Rob Ayling writes: "Thom the World poet, is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Tom's poetry tapes and guest appearences with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth, Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied with in seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not? why not indeed!!" (The wondrous poetpic is by Jack McCabe, who I hope forgives me for scribbling all over it with Photoshop)
ALL HALLOW'S EVE
(when spirits are on the move
We were remembering those recently taken from us -
Steve
Bradshaw (via misadventure), William Sickwitt (via his own hand)
and
those little losses of those through age or infirmity left us with only
memories
What
folk found hardest to conceive was the unexpectedness -
if
one is in decline, with illness - ends are only time
To
wake up with a smile lost, and a friend missing
took
all of FACEBOOK posts to acclimatize
Shock
of loss - an altar, candles, pot luck
Sharing
of silences and sounds. Wondering
who
might next leave their flesh behind them
shell
poems from a chrysalis
butterflying
song.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: This poem should have gone up yesterday, but I wasn't here)
Rob Ayling writes: "Thom the World poet, is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Tom's poetry tapes and guest appearences with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth, Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied with in seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not? why not indeed!!" (The wondrous poetpic is by Jack McCabe, who I hope forgives me for scribbling all over it with Photoshop) WE ARE TEXANS - and we have police
...because we are Independent and will not obey easily
They
do not obey, and shoot too easily
ending
the lives of young, black and independent Texans too easily
They
get paid too much, though unprofessional enough
to demand pay
raises when others are suffering pay cuts
We
do not need them blinking @road constructions
nor
wasting time with two cars at every intersection
hassling
our only homeless, disabled citizens
Overstaffed
with an unnecessary helicopter
a
horse division not needed at all - expensive videos unused
and
demanding digital self-surveillance
as
they cost us millions in lawsuits because of rebel attitudes
We
do not want them infiltrating OCCUPY
nor
instigating violent crimes. We do not want outlaw bad apples
ruining
the bunch.In fact, we have too much policing
If you feel like snotty rock and roll the old
school? Who goes to the Rolling Stones from really, loves
the SMALL FACES and omits no Quireboys presence within 500
kilometers? all the feeling now be addressed, have for a
treat with "Carnaby Street" by MICHAEL THE BARRES warhorse. The man
leaves since the 60's footsteps into the entertainment industry, be it in the
Seventies as frontman of the band SILVER HEAD and DETECTIVE, on television as
MacGyver's nemesis Murdoc, or an ex-husband of the mother of all groupies -
notorious Pamela Des Barres (author of Revelation booklet "In bed with rock
gods"), to name a few of his stops on a bustling life. Despite
prolonged hiatus Des Barres seems to stand still in full creative
juices. "You're My Pain Killer" (R'n'R Topic Number 1: ... women!),
"Carnaby Street" (formerly, in the Swinging Sixties, when life was really cool)
or the suggestively titled "Route 69 "Telling stories of the tracks in the life
of a man behind, as the deep folds in Keith Richard's face. The songwriting sits as good as the long frayed jeans on emaciated
body-old rocker, the buzzing sound nice dynamic and naturally out of the
speakers. A dignified authentic age-structure, to its live
implementation could certainly find fallen.
A new three-disc CD/DVD set celebrates that strange period in which a band not called Yes, including most of the individuals credited with the Yes sound, put together an album and tour that sounded just like … well, Yes. Only, for contractual reasons, they ended up calling themselves Anderson Bruford Wakeman and Howe. It was a bit like having a car and renaming it “Steering Wheel, Transmission, Radials and Chassis.”
Live at the NEC, October 24, 1989, a newly released three-disc ABWH set available exclusively through Gonzo MultiMedia, makes easy work of establishing that this is, in all but name only, Yes playing Yes music for Yes fans.
The song list largely mimics the original 1993 concert film An Evening of Yes Music Plus, beginning with a series of solo features — including a medley of songs from Anderson in “Time and a Word,” “Owner of a Lonely Heart” and “Teakbois”; solo turns by Howe (“Clap,” “Mood for a Day”) and Wakeman; and then a drum feature for Bruford after the band’s take on “Long Distance Runaround.”
Neil Young is a weird old bugger. I recently read, and reviewed, his massively
peculiar autobiography in these very pages, and so I decided the other morning
that I should really give his new album a listen to. I liked the previous one Le Noise very much indeed.
In it, he utilised the production skills of Daniel Lanois who made a glossy and very sophisticated job
of what was basically a solo feedback guitar album. If you can imagine the Pet Shop Boys covering
metal machine music then it might give you some idea of what the album sounds
like. So I was awaiting the new record, Americana,
with great interest.
Neil Young has always ploughed a shockingly
idiosyncratic path, and it is a well-known matter of public record that back in
the 1980s David Geffen who had signed our Neil to Geffen Records hoping for a
whole string of 1980s versions of After
the Goldrush and Harvest, sued
our Neil for producing “deliberately” wayward records that had no relevance to
the main body of his career. That was a
very stupid thing to do, because although one can sympathise with David Geffen
(during the period under question Neil presented him with a rockabilly album, a
country and western album and various bits of electronica) but this has always
been the case with Neil Young. There is
no such thing as an “average” Neil Young album!
As well as the aforementioned waxings of which David Geffen disapproved
so much, he has produced blues records, soul records, folk records, country
records, heavy metal records, and strange electronic soundscapes heavily
influenced by the sounds his son Zak (who has cerebral palsy) made while trying
to communicate using early electronic vocoders.
So what is the album like? The only answer can be, totally
peculiar. I really do not know what to
make of it. All the tracks bar one are classic American folk songs played with
Beach Boys harmonies and massively
grungy guitars by Neil’s old sparring partners Crazy Horse. Some of the
tunes are vaguely recognisable whereas others – most notably Clementine (made famous by Huckleberry
Hound) – being an unrecognisable but oddly gripping durge. He closes out this
album of American folk classics with a remarkably reverent rendition of … wait
for it … the British National Anthem. When I saw that the album, which from the
beginning oozed feedback like a poison-arrow frog oozes toxins, I was expecting
the closing track to be a homage of the Sex Pistols. But is it buggery? With
the only note-perfect rendition in the whole record our Neil sings all the verses
God Save the Queen following which a
girly choir sings a few lines of the American version of the same song Sweet Land of Liberty.
This whole album makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. I don’t know whether I love it, like it, find
it mildly irritating or loathe it. But
what I do know is that I will be listening to it on many more occasions until I
find out.
Jefferson Starship - Roswell Ufo Festival 2009 ( Gonzo
Multimedia) *****
This is absolutely superb! Jefferson
Starship fan's ultimate set. This 4-CD set includes everything from
this memorable performance. Starting from the rehearsals, going through both
sets the band played, and ending with a soundcheck. If you weren't there, you
feel like you were there. Every live album should be that
insightful.
This was a very special show, and the band invited many
guests. Apart from the regular crew that Paul Kantner plays with, we get Pete
Sears, Barry Sless, Jack Taylor, Darby Gould, and Tom Constanten. Gould of
course used be the main voice of Jefferson Starship before the job eventually
fell to Cathy Richardson. It's a real event indeed, and now forever preserved in
this recording.
Jefferson Starship delivers all of its hits, and has no
problems playing selections from Jefferson Airplane's rich catalog and even digs
into Pink Floyd and David Bowie, whose recordings are covered in the set.
Considering the spacey nature of the event, it's easy to guess which tunes were
covered, and if you didn't guess, well, buy the record!
"Roswell
Ufo Festival 2009" is a swell affair. Great show from a band that
largely contributed to rock's history. They're still in a fantastic shape, and
play their heart out, as documented on the 4 CDs. The release is another slice
of a great legacy!
There are now from "The Lost Broadcasts" series so some publications. Recordings of Atomic Rooster , Byrds , Captain Beefheart , Iron Butterfly , John Mayall , Spooky Tooth or Frank Zappa and others are already on the market, as well as the DVD of the group, founded in 1965 The Move.
The rock band had their home in Birmingham and was marked in its relatively short existence of several changes in the line-up. One thing you must realize, however, from the beginning: The Movehad damn much hits in Great Britain and on the continent. Only in the U.S., there was no good response. Stated rather flippant was The Move the opening act of Electric Light Orchestra ( ELO ).Roy Wood , Jeff Lynne and Bev Bevan founded ELO and the Bird of Paradise Wood rose after already a year later in ELO from. His musical career was then followed Wizzard .
With many instruments in use was Wood already a multi-instrumentalist. Sun shaped cello, flute, saxophone or even the sound of the oboe Rocker, whose penchant for pop was unmistakable. Who can still remember the same double recorder use in "Curly"?
For a DVD of how the Move it is in my age group to a déjà vu experience. Hammer, here is raised by magical hands a samtroter curtain and you're right in the middle of the scene of the Beat Club . At times, the visual effects were amazing psychedelic. This also applies to many numbers of this DVD.
As regular readers will be aware, tomorrow I am partaking in and basically running a fun day for local children at Barnstaple Museum. It means that I will be up and out of here at some ungodly hour, and so tomorrow's blogs will be published late tonight, and there won't actually be any tomorrow.
I also won't be reading my emails until late tomorrow evening, so if you have emailed me and not had a reply, you know why.
I will be doing a brief interview with Helen on the subject sometime over the next week, but in the meantime, here is an account of last weekend's Club Artyfartle in her own words... I'm emerging from a fog of a grant application which has taken the bulk of two weekends plus the whole of this morning so far; I'm dodging a rain of emails from work about work.
I've had a short laugh-break (you don't need to read much of Giles Smith's Lost in Music before you get to that point: this morning, it was the description of him force-folding his fingers round the neck of the guitar as he struggled to play it).
I have a review copy of Lucy O'Brien's She-Bop to read (I had a delve last night and I'm already hooked) and review here later this week.
Let's think back to Sunday....
Cold, wasn't it? I was prepared for nobody to turn up except us, the performers, which would have been fine as it's the sort of do that's interesting to watch as a performer as well as audience. We couldn't get the paper tablecloth to stick to the flock wallpaper (it was the makeshift projection screen and it kept pretending to stick and then silently floating down as soon as we turned our backs).
I had a rug from home and I set up the chairs for us on that, and Guy Forks and the tip jar. Acton Bell mentioned doing a runner as she was so nervous (we all were) and at one point I thought she really had when she momentarily disappeared. The floor was sticky and the vibe was definitely rock'n'roll, but the quiet sort, for a Sunday afternoon. Joan set up the projector on a long chain of extension leads, rather like a funky giant's necklace and definitely not correct from a Health and Safety point of view, but quite spectacular in its own right. My brothers appeared, and so did my Champagne Friend and her partner; and so did lots of other unexpected people, giving the lie to the fact that Facebook Events are a good idea. As far as I could see (and as observed astutely by Joan), the act of pressing the button to say 'yes' was satisfying in itself and meant that you didn't need to come. They were there in spirit, I know! It was emails that did it: there was Katy, who is a friend of both Joan and myself, and members of the Gymslips, Dolly Mixture, Strawberry Switchblade and Ut, as well as a clutch of artists and much-loved pals.
So I took the trumpet downstairs, gave it a creaky blast or two and we did a procession up the winding stairs. Lucy sat at one end, I sat at the other ( two old ladies in glasses, I believe the observation was!), with Acton Bell and Paul in the middle. Fear strangled my voice for the first song and we all had a collection of shaking fingers, fluffs and missed lyrics the first time round; but then I think we got into our stride and one after another we played our new stuff: Amy's wry and perceptive lyrics (enhanced by the fact that she worries so much in case she is too bitchy), Paul's romantic crooning and Lucie's bright and melodic pop. There was time to talk about our lyrics and the audience was silent and listening: you could hear a pin drop. Read on...
Continuing the course of offering “old” video sessions of
the 60s that were considered somewhat ‘lost”, this time Gonzo MultiMedia
presents the eminent psychedelic/progressive rock & roll band The Move.
Formed in 1965, the band did cause fuzz around its name with its music and the
live performances.
Having released 14 singles, 9 of which were hits… for
instance “Blackberry Way” reached the desired #1 position, and 4 full-length
albums, they finally called it a day in 1972. The absolute lack of commercial
success the band had in the US forced its members to follow different
directions. The band had great musicians on its ranks, such as the “odd”
multitalented Roy Wood and the well-known Jeff Lynne later, who along with Wood
& Bevan formed the famous Electric Light Orchestra after The Move was
officially over.
This DVD
contains various performances the band gave on the German TV between 1968 &
1971. Surely, it will evoke memories to the old fans of the band and especially
to those who lived during that “beautiful and weird” music era. On the other
hand, it will give the youngsters a taste of how things were back in the day.
The DVD is tasteful, the songs are
performed wonderfully, the sound is very good and even the video is quite good,
even though it’s not HD as we are used to nowadays.
I have just discovered a blog by a 20-year-old who writes like a dream. I have no idea whether the person who writes is male or female, black or white, able bodied or in a wheelchair, but whoever (s)he is (s)he can write like an angel:
This has happened before: the experience of American music transforming England into a facsimile of the American landscape. Once, listening to Bat Chain Puller, the title track of Captain Beefheart’s Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller), on the way back from my grandmother’s house, down some obscure Sussex road, I heard the lyrics
In the hollow wind of its stacks Ripples felt fades and grey sparks clacks, Lunging the cushioned thickets. Pumpkins span the hills With orange crayola patches. Green inflated trees Balloon up into marshmallow soot
and for a moment Sussex was transformed into that place, an American scene right out of the blasted landscapes of George Herriman’s Krazy & Ignatz comics. In that moment, I knew that those pumpkins were all around me, buried under the darkness.
There are only two entries on the blog so far, but as this one mentions Captain Beefheart, and there is a jolly good Captain Beefheart DVD available on Gonzo, I think that I am perfectly justified in giving Universal Vibration a plug. I l;ike the mixture of geomancy and music which conjurs up all sorts of glorious visions in my head.
I am so loonking forward to seeing what comes next.
Rob Ayling writes: "Thom the World poet, is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Tom's poetry tapes and guest appearences with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth, Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied with in seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not? why not indeed!!" (The wondrous poetpic is by Jack McCabe, who I hope forgives me for scribbling all over it with Photoshop)
TAKE THE FLUORIDE OUT OF MY WATER SUPPLY!
Label all Frankenstein GMO food items!
Cease
fracking in our water supplies!
Stop
all strip mining! Re-afforest with divergent indigenous species!
No
more chemtrails, nor HAARM signals!
Cease
sonar submarine signals disturbing whales and dolphins!
Let
wolf, bison, eagle, salamander be as free as wild rivers!
Ban
only that which kills. Legalize all innocence!
Well, yesterday I solves a little personal mystery of mine which has been mildly bugging me for the last four decades (give or take a couple of years).
In the early seventies I used to occasionally spend the weekend with a school friend called Tim. He had an older brother whose name is lost deep within the sands of time, and he had a poster of a beautiful woman on his bedroom wall.
He was also into a band called Renaissance and turned me on to albums like Turn of the Cards which are personal favourites to this day. It was, therefore, a particular thrill to interview Annie Haslam recently. If you missed it you can find the interview:
but I always vaguely wondered who the woman on Tim's elder brother's wall was.
Now, I'd always been vaguely aware that Renaissance was originally a band formed by ex-Yardbirds Keith Relf and Jim McCarty, who left during the sessions for the second album, but I never actually heard anything from that lineup. Yesterday the lovely Anne-Marie from Gonzo sent me a whole pile of interesting things, including a DVD of the first Renaissance lineup, so when we had finished the day's activities and taken Sheri, the intern, back to her B&B I poured myself a tot of milk from the Kentucky cow, and Richard and I settled down to watch the DVD.
The first two tracks are indeed from the Keith Relf led lineup, and the sound of the band is completely different from the multi-layered orchestral finery of the later Renaissance albums, and my 30-something year mystery was solved. The woman on the poster on my mate's elder brother's bedroom wall was none other than Keith Relf's sister Jane...
However, then things got weird. I had always thought that Annie Haslam had joined the band after the two Yardbirds and Jane Relf had left. But in fact there was a brief interregnum of a couple of months when the band had two lead singers: Anne-Marie "Binky" Cullum and Terry Crowe.
Binky had a very good voice, albeit totally different from either Annie Haslam or Jane Relf, and Terry Crowe was massively reminiscent of Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap, especially during the between song soundbytes, but as regular readers will know I can't abide a mystery. Both singers left the band after only short tenures, and I wonder what happened to them. When I went to bed last night I messed around with the laptop by my bed and found out that Binky is apparently working as a 'Massage Therapist', and that Terry is allegedly dead. But no-one could confirm or deny these stories with any citations or anything other than vague rumour.
So come on Gonzofolk. Get sleuthing. I need to know this stuff...
Annie Haslam, born in Bolton, Lancashire, breast cancer survivor, became lead vocalist for Renaissance has now turned her music into 'dream expressionism' ...
As a valued
former subscriber to Word Magazine I thought you'd want to know that "Magic"
Alex Gold and I are rejuvenating the now legendary Word In Your Ear shows with a
gig at the Lexington on Tuesday, December 4th.
The headliners
on the night will be Skinny Lister, the band whose act stopped the show when
they appeared down the bill from the Blockheads at our evening in
June.
If you were
there you'll know that they have an act like no other. It's notable not just for
Dan Heptinstall's ability to put a pop spin on the sea shanty, not merely for
the rousing, foot-stomping attack of their five-man line-up, nor for the frisky
dance steps of Lorna Thomas, but for an all-encompassing determination to
entertain that's all too rare. On the night they'll be playing material from
their Sunday Best album Forge and Flagon, some new songs and a few seasonal
surprises.
In our
determination to put together a show which offers variety and value for money
we'll soon be announcing further turns, both musical and spoken word. I'll be
MC-ing and spinning the platters that matter in my amazing 1971 Annus Mirabilis
disco.
Please come
along. If you book now you can get a ticket for £12, which is three pounds less
than you'll have to pay when we make them available to the wider public. If you
came in the past you'll know what special evenings they could be. If you come to
this one you'll be helping to keep some of the spirit of Word alive and having a
great evening with friends into the bargain. Which is what it is.
MONTREAL - It sure is nice to see that Eric Burdon has not mellowed with age. Judging from the still-tough swagger of Black Dog, from his upcoming EP with the Greenhornes, he might even be getting more ornery at 71, if that's possible.
Jefferson Starship with Paul Kantner, Cathy Richardson and David Freiberg, The Bataclan, Paris
Jefferson Starship rocked The Bataclan in Paris last night! Lead by Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and Jefferson Airplane founder Paul Kantner and David Freiberg, a former Jefferson Airplane member and co-founder of the legendary Quicksilver Messenger Service , Jefferson Starship lives on – for all ages. Starship lead singer Cathy Richardson’s driving vocals work perfectly standalone and with the three part harmonies so characteristic of the Airplane and Starship
Paul Kantner
(see our interview with Cathyhttp://blog.horizonvumusic.com/?p=7244). Jude Gold (The Macrodots) plays one mean lead guitar. Chris Smith (The Supremes) on keyboard and drummer Richard Newman let us know beyond a doubt that while they might be behind the front line, they’re not to be put back-of-mind by unleasing late-in-the-show solos.
Cathy Richardson
The Starship blasted off with “Sunrise” followed by “Somebody To Love” and “Fresh Air” (Quicksilver Messenger Service). The show built momentum (crowd slow to start – reminiscent of the 60’s only in that we concert goers were often “docile”… for extended periods), but last night’s crowd did come alive as Starship moved on through “Cowboy on the Run” (Quicksilver Messenger Service), “Get Together” (Youngbloods), “Miracles” and “Wooden Ships” . Read on...
I saw Renaissance in concert last evening. Those of you old enough, will recognize the magical voice of Annie Haslam. Annie’s voice was magical last night, although she apologized beforehand that she might hit a few bad notes……
You see, Annie was donned in a Wonder Woman type back brace that stretched across her chest and around her spine…..which has been fractured.
Voices of Led Zep, Supertramp, Yes, head to Bluesfest
29 October 2012
by Christie Eliezer
Singers Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin fame, Roger Hodgson of Supertramp and Jon Anderson of Yes were announced for Bluesfest this morning, along with Status Quo and Madness.
Rob Ayling writes: "Thom the World poet, is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Tom's poetry tapes and guest appearences with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth, Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied with in seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not? why not indeed!!" (The wondrous poetpic is by Jack McCabe, who I hope forgives me for scribbling all over it with Photoshop)
"WHO WILL BRING THE COFFIN IN?"
It is Midnight,approaching Halloween
Young
Denver has been up since 5 am
Faerie
folk have disappeared like fog among the woods
and
there is still this coffin to be stacked like firewood
For
folk are known to steal anything not nailed down
Even
though Salado is a peaceful boutique town
So
he pondered,and he waited,till a young ghost hailed down
who
wanted to see FRIGHT TRAIL even after it left town
He
was recruited with some woodsfolk to pick up pumpkin heads
and
three strong men and Denver carried the coffin home instead
They
packed it in the dressing room/offered it as a bed
All
the faierie folk demurred-they went homewards instead
and
Denver smiled post -witching hour-he had seen all this before
When
magickal folk de-materialize in the early morning hours
He
had kept a lonely vigil,selling sweets and tickets in
Folk
had lined to see the spirits,patiently waiting admitting
Now
the Trail was deserted-all the lights extinguished down
And
another Fright Trail coffin awaits another Halloween!
And
Denver?He is laughing in his early morning dreams!
For
at least after midnight,he found spirit folk -to bring the coffin
in...!
If I was in London this afternoon I know exactly where I would be. Corinna, mother, Prudence and I (probably with other members of the household including Sheri the intern) would be at Club Artyfartle watching the amazing Helen McCookerybook do her funky stuff alongside Acton Bell, Magnetic Paul and Professor Joan Ashcroft.
Chris Squire’s old bandmate in Yes, drummer Bill Bruford, retired from music in 2009. Don’t look for the tireless bassist to go gently into that good night any time soon.
Bruford, who left Yes in 1972 to join fellow prog-rock pioneers King Crimson, was just 60 years old when he called it quits. Meanwhile, his 64-year-old former rhythm-section partner remains the only member of Yes to appear on each of its more than two dozen albums.
Squire led the group through 2011′s Fly From Here, then issued a collaboration this year with former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett.
In between, Yes has continued a rigorous touring schedule.
Squire, to put a fine point on it, isn’t about to slow down. In fact, during a talk with George Varga of UT-San Diego, Squire was bursting with plans as Yes nears its 45th anniversary.
I think Peter McAdam is one of the funniest people around, and I cannot recommend his book The Nine Henrys highly enough. Check it out at Amazon. This week we shall be running a series of Henrybits that are not found in his book about the nine cloned cartoon characters who inhabit a surreal world nearly as insane as mine...
Rob Ayling writes: "Thom the World poet, is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Tom's poetry tapes and guest appearences with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth, Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied with in seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not? why not indeed!!" (The wondrous poetpic is by Jack McCabe, who I hope forgives me for scribbling all over it with Photoshop)
SPEED CRANK COFFEE EDIT
National drug caffeine (speed on heat) affects our
metabolism
85mph
when you can do F1 200. Where went time?
Grandfathered! Digital
and blinking! Defuse the bomb of death
on
a bus (SPEED) - or inside a body (CRANK)
or on a plane (DIE
HARD, AIR FORCE ONE)
or
in a building (World Trade Center, Twin Towers)
Disaster
is a movie in production with special effects,
max
edit, cut like advertising for tired minds and eyes.
Epics
used to screen for three hours (with an intermission)
Who
has time? Who has a life? Cinema attendances drop like bodies
falling
from the skies - in that space where fiction fails us
and
fact is a documentary black and white.
Armageddon
happened - Iraq,Afghanistan
Came
home as wounded veterans. Ignored them -
made
movies of fictional heroes, while the hospital bills mount
If you feel like snotty rock and roll the old school? Who goes to the Rolling Stones from really, loves the SMALL FACES and omits no Quireboys presence within 500 kilometers? all the feeling now be addressed, have for a treat with "Carnaby Street" by MICHAEL THE BARRES warhorse. The man leaves since the 60's footsteps into the entertainment industry, be it in the Seventies as frontman of the band SILVER HEAD and DETECTIVE, on television as MacGyver's nemesis Murdoc, or an ex-husband of the mother of all groupies - notorious Pamela Des Barres (author of Revelation booklet "In bed with rock gods"), to name a few of his stops on a bustling life.
Despite prolonged hiatus Des Barres seems to stand still in full creative juices. "You're My Pain Killer" (R'n'R Topic Number 1: ... women!), "Carnaby Street" (formerly, in the Swinging Sixties, when life was really cool) or the suggestively titled "Route 69 "Telling stories of the tracks in the life of a man behind, as the deep folds in Keith Richard's face. The songwriting sits as good as the long frayed jeans on emaciated body-old rocker, the buzzing sound nice dynamic and naturally out of the speakers. A dignified authentic age-structure, to its live implementation could certainly find fallen.
During the tour of Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman & Howe
Tony Levin was sick (hepatitis A) and missed some concerts. For these performances, he was replaced by Jeff Berlin, who quickly got
two and a half hours of material and abliefete a bravura performance that is at
"An Evening of Yes Music Plus" documented.
For twenty years it was the only live document of the band
and some fans felt Tony Levin, the actual tour bassist would, done by
injustice. Gonzo, successors of Voiceprint corrected this
now. The word "correct" in this company has a very unique
Bedeuteung. The credits on the box were a dice, also got
messed up both the order of the songs on the second CD, as well as the printed
order.So you went from "Order of the Universe"
unnecessarily (and accidentally?) With a bonus track (in fact, the song
"Roundabout" played), its own track made from an announcement and printed also a
completely wrong song order on the cover. Gonzo
just. Anyway: Above the actual song order the CD is
shown.
But they lead the next great idea, they had some time ago
had with the Yes-Release "Union Live": The box contains a small-scale
reproduction of the former Tour Books. Cheers arias, sure,
but for the collector and certainly not uninteresting. Not a bad idea for the
furnishing of live albums
Now what is it? Well, the set list is
like that of "An Evening Of Yes Music Plus ..." And here it
is the same thing that was already for that concert: The idea to put the solos
in the beginning, is still brave, great, and a great match to the atmosphere of
the concert. The combination of the classics (especially,
as always, when Wakeman is out of Fragile-/Close-to-the-Edge-Zeit) works
fantastically with the new ABWH songs, the band is relaxed and easy as they are
rarely has experienced. Complements the set list is now
through the schnuckelige "The Meeting", which could be heard only on the video
version of that album, and the duet between Bruford and Levin, which was at the
concerts with Berlin not played naturally. Both give
everything and engage in duels like there's no tomorrow. Unfortunately, the coordination between the two is not perfect (the show
was one of the first after recovering Levin) and the remainder of the curious
listener gewesene back a bit unsatisfied.
What interested in this release, most of all, of course,
is the comparison between Tony Levin and Jeff Berlin. And
Levin cuts do surprisingly weak, but above all is the sound of "Live at the
NEC."For he is audibly weaker than that of "An Evening of
Yes Music Plus." "Live at the NEC", after all, a recording
of BBC Radio I will be plagued by constant noise and the fact that momentum is
abundant pale. At the beginning of CD I hear even some
brief glitches. You often hear Levin not even in the
mix. When you see him but listen, it sounds familiar soft
and restrained. Berlin as he takes very stylistically back
and plays almost continuously after the originals by Chris Squire, from the
jazzy walking bass intro of "Close to the Edge" to the idiosyncratic melodies of
"Long Distance Runaround". Even the sounds are different in
two almost identical. Berlin is more present in the overall
sound of his album, which is due to the better sound quality, but also plays
audible rougher and more muscular than Levin, surprisingly. Wherein more on
jazz-oriented bassist On the other hand, Levin plays to
"Heart of the Sunrise" a richly funky bass, unusually, is not likely to please
everyone.
Nice, some small additions: So Anderson sings a few bars of "Soon" at
the end of "Disillusion", sometime play Wakeman and Bruford just a bit nimble
jazz and even the 25-minute film by Julian Colbeck, the and the band before
shows during the concert on 25 October, is a nice addition.
Finally, a dose of trivia: Bill Bruford had left the band
just two weeks before the start of the "Close to the Edge" tour. Consequently, the concert, which was held on "Live at the NEC", one of
the first in which he played the songs "And You and I" and "Close to the Edge"
ever live! Maybe some interest to keep the listening in
mind.
"Live at the NEC" is all in all a nice addition ABWH the
catalog, but that it should now be content. Seven
publications (I'm counting on Jon Anderson's "Watching the Flags That Fly" which
included the demos for the second-ABWH ALbum "Dialogue") are truly enough for a
band that only one studio album presented.
...BECAUSE SOME OF US THINK THAT THIS STUFF IS IMPORTANT
What happens when you mix what is - arguably - the world's most interesting record company, with an anarchist manic-depressive rock music historian polymath, and a method of dissemination which means that a daily rock-music magazine can be almost instantaneous?
Most of this blog is related in some way to the music, books and films produced by Gonzo Multimedia, but the editor has a grasshopper mind and so also writes about all sorts of cultural issues which interest him, and which he hopes will interest you as well.
