When I saw this list of the top 10 tunes by The Rolling Stones, I noticed "Dead Flowers" was missing so I decided to write about my personal connection to that tune.
"Dead Flowers" is one of many tunes that I didn't know until it was suggested at a Lou's Classic Ride rehearsal, which was one of the perks of playing in LCR. I don't know if I would have ever heard the Black Keys tune "Lonely Boy" had it not been suggested in rehearsal. As for The Rolling Stones, I have always been more of a Casual Fan than a "Super Fan" as my interest in the band has never been overwhelmingly driving me to listen to every tune in their catalog. There are other bands - Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, Phish, The Beatles - about which I feel the same - I think I have wrote a post about bands I place in that category. I don't deny their greatness and respect what they have done as musicians, but I just haven't been consumed by their tunes. Doesn't mean I despise their music; it means I prefer any of the following bands to The Rolling Stones:
Bayside
Metallica
Count the Stars
Shinedown
Bigwig
The Cardinal Sin (I just re-listened to their album the other day)
Adelitas Way (I just re-listened to Homeschool Valedictorian album the other day)
Anyways, when I state that I think "Dead Flowers" should be on the list of the top 10 tunes by the Rolling Stones, I write that with a status of "causal fan" not a master of their material.
One of my favorite moments playing drums is when Joe let loose during "Dead Flowers" at this point in the tune - look at my smile!
Lou's Classic Rice formed in late May of 2012. After nearly a year of rehearsals, we progressed from 830 Studios (my basement) to the world. We ended up playing two gigs. The first was a warmup set for Adrenalize at Fat Jack's in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Friday, July 12, 3013. Thanks to Serbi for letting me use his drums! We played these tunes:
Lonely Boy
Sunshine of your Love
Stuck in the Middle
Foghat (I Just Want to Make Love to You)
Dead Flowers
Saturday Night's All Right for Fighting
What I Like About You
Rocking in the Free World
This first video starts out with us until the 5:50-ish time and then switches to highlights of Adrenalize's set. Adrenalize featured Serbi on drums and Kyle O on guitar (RIP).
Lonely Boy - this was the first tune that LCR put together and was always one of my favorites.
Sunshine - way back in 1992, I went to a drummer audition in Urbana. This tune was one that we tried to go through and, I remember very vividly, that I had not heard it before. Thus, during the audition, playing the 1 and 3 on the snare was tough for me to nail. Therefore, when LCR came together, I suggested this tune as it was one that I wanted to play 'correctly' to atone for the disaster that was the 1992 drummer audition. I think it sounds good.
Stuck in the Middle - Brian Guitar suggested this tune. It was new to me but I quickly fell in love with the groove.
Saturday Night - Joe suggested this tune. I remembered the Flotsam & Jetsam metal cover, but had to go back and listen to the original version.
What I Like About You - I have always liked this tune. I am fairly certain it was the first tune that I ever heard a cover band play. I was at Hawkeye Downs for something and recall walking past the beer tent and hearing some band playing this tune. I don't recall how old I was or who was with me; I only recall the fact that I heard it and thought, "Wow, that'd be fun to play in a band that knew this tune."
Dead Flowers - I'm pretty sure Joe suggested this tune. I didn't know it prior to having it show up on a list of possible tunes. I grew to love it.
Brian Rocking Out - I don't remember who suggested playing this tune and, sadly, I have to admit I wasn't familiar with this tune until it became one we tried in rehearsal. Matthew Helmke sings lead. The video is the final 1:54 of the tune and features Brian's guitar solo and a pseudo-drum solo / finish at the end. It was the 8th of the 8 tunes we played that night and I just wanted to drum out a bit and play every thing Serbi had in his setup that I could. FYI, I typically don't 'go off' like that unless the song calls for it.
