WALLY: A very Weird Review

This is a particularly peculiar review of the Wally album. The bloke who wrote it seems to like the album well enough, but has totally missed the point on several salient points apertaining to the band and their career. For example, since when has Harrogate been in the United States?

Wally – Montpellier

Review by: Guillermo Urdapilleta

Year: 2010
Produced by: Wally
Label: Wally Music




Musicians:
Roy Webber: vocals and guitars
Frank Mizen: bass and pedal steel
Will Jackson: guitars and keyboards
Paul Middleton: steel guitar and bass
Pete Sage: electric violin and bass
Roger Narraway: drums and percussion
Nick Glennie-Smith: keyboards and vocals


Tracks:
1. Sailor (7:43)
2. Sister Moon (6:01)
3. Thrill Is Gone (6:02)
4. Surfing (7:17)
5. In The Night (6:06)
6. Human (6:31)
7. She Said (7:15)
8. Giving (8:24)

---

Wally is a band from the United States who had released a couple of albums in the seventies. After a long gap, they came back with new material in 2009, and in 2010 released this album entitled “Montpellier”, which consists of eight songs that make a total time of 54 minutes. The songs duration range from 6 to 8 minutes each.

The album kicks off with “Sailor”, a track with a great atmosphere that let us imagine the trip of precisely, a sailor. The first introductory minute is interesting, with environmental landscape. Later the voice enters and creates with piano a delicate and ballad-like sound which later is progressing and creating a kind of soft neo-prog sound, very light, if you ask me. A couple of minutes later it changes and the rock element is much more evident here, with also an extra amount of energy and a more interesting sound.

“Sister Moon” starts again with the environment sound, like being in the ocean. Then just like in the previous track, a soft, charming and ballad-like song starts.. Later it progresses and adds new elements that give it the entrance to the progressive rock realm, to its lightest side, actually. The lyrics are cool and in moments easy to sing. After four minutes there is a good guitar riff which is greatly accompanied by the other instruments.

“Thrill’s Gone” has a very 80s sound, reminding me of some hard rock bands. The song is pretty catchy, with nice keyboards and a great implement of female vocals as back. A guitar riff comes later, but the rhythm and the structure are the same all the time. Nice if you want to move your body for some minutes. “Surfing” has a nice introductory minute with organ and soft vocals; later drums and a “tick-tock” sang appear and the song begin to build up a new structure. After two minutes it explodes and becomes rockier and more emotional due to the vocals, but also to the higher volume of the instruments. I cannot help but remembering Dire Straits here (and actually in previous tracks also), they have a very alike flavor. Later there is a brief but worth mentioning instrumental part where a delicious violin is implemented. Then the song returns to its original structure and finishes like that.

Read the rest of the article

MIMI PAGE: Another cool podcast

The Great Unknowns Presents: Breathe Me In, Ep 145

Mixed Media

Music

2012-03-08 17:47:00

This week, I wrote a review about Mimi Page. In this week's episode, we personally selected music that would compliment each song from one to the next. Not only do we have music from Mimi Page's brand new CD, Breathe Me In, we also have unreleased music by Max and the Moon. For nearly a year, Max and the Moon has been in hiatus from performing, but not on hiatus from creating music. In ...

MARTIN STEPHENSON: Boy to man (California Star)

A sad tale of a young child who ask the great spirit to guide him on his lifepath away from harming another soul.

http://www.martinstephenson.me.uk/Site/Podcast/Entries/2012/1/12_Boy_to_man_(California_Star).html

In the first verse he is two years old and makes the request "I hope I never have to kill a man."

In the 2nd verse he is 17 and feels the euphoria of life, discovers poetry, love and song; in this verse he is "sure he’ll never have to kill a man."

3rd verse sees political climate change. He is 20 and trains as a Partisan. Still he "hopes he’ll never have to kill a man."

Final verse he comes to a clearing in a wood, sees a young enemy soldier resting 'neath a tree, they have a stand-off and in the moment the enemy soldier is shot, the young man runs to his brother in war and comforts him. On his brother's dying breath he whispers "Im glad I never had to kill a man."

So this song could be a curse, a dream, a fear.

MARTIN STEPHENSON PODCASTS

Whilst pootling about on the Internet this morning I found these:
http://www.martinstephenson.me.uk/Site/Podcast/Podcast.html

Star & Cafe of tiny kindnesses
Here are some previews of two very different albums, Daintees new album
‘California Star’ and also the very unusual....

‘Cafe of tiny kindnesses’ Martin & Helen’s follow up to the beautiful ‘Hamilton Square’ 2009! You couldn’t get two albums more different, but the songwriting is very strong along with the recording, all these recordings are truly independent releases

Contact Paul Keveney: spanish_paul_safc@yahoo.co.uk

RICK WAKEMAN IN THE '80S

I am currently putting the final touches to a reissue of Dan Wooding's smashing biography of Rick Wakeman. It covers his life and doings in the 1970s in massive detail. It is a great book, and furthermore onee that I have enjoyed working on, bevause not only is Dan a really nice guy, but his book is interesting and has dozens of really rare pictures.

But what happened next? Purely by chance I found this site with an overview of Rick's work - album by album - during the 1980s, and I thought that it was so interesting that I should share it..

http://gary-hill.suite101.com/rick-wakeman-album-by-album-overview-1981-1984-a405559

GONZO ON FACEBOOK

I don't understand Facebook. In fact, I think that it would be true to describe me as a hidebound old git, because I don't understand any of this modern social networking stuff. But, largely through the efforts of the lovely Emma Osborne (who does all this social networking stuff for me) Gonzo Multimedia have got a flourishing Facebook Group:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=624686569&ref=profile#!/groups/287744711294595/

There is also a less flourishing Facebook fan page, and I would be very grateful if you guys out there in bloggoland could go there and click the 'like' button...

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=624686569&ref=profile#!/pages/Gonzo-Multimedia/304756449589666

JUDGE SMITH: excerpts from Orfeas

I know that I keep banging on about it, but its my blog and I'll bang if I want to. Judge Smith's extraordinary new album Orfeas really is worth investigating. One of the things that I am most looking forward to when I finally get my recording set up finished next week is talking to him about it...

JON ANDERSON PAYS TRIBUTE TO DONOVAN

Donovan Week Continues With Tribute From Jon Anderson of "YES".: MyFoxLA.com

SPOOKY TOOTH: A Fantastic band

I blush to admit that although I had been vaguely aware of Spooky Tooth and had heard a few tracks here and there, I didn't really know anything much about them. The one thing that I did know was that organist Gary Wright was a good friend of the late George Harrison, and played on a number of his albums. So I was particularly interested to get the latest installment of the 'Lost Broadcast' series on Gonzo, which features the band.

Now I am a huge fan of the 'quiet Beatle' and have always rather meant to check out Gary Wright. Over the years I have found some great music, just from checking out the sidesmen on various albums by ex-Beatles. One of the best was Lon and Derek Van Eaton who are massively good and even more massively obscure and whom I probably shouldn't eulogise about too much because they have no records out on Gonzo.

I can see why Gary Wright was George Harrison's keyboard player of choice, but I was particularly impressed by the ensemble playing of the band themselves. The interplay between two different keyboards (always something that impresses me) with completely disparate textures, gave it an unexpectedly funky edge, and the whole thing sounded like an English analogue of The Band which as this is a clip of them singing 'The Weight' in November 1968 (the song originally appeared on The Band's 'Music From Big Pink' earlier that year) is quite a convenient analogy:

MARKIN BIRKE/GENRE PEAK LINK

Martin began playing and recording with the electro-jazz quartet THWACK back in the late 80s. The group consisted of Martin on electronic drums and keyboards, Daniel Panasenko on guitars and MIDI-guitars, Chuck Ehlis on fretless bass and Arthur Chivis on alto and tenor saxophones. The group explored complex rhythm and melody based compositions and played around Sacramento and San Francisco clubs. After a painful bout of tendonitis , Martin was forced to give up the traditional drum kit and ventured into songwriting and electronic percussion and keyboard programming , he also started developing his vocal techniques .

He was first published on the Music Independantâs compilation Vol. 2 in 1991 with a track titled Îcomplacency devours usâ, an industrial jazz track that also garnered the attention of Ladd- Frith Records and he soon hooked up with Aaron Kinney at PAS-Key Productions to record the trackâBlack Landâ which featured Cake's Vince Difiore on trumpet and was released on the labelâs Î4 by 4â compilation CD in late Î91.

Read on...

LAUNCHING OUR NEW YOUTUBE CHANNEL

FINALLY! After four horribly frustrating days, during which my broadband was so slow that it was practically moribund, I am back to something approaching functionality. So to celebrate this, we have launched our new YouTube Channel wchich - as of today - will bring you exclusive content that you won't find anywhere else on the net. It will also being you selected audio tracks, because although a picture apparently is worth 1,000 words, if - like me - you are a tired old music journo hack, it is sometimes worth just putting up a track to listen to rather than trying to describe the music in my inimitable deathless prose.

We have also made another technical breakthrough, and are now able to record telephone calls (or rather we will be when our new battery-operated hard disk recorder arrives next week. We brought a handy lead which plugs into the telephone line, but we couldn't get the damn thing to work. Eventually we found that for some reason which totally eludes us, it won't work if you are trying to record stuff on a device that is plugged into the mains, which as we were trying to record straight on to the office computer, was a bit of a pain. (If anyone can explain why and how this is the case in words of one syllable I would be very grateful).

The only technical problem left (apart from the fact that I have just broken my favourite microphone) is that there is a foreign body stuck behind my office PC. The foreign body in question

So - hopefully - belongs to an elderly, affectionate and ever-so-slightly stupid ginger cat called 'Spider'. But that is an ongoing problem with which I have to deal every day!

GENRE PEAK REVIEWED

Martin Birke's ongoing international recording project Genre Peak is releasing a new album titled "Redux" (check the sounds here or after the jump). The album is released by UK label Gonzo Multi Media and will be in stores March 20th. This electronica album features new and remixed tracks from the band's current albums along with featured musicians and vocalists such as the late Mick Karn, singer Percy Howard (Bill Laswell), violinist Benito Cortez, Canadian singer Tara C. Taylor and several other noted players.

Birke is well known for scoring original music for "The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre", recording and touring internationally with Sandbox Trio, Casualty Park, Genre Peak and most recently with Percy Howard (Meridiem,Bill Laswell) in the duo Hardboiled Wonderland. Genre Peak has released 2 full-length albums "Ends of the Earth" (2006 in-code Music) and "Preternatural" (2008 in-code Music).

Read on...

RICK WAKEMAN GETS EVERYWHERE AT THE MOMENT

If you're looking for a quick way to save money, it seems that Rick Wakeman may have discovered the answer: move abroad. You'd be surprised at how everything from clothing to holidays are significantly cheaper across the pond - meaning us Brits get a bad deal. Our resident grump Rick has been investigating further...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/2012/03/ricks_rants_brits_raw_deal.html

RICK WAKEMAN: Entertaining interview in Welsh newspaper

SOMETIMES, regardless of how good you are, it comes down to who you know. There are also rare occasions when skills don’t matter at all. Rick Wakeman, the prog-rock keyboard maestro turned Grumpy Old Man, knows this.

Beyond playing with Yes – with near-50 million album sales – plus penning musicals, he has proved a skilled raconteur on tour, at comedy club Jongleurs and TV’s Countdown.

Read on..

MIMI PAGE: Love will tear her apart...

I am often accused of taking rock music far too seriously. I know that it is something of which I am guilty now and again, but there you go. It has been an important part of my life since I was 12, and that was 40 years ago. There are certain truisms by which I have lived my life over those intervening decades, and one of them - ever since my mate Kelvin first played me Joy Division during the long wet summer of 1981 - is that no-one can cover Love Will Tear us Apart. There is a long and unimpressive tradition of attempted cover versions over the years. One of the most peculiar is a vaguely bossa-nova rendition by The Brazilian Lounge Project, and one of the best is a dead straight version by June Tabor with The Oyster Band. But none of them are a patch on the original.

Even I have had a pop at it with my ensemble Jon Downes and the Amphibians from Outer Space back in 1993, although our version of another Joy Division song 'They Walked in Line' was much better (and much nastier).

And now Mimi Page has done it, and I have to say that it is one of the best versions that I have heard. She really is a massively talented young lady. I am currently working my way through her new album Breathe me in, and trying not to use the overused music-joourno term 'songstrel', which implies Kylie rather than Kate, and Rihanna rather than Polly Jean.

Check it out lads and lasses:

NORMAL SERVICE WILL BE RESUMED.................................EVENTUALLY

The Bloke at BT confirmed that there is something wrong with our telephone line, and launched 'stabilising procedures`. He warned that it might take several days to get back to normal. So at the moment our broadband is obscenely slow, and so our blogging activities are not as efficient as usual...

REMEMBERING THE LATE MICK KARN

The other night, Corinna, Prudence and I were listening to the rather fab new album by Genre Peak. "Gosh" I said, "the bass playing sounds just like the late Mick Karn". Then I looked at the press release - the late Mick Karn, who was one of the pivotal members of Japan and - incidentally - one of my favourite bass players, does indeed appear on the album.

I then got all maudlin. Mick Karn died of cancer last year, and I never thought I would hear something new by him again. The fact that I did, depressed me when it should have done otherwise. He was an amazing musician, and will be sadly missed.

Electronica-Trance Band GENRE PEAK Releases New Album ʻREDUXʼ

Electronica-Trance Band GENRE PEAK Releases New Album ʻREDUXʼ
Featuring Legendary Mick Karn

3/28/2012 - Sacramento, CA - Genre Peak is the music and collaborations of electronic percussionist/ composer/ producer Martin Birke. Birke is well known for scoring original music for The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, recording and touring internationally with Sandbox Trio, Casualty Park, Genre Peak and most recently with Percy Howard(Meridiem, Bill Laswell) in the duo Hardboiled Wonderland. Genre Peak has released 2 full-length albums Ends of the Earth (2006 in-code Music) and Preternatural (2008 in-code Music). Starting in 2006 as a trio with Martin Birke on vocals and electronics, Daniel Panasenko on Chapman Stick and Stephen Sullivan on guitar-synths and vocals. The trio performed as an electronic rock band around Northern California cities until the departure of Panasenko in late 2006. In 2008 Birke returned to the studio with co-producer/engineer/guitarist Christopher Scott Cooper and decided in recruiting a unique cast of vocalists and musicians consisting of Canadian singer Tara C. Taylor, Japan/Dalis Car bassist Mick Karn, bassist Gustaf Fjelstrom, French rock & electronic composer/remixer Tristan X (Kiss & Fly) and Spanish electronic composer/remixer Alex Brujas. The end result was Genre Peakʼs most vital album to date 'Preternatural'. The songs featured heavier electronics, darker moods, and percussion effects offset with Karn and Fjelstromʼs fretless basslines, Taylorʼs lilting vocals and Cooperʼs high quality production making an album that was very well received by music media and fans around the world.

“ 'Ends of the Earth' reflects the post-postmodern sound of Genre Peak - detached, cool, minimalist and wired.” -West Coast Performer

“Genre Peak has seriously evolved with the new album 'Preternatural', a very coherent and intelligent release. The mix of ambient components and low tempo rhythms has been well executed.” - SIDE-LINE Magazine

“Genre Peak's 'Preternatural' is an interesting and entertaining mix of electronica and alternative. The synthesizers are great and so is the percussion.” - The Celebrity Cafe

The new Genre Peak album 'Redux' is released by Gonzo Multimedia International and features the best songs from both previous albums and includes 2 new songs featuring the vocals of Percy Howard, the track "Words Surround Us" also feature violins by Benito Cortez and ʻBlue Filter (PH mix)ʼ sets a melacholic tone with complex percussion, dark synths and the vocal pairing of Percy Howard & Tara C. Taylor. Martin Birkeʼs dark and complex writing style with Christopher Scott Cooperʼs production makes for a modern and distinct listening experience not be missed.


For videos,news and downloads go to the official Genre Peak website, Soundcloud and Facebook: http://www.genrepeak.net/
http://soundcloud.com/genre-peak
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Genre-Peak/201477959917772


To purchase Genre Peak 'Redux' http://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/product_details/15414

JON ANDERSON TALKS ABOUT `YES`

There is a video here with a revealing interview with the man himself. Unfortunately, with my Internet playing silly beggars I can't work out how to embed it. I am afraid that you are going to have to follow the link below. But it's worth it...

 
To most music fans, Jon Anderson‘s voice is synonymous with the music of Yes (even though he’s quit the band twice, and 1980′s Drama was recorded with a different singer). So it was a surprise when Yes announced that they were going on tour in 2008 without Anderson.


Read on...

TROY DONOCKLEY REVIEW

http://www.progwereld.org/cms/recensies/album/troy-donockley-messages/

 

Flutist and Uillean Pipes-performer Troy Donockley is the prog audience best known for its previous employer Iona, but the best man has also played in Mostly Autumn, Magenta, Clannad, The Enid, Midge Ure and recently even in Nightwish. In addition, he uses his spare time for the delivery of truly great solo albums. Of these, three from now - all masterpieces - and "Messages" is one of a collector with two new tracks.

For those familiar with Donockley's solo career, "Messages" a bit redundant.

Not for nothing but the subtitle reads "a collection of music 1998 - 2011" and as "crash course" should "Messages" is certainly his goal. In addition, the record two new tracks, which mainly Dunmail Rising an impressive number. Although we Progwereld averse to commerce is a good time to point out that "Messages" dirt cheap on Donockley's site is offered for a price at which it sends.

Anyway, the choice Donockley for this introduction is made, is exemplary. Especially "The Madness Of Crowds" comes with two long tracks as well. Thus, the succession by Barbara Dickson and Joanna Hogg sung Now, Voyager is a temporary peak. Very beautiful is the poem of Walt Whitman that line by line, twenty people will be nominated. Donockley not only the right choices, the sequence is exemplary. For people who are unfamiliar with Donockley's work (and there are enough), will be "Messages" should feel like a new CD, as well arranges the material successively.

Donockley Troy is best known for playing the Uillean Pipes, Irish bagpipes. Very official may call you that no bagpipes, because that name is destined for the Scottish bagpipes, you played with the mouth. Donockley will therefore not easily get short of breath because the Uillean Pipes play with your hands, where air is being pumped up with your elbows. Now this is a very nice Irish bagpipe, but often predominant instrument. Therefore it is more interesting to observe that Donockley in his career, the instrument gives a prominent place, but it also knows well dosed.

In the piece Sibelius Finlandia , but also in the new From Him Who Will Never Return , he gives his main instrument, the Uillean Pipes, all space. On the other side of the spectrum there are songs like the eleven minute Orkahaugr , where the instrument but sporadically. It is this variety and this dose causes Donockley not only important as a specialist in music, but also as a composer.

The collector is more than 70 minutes at the end many beautiful things. So sings Donockley with Joanna Hogg's stunning Pursuit Of Illusion , of the eponymous album from 2003. You must be of stone if you have no lump in your throat. For nearly ten minutes after Tunnels before you choose to get the debut of "The Unseen Stream" from 1998, of which especially the end piece is impressive.

"Messages" as an introduction makes especially clear how much the music of Troy Donockley is undervalued and ignored. This is your chance to catch up. For the rest we naturally yearn for a real new studio CD. Let's hope that "Messages" as the prelude for it.

Markwin Meeuws

YESTERDAY WAS WHAT IS VULGARLY CALLED A COCK UP!

Back in 2005 or so then British Prime Minister, the universally appreciated and adored Tony Blair (what a nice man he was, golly) launched some sort of vote-winning exercise when he announced that any community in the UK who could get enough names on a petition could get broadband. Gosh, what a nice altruistic fellow he was.

The teensy weensy North Devon village of Woolfardisworthy from whence the Gonzo Daily editorial team conduct their world-beating activities (Graham, Corinna and I live in a tumbledown 200 year old cottage there) was one of the aforementioned communities. Unfortunately, as far as we can ascertain, no-one did much to upgrade the 1970s era telephone lines. (If we are impugning that nice Mr Blair here, we apologise, but we are sure that he will forgive us. Not only is he such a nice man, but we are sure that no-one ever criticises him) but as a result our broadband service is not as good as that in most of the rest of the United Kingdom.

Yesterday it didn't work at all for most of the time, and when it did it was (as we said yesterday) a three toed sloth with a depressive illness, or like a geriatric tortoise on tuinal. Therefore, there wasn't more than a skeletal series of posts on this esteemed blog. Sorry guys.

It seems that we are back on full strength today, but if the coverage is patchy ever again you know who to blame!

JUDGE SMITH: Orfeas lauded en Francais

So it seems that we are not the only people to be massively impressed by Judge Smith's Orfeas album. The following review is from a French wesbite, and is translated by those jolly nice people at Google. We are posting it for several reasons, not the least because the sentiments expressed are very similar to our own; like us he was someone that they had vaguely heard of, and like us the release of Orfeas has turned them into a true fan...

Rating: 7.5/10
His name sounds perhaps like a distant echo in the memory of some. Judge Smith is indeed the co-founder of Van der Graaf Generator with Peter Hammill , although it has left the adventure start 1969 before recording the first 33 laps of this group. Occupied by various musical projects, from design stage performances to composing for other artists, creating an opera of modern music in a TV series and even a film, Judge Smith expects 1991 to produce his first album, a collection of songs written between 1968 and 1977 ("Democrazy") and 1993 for his first original album is finally born ("Dome Of Discovery").

In the 2000s, he moves up a gear than seven CDs released since, one of which, "Curly's Airship", he says is the most ambitious rock album ever produced to date. "Curly's Airship" is also the first Songstory , name that gives a narrative form of music he loves and whose "Orfeas" is the third avatar. The man is complex and analysis of his music proves it. Indeed, "Orfeas" is certainly an ambitious and complex concept. Beyond the argument (revisiting the myth of Orpheus by modernizing, becoming a rock guitarist Orpheus and Eurydice idolized his muse that he will eventually), it is especially the bias of the composition s 'is original. Judge Smith has decided to register by September formations of different musical styles, each being associated with a training style.

We discover, therefore, in order of appearance on the disc, a Greek bard singing so hard on bombastic guitar arpeggios Hispanic, the Orfeas Band, rock band, Judge Smith using his technique of speech music on the soliloquies of Orfeas , a technique also used in interviews complimented with a string sextet, techno music to symbolize the passage from dream to reality of the heroes of classic opera songs way between Orpheas and Eurydice, played by Lene Lovich and finally a group of metal for the tragic end of the story. If the bard who plays the role of narrator is amusing at best, annoying at worst, the string sextet mixing romantic and contemporary music and that there is not much to say about the passages techno and metal very marked in their respective genres, back on the other three sets. Orfeas The Band plays instrumental rock classic, even if an instrument is an accordion relatively discreet. It serves mainly as a backdrop to the two soloists are impeccable as John Ellis and David Jackson . John Ellis (the "hands of Orfeas") treats us gratifying guitar solos and removed. David Jackson shines for her many saxophone in However, a register wiser than he who was in his VDGG . The duets between Judge Smith and Lene Lovitch resemble vocal improvisations: no guidelines really emerges from these "songs", this is a conversation where protagonists are expressed in these notes as in musicals where the music follows the text and not the other.

Finally the six soliloquies and two interviews using an original technique called speech music whereby every inflection of the voice is converted into its equivalent music. The "score" is then created and played by an instrument whose sound is superimposed on the voice, generating an echo phenomenon, all served on a discreet orchestration. The effect is pretty amazing and made ​​the soliloquies are sufficiently short that the surprise did not turn into annoyance. All these styles are intertwined in the album, giving a report to the staff and less chaotic. Unnecessary to consider what was coming off the lot titles, "Orfeas" is an indivisible whole that we appreciate as a whole or rejected as totally.

But creativity, inventiveness, attention to detail, the factual quality of the interpretation are undeniable. All sprinkled with a healthy dose of humor. As for assessing the results, it's just a matter of personal taste.

HAWKWIND: In the news

With yesterday's news that BBC DJ Stuart Maconie played three tracks from Doremi Fasol Latido it seems that the fathers of Space Rock are on everyone's lips today. Well, sadly that is a little bit of hyperbole (wot? hyperbole on this blog? NEVAH!) but there does seem to be more Hawkwind news and comment about on the net than ever at the moment. Just a quick gander at today's Google News Alerts reveals the following items:

Watch JEFF the Brotherhood Cover Hawkwind's 'Master of the Universe'
By D. Patrick Rodgers
When we told you that fraternal, Nashvillian psych-garage duo JEFF the Brotherhood was slated to open some dates for queen of cat-loving, boy-crazy sunshine pop,...Nashville Scene
www.nashvillescene.com/.../watch-jeff-the-brotherhood-cover...

Hawkwind to rock carlisle - Carlisle United FC forum from footymad.net
hawkwind to rock carlisle. Carlisle United message board and forum from footymad.net. 31st may at last some good live music.
boards.footymad.net/forum.php?tno=121&fid=18...1...

Hawkwind return to Dublin
It's the return to Ireland of the legendary Hawkwind! Having been out on tour promoting their latest piece of work Onward, and marking their 40th anniversary.
http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://www.goldenplec.com/news/hawkwind-return-to-dublin/&ct=ga&cad=CAcQAhgAIAEoBDAAOABAianG-wRIA1gAYgVlbi1VUw&cd=eU7GAaaVo2A&usg=AFQjCNHtBOjsJs2O3NkNXakqZgJUdNVWZQ

EVERYTHING IS SLOW TODAY

OUR BROADBAND VEERS BETWEEN NON-EXISTENT AND THE SPEED OF A THREE TOED SLOTH WITH A DEPRESSIVE ILLNESS AND A SEVERE LACK OF MOTIVATION. THE BLOGS, AND EVERYTHING ELSE TODAY IS HELD UP AS A RESULT OF THIS. SORRY...

WALLY: Someone else likes them as much as I do

http://www.classicrockrevisited.com/reviewwally.htm

Wally – Montpellier
Gonzo Multimedia
www.wallymusic.co.uk
Rating: B

Wally originated in England in the early 1970’s. In 1974, they released their debut album, which, interestingly was recorded at Morgan Recording Studios, the same place that Black Sabbath and Yes had recorded. The album was co-produced by Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman.

The album ended up being one of those releases that was heralded by musicians but failed to capture the ears of the general public.

The band went their separate ways for thirty years but then, unexpectedly, in 2009 they reunited. Led by original members Roy Webber, Paul Middleton, Pete Sage, Roger Narraway and Nick Glennie-Smith, the band added Frank Mizen on pedal steel and Will Jackson on guitar.

The band sold out a gig in their hometown and recorded a DVD of the show. They discovered they still had the spark and went back into the studio.

Montpellier is part Wally, part Pink Floyd and part Grateful Dead. These diverse styles lead to one heck of an enjoyable listening experience. From the opening track of “Sailor” to the final notes of the emotional “Giving” Wally proves they were a great band who deserved much more than the business of music gave them.

This is a band, and a release, that is ripe for the picking by those ultimate Rock Nerds who search for every interesting note ever played. In Wally, they will find a treasure trove.

By Jeb Wright

ESPECIALLY FOR DAVE MCMANN

ROBERT CALVERT: Starfarer's praise

Graham Inglis and I have been mates for over twenty years, and for the last seven he has been sharing my house in rural North Devon. He is a mega-Hawkind fan, and when I first started to work for Gonzo Multimedia, and my first job was to prepare a new edition of Robert Calvert's book of poetry Centigrade 232, one of the first things that I did was to ask for his aid. We worked hard on the new edition, and it was published last month.

Apparently one of the major reviewing dudes in Hawkwindland is a chap called 'Steve Starfarer' who runs a website called http://www.starfarer.net/ which describes itself as: "...a less-than-reverent fan site devoted to Hawkwind, inventors of space rock".

He recently gave Centigrade 232 a through and pretty good review, culminating: "It has so much more impact given the way it is presented in this new edition. And the wider availability is excellent, perhaps affording Calvert the best chance at the recognition that he sought, nearly twenty-five years after his passing. Good job all round".

The review can be found: http://www.starfarer.net/c232bkcd.html about half way down the page. I accept his criticisms (which are pretty minor) but I would like to set the record straight on one matter, the cover.

Steve writes: "I was surprised to see that the cover has the same image as the 2007 Voiceprint edition’s, although it’s provided in a larger format: approximately 6” x 9”." Further on he writes: "Further digging reveals that Gonzo and Voiceprint are in fact the same outfit, more or less, which explains why the new edition looks so similar to the previous one: they probably reused the same printing plates etc.. "

Not actually the case. Keeping the cover was my choice and mine alone. Rob Ayling originally asked me for a psychedelicy cover, but I put the whole package together trying to bear in mind that Calvert wished to be known as a poet rather than a rock music performer, and I thought that the cover of the 2nd edition was really rather nice. I have never actually seen the first edition, and as far as I am aware no-one at Gonzo actually has a copy, so I had to err on the side of caution whilst correcting errors, and deciding what bits of artwork to leave out and what to keep in.

Thanks for your kind words Steve. I appreciate them. I hope that the next time I design a Hawkwind related package it, too, will meet with your approval.

Slainte
Jon

MERRELL FANKHAUSER: Review from Philly

Often regarded as one of the pioneers of surf music, guitarist Merrell Fankhauser (whose band, The Impacts, had a hit with “Wipeout” in 1963) has built up quite a respectable career and fanbase over the last few decades. In 2001, he began hosting a music show called Tiki Lounge, which aired on the East Coast. In it, Fankhauser explored the history of surf music and related genres by interviewing musicians, performing covers, and educating viewers. Recently, a 2 DVD/2 CD compilation entitled The Best of the Tiki Lounge was released, and for fans of the music, locations, personalities, and time period, it’s a fantastic collection.

Read on...

TROY DONOCKLEY: His album is magnificent

Corinna and I listened to Troy Donockley's album Messages last night, and golly its good. I have always liked the sounds of various Celtic pipes, and I once spent a week investigating a bigfoot-type apparition with Katherine Tickell's ex-bass player (but that, once again, is another story entirely).

Troy's album is a revelation. It is completely unlike any other pipe album I have ever heard because it is not, basically, a collection of traditional tunes rehashed. It is something else entirely. When most artists say something like:

“I have a massive range of influences — from PINK FLOYD to Mahler, Johnny Cash to VANGELIS, PLANXTY to YES, and Vaughn Williams to Neil Young,”

Then I for one usually suspect a degree of hyperbole. But then again I am a cynical old sod. But Troy, if anything is understating the case. He is a superb composer and particularly arranger, whose work spans quite a range of influences and styles. I give you fair and due warning that he is someone that I shall be returning to again and again in these pages. But in the meantime check this out:

MARTIN STEPHENSON AND THE DAINTEES: To Play 'Boat to Bolivia' in its entirety on tour

http://hangout.altsounds.com/news/143210-martin-stephenson-daintees-tour.html

County Durham singer-songwriter Martin Stephenson’s has an impressive reputation for hearty live shows and this tour follows the success of when Martin and The Daintees performed ‘Boat To Bolivia’ in full at two sold out shows the Jazz Café three years ago.

With a background in busking and deeply influenced by literature, they released ‘Boat To Bolivia’ in 1986. New Musical Express remarked that it "builds bridges between love and hate, between cradle and grave, between folk and pop, between the past and present". 'Bolivia' was hallmarked by a heady mix of honesty, openness and fond appreciation of blues and ragtime stylings.

Having embarked on a solo career, and sometimes touring with a new Daintees lineup, this is the first time Martin Stephenson will rejoin the group to play 'Boat to Bolivia' for 26 years.

HAWKWIND Spring Tour

For a Hawkwind fan, it's always a special moment when the lights go down, and some drones and Dave Brock's synth twitters start proceeding from the darkened stage area.

Now, Hawkwind have confirmed a series of dates in May and June - which presumably will include material from their new album, due out at the end of April.

The ten-date mini-tour covers England (5), Wales (1), Scotland (1), and Ireland (2):

Donnington 26 May (Off The Tracks festival)
Stamford Corn Exchange Theatre, 27 May
Cork - The Pavilion, 28 May
Dublin Button Factory, 29 May
Middlesbro Town Hall, 30 May
Carlisle Sound, 31 May
Buckley Tivoli, 1 June
Edinburgh Queens Hall, 2 June
Holmfirth Picturedrome, 3 June
Southampton - The Brook, 4 June.

Hawkwind fans in the Irish Republic have started getting excited, as it's the first time the Hawks have been over there since 2004.

For ticket sales information, go to the TOUR DATES section of the Hawkwind website.

Anyone really wanting to attend one of these gigs would be well advised to get a ticket in advance, as they're not very big venues, and it's only a small tour anyway. For instance, Southampton Brook is almost always sold out on the night, when Hawkwind are there.

Aditionally, there are two festival dates in August:

Friday 17th Aug - Clumber Park, Near Worksop - Classic Rock Concert.
Fri 24th Aug - Rhythm Festival, Biggleswade.

MARTIN STEPHENSON AND THE DAINTEES TO TOUR

Original Posting



The music world is buzzing with excitement about the forthcoming CD release by UK '80s music legends Martin Stephenson & The Daintees titled 'California Star' on Gonzo MultiMedia.

Much to the elation of his fans, in support of Martin's new release a tour of the UK is scheduled for April 2012. Martin is an outstanding singer and songwriter, whose career in music now stretches back over thirty years of critical acclaim and relentless touring. Martin's new CD incorporates an eclectic range of musical styles, from Zappa & Beefheart, through Rockabilly, old time string music to straight ahead rock 'n' roll. “This album was recorded in Stirling, Scotland and features original Daintee John Steel on guitar and keyboards,” says Martin. “It is loaded with spiritual intelligence, 'love' and some great songcraft and playing. It is a highly unique and original piece of work and represents The Daintees now.”

Born in County Durham in the Northeast of England on the 27th July 1961, Martin was initially fired up to play in a band when the punk rock phenomenon went over ground in the late 1970's. He convened his band The Daintees in the early 80's with the name deliberately chosen as a response to the humorlessness and angst of much of the music of the time. The Daintees became one of the first bands to sign to the Newcastle based independent label, Kitchenware. Their debut single, “Roll On Summertime” was a sparkling and charming affair that announced the arrival of a considerable new talent. After Kitchenware packed Martin and the band off to London Records, he released the marvelous debut album, 'Boat To Bolivia' (1985) produced by future Pixies, Bunnymen and James sound engineer Gil Norton. The album was packed with excellent rootsy pop songs which boasting a veritable rainbow of styles sung and played with a youthful enthusiasm and warmth that paradoxically perhaps, displayed a mature and unique song writing talent. Lengthy bouts of touring saw the band gain a reputation as a fantastic live act and cemented a loyal fan base which remains with him today.

Subsequent albums, 'Gladsome, Humour and Blue' (1987), 'Salutation Road' (1989) and 'The Boys Heart' (1992) Martin was very much inspired by Patti Smith, bringing her guitarist Lenny all the way over from New York to produce it for him Martin was constantly gaining heightened credibility as one of the UK's cutting edge and most uncompromising songwriters . Something which London records seemed oblivious to in their quest for hit singles. This led to Martin kicking against the constraints that the label put in his way and undertook a tour of the Scottish highlands, playing folk clubs and tiny bars. Martin left London records in 1993 and also severed his ties with the Kitchenware management team. He signed to the west London based indie label Demon Records for whom he made three highly acclaimed albums, 'Yogi In My House' (1995), 'Sweet Misdemeanour' (1995) and 'Beyond The Leap, Beyond The Law' (1997). Following the sale of 'Demon' in 1998, Martin moved to the Tyneside based label Voiceprint and has released many unusual albums through his friendship with label owner Rob Ayling, one of which was a recording in Lincoln Cathederal, another was a field trip to North Carolina where he documented the penultimate vision of the life and times of Charlie Poole with a beautiful works entitled 'The Haint of the Budded Rose'.

Free from the commercial constraints of the mainstream music industry, Martin relocated to the highlands of Scotland, and still works closely with Rob Ayling. As of late, well known promoter Simon Moran of SJM walked into one of Martin's low key gigs and offered to promote a national tour for him, SJM are a very successful music promotions company who are currently putting together the long awaited 'Stone Roses' reunion. The new MS & the Daintees album 'California Star' will be tied in with the UK tour in April. It is the first proper Daintees tour since 1992 and tickets are flying out the door! “You can expect on this tour the first album played beautifully by a very tight and perceptive bunch of players, who love each other and are together for all the right reasons,” says Martin. “A second set (Best Of) with a lot of old Daintees faves, there is a center spot featuring our fave songstress 'Helen McCookerybook', ex-lead singer of Te Chefs' – we are celebrating Helen, as she was one of our biggest influences.”

Tour dates:
06/04/2012 – King Tut's Wah Wah Hut – Glasgow
07/04/2012 – The Sage 2 – Gateshead
08/04/2012 – Leeds City Varieties Music Hall – Leeds
10/04/2012 – O2 Academy2 Liverpool – Liverpool
11/04/2012 – Quays Theatre – The Lowry – Salford
13/04/2012 – Union Chapel – Islington, London
14/04/2012 – St. George's Church – Brighton
15/04/2012 – O2Academy2 – Oxford
16/04/2012 – St Georges – Bristol

In closing Martin has this to impart to his devoted fans of many years: “Thanks for sticking with us, we could have taken more, but morally it was wrong, we were and still are a band with love consciousness and cosmic origin. We are true to the path, we survived the '80s industry and drug cultures to continually practice love away from the limited perception of fame and bad manners.”

Sources:
www.martinstephenson.me.uk/Site/Home.html
www.helenmcookerybookart.com

JACKSON-WEBBER: Strange analogies

I know I talked about them yesterday, but in the early afternoon a parcel arrived for me. Well as you may or
may not know that I have a day job - I am director of a singular outfit called The Centre for Fortean Zoology and as part of what we do we have a number of hungry amphibians. We are presently running a breeding programme for some obscure legless amphibians caeled Rio Cauca Caecilians (don't worry about remembering the name, it is the last time I shall mention them today at least) and these little creatures mainly eat earthworms. I am awaiting a shipment of 1000 earthworms from a composting firm, and I thought that this bulky parcel from the north of England was them.

However, much to the disappointment of my amphibious pals, it was only a parcel of CDs from the lovely Anner Marie at Gonzo. And one of them was the Jackson Webber album that I have been looking forward to hearing. So, I rationalised to myself that I really should make myself familiar with the record, so I abandoned the work I should have been doing (trying to get my head around analysing the paternation on the back of various frog specimens) and I went into the sitting room, sat down in my favourite chair with the elderly orange cat on my knee and listened.

Bloody hell, its good! My first impressions are that they are like a 21st Century English analogue of The Flying Burrito Brothers, and I stand by what I said yesterday. There is something particularly English about them. Its not the way that the songs are sung, or the subject matter; they don't sing songs about ferrets, the social security system or black puddings, but something about the arrangements and instrumentation.

If you can imagine what happened if Fairport Convention of about the era when Dave Mattacks was still playing drums and Maartin Allcock had first joined the band, going to a fancy dress party as The Flying Burrito Brothers whereupon Sooty andSweep sprinkled them with oofle dust and the transformation stuck, then possibly you might have some idea what I am talking about.

But rather than trying to get your head around my particularly odd analogy, it would be simpler for you to just go out and buy the album. I warn you, I have not said my last upon this subject.

Slainte...

MARTIN STEPHENSON AND THE DAINTEES GO TO BRIGHTON

http://magazine.brighton.co.uk/Clubs-and-Music/Reviews/Martin-Stephenson-and-The-Daintees-Bring-Their-Seminal-Album-Boat-To-Bolivia-To-Brighton/21_45_3569#a Martin Stephenson & The Daintees bring their seminal album 'Boat To Bolivia' to Brighton. Martin Stephenson may have toured with the likes of Prefab Sprout and Aztec Camera, but it was his early love of literature and music that led to the formation of the first Daintees line-up in his early teens. And it is a revisiting of their debut album ‘Boat To Bolivia’ that sees them reunited on the live stage once more.

The band was signed to record label Kitchenware and, after two singles, notable among which was 1982's intoxicating Roll On Summertime, a debut album was embarked upon.

Boat To Bolivia, released in 1986, was praised by the New Musical Express because it ‘builds bridges between love and hate, between cradle and grave, between folk and pop, between the past and present.’

The candidness and honesty of Martin Stephenson's lyrics were best portrayed on songs Caroline and Crocodile Cryer.

Stephenson relays that: “I'm from the same place as Bryan Ferry, a wee mining village called Washington Tyne & Wear: the ancestral home of George Washington.

“In fact I used to steal pears from his garden when I was a boy, er thats George not Bryan, although Bryan lived in the same street as me.

His Mum was called Polly, a lovely lady. Washington Tyne & Wear is 7 miles from Newcastle upon Tyne, home of The Animals, and Jimi Hendrix lived there for a while when he came to England with Chas Chandler in 1965.”

Martin Stephenson and The Daintees followed up ‘Boat to Bolivia’ with three albums on the Kitchenware label before Stephenson embarked on a solo career with a series of acclaimed releases for Demon Records.

In the new millennium, he released a series of mail-order only acoustic projects.

He also records and tours with his swing outfit the Toe-Rags and, from time to time, a new line-up of the Daintees.

This will be Martin Stephenson and The Daintees' first full tour in 20 years and is not to be missed.

Martin Stephenson and The Daintees present Boat To Bolivia @ Brighton St Georges Church on Saturday 14th April. Tickets priced £18.50 are available via http://www.gigsandtours.com/

WELCOME TO THE HOUSE OF PROG

I just want to say a big 'thank you' to our new friends at The House of Prog who have made us very welcome, and not only let us post there every day to plug what we are doing here on the Gonzo Daily Blog, but actively encourage it. What nice people they are to be sure!

http://www.houseofprog.com/

RICK WAKEMAN AT MUSICALITY TV

ITS A KINDA MAGIC--high tech broadcasting capability meets a true master of the keyboards to perform on the biggest stage in the world.

Rick Wakeman in association with Musicality TV have joined forces to provide Rick with his own internet tv channel. Now wherever he performs in the world you can watch him from the comfort of your own living room.

See his new channel at:
www.musicality.tv/music/rick-wakeman

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHOSH

A very happy birthday to my darling stepdaughter Shosh, 27 today. She is pictured here at her graduation with some old hippy who writes a daily blog about esoteric and often peculiar music....

She is a vet, I am the one with the boyish good looks, the body of a Greek God (Silenus) and the beard in which whole flocks of small creatures could find a home...

HAWKWIND IN THE 'AUSTIN DAILY HERALD'. GOODNESS ME!

But, in the early 1970s, bands like Hawkwind were playing rock that featured many of the elements punk would come to be known by, like running bass lines and catchy guitar riffs. Other acts like the Velvet Underground and the Stooges were already jamming with pre-punk stylings in the late 1960s, and Hawkwind was blending in elements of prog and space rock. In fact, Hawkwind has been described as a band that bridged the gap between hippies and punks (though I doubt many punk rockers went out to coffee with hippies in the ‘70s).

Read on...

JACKSON WEBBER: English and Western, or should that be Country and English?

http://www.jacksonwebber.com/

I like country music. There. I've said it. Just after I turned 41 a bloke who used to work for me gave me a CDR of Gram Parsons, and I never looked back. But there is something that I have never understood. Whereas with all the other Transatlantic musical genres that have made it to this country, we have (as a nation) managed to subvert them and turn them into something of our own. We have had British folk music, British R&B, British rock and roll, British reggae and even British blues, for goodness sakes. But there has never been a convincing British country music scene.

Every Englishman who has ever donned a cowboy hat and a pedal steel has always sounded like a strange imitation of someone from the outskirts of Nashville. Until Now.

I remember reading an interview with the late Ronnie Lane soon after he left The Faces in the mid 1970s. He had just launched his new band Slim Chance and said much the same as I just have. Except he added that he wanted to make his group the first bona fide English country band.

I am not sure whether he ever managed it, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Jackson-Webber have. They are a spin-off from Wally about whom I have been eulogistic in my praise over the last few weeks, and from the bits of their album, that I have heard, I am massively impressed.

I am just waiting for my copy to arrive from the lovely Anne-Marie at Gonzo, and I will be driving my nearest and dearest bonkers by playing it too often and too loud. Watch this space!

MIMI PAGE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Eclectic Singer/Songwriter Mimi Page Releases Debut CD "Breathe ...
http://www.philwoods.com/

Platinum Quill. Join Date: Dec 2005. Posts: 11304. Default CD/DOWNLOAD/ALBUM: Eclectic Singer/Songwriter Mimi Page Releases Debut CD "Breathe Me ...
Eclectic Singer/Songwriter Mimi Page Opens For Jefferson Starship ...

www.artentertainmentblast.com/eclectic-singersongwriter-mimi-page-
3 days ago – Mimi Page's full length debut album 'Breathe Me In' featuring co-producer Warren Huart (The Fray, Aerosmith) was released on February 14th ...


Music Release News
www.poisedcreation.com/home/index.php?option=com...
Eclectic Singer/Songwriter Mimi Page Opens For Jefferson Starship Releases Debut CD 'Breathe Me In'. Singer/songwriter/producer Mimi Page's Full Length ...


iX Music Online
ixmusiconline.info/page/4/
Mar 8, 2012 – Eclectic Singer/Songwriter Mimi Page Releases Debut CD “Breathe Me In”. Los Angeles, CA&#151The LA music scene is buzzing about the ...


AmericanSongwriting.com
www.autorepairnetwork.com/
CD/DOWNLOAD/ALBUM: Eclectic Singer/Songwriter Mimi Page Releases Debut CD"Breathe Me In", 03/16/2012. Los Angeles, CA—The LA music scene is ...


Fiona Apple Topics Page - USATODAY.com
content.usatoday.com/topics/more+articles/fiona+apple
CD/DOWNLOAD/ALBUM: Eclectic Singer/Songwriter Mimi Page Releases Debut CD"Breathe Me In". 23h 27m agoAll About Jazz. style blends ethereal dreamy ...


GregWarnerJazz.com
www.gregwarnerjazz.com/
CD/DOWNLOAD/ALBUM: Eclectic Singer/Songwriter Mimi Page Releases Debut CD"Breathe Me In" (All About Jazz). Share With Friends: Share on Facebook ...


Enya News, Pictures & Buzz - March 22, 12:21 am
www.headlinegrabber.com/E/Enya-News/
Eclectic Singer/Songwriter Mimi Page OpensEclectic Singer/Songwriter Mimi PageOpens For Jefferson ... Her full length debut album 'Breathe Me In' featuring co-producer Warren Huart (The Fray, Aerosmith) was released on February .


Aerosmith Dream On Dreamland
www.interpretationofdreams.info/aerosmith_dream_on.php
CD/DOWNLOAD/ALBUM: Eclectic Singer/Songwriter Mimi Page Releases Debut ...Her full length debut album 'Breathe Me In' featuring co-producer Warren ...


All Star news, music videos, pictures and albums - AOL Music
music.aol.com/artist/all-star
CD/DOWNLOAD/ALBUM: Eclectic Singer/Songwriter Mimi Page Releases Debut CD"Breathe Me In". 4:58 PM — Mar 16 —; Source: All About Jazz ...


Jazz Pills JazzSession
jazzsession.com.br/jazz-pills/
All About Jazz News » CD/DOWNLOAD/ALBUM: Eclectic Singer/Songwriter Mimi Page Releases Debut CD "Breathe Me In". Posted 4 hours ago. Los Angeles ...

JON ANDERSON/RICK WAKEMAN NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Former Yes singer Jon Anderson says Anderson, Wakeman, Rabin project on hold
Examiner.com
Former Yes vocalist Jon Anderson has revealed that his planned collaboration with fellow ex-Yes members Rick Wakeman and Trevor Rabin is currently on hold. "We did some songs last year, and Trevor had some things going on in his life that he had to ...

Percussion Showcase with Stewart Copeland and Rick Wakeman ...
A celebratory concert of solos, duos, ensemble and orchestral works, including the European premiere of Stewart Copeland's Gamelan D'Drum for world ...

An Evening with Jon Anderson - American Spectator
On Thursday night, I went to see former Yes lead singer Jon Anderson perform in a solo concert at the Wilbur Theatre here in Boston. While I am not intimately ...

INAPPROPRIATE CORNER: Charles Manson and The Monkees (Cross posted from the CFZ Blog)

It was the rock and roll rumour that Jon has always wished that he'd started; the story that mass murderer Charles Manson had auditioned for the first and most succesful boy band. But is it true? Of course not, but who was it who first started the (oddly belevable) story?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/29/davy-jones-dead-charles-manson-monkees_n_1311642.html?ref=weird-news

GREG LAKE: Punk rock 'wasn't a musical movement'

King Crimson and Emerson, Lake and Palmer founding member Greg Lake slammed punk rock in a new interview, calling it a fashion trend instead of an artistic one.

Speaking to the Montreal Gazette, Lake disparaged the musical value of punk. “The punk thing wasn’t a musical movement,” he said. “It was a fashion movement. It was a hyping, marketing movement. There was no real music there, no cultural revolution there.

"Punk was [Sex Pistols manager Malcolm] McLaren trying to whip up some media hype to create a genre so that everybody could ride on the crest of another marketing wave," Lake added. "It was only a question of a few idiots wearing tartan kilts and putting gel in their hair so it stood up like spikes.

Read on...

HOW IT ALL BEGAN

My name is Jon, and its been, ummm 38 years since I first heard the sort of music I now write about every day. It was the autumn of 1973 when I spent a weekend at my friend Tim's house. His elder brother who had a moped, sideburns and a blonde girlfriend called Christine who looked a bit like a goldfishk, played us this weird record called The Dark Side of the Moon and neither me or Tim had ever heard anything like it before. But it blew me away, and I realised for the firtst time that there was life outside the top 20.

Then the next spring one of the older boys on the school bus gave me a copy of something called The New Musical Express and I read it avidly from cover to cover. The nextr week I bought my own copy, and soon I was reading all of the music papers each week. Then one day in the summer term I read in the pages of the NME that a band called Gong were selling an album for 49p. Gosh I thought, and I went and bought it.

I had no idea what it was going to sound like. I vaguely thought that it might sound a bit like a Deep Purple album that someone had taped for me, and was totally confused by it when it didn't. But it was the only LP I owned and I had spent several weeks pocket money on it, so I persevered and grew to love it. And so, my life was changed for good.

Cos it was through my love of Gong that I met Rob Ayling in 1988, and if I hadn't met him and spent the next twenty years blagging free CDs off him until he finally decided that it would be better if he gave me a job, then I wouldn't be here now, and my world at least would be an entirely different thing.

Thank you for letting me share that...

RICHIE HAVENS: The Lost Broadcasts

Like most people of my generation (I am 52, and feeling every day of it) I first encountered Richie Havens as the opening act of Woodstock. Not thatI was amongst the throng at Yasgur's Farm, but I saw the movie at a late night showing with Easy Rider at an art event at Exeter University in the summer of 1977.

I was always quite impressed with his signature strummety strum polyrhythms, and whilst I will be the first to admit that he may be an acquired taste, the same can be said about most of the artists I like.

I was intrigued, therefore, to find that there was a Richie Havens DVD as part of the Gonzo 'Lost Broadcasts' series. Most of the songs were familiar to me, although I had never heard him do them. My two favourites are CSN's Teach Your Children and James Taylor's Fire and Rain both of which acquire a strange funky spiritualness about them. Somehow you feel like you have been transported into some weird voodoo cathedral, and I found myself hearing all sorts of imaginary orchestration that only existed in my head. I haven't felt like that in a long time. Wow...
_______________________________________________________

The Lost Broadcasts are a series of Audio and Visual CD/DVD sets featuring performances that have rarely been seen since the original transmission on German television, in some cases more than forty years ago. Some of the artists featured within the series are legendary and these "Lost" performances will be a fine addition to any music fans collection. The series covers a number of styles and genres however all of the performances are of a high calibre

Richie Havens is an American folk artist and was the opening act at the now legendary Woodstock festival in August 1969. Although a respected artist noted for his fast and somewhat unorthodox guitar style Richie Havens had been making waves in music circles since the mid sixties and his reputation had spread further following his record deal with Verve records in 1967 and the release of his debut album for the label Mixed Bag. By the time of the Woodstock festival in August 1969 Richie Havens had released two more albums; Something Else Again in 1968 and the double album Richard P Havens 1983. Further successful albums followed in the seventies and Richie Havens continues to tour and release albums on a regular basis.

The sessions featured on this CD/DVD package are drawn from June 1969 through to late October 1971. From the earliest sessions just before the Woodstock festival Havens performs two versions of the Beatles song Lady Madonna and Just Above My Hobby Horses Head both tracks from the Richard P Havens 1983 album. Moving forward to October 1971 we have three versions of the George Harrison song Here Comes The Sun which was a featured track on his then current album Alarm Clock. Two other songs come from this session. Teach Your Children and another cover this time a cover of the James Taylor song Fire and Rain. The final song comes from a session filmed almost a month later at the end of October and is another take on the George Harrison song Here Comes The Sun.

Tracks: Disc 1 , 1. Lady Madonna , 2. High Flying Bird , 3. Just Above My Hobby Horse's Head , 4. Here Comes The Sun (Take 1) , 5. Here Comes The Sun , 6. Think About The Children , 7. Teach Your Children , 8. Fire and Rain , 9. Lady Madonna , 10. Here Come The Sun (broadcast mix) .

WALLY: The Belgians like 'em (and so do I)

Another great review from Belgiuum. This time it is the fabbo new album from Wally which has become another fixture on the office hi-fi. The big question that remains unanswered is why weren't these guys huge first time around? And why did I have to start working fopr the record company before I heard of them. I am making it one of my great purposes in life to make sure that Harrogate's best kept secret, remains a secret no longer.

http://www.keysandchords.com/6/post/2012/03/wally-montpellier.html

Wally: Montpellier18/03/2012 0 Comments Few of you will perhaps know of this band? The spores of this outfit, we find already back in the early seventies. They then took part in a contest organized by Melody Maker. They were among the finalists but were overtaken by another band. This contest took place at the famous Roundhouse in London. But luckily there was one DJ "Whispering" Bob Harris present and when I say that he also was the producer of the renowned BBC program "The Old Grey Whistle Test" I have said enough, right? Soon there will be a debut album and that was with Rick Wakeman geproducet. He was impressed with their music when he attended the final in the Roundhouse. Where can we find Wally among cataloging? Precisely, under the label hardrock like their striker brothers Uriah Heep and Deep Purple dominated the keyboards and the guitar of their oeuvre. The musicians we have here on the CD heard Roy Webber (the original singer and co-founder), Paul Middleton (also a founding member and bass player), Pete Sage (violin, mandolin, guitar), Roger Narraway (drums), Will Jackson (guitar, piano), Nick Glennie-Smith (keys) and many other names. It was 36 years ago that they were all together in a studio while they were working towards the sound of Wally during their early period. With the numbers we can find some tracks which were originally designed for their third album for Atlantic Records, but that was unfortunately not. These eight numbers are as good as indeed the perfect sound of Wally roughly 40 years ago. Melodic rock we find in each issue as well listen to 'Sailor' is a bit early on Procol Harum's "A Salty Dog 'but ultimately seems much stronger than' Dog '. Very long lead of a song that you immediately put on the wrong leg. "Sister Moon" is also very slow on stream and the guitars play an important role.Handsome riffs set the right tone and Neil Young is here now and then looming around the corner. Is this symphonic rock? Yes and no, portions of their songs jump right out of the symphonic packaging while including longer be able to rock meets progs with influences of country and westcoast rock. Listen especially to 'In The Night', that says more than enough about the quality of these guys. Rock meets progr rock flavored with a touch of country rock and rock west cost. Alfons Maes (3)