- 01Primitive CoolMick JaggerIn 1985, Reid was a backing guitarist on Primitive Cool , the second solo album by the Rolling Stones’ front man, Mick Jagger.from the chapter
- 02VividLiving ColourEpic signed the band, and in 1988 they released their debut, Vivid , which charted around the world (Top Ten in the United States) and netted them a Grammy (Best Hard Rock Performance, for “Cult of Personality”).from the chapter
- 03“Cult of Personality”Living ColourJagger took notice of Reid and helped bring Living Colour to the attention of record labels.from the chapter
- 04Appetite for DestructionGuns N’ RosesGuns N’ Roses was touring not only behind their debut, Appetite for Destruction , which had been released in 1987, but off a stopgap EP, G N’ R Lies , a mix of fake-live performances and new tracks that had spawned the …from the chapter
- 05G N’ R LiesGuns N’ RosesGuns N’ Roses was touring not only behind their debut, Appetite for Destruction , which had been released in 1987, but off a stopgap EP, G N’ R Lies , a mix of fake-live performances and new tracks that had spawned the hit “Patience.” The EP closed with “One in a Million,” a tale of Rose …from the chapter
- 06“Patience”Guns N’ RosesGuns N’ Roses was touring not only behind their debut, Appetite for Destruction , which had been released in 1987, but off a stopgap EP, G N’ R Lies , a mix of fake-live performances and new tracks that had spawned the hit “Patience.” The EP closed with “One in a Million,” a …from the chapter
- 07“One in a Million”Guns N’ RosesGuns N’ Roses was touring not only behind their debut, Appetite for Destruction , which had been released in 1987, but off a stopgap EP, G N’ R Lies , a mix of fake-live performances and new tracks that had spawned the hit “Patience.” The EP closed with “One in a Million,” a …from the chapter
- 08Time’s UpLiving ColourLiving Colour’s sophomore album, Time’s Up (Jagger returned to provide some backing vocals), was released in 1990 to high expectations.from the chapter
- 09“History Lesson”Living ColourThe second song, “History Lesson,” maybe wasn’t a song at all.from the chapter
- 10“Type”Living ColourThere was plenty else on Time’s Up that I loved: the jagged lead single, “Type”; the funk strut “Love Rears Its Ugly Head”; the gentle ballad “Solace of You.” But “History Lesson” hit me especially hard, for a million reasons.from the chapter
- 11“Love Rears Its Ugly Head”Living ColourThere was plenty else on Time’s Up that I loved: the jagged lead single, “Type”; the funk strut “Love Rears Its Ugly Head”; the gentle ballad “Solace of You.” But “History Lesson” hit me especially hard, for a million reasons.from the chapter
- 12“Solace of You”Living ColourThere was plenty else on Time’s Up that I loved: the jagged lead single, “Type”; the funk strut “Love Rears Its Ugly Head”; the gentle ballad “Solace of You.” But “History Lesson” hit me especially hard, for a million reasons.from the chapter
- 13“Pride”Living ColourBut Living Colour was nothing if not smart, and the more time you spend with “History Lesson,” the more slippery it becomes.from the chapter
- 14“Hound Dog”Big Mama Thornton(Scale!) In the early 1950s, there was a heavyset R&B singer named Big Mama Thornton who worked out of Houston sometimes, Los Angeles other times.from the chapter
- 15“Hound Dog”Elvis PresleyFour years later, a young white southerner named Elvis Presley, who had recorded mostly slower songs like “Heartbreak Hotel” and “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You,” covered “Hound Dog,” and the thing blew up.from the chapter
- 16“Heartbreak Hotel”Elvis PresleyFour years later, a young white southerner named Elvis Presley, who had recorded mostly slower songs like “Heartbreak Hotel” and “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You,” covered “Hound Dog,” and the thing blew up.from the chapter
- 17“I Want You, I Need You”Elvis PresleyFour years later, a young white southerner named Elvis Presley, who had recorded mostly slower songs like “Heartbreak Hotel” and “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You,” covered “Hound Dog,” and the thing blew up.from the chapter
- 18“Good Rocking Tonight”Elvis PresleyFour years later, a young white southerner named Elvis Presley, who had recorded mostly slower songs like “Heartbreak Hotel” and “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You,” covered “Hound Dog,” and the thing blew up.from the chapter
- 19“Good Rocking Tonight”Roy BrownIt had happened before, with “Good Rocking Tonight” (originally recorded by Roy Brown) and “Mystery Train” (originally recorded by Junior Parker).from the chapter
- 20“Mystery Train”Elvis PresleyFour years later, a young white southerner named Elvis Presley, who had recorded mostly slower songs like “Heartbreak Hotel” and “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You,” covered “Hound Dog,” and the thing blew up.from the chapter
- 21“Mystery Train”Junior ParkerIt had happened before, with “Good Rocking Tonight” (originally recorded by Roy Brown) and “Mystery Train” (originally recorded by Junior Parker).from the chapter
- 22“Fight the Power”Public EnemyPublic Enemy was still seething about it in 1989, in “Fight the Power,” when Chuck D scoffed at the idea of an Elvis stamp: “Elvis was a hero to most but he never meant shit to me.”from the chapter
- 23“Elvis Is Dead”Living ColourLiving Colour picked up that thread on Time’s Up , on “Elvis Is Dead,” a rollicking satire that starts with a fake Elvis sighting (“Tabloids scream / Elvis seen at a shopping mall”) and includes a rewrite of Public Enemy’s verse:from the chapter
- 24“Graceland”Paul SimonThe song saves its most brilliant stroke for just after that, when it shifts into a parody of Paul Simon’s “Graceland,” the title song of an album that had plenty of its own issues with white performers absorbing/appropriating Black (in this case, African rather than …from the chapter
- 25“This Is the Life”Living ColourI go to the last song of Time’s Up , “This Is the Life,” to the last line: “In this real life / Try to be less blind.”from the chapter