Shulman established a new venture with international music impresario Leonardo Pavkovic called 2PLUS Music & Entertainment.

Gentle Giant—Three Piece Suite is a specially curated selection of songs and compositions from Gentle Giant’s first three albums (Giant, Acquiring the Taste, Three Friends) presented in both 5.1 surround sound and stereo. There are nine tracks from the albums, plus a pre-debut song, remixed by Steven Wilson. The choices were determined by the limited availability of multi-track master tapes from the era. Only a few songs from each album are known to exist as multi-tracks, with the rest presumably lost. For fans of Gentle Giant “Three Piece Suite” is a must have. For fans of great musicianship and progressive rock this is an incredible insight into the earliest days of this legendary band.

GENTLE GIANT

THREE PIECE SUITE

AVAILABLE AT
amazon.com

D E R E K S H U L M A N

INTERVIEWED ON

THE RAY SHASHO SHOW

BBS RADIO

CLICK BELOW TO LISTEN

THE RAY SHASHO SHOW

NEW TIME & DATE!

Bi-weekly Wednesday’s at 5 pm Pacific/8 pm Eastern

On the BBS Radio 1 Network

THE RAY SHASHO SHOW

IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY

‘THE PUBLICITY WORKS AGENCY’

We Shine Only When

We Make You Shine

Website http://www.publicityworksagency.com/

Email us at ray@publicityworksagency.com

http://bbsradio.com/therayshashoshow

Have a great week everybody!

Thursday, December 7, 2017

MASON WILLIAMS CHATS ABOUT "CLASSICAL GAS" ...THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS... AND MORE

M A S O N W I L L I A M S

CELEBRATING '50 YEARS'

OF A TIMELESS

MUSICAL MASTERPIECE

"C L A S S I C A L G A S"

Mason Williams emerged in the late 1960’s as a strong force in television and music circles. In 1968 he won two Grammy awards with his unique composition for guitar, Classical Gas. That same year he also won an Emmy award for his work as a comedy writer on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.

Mason is perhaps most widely known as a composer and recording artist. He has recorded more than two dozen albums, five on the Warner Bros. label (The Mason Williams Phonograph Record, The Mason Williams Ear Show, Music, Handmade, and Sharepickers). Classical Gas was released as a single from The Mason Williams Phonograph Record in 1968. Classical Gas won three Grammys that year for: “Best Instrumental (theme) Composition”, “Best Instrumental (theme) Performance”, and “Best Instrumental Orchestra Arrangement” (Mike Post, arranger).

In 1987, Mason teamed up with MANNHEIM STEAMROLLER of Fresh Aire fame, to release a new album on the American Gramaphone label. The Album, titled “CLASSICAL GAS”, includes a remake of his 1968 Grammy award winning song. Another cut from this album, “Country Idyll”, was a 1988 nominee for a Grammy in the Country Music category for “Best Instrumental Performance by a Soloist, Group or Orchestra.” This album went Gold in 1991, and is now approaching platinum.

Mason has released (on the Real Music label) an acoustic instrumental album of Christmas/Holiday music tititled “A GIFT OF SONG”, featuring arrangements of traditional carols and original compositions. In 1992 the Vanguard label released “MUSIC 1968-1971”, a compilation of cuts from his five Warner Bros. albums recorded in the late 60s, early 70s.

As a comedy writer, Mason has written for more than 150 hours of network television programming. Writing both music and comedy, Mason was a prime creative force for CBS’ controversial SMOTHERS BROTHERS COMEDY HOUR. His extensive repertoire in folk music gave him the background for many of Tom and Dick’s comedy routines, and with co-writer Nancy Ames, he also composed the shows’ musical theme. He also created and perpetuated the 1968 PAT PAULSEN FOR PRESIDENT CAMPAIGN, the most elaborate political satire in recent history.

Other major television personalities he has written for include: Roger Miller, Petula Clark, Andy Williams, Glen Campbell, Dinah Shore, and Steve Martin. In 1980 Mason was head writer for NBC’s SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. In 1988 Mason received his third Emmy nomination as a comedy writer for his work on THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS 20TH REUNION SPECIAL (CBS).

He is also the creator of the world’s largest sunflower. Originally intended as a short film, the sunflower concept was conceived as a slow-motion aerial ballet in which an old biplane skywrites (“draws”), the stem and leaves of a sunflower in the sky beneath the sun, the sun thereby becoming the blossom of the flower.

Approaching the 50th Anniversary of Classical Gas gave Williams an opportunity to reflect on his career and collect many of his art, writing and music projects into a fantastic retrospective presentation that has been and continues to be exhibited in galleries around the country.

Mason is also currently working on events around the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Classical Gas including writing, composing and performing in a variety of venues which continues to this day.