Saturday 30 June 2012

The Nine Henry's Book Launch



Featuring Martin Stephenson, Gypsy Dave Smith & Guests
The Nine Henry's By Peter McAdam
Published by Gonzo Multi Media

The Nine Henrys are a quirky bunch of cloned cartoon characters. They live in a strange lo-fi domestic surrealist world peopled by talking rock buns and elephants on wobbly stilts.
Over the years the Henrys have been published in a variety of local NE magazines and now here for the first time thanks to Gonzo Multi-Media the Nine Henrys are brought together in a compendium of line art craziness.

“a five ya aad can draw better than that” Authors brother.


I DID PROMISE THAT MY LOVELY WIFE WOULD MAKE MICHAEL DES BARRES A CAKE

AND I ALWAYS KEEP MY PROMISES TO MARQUISES
HEREWITH MY LOVELY WIFE, MY WONDERFUL MOTHER-IN-LAW AND SOME CAKE

LINK: Auburn review

Auburn: Indian Summer

Indian Summer marks the return of UK based electro-acoustic act, Auburn. Their previous work, Dreams was released way back in 2003.

Auburn is led by vocalist/songwriter Liz Lenten. She co-wrote all the song with Max Gilkes and she took care of the lyrics. Her voice is pretty unusual, although fitting very well with the musical direction. She has a somewhat rough and sexy vocal tone with a sweet melodious edge. I would have called this release Summer Breeze myself rather than Indian Summer for it will come as a nice breath of fresh air to cool our hot summer days. This album is made of very easy compositions to listen to and will put the listener in an easy going mood. The music is quite varied though, while remaining very laid back as a whole. Auburn took inspiration from blues, jazz, soft rock, country and even reggae. On many of the ten tracks, one could hear acoustic guitars, violin, strong bass, percussions and the cool voice of Liz with male & female back vocals. My overall favorite tune is on position #2, "Strong". This great composition has the most beautiful melodic lines to be found on this album and a sweet relax vibe crafted by acoustic arpeggios, piano, strings , keyboards and back vocals. "Too Far From Home", has a definite country feel with its beat, acoustic and fiddle tones. Liz has put a comment on each song and for this track she mentioned: "I'm a country girl at heart". The following song, "All Comes Back to You" is the bluesy one to be enjoyed. As for the reggae times, one must select "Day Dreaming" and the closer, dub mix version of "Day Dreaming". Personally, I preferred the original version though.

So, Indian Summer is a very pleasant album to listen and it will put you in an even more pleasant laid back mood.


Track listing:
1- Shame on You
2- Strong
3- Indian Summer
4- Free Spirit
5- Day Dreamin'
6- Stop the Clock
7- Too Far from Home
8- All Comes Back to You
9- This Is the Life
10- Day Dreamin' (dub mix)

Added: June 25th 2012
Reviewer: Denis Brunelle
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 70
Language: english

MERRELL FANKHAUSER WRITES...

Jon,

Wow, I was surprised you found that interview I did with Klemen Breznicar! Its probably the most complete to date with all those rare pictures. Thanks for posting it.Were playing the Monterey Pop Festival this year Sept. 29th where Hendrix and others were discovered during the 67' Summer Of Love...

Also working on a video documentary with interviews with cast members from the Jimi Hendrix movie 'Rainbow Bridge", it will be titled "Rainbow Bridge Revisited".

All My Best,

Merrell.

So I wrote back and extracted a promise from him that he would take lots of pictures and tell Gonzo Daily all aboout it...




HELEN McCOOKERYBOOK: Brittletwist

Helen is a monumentally intriguing artist, and furthermore one after my own heart. She posted this on her blog:

"I have posted a new track on reverbnation.com/helenmccookerybook It's one of the seven ages of women, from Voxpop Puella"

What, I wondered, was Voxpop Puella? My schoolboy Latin was enough to know that puella is Ancient Roman for 'girl' as in "Balbus love the sweet voices of the gurls", as any fule kno. But what was Voxpop Puella? So I googled it and found..

"Helen McCookerybook's Voxpop Puella takes as its theme the seven ages of woman. The show involves the screening of seven short films, commissioned from seven women filmmakers, interspersed with seven songs, written and performed by McCookerybook."

http://www.culturewars.org.uk/edinburgh2003/identity/voxpoppuella.htm

So this is one of the songs from the show, I surmise. So I went back to ReverbNation and listened to it. It is jolly good. I also found this:




ComScore

So my journey was not a wasted one...

...and check out her Gonzo artist page

LINK: Arts & Entertainment ASCAP fetes Trevor Rabin: Composer receives the org's Henry Mancini lifetime kudo


ASCAP feted Trevor Rabin amid a host of screen composers at its 27th annual Film and Television Music Awards, which took place at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Hollywood on Thursday.The event, which honors the composers of the most successful films, TV shows and videogames of the past year, closed with the presentation of the Henry Mancini Award to Rabin, whose scores range from "Remember the Titans" to "Bad Boys" and "The Sorceror's Apprentice." The composer was onhand to receive the award, with Jon Anderson and Jerry Bruckheimer providing videotaped tributes.

Read on...

LINK: Rick Wakeman review

http://progressiverockcentral.com/2012/06/16/keyboard-legend-live-in-2003/


Keyboard Legend Live in 2003






Rick Wakeman – In The Nick Of Time

Rick Wakeman


In The Nick Of Time – Live in 2003 (Gonzo Multimedia MFVP128CD, 2012)


British keyboardist reached legendary status in the 1970s for his work in British progressive rock band Yes and also for his early thematic solo albums. In The Nick Of Time – Live in 2003 is the latest release in his long career. It is a series of live performances recorded in 2003.


In The Nick Of Time shows that in 2003 Rick Wakeman was still one the finest rock keyboardists. The album begins with a spectacular medley of two of his pieces, Catherine Parr and Beware Your Enemies. It is an outstanding keyboard fest, with Wakeman showing his masterful ability on synthesizers and organ.


The next piece is ‘Out There’ from his Out There album released in 2003. Instead of a progressive rock piece, it sounds like Rick Wakeman jamming with Deep Purple.


Next, he plays material from No Earthly Connection. The best part of this piece is Art Glynne’s guitar solo and a brief keyboard solo by Wakeman. Honestly, Rick Wakeman is at its best in instrumental parts. He hasn’t had much luck with solo vocalists.


Another highlight is the beautiful symphonic composition ‘Dance of a Thousand Lights’ featuring Wakeman on a variety of keyboards. It’s a track from “Return to the Centre of the Earth” that was released in 2009.


Rick Wakeman was well known for his use of cathedral style organ in various Yes albums. He shows his admirable technique in ‘The Cathedral on the Sky’. The solo vocals once more seem more appropriate for a hard rock band than for one of the legendary figures of progressive rock.


‘White Rock’ is a series of keyboard and guitar jams set to a basic rock rhythm.


The album ends with ‘Wurm’ which is a Steve Howe piece from Yes’ classic song ‘Starship Trooper’ (part of the Yes album). This is the piece where bassist Lee Pomeroy shows his commendable skill with excellent bass lines.


In The Nick Of Time – Live in 2003 is a fantastic live sampler of Rick Wakeman’s musical career. The progressive rock legend clearly demonstrates that he is at his best when he sticks to progressive rock material.



Check out his Gonzo Artist Page


Friday 29 June 2012

SHARE YOUR JEFFERSON STARSHIP PIX

There is something about Jefferson Starship that I find particularly admirable. They still have a sense of community that so many of their peers lost years ago. Unless I have got it completely wrong, hippy idealism lives on. For example, I have just found a website which is exhorting people who were at a recent open air show to share their memories and pictures.

Right on brothers and sisters. (And I am not being ironic)



Check it out
...and check out the Gonzo Artist Page for Jefferson Starship you know it makes sense.

DAVE McMANN WRITES...

Dave McMann is an old internet friend of mine. We have known each other for well over a decade, but I don't think that we have ever actually met in the flesh. However, heis a regular reader of Gonzo Daily, and this morning I received this email from him...

Hi Jon,

the stand-in bassist for the new Nektar album 'Juggernaut',which is about to be recorded, is Billy Sherwood. Seeing as you are into all things Yes/Wakeman, I thought I'd pass that on to you.





Thanks dude...

And whilst on the subject of Yes check out their Gonzo Artist Page:
http://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/artists/6021/Yes

THE NEW LOOK GONZO DAILY

Visitors to the main Gonzo Multimedia site at http://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/ may have noticed this new feature on the site. Yes, it is the Gonzo Daily on Scoop-it...






You can see the full page version

HERE


However, we have an even more exciting possibility for you. How do you fancy embedding the Gonzo Daily on your own website or blog? Gosh that would be good I hear you clamour. Well, your prayers can now be answered; you can get the source code to copy and paste HERE

LINK: Michael Des Barres: Silverhead rocker & TV villain ‘Murdoc’ chats with Examiner

Michael is an incredible story; he embraced his passion for the arts and has never looked backed.

Interview: Michael Des Barres, CD Review: Carnaby Street

Michael Des Barres is a perfect example of how perseverance, hard work, and a positive outlook, can achieve many of life’s yearnings. Michael is an incredible story; he embraced his passion for the arts and has never looked backed.

Preorder Michael's fantastic new album

SONG BY SONG: Martin Stephenson and The Daintees - California Star (Part Three)

The other day we started a new feature here on the Gonzo Daily. It is called 'Song by Song', and it does exactly what it says on the tin. Basically I go through an album song by song, and then pass my notes on to the artist who made the album in the first place, and see what they have to say. And we start off this exciting new series with the irrepressable Martin Stephenson and his smashing new album California Star:

Part One
Part Two

And now - Part Three:

7. Something Special

JD: A delicate country tinged pop/soul song with deceptively heavy drums. It is the weird offspring of Nashville and Motown, and the breakdown at the end when Martin sings over bass and keyboards is particularly poignant. However, if you scratch beneath the elegant surface, and brush away the delicate interplay between the guitars and especially the lush steel guitar, you find the same three chords that Martin first learned back in the days of his punky roots. That’s what I like about thgis album; no matter how sophisticated the arrangements and soulful the vocals, underneath is still the cheeky lad with his first three chords. And I love the false ending with the steel guitar. Class.

MS: I heard Otis Reading or Jimmy Ruffin in my head when I got this song, of course when it came out through me it was a little more Julian Clary than I’d have liked, so in my head it was a whole lot better, but its a nice band arrangement, the song is about coming out of depression, the first day when you feel hope again, and you are happy to embrace the day, to meet folk agin, “something special, through my window’”

My songs are always loaded with many levels, but the music is there for the folks who just like the music, as music is fun

8. Silver Bird

JD: Opening with picked guitar and high churchy keyboards and strings, Martin goes off into a spiritual reverie over a tune that never does quite what you expect it to. Is he singing to a woman? Is he singing to God? Or is he just singing to a silver bird? Maybe it is all three. One never finds out. The guitar solo in the middle is absolutely exquisite, and is quite possibly the best piece of musicianship on the whole album. I wish I could play like that.

MS: Silver bird is flight into light, universal love, I had Tim Buckley singing to me, it is an old energy, they say in meditation or creativity, whoever you call to join you living or dead, is with you in an instant, Tim was simply there without me calling, as he had been there before in spirit, it is an honour to channel the spirit of Tim Buckley, to try and have a wee fly up to where he soared effortlessly, still we can enjoy being taken to these places by the likes of Hendrix & Tim, their gift to us through recorded music, Tim Buckley in my humble opinion, is one of the most beautiful singers the world has ever known, and this song a gift to him, from the spirit world, through the here and in the midst of creativity, the spirit world.

9. Long Way to Go

JD: And then he goes into a piece of skeletal, mostly acoustic rock and roll straight out of the Jonathan Richman songbook. It even starts off with a quip about ice cream. It really doesn’t get better than this. There is something particularly joyous about this track, which once again has the interesting textures that one has come to expect from this album. When the harmonica solo starts half way through it is completely unexpected, but makes perfect sense. I particularly like the little slide guitar twiddly bits all the way through the second half. Fantastic.

MS: This is a very powerful and poetic spiritual message, dare I say (alarm call) it is about the limitations of human definition. It also describes the true meaning of an orphan, as does ‘Power that is greater’ an orphan is an entity that seeks divorcement from his or her birthright, (the higher consciousness planes of unconditional love and oneness) to settle for a path of resistance accompanied by the ‘dark companions’ on the illusory road much travelled, the dark companions are pain, fear, suffering, death, misery, end, loss you name it

The music is bullshit and an R&B jam really, more of a Lou Reid ‘Geordie Boulevard’ than Modern Lovers I love the music don’t get me wrong, but it could be two Cello’s and a saw!
Saying that, the main guitar I used was a Squier ‘Classic Vibe’ (£239 off the peg @ Guitar Guitar) but sporting some Seymour Duncan Nashville specials with Alnico magnets’ awesome pickups played through an equally awesome Lab Series L1, in my opinion the best tranny amp on the globe, ask BB King, he will vouch for em!

10. Sweet Cherwine

JD: And now another twist. A delightful acoustic song in which Martin sounds more like Hank Williams than Hank Williams, accompanied only by his own guitar and a fiddle player who sounds so Cajun that I can almost smell the Gumbo Filé powder. I was in a little restaurant outside Port Arthur on the Texas/Louisiana border last time I heard a fiddle like this, and my only complaint is that the song is over too soon.

MS: Aye well spotted with the Cajun vibe, thats Scottish fiddler Kenny Brady, Kenny was with The Fall for 5 years, you wouldn’t guess though, he is first class and has a voice like Roy Orbison, you might hear him subtly dotted here and there with ethereal backing vocals (San Sebastian/California Star) The song is about young love, sneaking out and courting, staying up late, the best summer of your life kinda thing, I suppose the melody is a little like ‘Setting the woods on fire’ just a subliminal thing, although I listened to a lot of Hank about 25 years ago, and of course he never leaves you if you are lucky

11. I’m in love for the first time

JD: A stylistic mishmash which verges towards reggae but doesn’t actually get there, although whoever did the mixing had great fun with some wittily dubby effects. The thing that is most impressive about this song, is that it is – once again – three chords. The same three chord sequence that launched a thousand punk bands. It is the same three chord sequence that fuels Louie Louie (which is still the greatest song ever written), and by playing about with rhythms, instrumentation and funny sound effects, martin manages to make something completely unique, and very beautiful.

MS: This song was written by my partner Helen McCookerybook in the early 80’s, its such a perfect ‘Lovers Rock’ song, I had to have a pop of it, again I can hear a Jamaican guy in my head, I did all the dub mixing and recorded the bass and drums in a big art house in Ardross, highlands, the former home of one of Scotland’s best and most active artists John McGioch
Helen McCookerybook to me is a totally original writer, one of my favourite song writers ever, its an honour to be her man

Blessings

Martin xx

Check out the artist page for Martin Stephenson
Check out the artist page for Martin and Helen
Check out the artist page for The Daintees

LINK: Jefferson Starship Set To Release Live Four-CD Set

Getty Images

It’s a very cool time for fans of the Jefferson Starship. Back in 2009 at the ‘Roswell UFO Parade & Festival’, the band, along with the likes of Grateful Dead keyboardist Tom Constanten, among others, performed a sci-fi concert at Pearson Auditorium in honor of the parade, also acting as the ‘Grand Martians’ for that year.

The concert was fully filmed and recorded, filled with many of the great hits such as ‘White Rabbit’ and ‘Somebody To Love,’ which was No. 80 in our countdown of the Top 100 Classic Rock Songs. The band also provided a special program of science fiction-themed compositions and records that were never before heard nor released!

And now, with many thanks from fans, Gonzo Multimedia is releasing the entire concert as a four-CD box set. Of course, the Roswell Parade was a perfect atmosphere for them. The band has been riding the science fiction wave for quite some time, ever since the their first album back in 1971, ‘Blows Against The Empire’ was nominated for the prestigious Hugo Award.

Read on...

...and check out the Gonzo Artist Page for Jefferson Starship you know it makes sense.


AN INVITATION TO THE SOCIAL EVENT OF THE SEASON



This man is still ridiculously funny..

LINK: Hawkwind interview


Read on...

Thursday 28 June 2012

..AND YOU WONDER WHY I AM FOND OF MICHAEL DES BARRES?


Preorder Michael's fantastic new album

DRUMBO BOOK MASK REPLICA - post bag and an explanation

Yesterday was a peculiar day. Good things happened (like the arrival of this magnificent book on his sojourn with Captain Beefheart by John "Drumbo" French), but I was feeling a little untogether when I woke up. This led on to me posting the wrong set of notifications (which in turn prompted me to say that I was 'several Rizlas short of a suspiciously long cigarette') However, I got more untogether as the day progressed (totally screwing up a telephone appointment with Tony Hawks - sorry Tony) and by the end of the day I was in the middle of one of my "episodes".

Regular readers will know what I mean. For newbies, I am bipolar, and sometimes - like today - my mental state collapses. I am pilled to the gills at the moment, and can write reasonably coherently, but don't expect much else out of me for a day or two.

Past experience shows that normal service will be resumed in a day or so...

ANOTHER MIMI PAGE REMIX (I don't think I have heard this one before)



Check out Mimi's artist page at Gonzo

LINK: Michael Des Barres - Video du jour

Don’t ask me why, but we like Michael Des Barres. We met him a few years ago at SXSW in Austin and ran into him on the streets of SXSW in subsequent years. He played and sang with former Sex Pistol Steve Jones in 2009 and had some band gigs on his own in 2010 and (maybe) 2011. We forget.

Read on...

Preorder Michael's fantastic new album

LINK: The voice of Yes

Whether he’s singing “Owner of a Lonely Heart” to a 40,000-seat stadium or “Big Buddha Song” off his newest solo album Survival & Other Stories to an audience of 500 lucky souls at a winery, there’s no mistaking Jon Anderson’s voice. It’s the voice that propelled Yes to superstardom, and Anderson’s impressionistic and mystically themed lyrics are behind his band’s biggest hits.


YES MAN!
Jon Anderson, front man for the iconic progressive rock act Yes, will present an intimate solo acoustic concert on June 30 at Castoro Cellars.
PHOTO COURTESY OF JON ANDERSON

Anderson still crisscrosses the globe, playing music for audiences big and small, but for the past decade, he’s called SLO County home, always returning to his house just south of Arroyo Grande. He discovered the area years ago because his wife Jane’s sister lives here.

“On a visit, I remember seeing a police car trying to push an old Volkswagen hippie van that had stalled, and I thought, I want to live in a place like this. It has good energy,” Anderson said during a recent phone interview.

In 1997, when Yes reformed after a 10-year hiatus to record the album Keys to Ascension, he recorded it here, in what is now Heritage Oaks Bank on the corner of Marsh and Santa Rosa streets. For the past eight years, he’s concentrated on performing intimate solo shows.

“I’ve been traveling the world doing these solo acoustic shows where I’ll perform pockets of Yes and Vangelis songs, new songs which have been very well received, and in between telling stories about my life, my crazy, wonderful life I have lived and am living. It’s sort of like theater for me, and I really enjoy sharing this music and these memories.”

Read on...

You want to find the Gonzo artist page for Jon Anderson? Of course..

LINK: Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman & Howe — BIRTHRIGHT

Jon Anderson, Bill Bruford, Rick Wakeman and Steve Howe were the vocalist, drummer, keyboardist and guitarist in the progressive rock band Yes. Over the years, each had come and gone, and in Anderson’s case, come back again. When the quartet came together in the late 1980s to form a new band, the name ‘Yes’ was still being used.

Yes officially consisted of Anderson, vocalist/guitarist Trevor Rabin, bassist Chris Squire, drummer Alan White and keyboardist Tony Kaye. They were in a purple patch as a result of the roaring successes of the 90125 album and the ‘Owner Of A Lonely Heart’ single (which were produced by former Buggles, and Yes singer Trevor Horn).

Read on...

And guess what? There is a Gonzo artist page for ABWH Go check it out..

Wednesday 27 June 2012

MEET THE 9 HENRYS


For the past few months I have been working on this new book for Gonzo. I think that Peter McAdam's creations are hysterically funny. My wife thinks they are stupid.

It is good to have differences of opinion in a relationship. Healthy like.

The book will be available to the world at large in a matter of days so expect a blitz of publicity...

Easy listening medley of Hawkwind, T-Rex and Alice Cooper by The James Last Orchestra, 1973


I could hear this playing in the other side of the house on my wife’s computer. “It isn’t?”

Oh, but IT IS: Mr. Dante Fontana of Mod Cinema has posted this clip of fab German bandleader James Last and his Orchestra performing an indescribably great medley of Hawkwind’s “Silver Machine,” “Children Of The Revolution” by T-Rex and Alice Cooper’s anthem to juvenile delinquency, “Schools’ Out.”

How lucky are we that this clip exists in the world: The James fucking Last Orchestra playing a decidedly UN-IRONIC (but truly incredible) big band version of Hawkwind’s greatest hit in 1973??? I mean, for that alone, sign me up, but throw in T-Rex and Alice Cooper covers in this style, too? That’s a party. A voodoo party.

Read on...

LOOK WHAT HELEN (McCookerybook) HAS FOR SALE

Hot off the press, or the badge machine anyway- will be on sale at gigs this weekend.
A quid each, or nine for a tenner (supermarket value!!!)













LINK: Starship enterprise - Music is still a frontier for Paul Kantner and Co

The time was 1970. Jefferson Airplane, one of the most successful 1960s rock bands to merge folk-rock and psychedelia, was in the process of crashing to the ground.

Paul Kantner, one of the group’s principal songwriters and guitarists, had already begun crafting a set of songs for what was supposed to be the next Jefferson Airplane album. Instead, he recruited a number of other musicians (including friends David Crosby and Graham Nash, as well as his partner, Grace Slick, the Airplane’s female singer) to record the songs.

Read on

...and check out the Gonzo Artist Page for Jefferson Starship you know it makes sense.

LINK: How Martin Stephenson sabotaged his own career and found contentment

THERE can’t be many musicians who, when poised for stardom, deliberately set out to sabotage their own careers — but then Martin Stephenson is not your average musician.

With his band The Daintees, the amiable Geordie was one of the rising stars of the British music scene in the mid Eighties.

The album Boat to Bolivia had established him as one of the best songwriters of his generation and the big time beckoned.

“At 22 I found myself employing 18 people and paying a VAT bill of £38,000,” said Martin. “I was cocooned like a queen bee with all these worker bees doing things for me.

“We were playing to 2,000 people a night but I realised it wasn’t what I wanted.

Read on...

Check out the artist page for Martin Stephenson

Check out the artist page for Martin and Helen

Check out the artist page for The Daintees

Classic Rock Legends Jefferson Starship To Release Exclusive Live 4-CD Set 'Tales From The Mothership'


The Paul Kantner Science Fiction Rock & Roll Motion Picture Show!

June 26, 2012 - London, UK - “Roswell UFO Parade & Festival Hosts Jefferson Starship Sci-Fi Extravaganza” read the headlines for the annual July 3rd event that took place in Roswell, New Mexico in 2009. Jefferson Airplane founder Paul Kantner and his legendary band Jefferson Starship and special guests, which included original Grateful Dead keyboardist Tom Constanten, performed a one-of-a-kind sci-fi concert at Pearson Auditorium in Roswell in honor of the town's famed annual parade. The group was also bestowed the honor of being the parade's 'Grand Martians' that year and rode atop a special float especially built for them. The entire concert was filmed and recorded, and in addition to such iconic hits as “White Rabbit”, “Somebody To Love”, “Volunteers”, “Wooden Ships” recorded by its forebear Jefferson Airplane (the last two penned by Kantner), a special programme of science fiction themed compositions and select recordings were performed, some for the first time ever! Now, much to the excitement of Jefferson Starship fans across the globe UK's Gonzo MultiMedia is releasing the the entire concert in an extravagant 4-CD box set.

In 1971 the band's first album (Paul Kantner's first solo album actually), 'Blows Against The Empire' was also the first rock music recording ever nominated for literary science fiction's prestigious Hugo Award. In addition to Kantner, 'Blows' featured a 'Who's Who' of Bay Area musicians including David Freiberg from Quicksilver Messenger Service. Freiberg and Kantner, later launched the ongoing Jefferson Starship, eventually writing the hit “Jane.” David rejoined the band full time in 2005.

In 1991 the late great rock impresario Bill Graham signed on to produce 'Blows' from a 'scripted stage play concept' co-written bu Paul Kantner and his (then) new manager Michael Gaiman, a lifelong fan. Sadly, Bill was killed in a helicopter crash and the idea was shelved until Sony Pictures pitched an 'option' for a 'Blows' motion picture in 1996. “That was a big year for sci-fi,” recalls Gaiman. Stemming from a shared interest in 1950s science fiction film and literature, Paul and Michael have worked together for nearly 25 years. In 2008 they co-produced (along with David Freiberg), 'Jefferson's Tree of Liberty,' Jefferson Starship's first studio recording in a decade. The album garnered stellar reviews worldwide. In 2009 Jefferson Starship headlined 'The Heroes of Woodstock', the authorized touring commemorative of the 1969 Woodstock Music & Arts Festival.

“On July 3rd, 2009, thanks to the Roswell UFO Festival Committee and Cool 94.9 Radio, we got to scratch that itch and assuage a long time desire to stage a mosh of rock music and science fiction,” says Gaiman.

Along with Paul Kantner and David Frieberg, Jefferson Starship also features lead singer Cathy Richardson (who played Janis Joplin on Broadway in 'Love, Janis') and longtime band members Slick Aguilar, Chris Smith and Donny Baldwin. In addition to Grateful Dead's Tom Constanten, special guests include Pete Sears (the band's former bass & keyboard player on all their hits), Barry Sless (guitar & pedal steel with Phil Lesh & Friends), former lead vocalist Darby Gould and legendary folk artist Jack Taylor, one of Paul Kantner's early musical influences.

Renegade Productions, the band's frequent collaborator ('Jefferson's Tree of Liberty' was the first album ever recorded in their new studio at the time) staged the production and provided custom sound, lighting and image projection. Karl Anderson of Global Recording Artists filmed the event dubbed 'Tales From The Mothership,' a joint production of The Roswell UFO Festival Committee and Jefferson Starship. “It's not a documentary, not a 'rockumentary', not a 'mockumentary'...it's a 'Spockumentary,” Gaiman quips.

Along with the entire concert from July 3, 2009, the 4-CD set also includes rehearsals from 6/27/2009 and the band's soundcheck before the show.

For more information: http://jeffersonstarship.com

Progressive Rock Band GPS Releases LIVE 2DVD/4CD Box Set Entitled Two Seasons Live In Japan


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Website: http://www.theASIAband.com/
Progressive rock band GPS releases Two Seasons Live in Japan, a 2DVD/4CD box set documenting two powerful performances in Japan from 2007. Released by GONZO Multimedia, the box set features 2 video DVDS and 4 audio CDs containing two complete concerts. Priced at $29.99 (US) and £24.99 (UK) the box set is available NOW for pre-order at http://www.gonzomultimedia.com/product_details/15493 (US) and http://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/product_details/15493 (UK/Europe). Orders ship June 18, 2012.

GPS (founded in 2006) includes singer/bassist John Payne (ASIA), guitarist Guthrie Govan (ASIA, the Aristocrats), drummer Jay Schellen (ASIA, CIRCA:, Conspiracy), and keyboardist Ryo Okumoto (Spocks Beard).

Volume One is a full band ensemble performance filmed "guerrilla-style" at Tokyo's O-West. Volume Two showcases John Payne and Guthrie Govan in an intimate acoustic setting at Clapper in Tokyo, filmed by multiple cameras. Both sets contain a mix of tracks from GPS's debut album "Window to the Soul", classic ASIA tracks and solo features.

Bonus DVD features include a lengthy interview with John Payne, Jay Schellen and Ryo Okumoto shot in 2011, and an in-store acoustic performance by John Payne and Guthrie Govan. The box set is housed in super jewel style cases in a handsome sleeve.

The DVDs are standard definition, region-free, and NTSC encoded. Production and engineering by John Payne, Jakko Jakszyk and Harold Houldershaw.

Priced at $29.99 (US) and £24.99 (UK) the box set is available NOW for pre-order at http://www.gonzomultimedia.com/product_details/15493 (US) and http://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/product_details/15493 (UK/Europe). Orders ship June 18, 2012.

Tracklistings and credits:

DVD Volume 1 (cds 1/2)
Performance date: 14-Oct 2007
Venue: O-WEST, Tokyo/Shibuya
filmed by Shinpei Sato

Volume 1 video sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXC2fLRosj0

1. The Objector
2. All My Life
3. Since You've Been Gone
4. Heaven Can Wait
5. Window To The Soul
6. Taken Dreams
7. Ryo's Keyboard Solo
8. Military Man (Acoustic) (Asia)
9. Gold (Acoustic)
10. Written On The Wind (Acoustic)
11. Silent Nation (Asia)
12. Long Way From Home (Asia)
13. Jay Schellen Drum Solo
14. Only Time Will Tell (Asia)
15. Guthrie Govan Guitar Solo
16. Heat Of The Moment (Asia)
17. New Jerusalem

John Payne: Vocals, Bass, Guitar
Jay Schellen: Drums, Percussion
Guthrie Govan: Guitars
Ryo Okumoto: Keyboards

DVD bonus:
John and Guthrie in-store performance
"GPS Jazz Trio" excerpt


DVD Volume 2 (cds 3/4)

Performance date: 6-April 2007
Venue: Clapper, Tokyo

Volume 2 video sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eD2uFmH3SnE

1. Taken Dreams
2. All My Life
3. Written on the Wind
4. Heaven Can wait
5. Gold
6. The Objector
7. Guthrie Govan guitar solo
8. I Believe in Yesterday
9. Window to the Soul
10. New Jerusalem
11. Since You've Been Gone
12. Military Man (Asia)
13. The Longest Night (Asia)


John Payne: Vocals, Guitar
Guthrie Govan: Guitars

DVD bonus: interviews

Priced at $29.99 (US) and £24.99 (UK) the box set is available NOW for pre-order at http://www.gonzomultimedia.com/product_details/15493 (US) and http://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/product_details/15493 (UK/Europe). Orders ship June 18, 2012.

LINK: Galahad review

http://progressiverockcentral.com/2012/06/15/battle-scars/

Battle Scars

Galahad – Battle Scars

Galahad

Battle Scars (Avalon Records, 2012)

British progressive rock band Galahad is one of the survivors of the second wave of British progressive rock bands of the 1980s. This was the era that some call neoprog. Galahad is known for taking risks and going in new directions in every new album.

I have mixed feelings about this release. The vocals and keyboards are outstanding throughout the album. However, the band seems to have been infected with the prog metal bug and has added hard rock and heavy metal guitar riffs, making the music less attractive for a progressive rock audience.

Battle Scars opens with beautiful symphonic keyboards, whispered vocals and mellotron. At around minute 3:30, the band switches to hard rock guitars that are of little interest.

Track 2, ‘Reach for the Sun,’ brings more of the hard rocking guitars, although you can also find superb keyboard and electronic music work.

‘Singularity’ uses captivating electronic beats and string synths as well as the same old hard rock riffs. However, at a certain point, guitarist Roy Keyworth breaks away from prog metal slavery and treats the listener to fine solo guitar work.

Track 4, ‘Bitter and Twisted’, sticks to you. It has a catchy hard rock feel with some interesting synth moments.

Some of the best vocal work appears on ‘Suspended Animation’, where you can also find notable organ passages and guitar melodies.

The highlight of the album is ‘Beyond the Barbed Wire,’ where once more we find outstanding keyboard dexterity and where the electric guitar breaks away from the hard rock mold.

Keyboards and guitars fight it out on track 7, ‘Seize the Day.’

The album concludes with the remake of one of the band’s classic tunes, titled ‘Sleepers 2012.’

I hope you like what we have come up with, and if you know us well you’ll realize that we try and make each album different from the previous one, but still include certain Galahad traits,” says vocalist Stuart Nicholson. “Plus, I’d like to thank all those who have shown patience and stuck with us – it is greatly appreciated by the band.”

The 2012 lineup of Galahad includes Stuart Nicholson on vocals; Roy Keyworth on guitars; Spenser Luckman on drums; Neil Pepper on bass, guitar & keyboards; Dean Baker on keyboards.

Check out the Gonzo artist page

LINK: Rick Wakeman review

http://www.classicrockrevisited.com/reviewwakmanlive83.htm

Rick Wakeman & the New English Rock Ensemble – In the Nick of Time Live in 2003
Gonzo Multimedia
www.rwcc.com

Rating: B

What do you get when a virtuoso musician, who can simultaneously play 600 keyboards at the same time, is a master of musical composition and an all around genius who wears a cape puts a band together? Why progressive rock, of course. And with Rick Wakeman you get a nice mix of several additional genres to go with it.

This concert, from 2003, is a huge serving of some of the most complex popular style music ever created. The man is an insanely talented musician. This album features some of the best classical/prog/pop/rock music he has ever created. “Catherine Parr” opens the concert and sets the tone for an evening of masterful musicianship. “White Rock” and “Wurm” are, alone, worth checking this disc out.

That one man can be this talented, and funny, and cool, is just not fair. If you want to be impressed by a keyboard, cape wearing freak of musical nature then check out this show and remember, it’s live…he did this live…simply amazing.

By Jeb Wright

Check out his Gonzo Artist Page

CHRIS THOMPSON: Dutch radio show


Download from here

Check out his Gonzo artist page

Tuesday 26 June 2012

MICHAEL DES BARRES: Carnaby Street Extended Edition

Carnaby Street, the new album from The Michael Des Barres Band, will be released on July 9th. But there will also be a Limited Edition of the album that comes with a Bonus DVD.

Here’s some info on the contents of the DVD:

“The Bonus DVD includes an in-depth interview with MDB about the reasons behind the album, his band, his take on the music biz, what he listens to and where he’s at. Entertaining and informative stuff. A video of the break out song “You’re My Pain Killer”. 4 live videos of tracks from the album, recorded at the legendary Hollywood night club “The Viper Room”. The Power Station’s appearance at Live Aid and a rare video of Silverhead performing their signature song “16 and Savaged”, plus an audio of Swan Song act Detective’s much heralded song “One More Heartache”… A comprehensive look at MDB’s past and present! You will determine the future!”

Limited Edition (CD + DVD) pre-order links:
gonzomultimedia.com (USA/Canada) $14.99
gonzomultimedia.co.uk (UK/Europe/Rest of the world) £9.99

THAT'S WHY GOD MADE THE RADIO

Why are the mainstream music press being so churlish about the Beach Boys? The surviving members of the band including David Marks, who was booted out by Murray Wilson in the early 1960s and Murray’s son Brian, the tortured genius responsible for all their greatest songs, have got together and made a 50th Anniversary album. And I think it’s rather nice. The trouble is, that your more conventional music journalist types don’t agree with me.

From where I’m sitting it is – if not quite a masterpiece – still a pretty good album; on a par with Brian Wilson’s more recent records, and better than anything that the Beach Boys have done for decades. Maybe that’s the problem.

In the last ten years, Brian Wilson has produced three major albums, all in collaboration with various outside musicians, mostly connected with a band called the Wondermints. The first and most controversial of these was/is their re-imagining of their 1967 meisterwork Smile. The second a song cycle in collaboration with Van Dyke Parks (who wrote most of the lyrics of Smile) called That Happy Old Sun. I liked both of these albums, and have even had a seasonal hum and toe tap along to the third (and much slighter) record, a collection of Christmas songs called Christmassy. For some reason, the mainstream music press seem to have an aversion to post-therapy Brian. They seemed convinced that he is somehow being exploited by person or persons unknown, and that therefore his tunes, which I think are often as magical as ever, are somehow diminished.

The reception to the two most recent Beach Boys’ records is ever so indicative of this. The new album is – apparently – contrived. Of course it’s contrived, it was put together by a bunch of people who have had no real connection with each other for decades, to mark a half-century since they first started playing together in the early 1960s. So what! The album has lovely moments and is certainly better than anything he has done in the Beach Boys name since the Beach Boys Love You in 1977 (which was, by the way, an album full of first fruits of Brian Wilson’s first batch of therapy with the controversial therapist Dr Eugene Landy). It is, unlike most records of this ilk, surprisingly age appropriate. This is not a bunch of old men pretending to be teenagers. This is singers, composers and lyricists in the autumn of their lives, basking in the glow of a rich and fulfilling sunset. They could, I suppose be accused of looking back at their glory days through rose-tinted spectacles. But, for heaven’s sake, who doesn’t? As a man in my early 50s, I look back at the time when I was thin, could walk properly, and didn’t have a mortgage. It is only natural.

The other recent album is more problematic. It is the long awaited release of the Beach Boys’ own recordings of Smile from 1967. They are, of course, a valuable historical document, but it should always be remembered that these are demos, rough working sketches of a work in progress, and should not be compared in any real sense with the Brian Wilson version of 2004. They are two totally different animals. In fact, I found it vaguely unpleasant trying to listen to them back to back, and gave up.

The Beach Boys have given us some of the most glorious Caucasian rock and pop music of the past half century. Brian Wilson has written some of the most enduring songs in that time and the band’s falsettos and harmonies have provided the soundtrack to many of our lives. Can we not just leave it at that, and allow them to enjoy their 50th Anniversary?

LINK: Jon Anderson Live at the Napa Valley Opera House


“Everywhere I go, all over the world, people sing this song. I hear it in Brazil, Argentina, Japan. They don’t know what the words mean, but they sing it. I don’t know what the words mean, either.” Everybody laughs. He plays Your Move/All Good People.


Jon Anderson is a consummate performer. He was perfectly at ease in front an audience, which is only to be expected, but not all artists of his renown are like that. When he talked, he was authentic and direct. He has a great spirit which is a joy to experience, and he put a lot of humor into his performance. The audience was highly appreciative, even to the point of giving him a standing ovation just for coming on stage and after every song. Part of this may have had to do with the fact that this was in Napa, the very heart of California wine country, where half the people are half-baked, a good number are fully baked, and a noticeable few are clearly overdone. Jon played guitar, a little electric piano, and an instrument he described as being based on a Chinese stringed instrument. It looked a lot like a Turkish sasz to me, and sounded very similar. He told a lot of stories about “the band,” and about meeting some individuals in the early years like Joe Cocker and Robert Plant, before all became stars.


Read on...

DAN WOODING: The secret picture

BRENTFORD, LONDON, UK (ANS) -- It was a rather extraordinary situation for me when, back in 1978, I had just completed Rick Wakeman, the Caped Crusader, the official biography of my old friend, Rick Wakeman, the former keyboardist with YES, and a talented musician who has been named by many critics as the “world’s greatest rock keyboard player.”


The book has since just been reissued with the new title of Caped Crusader – Rick Wakeman in the 1970s by the Gonzo Media Group in the UK.

At Rick’s request, I had approached Elton John’s publicist to see if Elton would write the foreword. To start with, the request was turned down by the publicist, but then to my great relief, I got a call from her that Elton (now Sir Elton) had agreed to do so.

Now came the tricky part. The publisher wanted a picture of Rick, Elton and I, to go on the back cover of the book and a photographer was hired to take some photos before a soccer game between Brentford FC and Watford FC.

Rick was then a big fan of Brentford and Elton was, at the time, chairman of Watford.

Read on...

ROUND IRELAND WITH A FRIDGE.....

Imagine the scene. Middle-aged bass player, cryptozoologist, and occasionally rock music journalist limps into his sitting room, shoos the orange cat off his favourite chair and sits down. His nephew and niece have come for the evening. “What are your plans for the evening Uncle Jon?” asks Jessica. “Rob Ayling has sent me a DVD about a mate of his who hitchhiked around Ireland with a fridge, as a drunken bet. I’m going to watch that this evening,” he says with a cheerful smile. For some reason this was a cue for niece and nephew to leave hurriedly, his lovely wife to suddenly decide that there are things to do in the other room, his equally lovely mother-in-law to immerse herself in a jigsaw puzzle and the also equally lovely boxer-cross-bulldog bitch to curl up in a corner, go to sleep and snore loudly.

Our hero, leaning heavily on his walking stick limps to the wine cellar (actually, a cardboard box from Lidl underneath the kitchen table) and grabs a bottle of South African Chenin Blanc 2001. He limps back into the sitting room, ignoring the studied indifference of his nearest and dearest, presses the play button the remote control and settles down for the evening.

If the truth were known, our hero (Jon that is, not Tony Hawks) was not particularly enthusiastic about the prospect either. He has a singular sense of humour, and didn‘t think that 90 minutes of the adventures of a bloke hitchhiking around Ireland with a fridge would be more than passingly entertaining. He was completely wrong.

Our other hero (Tony Hawks, not Jon) is a remarkably self-effacing leading man. At first you think that the whole scenario is so ridiculous that the film is going to be remarkably contrived, but within minutes you are proven wrong. My first big laugh came about ten minutes in when a taciturn and ever-so-slightly sociopathic Irish countryman, the first person to give Tony a lift, plopped a smug looking terrier on his lap. The film went uphill from there. Having travelled around Ireland myself, but more importantly having travelled around all sorts of parts of the world doing something that the rest of humanity would probably think more than passably stupid, Tony’s odyssey quickly began to appeal. Having worked for local radio in the UK, the scenes of hyperbole drummed up by low budget DJs and their operatives not only rang true but illicited a whole slew of belly laughs. All in all, a film that I wasn’t looking forward to watching turned out to be massively entertaining and not a little heartwarming.

And the last scene, in which Tony broke the fourth wall and suddenly became narrator in his own personal narrative (a little bit like I have done in this review) was far more moving than I thought it was going to be.

This is a smashing movie. I look forward to talking to Tony in the next few days and to blagging a copy of the next DVD off those jolly nice people at Gonzo as soon as it can be managed.

Slainte
...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.