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Platters that Splatter all over your brain Matter
Rock Fight 14 with John Hell and Ron Donovan
December 22, 2014 6:00pm

 

A Season in Hell
Rock Fight 14 with John Hell and Ron Donovan
Too much has been written in the annals of mythology about the many Rock Fights which came before, but no one could have prepared any of us for what was about to come on this holiest of holy Rock Fight nights.

Each hour progresses with guests, amazing live tracks, and brilliant banter that will leave you in stitches, and quite possibly paralyzed from the neck down.

John and Ron are in fine form for much of the evening (I repeat MUCH of the evening), the guest interviews are a perfect addition to what is already an institution in radio land. The music selections, mostly focused on Rock, also feature a Black Metal set, and a wonderful Blues set; taking us from the roots of Rock to wear Rock has certainly come.

In the second hour author Linda Kelly joined us at to talk about the upcoming release of the new edition of her 1995 Grateful Dead-themed book: "Deadheads", just in time for the 50th anniversary of my favorite band.

Sound Engineer John Karr joins us in the third hour to talk about all the many bands he's worked with over the years. John has worked regularly as an engineer in many recording studios around San Francisco, and has worked the sound board at pretty much every club in San Francisco for over 20 years. He's got great stories and has brought along excellent, stellar live recordings from shows where he is manning the board.

Metallica fanzine editor Steffan Chirazi joins us for the fourth hour to play us BLACK (metal) Christmas. You know, an anti-christ/mas thing. All Black Metal, with some road stories. Great road stories. Steff is always ready with some of the best stories from the road. He's been doing it for over 25 years so he knows his stuff.

We're doing a blues set the fifth hour. It makes sense. All live versions you've never heard before. Eric McFadden called in this hour. He's in Albuquerque, New Mexico right now, and shared his history of listening to live music, and his own memories of his favorite bands growing up.

Play the game "Where is Ron". Where oh where could he be throughout the program? Is he on Mic? Is he lost in the mission? How many songs did Ron actually play on Rock Fight 14? Tune in and play along with rest of us.

Finally we close the show the way we opened the show: with a tribute to the late great Joe Cocker. Joe died on Monday at the age of 70 years old. Anyone who's listened my show over the years knows that I am huge fan of Joe Cocker, he's always been an absolute inspiration to my growth as a music fan. The Mad Dogs Englishmen Tour from 1970 is by far the greatest series of shows that I have ever heard in my long tenure of collecting live music. It is my dream and aspiration to one day front of band in much the same manner as Joe Cocker did with that tour. It's an understatement to say that you will be missed, Joe. RIP to a man who taught me more about music than most people I have ever known, personally.

Enjoy.

jh

PS: It would appear this is actually Rock Fight 13. This is what I get for not going back and actually looking at the most recent show we did. HA!

Hour one:

Something: Joe Cocker (San Francisco, April 26, 1970) - JH
Kick Out The Jams: MC5 (01-01-70 Saginaw, MI) - JH

Guns of Brixton: The Clash (Akron, OH 08-17-82) - JH
Jailhouse Rock/Don't Be Cruel: Elvis Presley (Las Vegas 1969)
Cafe Latte: Limbomaniacs (iBeam - SF 09-01-90)

John The Fisherman: Primus (Haight Street Fair 06-10-90) -JH
Feeling Alright: Joe Cocker (10-19-69 Fillmore West, SF, CA) -JH
Sin City: AC/DC (Oakland, CA 07-21-79) - RD

Hour two:

Songs Remains the Same/Rain Song: Led Zeppelin (01-07-73 - Oxford, England) - JH
Closet Queen: James Gang (07-15-71 Frisa, Holland) - JH

Summertime Blues: Joan Jett (Firemen's Memorial Park, Hempsted NJ, Aug. 8, 1981) - JH
Love Gun: Kiss (Selland Arena, Fresno, California November 27, 1979) - JH
Youth of America: The Melvins (Capitol Theater, Olympia, WA March 9, 2004) - JH

Interview with Linda Kelly

Hour three:

China Cat Sunflower - I Know You Rider: Grateful Dead (Assembly Hall, Umiversity of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, IL 73-02-21)

Interview with John Karr - John brought a bunch of recording he made while doing live sound for these bands. He's not certain of the song titles or exact dates. We'll forgive him this one time.

Death Cab For Cutie: Bottom of the Hill, SF, CA 1999
Fucking Champs, Bottom of the Hill, SF, CA 09-13-2000
Rumah Sakit: Bottom of the Hill, SF, CA 03-04-2000

Cosmic Slop: P-Funk, Yoshi's SF, CA 2012
Mastadon, Justice League, SF, CA 2001?
Mirv, Great American Music Hall, SF, CA 12-28-2002

Hour four:

Mermen SF, CA

Interview with Steffan Chirazi

Black Metal Special:

In Nomine Satanas/Black Metal: Venom
Gorgorath: Wacken Metal Fest 2012
Confessional Rape: Diecide

Hour five:
Necrolust: Mayhem
Ground: Celtic Frost

Blues set:
Shotgun Blues: Blues Brother (12-31-78 Winterland, SF, CA)
Boom Boom: John Lee Hooker (03-30-85 The Stone, SF, CA)

In Memory of Elizabeth Reed: Allman Brothers Band (07-03-70 Atlanta Pop Fest, Byron, GA)
Blues at Sunrise: Stevie Ray Vaughn and Albert King 12-06-83 CHCN Studios, Hamilton, ON

Interview with Eric McFadden

D's Diner: Eric McFadden, Les Claypool, Paulo Baldi (2007 The Independent, SF, CA)
I'm A Howlin' Wolf: Muddy Waters (11-04-76 Blues & Jazz Festival Geneva, Switzerland)
Trouble No More: Junior Wells and Buddy Guy 12-03-85 Dingwalls, London, England

Waiting For The Bus/Jesus Just Left Chicago: ZZ Top (04-19-80 Grugahalle, Essen, Germany)

I'm Waiting For The Man: Lou Reed (12-26-72 KLIR, Hempstead, NY)
Redondo Beach: Patti Smith (01-30-76 The Roxy, LA, CA)

The Letter: Joe Cocker and The Grease Band (10-19-69 Fillmore West, SF, CA)


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