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New:
A detailed
look at Johnny's guitars
at the Viper Room, Hollywood, CA.
By Jim Peoples
On November 11, 1997, the Viper Room in Hollywood, California, hosted an album release concert for the Iggy Pop tribute album We Will Fall: A Tribute To Iggy Pop. Joey Ramone, who contributed the song "1969" to the album, played a short, tight, and entergetic set that left the crowd screaming for more.
Backed by the New York band 22 Jacks and joined Daniel Rey on guitar, Joey looked and sounded great at he led the band through the 10-song set. Rey, who has produced numerous Ramones albums and recently produced and played guitar on Dee Dee Ramones' Zonked! album, provided backing vocals and counted off each song with the Ramones' famous "1-2-3-4."
The set was as follows:
1. Wonderful World
Joey introduced this as a "new" song, but did not explain further.
2. Rockaway Beach
3. Carbona Not Glue
The highlight of the evening was this excellent version of the seldom-heard Ramones classic. If this was the only song I heard all night, it would have been worth the 1 1/2 hours I had to wait in line on a cold Hollywood night.
4. Sheena Is A Punk Rocker
5. Danny Says
Joey noted that the Ramones never played this song live. He began singing in the wrong key, and the band had to stop and start over. But once they got going again, it sounded great.
6. 1969
This song was Joey's contribution to the Iggy Pop tribute album. Despite a great wah-wah saturated guitar solo by Rey, the song did not go over as well as the others. It was clear that the crowd wanted to hear Ramones songs, not Iggy Pop covers.
7. I Don't Care
8. Blitzkrieg Bop
9. California Sun
10. I Wanna Be Sedated
All the songs were played much slower than the Ramones played them live. They were much closer to the original recorded versions. The band was extremely tight, as if they had played the songs many times before. With three guitar players, the songs sounded nothing like the Ramones' one-guitar attack. Johnny Ramone can never be replaced, but 22 Jacks and Daniel Rey did a great job.
To hear the entire show via RealAudio, go to L.A. Live.