Eighteen years ago, Kurt Cobain left this planet and the world of rock mourned his passing. Sad. I always wonder what Nirvana would be doing today—would they still be together?, would there have been a Foo Fighters?, would Kurt have done a solo record? So many questions left unanswered. But Kurt is now joined upstairs by the inventor of the guitar amp, Jim Marshall. “The Father of Loud” passed last week at age 88. Many rockers offered up their messages about his death: Slash: “The news of Jim Marshall passing is deeply saddening. R & R will never be the same w/out him. But, his amps will live on FOREVER!” Sevendust‘s John Connolly: “Terribly sad to hear Jim’s passing. Not sure what popular music would be like if he hadn’t invented the high gain amplifier. My most prized possession is my 1971 Super Tremolo and I’ll never get rid of it and it is part of every record I make. God bless him and his family.” Egypt Central: “Jim Marshall was one of the most influential creators and craftsmen in music history. His ideas gave way to some of the greatest scrapes of music ever created. He will be missed and honored in the art world forever.” John 5 of Rob Zombie‘s band wrote: “Sad to hear about the death of the king of loud, Mr Jim Marshall.” Scott Ian of Anthrax wrote: “Just heard about Jim Marshall passing… I am lucky to have spent time with the man that created the sound of Rock music. A true LEGEND.”…Godsmack‘s single “Rocky Mountain Way,” the 1985 Joe Walsh (Eagles) tune, leaked early and was rush-released yesterday instead of being out on it’s original Apr 19th ship date. Be listening for it soon on hardDrive XL with Lou Brutus! The song is one of 4 covers to be included on Godsmack’s “Live & Inspired” live record due May 15th….HellYeah released a super heavy track on iTunes called “War In Me” off their forthcoming “Band of Brothers” album due Jul 17th. The band, Chad Gray, Greg Tribbett, Tom Maxwell and Vinnie Paul Abbott will hit the hardDrive studios on Mon, Apr 16th. We’ll also get with Vin to talk about the lost Pantera track that didn’t make “Vulgar Display of Power” called “Piss” and do a little Pantera reminiscing with the drummer. Sure miss Dimebag, and I really feel like his soul went into Mark Tremonti‘s guitar! Wait til you hear his solo stuff! I can’t stop listening!…..Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder was forced to cancel his spring tour and move it to the fall. He suffered a back injury a while back that has caused nerve damage to his right arm. Doctors have him on therapy and rest. Needless to say, Eddie is bummed!….Celebrating his 50th birthday on Sunday is Izzy Stradlin, former guitarist for Guns N’ Roses. And Sunday would’ve marked Slipknot bassist Paul Gray‘s 40th. I’ll bet he’s crushing upstairs with Jim Marshall! Have a great weekend, y’all. I’m going to see the Braves and Mets on Sunday. Happy Passover and Happy Easter! Back on Monday!
