I actually enjoyed Walk Hard and found the vast majority of it very funny. Though it probably helps if you've seen most every music related bio pic that's been made in the last 30 years or so.

.38 Special are still around. Allen Collins was never a member but .38 Special bassist Larry Junstrom played on Skynyrd's first album (Skynyrd's First not to be confused with Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd) (along with Medlocke). However, when Rossington and Collins formed The Rossington-Collins Band they recruited Dale Krantz from .38 Special on the strength of her background vocals.

Allen Collins passed away on January 23, 1990. Rickey Medlocke of Blackfoot was in Skynyrd very briefly but has never been considered a founding member of the band. The only original members left at this point are Gary Rossington and Billy Powell. If you have never seen Skynyrd I would recommend seeing them while you still can. I never got to see the original (pre-crash) version of the band but did get to see the Tribute Tour and several other shows after that. All I'm saying is, I'd never confuse them with the Ronnie Van Zant-era Skynyrd.

That's the version of Whitesnake I was referring to. I never minded the early stuff but when they got into imitating Zep just to sell records they were impossible to tell apart from any of the other dozens of "Led clones" that were out there at the time.

Usually the release of a new R.E.M. album leads to revisiting their entire back catalog but not this time. However, an avid collector (REMdave) has been uploading all kinds of rare R.E.M. footage to YouTube including an early concert at The Pier in Raleigh, NC, promos for Murmur, Fables of the Reconstruction and Green along with lots of other goodies: REMdave

Phil Collins "retiring" doesn't make me sad. As for him "barging in univited" at Live Aid. I think not.

I'm curious as to why folks continue to line the pockets of bootleggers by buying stuff like the O2 show when you can get it for FREE either by trading with a fellow Zeppelin fan and/or by downloading it online. R.E.M. does a very good cover of Passenger from Later With Jools Holland that can be found on the single for At My Most Beautiful: Purchases from over the weekend: 7" single released as part of Record Store Day promotion

As do I but to me, his voice sounds much more "froggy" (for lack of a better word) these days than it ever has. And not to say that they use AutoTune on his voice or anything but a lot can be done in the studio to polish up his vocals. It's mainly live I'm talking about but to my ears I can hear a very discernable change to his voice on his newer records.

Thanks for sharing. I've been a fan for a while but never have seen him in concert.

I don't care for Yoko's singing, not sure how you weren't able to pick up that from my post. No, it may not have anything to do with the topic at hand but I also felt it necessary that I address the fact that I respect her as a person and as an artist. Same for Joan Baez. If that's off-topic or not keeping with the spirit of the thread, so be it. It's just my opinion afterall.

It is but that doesn't mean one can't also express opinions about how they feel about certain artists whether they care for their singing voices or not. I'm also a huge Rush fan but have no problem seeing where Geddy Lee's voice might grate on someone's last nerve. I've also heard more than one person say the very same thing about Robert Plant.

Search for "Heavy Metal Parking Lot" on YouTube. I think you'll find it much more than "entertaining", you'll be laughing your ass off.

From The New York Times: 'Catch' Caught Out Compiled by PETER EDIDIN A production outline suggests that the opening scenes of Tuesday’s season premiere episode of the Discovery Channel show “Deadliest Catch” could be fake, The Hollywood Reporter said. The episode opens during a storm on the Bering Sea, in which the Wizard, a fishing boat, appears in danger of sinking. But the flooded boat was filmed in September, and the huge waves shown crashing into the boat were shot in October, according to the production outline, which The Reporter obtained. (A scene from a different episode is shown above.) Additional footage was also shot to help stitch the two events together. The outline directs producers of the show to patch together a scene of life-and-death peril from different days of filming, but Discovery executives said the document was an early draft that was not used. Such editing and staging tactics are common on reality shows, but Discovery considers “Deadliest Catch” a documentary and denies that re-enactment footage was ever used on it. John Ford, Discovery’s president and general manager, said the outline was “a rough draft that was rejected.” He added: “The Wizard was struck by a big wave, and that wave caused the leak you see in the show. The thing we didn’t have on camera was the actual wave that struck the Wizard. That was shot at a separate time on the same journey.”

According to the links I posted to the Salon article and the BBC documentary a great deal of what Castaneda wrote about in his books has been disproved beyond a shadow of a doubt. If you watched the documentary you will see that, despite these findings, Simon and Schuster still classify his works as "nonfiction". As I mentioned earlier, I first became aware of the books through an older brother back in the 70s when I was just a kid in high school (around the same time I was getting into Kerouac). My dad always took an interest in the things we were interested in so he had also read the books. I remember when I was first getting into them he said, "Read them. Enjoy them. Just don't try to live your life like them."

I have an aversion to Joan Baez that began indirectly in French class back in high school when we were forced to listen to her sister Mimi Farina. Then came my purchase of the Woodstock soundtrack album at a flea market in Denver in 1979. Of course, I'd heard it before but never owned a copy so I never really got to know it until I bought it. Then came an Earl Scruggs album full of guests like Baez, Dylan, McGuinn, Doc Watson, etc. I found I could take Baez in small doses but that was about it. Fast forward to the 90s and the traveling version of the Newport Folk Festival comes to the local shed boasting a lineup that included Baez, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Lucinda Williams, Mark Eitzel (American Music Club), Wilco (touring in support of their with album Billy Bragg of recently unearthed Woody Guthrie songs, Mermaid Avenue), Mark Cohn, Nanci Griffith, Lyle Lovett, etc. Skeptical, I head for the lawn for Baez' set. She catches my attention a cover of an Indigo Girls song. Then, mid-set she does her now infamous impersonation of Dylan which has everyone rolling on the lawn in laughter. From that day on I had a newfound respect for Joan Baez. I still don't own any of her records, nor do I have any plans to but I do respect her as an artist and performer. As for Yoko, I'm no fan of her vocal style either. Nor do I automatically hate her as so many people do because they assume she broke up the Beatles. While I don't particularly care for her music, I do respect her. John Lennon obviously thought enough of her to marry her and have children with her so that's all I need to know right there. I also don't think she's a money grubber or some sort of evil person but I'm sure that clearly puts me in the minority. If she wanted to cash in on the Beatles back catalog she would have done that a very longn time ago. Just how long have we been waiting now for a remastering of their entire catalog? If she and McCartney wanted to cash in surely it would have happened long before now. Lots of folks cite her as an influence including Diamanda Galas who John Paul Jones has worked with on occasion. Same goes for Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson of the B-52s as well as Bjork. While I respect Yoko as an artist and person I also fully admit to emptying a pizza parlor in Greenville, NC back in the 80s by playing the b-side to "(Just Like) Starting Over" which was Yoko's Kiss, Kiss, Kiss from Double Fantasy. I can respect her and still not be a fan of her music.

Drive-By Truckers: Where Southern Rock Meets Soul Jason Thrasher The latest from Drive-By Truckers is Brighter Than Creation's Dark. World Cafe, April 24, 2008 - On Brighter Than Creation's Dark, the Athens, Ga.-based Drive-By Truckers offers an epic and emotional 19-song rock statement. The roots-music powerhouse knows its way around thundering Southern rockers, country ballads and, lately, Stax-inspired soul. Bassist and vocalist Shonna Tucker is mostly responsible for that last addition, now contributing her own songs to the band. Co-founded by Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley in 1996, Drive-By Truckers already had a firm musical base, straddling the line between Southern culture celebration and critique. Songs like "The Living Bubba" and "Too Much Sex (Too Little Jesus)" were goofy country tunes with tongues firmly in cheek. But it was around the double-disc Southern Rock Opera (2001) that the Truckers began to craft stories about unique regional characters and came into their own as stronger songwriters. In an interview and performance with guest host Michaela Majoun, Drive-By Truckers plays songs from Brighter Than Creation's Dark. Click here to listen to the interview and performance.

TIM PERLICH Fast-rising Houston singer/songwriter whose excellent new Trouble In Mind (Lost Highway) disc shows he belongs in the company of the veteran Texas tunesmiths – Guy Clark and Ray Wylie Hubbard – who inspired him. Carll and his band tear up the El Mocambo Saturday (April 26), 9 pm. $10.50. 416-870-8000. Click here to read the interview.

I'm thinking it shouldn't be too hard to find even if you have to order it online. Have you tried gemm.com?

I say this as a big Dylan fan but I'm guessing you haven't heard any of his newer albums and/or haven't seen him in concert in recent years. His voice has detoriated to the point where it's not uncommon to see fans flocking out after only a few songs. Just ask anyone that was in attendance at his Austin City Limits set last year.

I don't hear the folk aspect but I was never really addressing that, I was referring to the blatant lifts from Zep like the instrumental passage from Still of the Night. Not to even mention Coverdale's fashion changeover to try to look like Plant. I mean, Plant didn't refer to him as "David Coverversion" for no reason at all.

I know you are full of shit. You've obviously missed at least one interview but even more likely, two.

The Billboard Q&A: The Replacements The Billboard Q&A: The Replacements' Paul Westerberg The Billboard Q&A: The Replacements' Tommy Stinson

Crowd at a Rock Show