| | | Hey Friend,
No, not on the way to the Forum (if you're old enough to remember the Broadway musical or movie).
Yesterday I was talking about some songs from my youth that use power chords extensively.
One song I mentioned was "Godzilla" by Blue Oyster Cult, which I played in my very first band. I have a great story to tell around this tune...
So in this band we practiced at the lead guitarist's house in his basement. Physically, it was a pretty typical house in the suburbs of Cleveland, three stories and a basement with the garage out back.
But inside, another world - like none I'd been exposed to in my 15 years on this planet. Let me set this story up for you...
I come from what you might think as a stereotypical 1950s, early 60s-style upbringing. Vanilla.
Mom and Dad at home, brothers and a sister, dog and cat. Everyone respect each other. Don't pick on your siblings. No yelling in the house. No back sass. Mom stayed home while Dad went out and earned a living.
It wasn't exactly like "Leave It To Beaver" or "The Andy Griffith Show" (that was at my grandparents' houses), but you get the idea.
We had moved to the Cleveland area a couple years earlier, before I started playing in bands. Compared to my small town upbringing, we were living in the "Big City" now.
City living exposes you to all sorts of new experiences, especially when you come from a relatively sheltered childhood.
So back to the story...
First off, Jimmy (my lead guitarist) was Jewish. I had never known anyone Jewish before, so I had no reference to look to. There was a different cultural background at work in this household. I'm not saying it was bad... just different.
Let me give you a comparison.
My house was like living with Ward and June Cleaver.
Jimmy's house was like living with the Costanza's (ya know, from "Seinfeld").
The preferred method of communication was yelling... A lot.
Everyone yelled.
Mom and Dad at each other. Mom and Dad at kids. Kids at Mom and Dad. Kids at each other. The only people they didn't yell at were the visitors!
One day the band is in the basement rehearsing. We're working through our set list of popular classic rock and pop tunes of the day, and we get to "Godzilla" by Blue Oyster Cult (great power chords song, btw!).
Next thing you know, we hear Jimmy's mom shriek from the top of the basement stairs: "Jiimmmyyyy! You quit playing that song right NOW!"
You see, Jimmy's mom didn't realize this was just a cover tune we were practicing because it's cool. She thought WE wrote the song and were singing - about HER!
We laughed our @sses off!!!
For a bunch of teenage guys, what better reason did we need to make sure we played it, over and over again.
See the power of power chords? Able to set parents off in an instant! Okay, I'll admit the words had a little to do with it.
But definitely a powerful chord progression played only with power chords. Easy Power Chords shows you all of them.
Peace~
Dave
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