Comedian Rick Gutierrez Rips Off His Own Fans!!

FARG YOU!!

What I'm still trying to figure out is why anyone would work so hard to establish a fan base, attempt to entertain those people, and then smile and rip them off. Even if the initial intention was genuine, the end result was that comedian "FatAss" Rick Gutierrez (FARG) told a couple of his fans to basically take a hike.




As many artists do these days, FARG was selling CDs after his show one night in Reno, CA. Although he's very much of a hack comedian relying on formula cliches regarding age (FARG is 44 but easily appears to be 54 or older), sex and just plain being fat, we felt that we would purchase CDs from both FARG and the opening act (who was actually very good) to show our support. The opening act was charging only $5, partly because he was just the opener and partly because he had no case or label for the CD. FARG had a case with his information but also admitted he only had burned CDs to sell without a label. He was charging $15. So I paid $20 and got both of them. Later that day, once we were back in the car, we played the CDs. To our disappointment, FARG's CD was actually a copy of the opening act's CD. There was no label on either CD but this one was in FARG's case. So we basically ended up paying $20 for two of the opener's CDs.





We figured that this obviously was an honest mistake and although we were frustrated by what happened, at the time we understood. This could have happened to anyone, right? Wrong!!



Since January, we have not received a single disk, neither a CD nor a DVD. After an initial response of, "I was out of the country, how about a DVD instead?", we have heard nothing back and FARG is refusing to respond to emails (at least 10). So now the Better Business Bureau in Los Angeles as well as Texas is fully aware of FARG's business practices. Also, comedy clubs across America have been informed of this fiasco and all have been warned against allowing FARG to attempt to sell CDs or DVDs at his show.



Apparantly, this wannabe comedian/actor never heard the old cliche - Don't bite the hand that feeds. While FARG obviously eats more than a handful, his oblivious attitude towards his fans will eventually bite him in the ass, oh I mean fatass.



Our advice - don't go see FARG at a comedy club near you. You'll end up with less than what you came with, in all aspects!!!

Another Special Talent Lost Way Too Soon!

In very sad news from a couple of weeks ago, the incredibly talented Canadian blues musician Jeff Healey has died at age 41. I was first made aware of Jeff when I watched the movie Roadhouse(1989) several years ago. Although the movie centers around Patrick Swayze as a bouncer, the performance by Jeff and his bandmates(The Jeff Healey Band) of George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is what really caught my attention. You see, Jeff became blind at the age of one when he was diagnosed with restinoblastoma, a rare cancer of the eyes, which eventually is what he died from (Ironically, Swayze was diagnosed with cancer this week although doctors say the prognosis for recovery is good). What also really interested me was that he played his guitar laid across his lap while singing at the same time. It was mesmerizing to me to watch him play solos, with that guitar on his lap, not being able to see any strings or frets or anything, and play rock guitar licks up to par with his contemporaries at the time. Extremely impressive. I realize he had been blind since age one but I was still rather moved by his performances. When I heard he had died, I was stricken with sadness. May his music, images and spirit live on forever!

From Melodicrock.com:

CANADIAN BLUES GUITARIST JEFF HEALEY DIES AT 41:
This is really sad. Jeff was not only an amazing guitar player, but an inspirational human being. I will treasure my one occasion of seeing him perform live in Toronto 2003. R.I.P. Jeff.
ArticleLink: www.ctv.ca
"Legendary blues and jazz guitarist Jeff Healey has died, his publicist said Sunday. The Canadian rock musician had battled cancer his entire life. "It was something he fought with considerable bravery," his publicist, Richard Flohil, told CTV Newsnet. Healey, 41, had also lost his eyesight to a rare form of the disease, Retinoblastoma, when he was only one year old.
The musician had performed with such acclaimed guitar players as B. B. King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert Collins and George Harrison. His full name was Norman Jeffrey Healey and he passed away Sunday in the city of his birth, Toronto, at St. Joseph's Hospital.
Healey first began playing guitar at the age of three and formed his first band while still a teenager, according to his website. He played with a very distinctive style, with laying his guitar flat across his lap. One of his best-known songs, "Angel Eyes," came from the Grammy-nominated album See the Light.
His blues band, simply called the Jeff Healey Band, has sold more than 1 million albums in the United States. But along with rock and blues music, Healey was also an accomplished jazz musician. In his final years he had hosted a jazz program on Jazz-FM in Toronto, playing rare tracks from his vast collection of more than 30,000 78-rpm records.
Healey leaves behind his wife, Cristie, 13-year-old daughter Rachel and three-year-old son Derek."

They Proved Us Wrong

For those of us who doubted whether a reunion would ever really happen, and I cannot boast otherwise based on my post below, the VH boys came through like no one could have expected. While Eddie presumably still fights demons within himself and his addictions, there was no doubt a new energy and professionalism that was clear from the beginning of the concert. I attended the December 22nd Oakland show. Now I had also gone to the 2004 tour with Sammy Hagar which seemed SO slowed down compared to the old VH as well as Van Hager concerts of the mid nineties. Eddie is no longer wireless and in 2004, that, along with the obvious effects of alcohol, which was never as apparant before, resulted in a lackluster concert with Hagar signing autographs most of the time. The stage was also much smaller now, about half the size. Alex is no longer above it all. He basically is set up right on the same level as the amps.

But now Roth is back, as he actually sings the lyrics. We thought that without Michael Anthony it just wouldn't be the same VH. But it sure sounded pretty good. With Roth giving it an "un-traditionally" professional effort, and Wolfgang basically nailing the bass and even the vocal parts, Van Halen basically sounded as good as I had ever heard them sound. Even Eddie's 2004 buzz tone was gone and he sounded like he had a more traditional Marshall sound again.

I must admit I was a little curious about the state of VH when I headed to the concert. When we left, I was pleased with how I felt about the results. They impressed me like they used to. And for a while that was gone. It's back again. At least temporarily if not for the last time. And for me, I was very happy to have been witness to it over all the years and to be influenced so strongly by it. Thanks VH!

Modern Rock and Vacations

Well it's that time of year again when even rock and rollers take a brief break. This year it's August that sees us taking two weeks off for vacation right smack in the middle of the month. Actually it's more towards the beginning. But as soon as we get back we hit one of the hottest night clubs in the east bay, Meenar's, on August 17th. Come on down to downtown Danville from 9pm to 1am and party hard with us.

We're now covering some more modern rock as we play some of the venues with a younger crowd. We're now doing Gorilla Radio by Rage Against the Machine - In The End by Linken Park - The Nookie by Limp Bizkit - Hump De Bump by the Red Hot Chili Peppers plus a few others.

We're always happy to see those of you who continue to explore new venues with us as we branch out into new territory. Thanks especially to those who partied with us at O'Neills, Ollie's and The Wild Idol.

Rock On!

New Tunes to Debut This Weekend - Plus a Surprise

This weekend Bad Daddy plays at Meenar's Music Club on Saturday March 3rd, 2007 from 9pm - 1am. We will be debuting the following new cover tunes:

My Way - Los Lonely Boys

Dead Or Alive - Bon Jovi

Stonefree - Jimi Hendrix

Runaway - Bon Jovi

And last but not least, an original BD tune: My Kind of Temptation

This will be Bad Daddy's first original tune played in public - it's a rocker so come prepared to party. The song is available on Amazon as well as soundclick.

Available at Amazon

Available at Soundclick

2007 Van Halen Tour - A Vanishing Mystery

Since it will make this blog more interesting, we are not limiting our posts to everything Bad Daddy. So my first post, after the initial welcome, is devoted to a topic that has very special significance in the development of my musical youth whose spirit has remained with me to this day when I perform each weekend.

While most of us who are old enough to have really experienced one of the early Van Halen concerts (1978-1984), we have been riding the roller coaster ride of not knowing whether the most desired lineup of VH will reunite this summer. Although a possible asterisk may be necessary due to the initial reports that Wolfgang Van Halen, Eddie's 15 year old son, would be playing bass. While it' easy to understand how these things can happen due to relationships gone sour, it's difficult to feel like it's come full circle and ends up where it was left off over 20 years ago. Michael Anthony, while not often touted as a great bass player, was indeed effective in the chemistry of early Van Halen. Quite often, the chorus of an early VH song was characterized by strong hooks and crisp harmonies especially in the soprano range. I think this quickly became something that VH fans took for granted as their sound. But as a vocalist, I never took it for granted. I knew how good MA was as a backup vocalist because my college bands would often do more than a few VH songs and the high harmonies were not only challenging but difficult to get it to sound like VHs harmonies - my opinion is that this was due to Michael Anthony's voice. I have a recording of their last show at the Pasadena Civic Center in 1977 and when the show starts you can hear Anthony talk to the crowd in an astonishing high party voice.

So whether Anthony is part of the lineup or not, I get the feeling that most fans, and myself included, would still rather see them tour this summer as opposed to what looks like is happening now. Even a picture that Melodicrock.com put on their website last week showing all three Van Halens (Eddie, Alex and Wolfgang) along with David Lee Roth looked surprising natural - and just plain looked good. It can be difficult buying into the reunion these days after seeing how different Eddie is in his demeanor and presentation, regardless of its' reasons, as well as having listened to Roth not only when he followed Howard Stern for a few months early last year, but also after hearing and watching him perform VH songs as Bluegrass. I actually thought, at first, that Roth sounded pretty natural as a DJ and that he might do well - after all, why would a radio station hire him unless they thought it would be great? Well I obviously know his banter on stage, and while on the radio, he basically had the same energy. But he laughed at every single one of his own jokes, or proverbs, or clever ditys - or whatever the hell they were. After I listened to a few of the broadcasts, this began to really get on my nerves. It really came off like he thought he was SO witty and clever and shouldn't everybody live like that. Believe me, back in high school when VH first came out, on that first record, he sounded to me like a rock and roll god! I basically saw them each year while Roth was in the band and I really enjoyed him. But now I really wonder what it would be like to see VH as they are today. I think alot of people get excited thinking it will be like the good 'ol days. I don't think people realize that it would be rather "mature". The guys are a little more than twice their age of the early VH days. They don't move as fast, sing as good, and unfortunately, even in the case of the almighty Eddie Van Halen, don't play as well either, as witnessed during the 2004 tour with Sammy Hager (and Michael Anthony). In a bootleg recording on the Denver, CO show, you can hear Eddie miss almost every note during the middle break of Humans Being. I had always heard the occasional blip back in the day which can be afforded by any human being, even Eddie - but I actually felt downright embarassed for Eddie, which was sad, but true. The guy has definitely been through alot, but he still is Edward Van Halen of course, and it's gonna take an awful lot for me to start ignoring him. He will always be a guitar hero to me and a HUGE influence.



So while I know the experience could be less than ideal, a 2007 VH concert would still be attended by me. The mere nostalgia of it would be very appealing. The David Lee Roth years only lasted five years(after they made it), and it would be my calling to give it one more night of my musical attention if it ever did happen. Unfortunately, neither an early years compilation nor a tour looks like it's going to happen - bummer!

~J~

Bad Daddy Welcomes All Music Lovers

Welcome to the Bad Daddy and the Dirty Dogs web log. We look forward to hearing from all you music lovers and especially those that love to rock. Let us know who you like to listen to, new and old, what concerts you've been to lately, what clubs you like the best in San Francisco, the East Bay, Marin, San Jose, you name it. We might be barely out of our 20's(yeah right), but we still feel like we're all 21, and that's because of what music does to our soul.

Most of all, check out our Upcoming Shows page and join in on the fun - young or old, married or single, kids or no kids, we have just the right variety of music for everyone - modern rock, classic rock, funk, blues and even a tiny bit of disco(What!?!) - well, good dance music anyway.

See ya soon!
~J~