All Things From My Brain » Music

The Traveling Wilburys

Patrick Hester — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 18:00:21 +0000

I cleaned out my iPhone last night, purging all music from it and starting over. I felt like I’d been in a rut musically lately and needed to change things up. It was almost a traumatic experience to hit that delete button. Part of me wishes they made an MP3 player that could hold my entire music library so I would never have to choose what to carry with me. Part of me. The other part is kinda glad that I have to choose because it means that I explore my music more than I would otherwise, picking and choosing the things I want to listen to, finding gems I may have forgotten about or that I haven’t listened to in a long while instead of listening to the same twenty songs over and over again.

A while ago, The Traveling Wilburys Collection was finally released on iTunes and reissued on CD after a very long absence. Here’s a trip for you – I had them on cassette tape! I never owned the CD’s and, consequently, didn’t have them in my iTunes except for a couple of the hits that came from somewhere. So when they came up, at long last, as something I could purchase on iTunes, I was really excited.

Then I promptly forgot about it and didn’t buy the collection.

I kept thinking, every once in a while, ‘Oh, hey – need to buy The Traveling Wilburys!’ but then I’d get distracted and it would get pushed to the back of my mind again.

Until last night.

I bought the whole collection and promptly added it to my iPhone playlist. I’m listening to it today at work.

I remember the first time I listened to these songs. My mom was working at an Italian Restaurant called Luigi’s in Fresno California. It was on Blackstone Ave in the same strip mall area as K-Mart and this hobby store whose name escapes me but where I bought my first Dungeons & Dragons books. Anyway, I would go to Luigi’s after school (taking the bus) and hang out with mom playing Mrs. Pacman in the bar or doing my homework in one of the empty booths until she got off work at six and we’d head home for dinner.

One day, I’d heard this song ‘handle me with care’ by the strangest group; The Traveling Wilburys. The group was made up of some really famous people including: George Harrison, Jeff Lynn, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan & Roy Orbison. I really liked and wanted the song. I asked my mom and she gave me some money and sent me down the strip mall to Tower Records where I bought the cassette. I then headed behind the K-Mart to the little apartment complex where my older brother was living so I could play it on his stereo.

I remember him staring at me as I played the songs. “You like this?” he asked. “Yep,” I replied. He was surprised. “I didn’t think you liked good music.”

Of course, it made me suspicious that he would make such a comment. He and I did not like the same music. His tastes tended towards AC/DC, Metallica, Led Zeppelin. Boston, Deep Purple and Yngwie Malmsteen – none of which appealed to me at all (they did later, as I grew older and my own musical horizon was expanding – but not Yngwie…). For him to like what I was listening to was unusual and unsettling.

I sat there on the floor of his apartment and listened to the cassette through twice before I had to leave and walk back to Luigi’s. That was just the first of many, many times I would play that cassette through front to back. My friends were into the Wilburys as well and when we’d go out, it was often in the mix of stuff we’d pop into the car stereo and listen to or played in the background as we hung out and played D&D, so that little cassette tape got a lot of play.

It’s nice to have this music back into the mix again. I don’t know what confluence of events brought these guys together for a short time to make music together, but I’m glad that they did come together to produce some of my favorite songs of all time.

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Podcast: Episode 11

Patrick Hester — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:14:09 +0000

#11

In this weeks ATFMB podcast, I talk about scifi television, including the renewal of Fox hit Fringe for a 3rd season, Chuck’s ratings win that might mean a 4th season and how i09 has a list of 25 books Hollywood should be making movies out of, how HBO has greenlit a new series based on the Song of Fire and Ice fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, how Bruce Wayne, like every other comic book character who has ever died before him, is ‘coming back’ to the DC Universe and how Comics Should Be Good – which is the title of a new blog that I absolutely love. In music, I share with you my thoughts on Susan Tedeschi, blues goddess and not so secret crush.

Susan Tedeschi on iTunes

Comics Should be Good

DCU Bruce Wayne Returns

Susan Tedeschi

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Podcast: Episode 10

Patrick Hester — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 01:38:55 +0000

Episode 10: All Things From My Brain

In the Milestone Tenth episode of the All Things From My Brain podcast, I talk about NASA losing it’s funding for the Constellation program, about the iPad, the Kindle, Amazon and Apple, of the impending tv episode price war Apple wants to start, about the two rare comics that recently sold for $1mil each and I feature music by one of my favorite bands, The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band, in the hopes that all of you will go out and support them and buy their stuff.

Leave comments. They make the world go round…

[podcast]http://atfmb.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/AllThingsFromMyBrain010.mp3[/podcast]

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What is your favorite space song?

Patrick Hester — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:11:29 +0000

Just a quick post – John Anealio asked me to take part in a fantastic idea called ‘Interstellar Jukebox’ wherein he asks a bunch of great writers, bloggers, musicians, and podcasters to search through their music and weigh in on some Sci-Fi related music topic.

I was thrilled and honored to be asked to join in on the first question, “What is your favorite ’space’ song?’.

The post has gone live today so I wanted to share and point you over to it on SciFi Songs. Here’s an excerpt of my part on ‘Hillbillies from Outerspace’ by the Vaughan brothers:

“When you think of Stevie Ray Vaughan, an image probably comes to mind of a guy wearing a wide brimmed, black hat decorated with wide, silver discs. He’s wearing a long white shirt with a dark vest and steel toed cowboy boots that are probably…”

If you want to read the rest, visit John’s site, SciFi Songs.

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Sci Fi Songs: By John Anealio

Patrick Hester — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 22:30:54 +0000

Cover art by Ashley Quigg- http://www.ashleyquigg.com

It’s kinda funny how things happen. When I started playing World of Warcraft, a series of random meetings resulted in my meeting tons of new, creative and interesting people. The same sort of thing happened when I joined Twitter a while ago. One of those interesting people is John Anealio.

In a music landscape filled with pretty kids made famous for the ability to dance while lyp syncing, I always enjoy finding an indie artist who can actually write a song complete with lyrics, a musical arrangement and, most importantly, they can play an instrument. John is one of those (he actually plays all the instruments, I believe).

Everyone has to have a niche and John Anealio has found a most unique one; he writes music about science fiction and fantasy stories that he enjoys.

How’s that for original?!

Up until now, the only way to get John’s music was from his site, Sci Fi Songs, but as of December, John released a CD titled simply enough, Sci Fi Songs, with 11 of his best tunes to date (available as a physical CD or for DL at CD Baby).

With titles like ‘Cylon #6′, ‘Summer Glau’ (lyrics by John DeNardo over at SfSignal.com) and ‘The Millennium Falcon for Christmas’, Sci Fi Songs is a must have for any fan of the genre. Kinda folksy at times, kinda poppy, I find the tunes very nice, very mellow.

Now, I only recommend music if I truly like it and I can honestly say that I like and enjoy John’s music. As you may have garnered from the bit above, I can be a music snob. Having said that, Sci Fi Songs is part of my iTunes library and is frequent in my playlists since I ripped it. I can’t give any higher recommendation than that

John Anealio, Sci Fi Songs – check it out.

Complete Track Listing:

The Return of Titus Quinn
Rachel Rosen
Leodora
Cylon #6
Summer Glau
Angels & Vampires
Lonesome October Night
Sarene
Merithyn’s Promise
The Millennium Falcon for Christmas
Grasping for the Wind

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Podcast: Episode 5

Patrick Hester — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 22:59:50 +0000

Episode #5: All Things from My Brain

In the fifth episode of the All Things From My Brain podcast, I talk about the Palm Pre losing it’s iTunes sync functionality, how India plans to issue biometric ID cards to its 1.2 BILLION citizens, how the Kindle and Amazon are once again in the news with BAD PRESS, about Galaga coming to the iPhone in both retro and new forms, how Farragut films is bring Star Trek back to animation, how the family of Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkein are suing New Line Cinema cuz they ain’t been paid, about G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Iron Man 2 & Green Lantern: First Flight, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Buck Rogers in the 25th century, Flash Gordon, and The New Universe book projects currently on my plate.

[podcast]http://www.atfmb.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/AllThingsFromMyBrain005.mp3[/podcast]

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Music is important when writing: my iTunes playlist

Patrick Hester — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:51:54 +0000

I can’t imagine not having music going when I’m writing. Occasionally, I’ll have something else going; like a DvD movie or something, but for the most part, it has to be music for me.

My tastes are more diverse then I probably lead you to believe. My first love is the Blues, and I cannot imagine that ever changing. But there is a lot of other stuff that I like as well. With iTunes (and probably any other mp3 player out there), I can get fairly random mixes of music when I want them – and that is usually how I want my music, very random.

I offer you this glimpse into my music – a quick screen shot of my iTunes Party Shuffle list. Click the image if you want a larger view:

As I hope you can see, there is a really good mix here. Everything from Blues and Rock to Pop and Jazz and the occasionaly tv theme song (Drew Carey singing ‘Moon over Parma’ – I also have Lee Majors singing the theme from ‘The Fall Guy’, Murray Gold with the theme to ‘Doctor Who’ and Walyon Jennings singing the theme from ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’, to name a few) mixed in for good measure.

I have had people wander in and ask me what on earth I am playing, which always causes me to pause and listen more closely. I have been known to answer, “Duel of the Fates from Star Wars, Episode I” before, as well as, “Oh… this is from Wrath of Kahn.” or “Lazlo Bane. You don’t know them.” I’ve also had people wander in and discover something that they absolutely love and must have, so I end up burning them a CD at some point or shooting them an email with the artist name/song name/cd title.

I think an ecclectic music collection helps a lot. You never know what you’re going to get. And when you’re writing, that can be a good thing because it can help you define your mood and then you can put that into the words on the page. Also, there are times when you want to be in a specific mood because of what you are writing, so you put together a quick playlist to suit that mood and off you go. I often wonder if authors shouldn’t publish a soundtrack for their novels, so we can know what they were listening to when they wrote something so we can set the mood for when we read it.

What do you think? Does music play a roll in your own writing?

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New Podcast Available: Episode #2

Patrick Hester — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:47:03 +0000

You can subscribe to the podcast by visiting iTunes and hitting subscribe. (episode #2 may not be there yet – but when you subscribe, it’ll download automatically when they update the feed)

You can also grab the feed directly from PodBean by clicking this link and using the RSS feed to subscribe using whatever method you prefer.

Episode #2: All Things from My Brain

In the second episode of the All Things From My Brain podcast, I talk about the iPhone 3GS rollout, my new Alesis USB podcast mic, the obsession of the news media with the death of pop icon Michael Jackson, the new DRM bombshell on the Amazon Kindle, the Ghostbusters game on the XBOX 360, video game piracy and store front activation, cloud gaming, Transformers 2 and the rise of audio book casts and eBooks. I also mention the new Tor.com storefront, introduce some new music, rant about the viral marketing for Dan Brown’s upcoming ‘The Lost Symbol’ and discuss my own writing efforts for the week.

Show notes and Links:

Episode 2 Show notes and links

Tech Update / iPhone 3GS sales/news:

Kindle News:

Games:

Scifi News:

Book News:

Let me know what you think – leave a comment or send me an email!!

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New thing I did – A Podcast

Patrick Hester — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 01:39:17 +0000

So.

Guess what I did this weekend?

I created a podcast!!

I decided that I have a face fit for radio… Or Podcasting…

Anyway, spent the weekend working on this – hoping that I’ve worked the kinks out and it’ll be much much easier to do these moving forward. We’ll have to see about that.

There’s lot’s of ways to access the podcast at this point:

You can click this link and it’ll take you to the feed.
You can click the podcast player in the right sidebar and play it in the browser.
You can click the link in the left sidebar to the feed.

I’ve submitted it to iTunes so as soon as I have a link for that, I’ll put it here somewhere. In the meantime, you can add it to your iTunes by clicking on Advanced, then Subscribe to podcast and just paste the feed link in.

I’m really excited about this!

In this inaugural episode of the All Things From My Brain Podcast, I introduce myself and then talk about: the podcast and the blog, I also talk about reboot mania gripping Hollywood, the new iPhone 3GS and the new 3.0 OS, Tweetdeck on the iPhone, the new Ghostbusters game released this week, Microsoft’s new .NET Firefox addon that you probably didn’t know about, Torchwood: Children of Earth, Primeval, Doctor Who and the new Spaceport America.

If that sounds interesting to you, then what are you waiting for? Click the link!

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Supernatural: The Music

Patrick Hester — Wed, 06 May 2009 02:05:53 +0000

I mentioned yesterday that I’ve gotten into the tv show ‘Supernatural’. One of the things that sets the tone for this show is the music. Classic Rock mostly. Really good tunes. I looked for a soundtrack but I couldn’t find one. What I did find were a bunch of sites listing the music that has appeared on the show. I compiled that into a single list that I’m gonna try and get so I can have a ‘Supernatural playlist’ – thought I’d share.

Supernatural Soundtrack

All I Ever Need by Speedometer
All Right Now by Free
Anthem by Extreme Music
Ashes to Ashes by Tarbox Ramblers
At Rest by APM
Back In Black by AC/DC
Back In Time by Huey Lewis and the News
Back on the Road Again by REO Speedwagon
Bad Company by Bad Company
Bad Moon Rising by Credence Clearwater Revival
Bad Seed by Brimstone Howl
Bad Time by Grand Funk Railroad
Bang Your Head (Metal Health) by Quiet Riot
Burnin’ for You by Blue Oyster Cult
Can’t Fight This Feeling by REO Speedwagon
Can’t Find My Way Home by Blind Faith/Steve Winwood
Can’t Get Enough of Your Love Babe by Barry White
Carry On My Wayward Son by Kansas
Cold as Ice by Foreigner
Crazy Circles by Bad Company
Crossroad Blues by Robert Johnson
Did You See It by Mother Superior
Do That To Me One More Time by Captain & Tennile
Don’t Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult
Don’t Look Back by Boston
Douchebag Theme by Christopher Lennertz and Steve Frangadakis
Down in the Street by The Stooges
Down on Love by Jamie Dunlap
Down South Jukin’ by Lynyrd Skynyrd
Down To My Grave by Ironweed
Downhearted Blues by Son House
Dream a Little Dream of Me by The Mamas and The Papas
Every Rose Has Its Thorn – Poison
Eye of the Tiger by Survivor
Fast Train Down by Waco Brothers
Fell On Black Days by Soundgarden
Fight Song by The Republic Tigers
Fight The Good Fight by Triumph
Fire of Unknown Origin by Blue Oyster Cult
Fly By Night by Rush
Foreplay/ Long Time by Boston
Gasoline by The Living Daylights
Go For Your Self by Kenny Smith & The Loveliters
Green Onions by Booker T and the M.G.’s
Green Peppers by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas by Rosemary Clooney
Heat of the Moment by Asia
Heir of the Dog by Nazareth
Hells Bells by AC/DC
Hey Man, Nice Shot by Filter
Hey You by BTO
Highway To Hell by AC/DC
Hocus Pocus by Focus
Hot Blooded by Foreigner
House is Rocking by Stevie Ray Vaughan
House of the Rising Sun by The Animals
I Got More Bills Than I Got Pay by Black Toast Music
I Put A Spell On You – Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
I Shall Not Be Moved by J.B. Burnett
If It Ain’t Easy by Steve Carlson (Instrumental Version)
I’m So Blue by Katie Thompson & Martyn Laight
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida by Iron Butterfly
It’s My Party by Leslie Gore
I’ve Got the World on a String by Frank Sinatra
Just As Through With You by Nine Days
Key to the Highway Big Bill Broonzy/Little Walter
Knocking on Heaven’s Door by Bob Dylan
Lady In Red by Chris De Burgh
Laugh, I Nearly Died by The Rolling Stones
Load Rage by Nichion Sounds Library
Lodi by Credence Clearwater Revival
Lonely is the Night by Billy Squier
Long Train Runnin’ by The Doobie Brothers
Long Way From Home by Foreigner
Look At You by Screaming Trees
Lucifer by The Bob Seger System
Mean Little Town by the Howling Diablos
Medusa by MasterSource
Merry Go Round by Split Habit
Movin’ On by Bad Company
My Cheatin’ Ways by Kid Gloves Music
Next to You by Junk Food
Night Life by Steve Carlson Band & Darren Sher
Nikki by Sasquatch
No One Like You by The Scorpions
Noise by Low Five
One More Once by Black Toast Music
Out of my Hands by Dave Matthews Band
Paranoid by Black Sabbath
Peace Of Mind by Boston
Perfect Situation for a Fool by George Highfill & Jai Josefs
Phillips Theme by Hound Dog Taylor & The HouseBreakers
Pictures of Me by Vue
Point of No Return by Rex Hobart & The Misery Boys
Poison Whiskey by Lynyrd Skynyrd
Poke In Tha Butt by Extreme Music
Puppet by Colepitz
Ramblin’ Man by Allman Brothers Band
Ramblin’ Man by The Allman Brothers Band
Ready For Love by Bad Company
Renegade by Styx
Road to Nowhere by Ozzy Osborne
Rock Bottom by UFO
Rock Of Ages by Def Leppard
Rock of Ages by Def Leppard
Rocky Mountain Way by Joe Walsh
Romantic Pieces, No 1 by Extreme
Rooster by Alice in Chains
Round And Round by Ratt
Royal Bethlehem by APM
Run Through The Jungle by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Saturday Night Special by Lynyrd Skynyrd
Searching For The Truth by MasterSource
Shambala by Three Dog Night
She Brings Me Love by Bad Company
She Makes Me Fall Down by Buva
Silent Lucidity by Qeeensryche
Slow Death by Extreme Music
Smoking Gun by Kip Winger
Speaking In Tongues by Eagles Of Death Metal
Steal The World by Brian Tichy
Stonehenge by Spinal Tap
Strange Face of Love by Tito and Tarantula
Stranglehold by Ted Nugent
Sugar, We’re Going Down by Fall Out Boy
Supermassive Black Hole by Muse
Surrender by Cheap Trick
Sweet and Low Down by Composer
Taylor’s Theme by Hound Dog Smith
The Crystal Ship by The Doors
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by Roberta Flack
The Killing Moon by Echo and the Bunnymen
The New World by X
Thunder Kiss ‘65 by White Zombie
Time Has Come Today by The Chambers Brothers
Toccata & Fugue in D Minor by Bach
Too Daze Gone by Billy Squier
Trailer Trash by MasterSource
Turn To Stone by Joe Walsh
Two Plus Two by The Bob Seger System
U Do 2 Me by Paul Richards
Vaya Con Dios by Les Paul & Mary Ford (Thanks to CW Lounge thread!)
Vision by Jason Manns
Walk Away by Joe Walsh & James Gang
Wanted Dead or Alive by Bon Jovi
We’re An American Band by Grand Funk (Railroad)
What A Way To Go by Black Toast Music
What a Wonderful World by Joey Ramone
What Cha Gonna Do by Classic
Wheel in the Sky by Journey
White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane
Women’s Wear by Daniel May
Working Man by Rush
Wrapped Around Your Finger by Martyn Laight
You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet by Bachman-Turner Overdrive
You Got Your Hooks Into Me by Little Charlie and the Nightcats
You Shook Me All Night Long by AC/DC

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