'Rockography'

Part one-The BeginningBorn in the early 1900'sthe Mississippi Delta its native landIt's been recorded for a 100 yearsfrom 'Muddy Waters' to 'Slowhand'The 'Axe' men from this primal deltalike 'Howlin Wolf' and 'Elmore James''Willie Jackson' and John Lee Hooker'are just some of the names'Albert Collins' and 'T Bone Walker'made their axes singSetting up a great futurefor the likes of 'Buddy Guy' and 'B.B. King'The 'Blues' could'nt be harnessedsuddenly it was big newsThere was a 'Buddy' and some 'Crickets'and a 'King' with 'Blue Suede Shoes'It even produced a 'Johnny B. Goode'It drove parents crazywas it just misunderstood?The sound became so powerfulsparking human emotionsThe Earth was this Pearls oysterreaching across all oceansOur nations only 'King'added 'Hip Shakin'' to the gameFour guys from London saw thisthings would never be the samePart 2-The ConfrontationIn 1964 we 'Met the Beatles'the 'British Invasion' beganFrom 'Help!' to 'A Hard Days NIght'to Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band''Kinks' and 'Animals''Hermits' named 'Herman' and moreEven some 'Rolling Stones'could America even the score?Of course,said some 'Beach Boys'and some 'Box Tops' and 'Byrds'We had some 'Grass Roots'we had 'Jim Morrison's' wordsWe passed through 'Doors'with 'Mitch Ryder' and 'Tommy Roe''Mamas and Papas' with 'Monkees''American Bandstand' the showBut this 'war' was just startingBritain sent a 'Zeppelin' and a 'Who''Jimi Hendrix' was Americanbut he was over there tooA 'Grand Funk Railroad' carried 'Steppenwolf'a 'Buffalo Springfield' 'Clearwater Revival'A patriotic 'Paul Revere and his Raiders'helped assure America's survivalBy 1965 the invasion was losing some steam'Wolfman Jack' was keeping things rightAs we sent 'Zombies' and some 'Rascals'to a rumble on this 'Three Dog Night'Part 3-The Hopefully Eternal WarEngland sent a 'Black Sabbath'we countered with a mighty 'Black Oak''Steve Guitar Miller' and soaring 'Eagles'arenas billowed in cannabis smokeBritish heads as 'Thick as a Brick''Jethro Tull' was one of the big boysA 'Fragile' yet talented 'Yes'another helping of well composed noiseBut we had a 'Crazy Horse'and 'Aerosmith'both still razor sharpSo many of this era disappearedor are sporting wings,halos and harpsWe'd lost 'Buddy Holly' and 'Richie'we lost two 'Jimmies' and a 'Janice'Cornerstones of 'Lynyrd Skynrd''Stevie Ray's Guitar' a heavenly chalice'Gary Wright' and 'Peter Frampton' from 'Spooky Tooth' and 'Humble Pie''Deep Purple' would 'Smoke on the Water'causing a fire in the skyWe'd bounce back cerebrallywith 'Jackson Browne' or 'Jesse Colin Young'The 'Doobie Brothers' and 'Steely Dan'even 'Grateful Dead' that sungSome awful good stuff it seemsover these decades has transpiredLots of Whiskey glasses tippedbut never one shot fired'Oasis' and 'U2'modern 'young guns' from overseasAs 'Creed' and 'Kenny Wayne Shepard'vibrate the China at English TeasI hope this 'war' lasts foreverand remains a challenging contestIt looks as though everyone winsas both nations have some of the besteak © 2001 Written November 1st, 2001 © on Nov 01 2001 02:38 AM PST   0 • 10