Welcome to Rock Bands of L.A.

Learning of the death of Deep Purple founder, Jon Lord, due to pancreatic cancer at age 71, caused me to think that he was the mastermind of the greatest hard rock album ever. That album was entitled “Deep Purple In Rock” and it was of major influence to many bands there after. Metallica, Queen ...

In 1972 The Sensational Alex Harvey Band was formed. They were cashing in on the huge glam movement that was breaking all over Europe. Alex Harvey, who was of Scottish descent, fronted the band and to my surprise he had sung in the original version of the London production of the musical Hair.He def ...

The death of L.A. Rhythm and Blues master, Johnny Otis, ends a chapter of Los Angeles music history passed on January17th at the age of 90. In 1947 he opened a club in Watts called the Barrelhouse Club where patrons could see all the new talent he founded. He was credited for discovering many artist ...

Born in rural Oklahoma in 1929, Lee Hazlewood mapped out a genre of music that was termed “Cowboy Psychedelia”. It sounds almost like an oxymoron; but when you learn more about Hazelwood you will feel completely comfortable with the etymology.While being a D.J. in Arizona he hooked up with Rocka ...

Laurel Canyon has the musical history that books and movies are made of. Writer, Harvey Kubernic, has written a wonderful book titled “Canyon” which talks about the musical heritage of Laurel Canyon, nestled in the Hollywood hills.However, in a city as large as Los Angeles there was another cany ...