1968 Conqueror of American Rock - Chapter 156



Only Noblemtl

156. Share Your Heart (6)

The buildings on the north side, centered around Kings and CW, were decorated with Christmas trees and colorful lights, brightly decorating the entire street. Employees greeted each other brightly and cleaned the street.

On the other hand, the buildings to the south were dark in color with red neon signs. Instead of any cleaning staff in sight, groups of young men in leather jackets were smoking cigarettes and throwing their butts on the floor.

If you look at it from the sky in a helicopter, the South and the North will have strikingly different colors.

Michael Lang and John Scher arrived at the Sunset Strip a few days early to scout out the action.

“Well, Michael. This place feels a little cold. There’s a huge difference between here and across the street.”

John Scher saw this sight and thought something was wrong.

“They’re the ones making a fuss. This is the way it used to be. Sunset Strip is about 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometers). Even though the two clubs next door have joined in, rock fans are still more used to this kind of atmosphere. Look at this place now. There are a lot more people here than there.”

As Michael Lang said, the north was deserted, while the south was bustling with people.

“I guess you’re right. Black Sabbath can’t perform wearing Santa hats, haha.”

John Scher was relieved to see the bustling crowd.

The two opened the door and entered The Devil’s Club, which served as the headquarters for the Southern Line Festival.

Anthony greeted them warmly, but they couldn’t hear him because of the loud music. The two nodded in greeting.

“The devil’s moon rises again today!”

Woohoooooooooooo!

A man with dark eyeliner and a devilish expression was screaming and clapping his hands vigorously, displaying his showmanship. He was none other than Ozzy Osbourne, the lead singer of Black Sabbath.

“Paranoid!”

Come on, come on, follow me, follow me.

Come on, come on, follow me, follow me.

Tony Iommi delivers a powerful introduction to ‘Paranoid’, the title track of Black Sabbath’s second album and currently a hit in the UK and the US.

Ozzy Osbourne overacted like a maniac to a simple yet heavy, repetitive guitar riff, and the audience shook their heads along with him.

People were excited by the comments that were sprinkled with profanity at the end of each sentence.

The title Paranoid implies paranoia or delusional disorder, but the actual content of the song is closer to depression. Bassist Geezer Butler, who wrote the lyrics, was always high on drugs. He couldn’t tell the difference between depression and paranoia and used it as the title of the song.

These were lyrics that could never have come from Tony Iommi, the only member who never touches drugs and always maintains a clear mind.

As they finished playing, Anthony approached them with a broad smile and a glass of whiskey in one hand.

“Michael, these guys are really great. The festival is about to start and they’re already drawing people into the streets, hahaha!”

“James may have created one of the most wholesome bands in rock history, but the fundamentals remain the same.”

Michael Lang wasn’t a fan of decadence, but he believed that business was about giving people what they wanted.

“It’s a shame that we could have brought Led Zeppelin, even though their schedule wasn’t full until next year.”

John Scher was friends with most of the bands that were doing well in Britain. It wasn’t at all impossible for him to create the greatest festival on earth.

“If Deep Purple comes next week, we’re like, what the heck, we’ve got a huge lead from the start. And they haven’t released an official album yet, but these guys called KISS are awesome. I found them in New York and brought them over.”

Anthony pointed to the KISS members who had been wearing bizarre makeup that made their original faces unrecognizable.

“No, we’re not filming a movie or anything, it seems a bit excessive······.”

John Shea was horrified at the sight of them.

“Heh, I thought so at first, but surprisingly, that concept worked quite well. As Michael said, I put them on a truck and promoted them, and the effect was huge.”

“Anthony, didn’t Kings and the CW promote it the same way?”

Michael asked.

“Well, I did it once, and I think it was a photoshoot, not a promotion. I haven’t seen it since.”

Michael felt a little uneasy. They decorated it extravagantly and cleaned the streets every day, but there weren’t many people on the streets.

‘Maybe I was overestimating James Choi······.’

“Come on, Michael, John. Let’s have a drink to celebrate the successful completion of the festival, hahaha.”

Chae-Ang.

* * *

“Thanks to you all, we were able to successfully complete the recording and filming. Today is our last night here. Cheers to everyone who worked hard!”

Chae-Ang.

The week felt more like a vacation than work for us. Aerosmith, Tom Waits, Judas Priest, and Michael Jackson, who had only recently joined the company, had the opportunity to get to know the other groups.

We invited all the hard-working filming staff, motel staff, and White Light members to a party. Everyone did their part without exception, from setting the table, preparing the food, to serving.

Jack left all his relationships when he went to Hawaii. But when he returned to LA, he made a precious family and many colleagues and friends. With his humorous and friendly personality, he quickly became close to the local people. Children in particular followed him a lot.

“James, I’m, uh… a little nervous.”

“What do you mean? Everything is going well right now. Is it because you’re taking a week off from broadcasting?”

“No, I suddenly feel uneasy because only good things have been happening since I met you.”

“Isn’t this a reward for the hardships you’ve endured so far? In the East, there’s a saying, “After hardships, there’s happiness.” It means that since Jack has lived well so far, good things are happening, so there’s absolutely no reason to be anxious.”

Jack cried while singing in this project, overcome with an inexplicable overwhelming emotion. But that emotion was not only experienced by Jack, but by all of us who participated. Even the filming staff.

We put all our heart into it.

“But James, the station says they’ll be mostly rebroadcasting shows at the end of the year anyway, but isn’t Sunset Strip too empty right now? Even though new bands are coming on stage, all the main teams are out and here······.”

“It’s actually a good thing. Right now, the streets are being decorated for Christmas, and if there are a lot of people, the work will be more difficult. We’ll have to clean up several times more.”

“Oh, really? Haha. Anyway, you’re really positive.”

Then a high-pitched sound, as if tearing, was heard from somewhere.

“Me~~”

“Wow~~”

When I went there, I heard that rock vocalists were having a high note competition.

“Sol~~ Kk, kk. Oh, I abstain.”

Freddie Mercury gave up on the third octave of So.

In fact, according to later analysis by experts, Freddie Mercury’s vocal range is closer to a baritone than a tenor. Although vocal range is not a perfectly sharp distinction, he often sang live songs recorded on albums with a lowered voice. And while he showed a clear voice in Queen’s early albums, his singing style changed to a somewhat rougher one in the 80s.

“Sol~~”

Rob Halford continued lightly, laughing.

“Ra~~”

Annie shouted the next note in a fit of rage.

“No, why do rock singers do that?”

Diana Ross asked.

“Haha, you can just think of it as a kind of game.”

“But do you think a man could beat a woman’s vocal range? I think Annie would win······.”

She was secretly enjoying this confrontation, even though she was dumbfounded.

“Poem~~”

Surprisingly, the person who is still competing with Rob Halford and Annie is not a vocalist but Queen’s drummer Roger Tyler.

“Wow, it’s a real monster.”

“In Queen’s four-part harmony, Roger plays the soprano, haha.”

“Oh~~”

Annie started squeezing too.

“Doho······ Oh my, I give up!”

Roger Tyler took a cool sip of his beer with a smile.

“Hey~~!”

Rob Halford lowered his head slightly, strained his stomach, and shouted out a four-octave C. It was so high that even the listener’s head hurt.

“Ah, let’s stop. Rob, admit it. You’re number one. Our music doesn’t need to go that high, haha.”

Annie gave up first place to Rob.

“Annie, you seem like you could do more, but you’re quitting.”

Of course, Diana would know this well since she is a singer. She is right. Rob had a natural vocal transition and used a lot of his voice, but Annie still had a lot of range left.

“I guess you’re hungry, haha.”

I was just saying that, but Annie went back to the grill and started eating the meat.

“It’s really so nice here. I think I should buy a villa in the countryside. I didn’t know that the warmth of nature could be this good, and I just lived singing.”

She couldn’t take her eyes off the countless stars in the night sky that seemed ready to pour down.

The bonfire crackled pleasantly all night long, and our warm night grew more and more comfortable.

* * *

A hotel near West Hollywood.

Two men are sitting at an outdoor table on a terrace drinking tea.

The man stroking his bushy moustache and laughing is John Lord. He was a classically trained pianist, but he was captivated by the charm of the Hammond organ and turned to pop music. While working as a keyboard session player, he interacted with various musicians, and after playing in various rock bands, he formed Deep Purple with Ritchie Blackmore.

“Rich, California is truly a great place to live. It’s almost December, but it’s still so warm during the day.”

“Thank you for understanding, John.”

Ritchie Blackmore, who plays guitar in Deep Purple, often had conflicts with the other members due to his prickly perfectionist personality. However, Jon Lord always played the role of mediator between him and the other members, and Ritchie trusted and relied on him more than the other members because he understood him.

“What’s there to understand? Thanks to you, I’m able to come here so early and enjoy the California sunshine that money can’t buy, haha.”

Deep Purple had entered the United States and was gaining popularity by successfully holding large-scale concerts. Then one day, Ritchie Blackmore received an offer from John Shea for a month-long street festival on the Sunset Strip. He expressed his intention to participate without the consent of the members.

The members were dissatisfied that a band that was doing well would only play a small neighborhood club for a month, but Richie had already made the decision and there was nothing they could do about it.

Jon Rhodes calmed down the rest of the members and came to LA first with Richie.

“Rich, Sunset Strip is a funny place. Look at that, the north and south sides of the street have such different vibes. Plus, on the north side, you’ll see bands like Kings and CW, and on the south side, you’ll see our British bands’ names written all over the place. And those guys dressed up as monsters and riding around in trucks called KISS, they’re hilarious, right? Hahaha.”

John Rhodes tried to put Richie at ease by smiling and talking, but Richie just kept a serious expression on his face and looked at his watch.

Ding dong.

As soon as he heard the bell, Richie ran and opened the door.

The person who came into the hotel room was their manager.

“Did you get the knife?”

“Yeah, I heard it was discontinued, so I searched around and paid several times the price to get it. Wow, how great is this little thing?”

The manager was holding a yellow metal pedal in his hand. Richie took the pedal and smiled faintly.