The Yardbirds Played Lima, Ohio, in 1966, and Here Are the Pictures to Prove it.

Before he played a Cincinnati High School Prom with Led Zeppelin in 1968, Jimmy Page laid down the tasties in Lima, Ohio, with the Yardbirds.  
Initially, I was going to craft a long-form commentary about how the Yardbirds served as the host body for three of the most influential British guitarists of the era, and possibly the last 50 years, but that story has been told ad nauseam.  

The remarkable bit about this gig -- I mean other than Yarbirds playing in Lima, Ohio -- is that it was makeup gig for a cancelled October 16th date, and nearly all the promotional materials herald Jeff Beck as the lead guitarist. But by the time the band made it back in December, Jimmy Page had taken the position of six-string headmaster. Initially, he joined up as the bass player, then that evolved to a dual guitar arrangement. But that didn't last, as told in his own words below: 

How Page ended up in the Yarbirds and the band's brief tenure as the host of the two most acclaimed British guitarists of the era, as told to Steve Rosen for Modern Guitars:

 JP: For a while I just worked on my stuff alone, and then I went to a Yardbirds concert at Oxford, and they were all walking around in their penguin suits. (Lead singer) Keith Relf got really drunk and was saying “Fuck you” right in the mike and falling into the drums. I thought it was a great anarchistic night, and I went back into the dressing room and said, “What a brilliant show!” There was this great argument going on; (bass player) Paul Samwell-Smith saying, “Well, I’m leaving the group, and if I was you, Keith, I’d do the very same thing.” So he left the group, and Keith didn’t.

But they were stuck, you see, because they had commitments and dates, so I said, “I’ll play the bass if you like.” And then it worked out that we did the dual lead guitar thing as soon as (previously on rhythm guitar) Chris Dreja could get it together with bass, which happened, though not for long. But then came the question of discipline. If you’re going to do dual lead guitar riffs and patterns, then you’ve got to be playing the same things. Jeff Beck had discipline occasionally, but he was an inconsistent player in that when he’s on, he’s probably the best there is, but at that time, and for a period afterwards, he had no respect whatsoever for audiences.

Anyhow, the folks of Lima are pretty darn proud of this event, and have been dutifully been reprinting the poster, in two slightly different versions, for decades. They even make T-shirts. 

News clips from the Lima News:

Greta Thunberg Pleads with Jesse James Dupree to Switch to Battery Electric Chainsaw Ahead of Performance at Ohio Bike Week 2025.

I love Jackyl, but that stinky Chainsaw has got to go, says the noted environmentalist.

Creative Commons/You Tube

Outspoken activist Greta Thunberg has taken it upon herself to spearhead the international cabal of rock music enthusiasts encouraging Jackyl front-man and self-anointed “Lumber Jack of Love” Jesse James Dupree to cast aside that stinky two-stroke and get hip with a new emissions-free, battery-powered chainsaw. 

Thunberg wishes to make it clear that she wishes for the summer concert party season to continue unabated, albeit with fewer noxious two-stroke emissions. “Like most young Swedish people, my life revolves around three things: Calling out hypocritical world leaders and gross corporate polluters, scarfing those meatballs at IKEA, and blasting some f#cking Jackyl from the tape deck in my Volvo EV. I mean, Jesse James Dupree is basically the Bob Dylan of Scandinavia.” 

Preferred over four-stroke models for their lighter weight and quick-revving nature, the two-stroke has been the choice of lumberjacks and musicians for decades. But the new wave of battery-powered chainsaws offers some excellent alternatives. Stihl, the brand most commonly associated with Dupree, makes several dandy battery-powered chainsaws, including the Stihl MSA 220 C-B; it’s got plenty of power and a 16-inch bar, so it won’t be too emasculating when Jesse suggestively positions the saw amidst his loins and “jams” along with the band. It’s a crowd favorite. 

Equally as troubling is that while now assembled in the U.S., the German company’s founder was apparently a bit of a Nazi back in the day and was arrested as such during WWII. But let’s not throw stones. 

Thunberg is on the record as preferring Husqvarna battery-electric chainsaws from her native Sweden for her personal arborist needs. 

Ohio Bike Week runs from Friday, May 30 through Saturday, June 7 in Downtown Sandusky, Ohio, a suburb of the Cedar Point Amusement Park. Catch Jackyl on Thursday, June 5th on the Jackson St. Pier in downtown Sandusky. Show starts at 6 PM. 

Legal Note: This is obviously satire. Get with it nerds.The part about Jackyl playing Bike Week, however, is 100% legit.

Jimmy Page and the Yardbirds Played a Cincinnati High School Prom

"Jimmy’s first question was, 'Why are you dressed like that?'" I said, "You’re playing at our prom." And he said, "What the fuck is a prom?"

Even if you've already managed to catch a screening of Becoming Led Zeppelin, you need to to surf on over to the The New Yorker and check out David Owen's essay on the Yardbirds playing the prom at St. Xavier High School, an all-boys Catholic prep school in Cincinnati. 

Click here to read "Before He Formed Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page Played a Prom in Ohio," by David Owen.

It's a great example of not only how unpolished the business of rock and roll was then, but also provides a rough timeline of sorts for the pending breakup the Yardbirds and the subsequent birth of Led Zeppelin.

Here's the band performing the night before on Cleveland's UPBEAT! TV show:

And of course, here's the official trailer for Becoming Led Zeppelin:

For those in the cheap seats it's worth mentioning that seven years later, Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush would play a similar Catholic Boys Academy in Toledo, Ohio:

Rick James Snowmobile Is the Best Snowmobile (Give It To Me Baby)

When Mother Nature turns on the chill and the snow flies, only one thing is certain: Rick James is gonna get his ass on a snowmobile.

YouTube

 "Raised in the ghetto of Buffalo New York where his mother was a numbers runner, Rick is now a multi-millionaire who has recently moved back to his hometown from LA, where he found the social scene around the music business crazy."-Jeanee Beker, Much Music TV, aka M3, Much More

 

Rick's story is a well-known one, just another tired take on the classic "poor boy from the wrongest side of the tracks ditches the navy, forms a band with Neil Young in Canada, gets caught, does his time, moves to LA, moves back to Buffalo and forms the explosive Stone City Band, hits multi-platinum selling pay dirt, buys an Arctic Cat Panther, writes and produces for everyone from Smokey Robinson to Teena Marie, starts to run out of money, dates Linda Blair, guest stars on the A-Team, loses more money, has his finances recover on the strength of licensing deals with up and coming rap acts, gets addicted to crack, kidnaps a few people, ends up in Folsom Prison, gets out and then passes at age 56 from heart failure."

But along the way, Rick James, born James Ambrose Johnson Jr. (February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004), laid down grooves and vibes that still haven't been topped. Comfortable in any situation, he never put on a personality for cameras or the audience, always letting his rust-belt heritage show through as the video below so clearly illustrates.

While we can't be entirely certain, the sled in question appears to be an Arctic Cat Panther from the early 1980s, based in part on its regal burgundy and gold exterior finish. Powered by a 431cc Suzuki-two stroke twin, the snow machine was a cool thing that slid, not walked, like a Panther across the snow. 

Bonus: Mama Cass on a Snowmobile

Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story

UPDATE: Third Man Records Cass Corridor is screening Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story on Thursday, December 19th at 7 PM.

Be there, or don't.
Get advance tickets here.

Chrysler Is Not Going to Come Out with a Chopper: Ed “Big Daddy” Roth on the Great American Dream Machine.

Broadcast television wasn't always the snooze-fest it is today. Take, for instance, The Great American Dream Machine, a weekly program created and produced in New York City by the seminal WNET independent and later Public broadcaster. (Currently THIRTEEN PBS, see the logo here.) Running for the 1971 and 1972 broadcast seasons, TGADM took a satirical look at current events and gave some screen time to the emerging pop- and counter-culture movements and figures. That includes Rat Fink creator Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, who appears in the weekly "Great American Hero" profile of episode 4, season 1.

Roth, who fashioned his public persona out of the burgeoning Kustom Kar craze of the 1960s, managed to eclipse the street and show scene, sign a contract with Revell for model kits based on his creations, and eventually build a DIY mail-order empire of Roth T-shirts and other products avaible via a mail order catalog, all while still accepting contract work and building the odd car or chopper when the mood dictated. Rat Fink, the most visible and iconic of all Roth's creations, served as the masthead and and linchpin of his operation, and still commands a rabid fan base today.

So popular was the Kustom Kulture movent, provocative auteur Kenneth Anger and Author/Journalist Tom Wolfe each took a stab at defining the movement, the former with his three-minute Kustom Kar Kommandos film commentary, the latter with an article in Esquire magazine,The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby, which was subsequently published in a book format collection of essays that used the same as the collective title.

Roth is at his best here, lucid and playing to the camera in a fashion that wouldn't become normalized for decades. He spends much of the time calling out Detroit designers, accusing them of essentially being a bunch of martini-swilling yes men. Roth however, exists in world free of the EPA, safety concerns, and economic and practical reality. And really, if Detroit designed and built the Surfite or the California Cruiser trike, Big Daddy would be without a job.  

Roth became heavily involved in the chopper scene at one point, and was the publisher of Choppers Magazine.

The episode continues with vaguely automotive themes, employing a surplus of the stock footage mixed (a collection of low-speed crash testing films directly follows the Roth segment) with original animation and scoring. In short, the kind of programming made possible by boardroom TV executives anxious to exploit the counter-culture and newly-emerging teenage consumers for profit, but completely unaware of how to do so. Once Rowen and Martin struck gold with Laugh-In in 1968, everyone with a programming schedule to fill was tossing money at hip young producers and directors hoping to replicate the success. Not until Saturday Night Live debuted in October, 1975, would a single production successfully combine these elements and capture a major audience.

The Roth segment starts at the 2:29 mark, but we encourage you to watch the episode in its entirety to get a refresher in the state of youth-oriented television circa 1971. It feels a bit like a low-grade meth-influenced cross between Zoom and Monty Python.

Fun Fact: John Lennon praised the show in a 1972 radio interview, saying "But this Great American Dream Machine that they have on [New York-area public TV station] Channel 13 is as good as, if not better than, anything that's on British TV, including Monty Python's Flying Circus, which is not as heavy as the Dream Machine."

Fun Fact: Chevy Chase, Nina Simone, Albert Brooks, Jane Fonda, Martin Mull, Studs Terkel, Linda Lavin, Artie Shaw - yes, the one with the clarinet - Don McLean, Lee Meredith, and others all contributed to the show.   

Fun Fact: The Birthday Party, Nick Cave's legendary and influential Aussie post-punk band employed Roth for the cover art of their 1982 release, Junkyard. 

The entire run of The Great American Dream Machine is avaible for free viewing on tubi.

American Indie: The Last Independent Automaker Docuseries Tells the Story of Nerd-Chic Pioneer American Motors

The Last Independent Automaker is a six-part documentary series about the incredible history of American Motors Corporation, told by the people who loved it. 

Everyone loves an underdog, particularly if it involves a Levi's Gremlin—Real Reldnew, 1984.

 

The Trailer for Stunt Rock Says Everything About the 1970s Worth Saying

Hatched in the fertile mind of English-Aussie film veteran Brian-"subtlety is probably not my middle name"-Trenchard-Smith, Stunt Rock delivers every single drop of testosterone-driven excitement the poster and trailer promise. In short, things blow up, cars crash, and mystical satanic-tinged rock is performed with all the artistic nuance of a stack of concrete blocks falling from a scaffold.

Lest you film aesthetes dismiss Stunt Rock as just another piece of celluloid schlock created to lure libidinous and thrill-hungry teens to the drive in, consider the plot as outlined in Wikipedia:

"Australian stuntman Grant Page accepts a job on an American television series and travels to Los Angeles, where he reunites with his cousin, Sorcery band member Curtis Hyde. Hyde performs with a heavy metal band called Sorcery, playing the part of The Prince of Darkness who is locked in cosmic combat with the King of the Wizards."

"Eventually Page's reckless behavior attracts the attention of newspaper reporter Lois, who is writing an article about his career-obsessed co-star Monique van de Ven, both gravitating towards the stunt-man's professional fearlessness. Later the trio attend Sorcery concerts, enjoy Hollywood parties with the band, and explore the nature of extreme living."

But for all of Stunt Rock's hubris and reckless abandon, the single most impressive aspect of the film is that it managed to get made. I'll let the film's auteur, Brian Trenchard-Smith, give you the lowdown on how a momentary, throw-away idea navigated the typical Hollywood pitfalls that have felled countless projects and managed to make it to the silver screen.

Fun Fact: Phil Hartman appears in Stunt Rock as the personal assistant to Monique van de Ven.

The Lost Footage: KISS Live at Cobo Hall, Detroit, Michigan, May 16, 1975.

Hey kids, remember the rock group KISS? 

No, not the current pair of flaccid yentas and day-hire imposters trading under the name—I'm talking about the group born from the fertile New York streets of the 1970s. The one that unwittingly managed to blend the rust-belt bombast of Grand Funk Railroad with the street smarts of the New York Dolls and wrap the whole thing up in kabuki-themed Evel Knievel production with just the slightest touch of Alice, Iggy and Ziggy mixed in to satisfy the elitists.  

Well, that KISS only lasted for about three years, starting in 1974 with the eponymous debut album and blowing the doors off the finish line with 1977's Love Gun, their sixth long-player in under 48 months. Sure, they put out music for decades after that, but like most underdogs who actually get what they want, success forever changed them.

That of course necessitated the firing of Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, two modern-day Bowery Boys straight out of central casting whose careers would've hit a brick wall at the Lincoln Tunnel without the drive and organization of Paul and Gene. Unfortunately, the pair took 75% of the personality and all of the humor and street credibility out the door with them. 

But back in '75, they were still cocky, aggressive, and white hot. And like other bands of the era, they knew if they could take Detroit, the undisputed ground-zero for high-energy rock and roll, they could succeed anywhere. So the band and manager doubled down and decided to record a live album at Cobo Hall. 

Now, nearly fifty years later, a video artifact of that landmark gig in May of 1975 surfaces without explanation. 

There's some missed cues, the tempos sway, the guitars are slightly out of tune and are plugged directly into the amps, and I think you can hear Peter's kick pedal occasionally. In other words a perfect scenario for teen nirvana.

It's pretty great.

1:04 Let Me Go, Rock & Roll 

3:24 C'mon & Love Me  

6:57 Firehouse  

12:40 Deuce  

18:59 Rock & Roll All Nite  

24:42 Quick glimpse of the banner from the back cover of Alive!  

25:49 Black Diamond

George Carlin's American Dream | Official Trailer | HBO

Not sure if I'm a bit naive or just feeling nostalgic, but I really, really, really, need to see this as soon as possible. At his best, Carlin could meld the gross absurdity of life with the frailty of the human condition and mine it for laughs like few others.

Abandoned Detroit - The City of Neglect

Still hungry for more Detroit ruin porn? Follow along as Bob, aka Detroit Unseen, takes you on a journey documenting the spectacular ruins of Detroit and his personal recovery from drug addiction.
There's no shortage of web sites and short films documenting the rise and fall and current revival of Detroit, but the city's legacy is vast and star-crossed enough to support yet another take on the subject. It could benefit from some tighter edits, but there's a pandemic on and it's not exactly like most of us are pressed for time.

From the filmmaker: 

With Detroit you take the good with the bad, recognize the good as it comes and preserve the good that has come before. Many that enter the City of Detroit can sense the urgency of change and the spirit of reinvention. We certainly understand this, and the photos represent what we have seen along the way. The Flag of Detroit contains the two Latin slogans “Speramus Meliora” and “Resurget Cineribus” meaning “We hope for better things” and “It will rise from the ashes.” The prophetic phrases originally created in reference to the great fire of 1805, ring true more now than ever. We take these slogans to heart everyday as we go out and explore our great city.

Supercut of Two Lane Blacktop Set to Pink Floyd's "One of These Days" is Sublime.

 

Get the Criterion Collection release of Two Lane Blacktop here. 

There’s No Such Thing as a Wrong Note–Art Tatum

Brother Ryan A. Bunch weighs in on the reluctant legacy of the Glass City's musical influence:

"Art Tatum’s dilapidated childhood home sits on City Park Avenue along the Dorr Street Corridor just on the outer edge of downtown, a total wreck, abandoned for decades. Out front, a gleaming bronze historical marker notes the sad relevance of the gaping hole in the foundation, the overgrown lot, the paint long-past chipping. The only splash of color offered on the drab scene is a few muraled boards guarding the long-open windows painted by teens from a nearby junior high school a few years ago. This is the perfect metaphor for Toledo music. We can’t talk about what is without talking about what was."

Take the  deep dive here:

You’re Never That Far From Toledo: a survey of music, history, grandiose complacency, and talent export in the Glass City—by Ryan A. Bunch