B Sides

There's nothing more satisfying than hearing a spot-on live rendition of your favorite band's best work. On this episode of the B-Sides with Bolin and Blumberg, we collect a number of great live performances of our favorites from across the pond.

We start off with a trio of bands hitting the mark. There's Status Quo from its last concert featuring the group's original members. Then, there's UFO featuring Michael Schenker on lead guitar and the 70's band, Sweet, performing a gig in 2008.

This week we go back in time to a remarkable decade in rock history as we explore the organic and prolific explosion of California folk-rock artists we still treasure today. 

As folk artists gradually moved from Greenwich Village to West Hollywood, singer songwriters such as Crosby, Stills, and Nash, Neil Young, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Carole King and Linda Ronstadt emerged from the living rooms of Laurel Canyon to become hit makers of the record industry.        

As American as apple pie, the blues have carved an important niche in this nation's musical history. On this episode of the B-Sides with Bolin and Blumberg, we take a look at some of the more recent additions to this legacy.

Joined by Steve Smith, host of Siouxland Public Media's Ten O'clock Blues, we take a trip from coast to coast to coast to bring you some of the more prolific artists tied to this genre.

While the U.S. is known as the birth mother of rock and roll, many British bands made sure they were considered direct relations.

On this episode of the B-Sides with Bolin and Blumberg, we take a dive into the Brits' version of boogie and blues.

Country music is one of America's greatest innovations. On this segment of the B-Sides with Bolin and Blumberg, Johnnie and I focus on the most recent formula for this music. In fact, we go coast-to-coast to play country music connected to its roots in the past century.

We start our journey in the mid-section of the continent with Hot Rize, a bluegrass band from Colorado, and K.D. Lang from Canada.

While the snow may be blowing, this episode of the B-Sides with Bolin and Blumberg has the music to warm the cockles of your heart.

We call it A Tasty Pig since it corporates the sounds of Taste and Blodwyn Pig and the guitarists who founded the bands.

First, there is Mick Abrahams who started his career with Jethro Tull before breaking off to form Blodwyn Pig and then continue with a long solo career.

We hear from Tull and Pig before launching into Mick Abrahams' stellar solo work.

Have you ever wondered what happened to your favorite artists? On this B-Sides with Bolin and Blumberg, we take a listen to four bands which were very popular during their times, but which have since faded a bit over the years.

Collective Soul is one of those groups that garnered much attention back when they first hit the scene in 1990. Although still together, the band was really a hit with their first two albums. We showcase two of their hits which drew critical and commercial success when first released.

On this episode of the B-Sides with Bolin and Blumberg, we take a deep dive into blues and rock from the great state of Texas. The music comes from Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio and Houston. And while you've likely heard most of the artists, it's always nice to hear from everybody in one hour.

We start with one of the most popular bands from the Lone Star State -- Asleep at the Wheel. They put their spin on an old Eric Clapton song, Lay Down Sally.

Johnnie and I decided on no theme this week, so I grabbed a dozen cds and played a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

The show starts with Tonio K. and his societal tribute, Life in the Foodchain. This was from his first solo, which is considered one of the best rock albums ever.

The year was 1969, the year of Woodstock. It was there that America's first supergroup took the stage for one of its first performances.

Crosby, Stills and Nash were about to begin a musical journey, which still resonates today. Neil Young joined the group slightly thereafter to play on the band's second album, Deja Vu.

Nonetheless, it is illustrative of not only the group's output, but of where they came from and how those bands contributed to the bedrock of American rock and roll.

You actually might want to call this show, The Lee Sides, as Johnnie and I have put together a must hear sample of these two remarkable British axe men who have cemented their place among the best.

First it started with The Beatles (who else?), then came Badfinger and The Raspberries, and then Cheap Trick and Big Star. They all had super melodies and hooks to keep you humming all day.

But for some reason the crunchy, jangly guitars and the driving backbeat never really came into its own. For some reason, radio never picked up on power pop leaving it to be found by a small cult of music nerds, who dug the harmonies and everything else about it.

Southern rock is one of America's tried and true musical genres. On this B-Sides with Bolin and Blumberg we cover the gamut from the 70's to present day.

The show starts off with three bands, Blackfoot and Lynyrd Skynyrd both from Florida, and Point Blank from Texas.

Blackfoot, which is still active, features Rick Medlocke, who is also a current member of Lynyrd Skynyrd quite possibly one of the top five bands in U.S. history. Meanwhile, Point Blank was produced by Bill Ham, best known for his work with ZZ Top.

One the of lost genres of rock and roll is British Pub Rock. It evolved as many music-lovers in England grew bored with the psychedelic and glam rock scene. 

Pub rock is a perfect name since the bands spent their nights playing in the London pubs. The two bands in this battle hail from the same area, Canvey Island. This was an oil refinery town on the border of the Thames River and the North Sea. It was a gritty and grimy place to live.

New York is home for a lot of great things: great restaurants, Broadway shows, and, of course, some of the finest rock and roll in the world.

On this B-Sides with Bolin and Blumberg, we take an in-depth look into hard rock the Big Apple way.

When the punk scene hit in the mid-seventies, New York and the world saw the emergence of the Ramones, a quartet from Queens. Their hard, fast and brief songs set the template for other punk bands from America and England. This show begins with of the band's earliest work.

When most people think of Australia, they probably think of kangaroos, koala bears and shrimp on the barbie. What many don't think of is great rock and roll. 

Great Aussie rock actually started back in the 60's with the emergence of The Easybeats, which broke into U.S. radio with Friday on my Mind. But it was in the 70's and 80's when the whole scene blossomed.

On this B-Sides, we take an in-depth look at the various styles of rock, which marked the diversity of great music from coast to coast.

Imagine what it would have been like to wake up Monday morning to the strains of Jimi Hendrix playing the “Star-Spangled Banner”? Well, that's how Woodstock came to a close after 3 days of peace and love.

On this hour of the B-Sides with Bolin and Blumberg, you get to hear the whole thing plus the remarkable performance of Joe Cocker doing the Beatles' “With a Little Help from my Friends” and The Jefferson Airplane waking up the crowd on Sunday morning with “Volunteers.”

This week marks the 50th anniversary of one of the most beloved cultural events of the 20th century.  Woodstock marked the way people could celebrate, en masse, in a peaceful and joyful time together on this planet.

And the B-Sides is here to help you celebrate the universal karma that was three and a half days of peace and love.

Johnnie and I believe the event was so significant that we have dedicated two shows to Woodstock, its music and history.

There is likely nothing so visceral or gut churning as the 60's and early 70's primal rock and roll. 

On this edition of the B-Side, we bring this feeling to life with our 1st Battle of the Bands. The Rolling Stones face off against San Francisco's Flamin' Groovies with newly released versions of songs that have been in the Stones' repertoire for more than 50 years.

Despite his early passing, Tommy Bolin not only remains a Sioux City treasure but also one of the best guitarists in rock and jazz history.  No less than Peter Frampton, Warren Haynes and Joe Bonamassa look to him as a model for their own distinguished careers.

In this special edition of the b-sides with Bolin and Blumberg, Tommy's short but prolific time in the spotlight is presented.  From his time in Zephyr through his last recording, Private Eyes, you can see his impressive evolution. 

The B-Sides features the Free family tree including four songs from the seminal 70's band, cuts from Bad Company and solo work from Free's original guitarist, Paul Kossoff and his band Backstreet Crawler.

The B-Sides takes a look at blues rock from The Yardbirds, featuring Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck to Peter Frampton's latest all blues album.  Also included Humble Pie, Rory Gallagher, Led Zep and ZZ Top.

Bolin and Blumberg take a deep dive into the history of Saturday in the Park with co-founder Dave Bernstein and take a listen to some of the bands from this year and the past.