Riverside Recordings
This is the place for news on Slate Roof Collective and also
the the place where I list some of my favourite bands and musicians.
Who's in here?
One thing I try to do is champion some of the lesser known
'signed' and unsigned acts I come across, (what I called 'Buried Treasure',
because in some cases they were more or less buried by the industry) who are
without exception fantastic musicians , singers or writers, but for whatever
reason have not received the acclaim they deserve. These are listed under the
section Buried Treasure
On the other hand its hard to resist a full listing of heroes which of
course includes a lot of more familiar names. Click below to go to that
section. Candidates are liable to appear in the Top 50 albums, eventually. Usual Heroes
Finally comes my worst 'Train spotter' indulgence. My Top 50 albums, with
reasons why! You will need to keep visiting this section as it seems to have
taken on a life of its own, albeit one similar to that of a lethargic sloth on
a moderately non-urgent mission. Top 50 Albums
Oh and before the Albums list is hardly started, here's another indulgence.
My favourite Dansette singles. For those of you who don't know what i'm on
about the Dansette was a very basic 'luggable' Record player that lasted
through the 50's, 60's and I beleive into 70's as one of the few ways to take
your music with you. I've always thought a great test of a single is whether
it still sounds good when played through one of these lovable but prehistoric
devices. What you might notice also is that I have a completely different
taste for Singles than I do for Albums. Motown for example, - most of the acts
were singles based, Great LP's like Marvin Gaye's Whats going on and Stevie
Wonders stuff were more an exception than the rule. Check it out. Top
Singles
Check out also if you wish my occaissonal contributions to Live Reviews
I did vow never to write about stuff I don't like as I don't think its nice
to knock people I don't even know. But you know sometimes you've just got to
live a little, so click here for My current most hated
Album
It would probably go without saying this site is always under construction.
If you would like to e-mail Neville Jordan click here and replace (at) with the @ symbol - rob3(at)hod3.fsnet.co.uk _____________________________________________________________________________
Elsewhere the 'reformed after 23 years off' Soldier are promising a new EP.
and sooner or later a few words about two great folk finds, - 'Needle of
Death' by Bert Jansch and 'Too Late Now' by underground genius Mike Cooper.
Till then,
Embrace - 'Out of Nothing'On maybe
their third big label outing the anthemic Brits really hit their stride with
assistance from producer Youth. Their best yet, track 9 'Near Life' good
enough to have been written by Neil Young, which from me is high praise.
Lisa Stansfield - 'Swing' - From 1999 and a bit tricky
to find. Worth it for the opening track - a great cover of the motown classic
'Baby I need your Lovin' in a swing style with a steaming brass section
including Clarence Clemons on Sax.
Van Morrison - 'Back on Top' - From 1999 again I
think, but again worth it for the title track which was released as a single.
Very classy track.
Alabama 3 - "Exile on Coldharbour Lane" - An
irreverent fusion of Acid House, Blues and Gospel. Basically a well produced
send up of various modern day 'hip' cliches, with a few inspired rants (e.g.
'Mao tse-tung say') thrown in. Very entertaining. What is it about modern
production values that means you have so much bass that you can't hear any of
the track above 200Hz without the bass waking up the whole street. I dunno,
youth of today let loose on a parametric Eq, it always ends in tears.
Run CnW - "Into the Twangy first century" -
Friend and redoubtable bass player Steve Musgrove alerted me to this
excellent spoof album, - bluegrass covers of Motown Classics by a bunch of
super-sessioneers, including production by Bernie Leadon (Ex-Eagle and no mean
banjo player himself). I finally tracked down a copy last week thanks to Paul
Hawtin, - on MCA its MCAD10727 and unfortunately deleted, but well on its way
to cult classic status and maybe will get reissued in time. There was a second
album for which I have no name, only the rumour that its not as good as "Into
the Twangy.."
Good also to see low-profile, louisiana style piano maestro from Kent,
Jon Cleary getting a favourable write up in Mojo magazine
this month. I first became aware of him via glowing reports from Pete Boulter
(of Indie Blues magazine fame) when Jon turned up unannounced at one of his
london jams and wowed everyone with his superb keyboard playing. Since then he
seems to have relocated more or less permanently to New Orleans and now mojo
are billing him as the 'Best pianist in New Orleans' and praising his latest,
eponymous CD. May have to look into getting this. Actually maybe I should be
looking into moving to New Orleans.
Good News, Garageband.com is BACK!, great to see such a feature packed site
back in cyberspace, and my Slateroof track 'You Made Me Sing The Blues' is
doing well in the charts having broken the #500 barrier in the Pop/Rock
Charts. Out of a total of 30,000 odd tracks its not actually a bad
performance, and with quite a few reviews still to come in it should go higher
yet!
Cruising around the other stuff on garageband I've come across some
excellent tracks for which their authors really deserve praise;
'Ghostlight' by Alva Star, a deliciously sung ballad
with a soaring string arrangment. By any standards a classic, will it ever get
the recognition it deserves? I talked to Dan Farrow about 'You're the Girl' and
this is what he said; "I'd ask you to mention me on your website if I knew
what I wanted you to mention. Right now I am in musical and domicilic (if
that's a word) limbo, moving from one place to another and then another after
that. The guys I did the recording with for You're The Girl are in different
places and I have gone back to just doing stuff at home. But if I think of
something I'd be honoured. Let me know if your band is ever planning any tours
across the ocean. I was quite impressed with that one song in particular (You
made me sing the Blues) and a few others as well. I might be in the UK next
spring maybe I'll catch a show there... Anyhow, I'm babbling. Thanks for the
review and the info." Come on Dan , lets hear something to top or even match
'You're the Girl' in terms of bouncy groovy popster fun and I'll be happy!
Meanwhile in LA Jesse Nason tells me he's currently working on an album for
Chris Karns Decca Tree and Wonderlove are currently finishing up their latest,
to be called 'My Submarine' and released soon. They're off to europe shortly
to film a video in Tuscany. What a life!
However, in our case the phrase relates to the end of a rather pleasant
holiday in California. We had a smashing time travelling around and quite a
bit of good music came our way as well. We met up with Jesse Nason (now with
Chris Karns' Decca Tree) and the Wonderlove gang and heard a few other thing
as well. Check out the reviews section for a couple of reviews of our musical
nights out.
In addition to the new talent we came across, we also took the opportunity
to see Crosby,Stills, Nash and Young. - something which (due to Youngs vows
never to work with people with drug 'issues' and Crosby's long term illness) I
never dreamt would ever happen. A magnificent evening, I'm so glad that my
borderline dyslexia was spotted by victoria and we didn't book NSYnC instead.
Well
its been a bit of a 'Whistle Test' Xmas. Firstly from my girlfriend came the
excellent Double DVD Whistle Test retrospective and then from my sister came
Bob Harris' autobiography 'The Whispering Years'.
Taken together these two items provide a first-class insight into the
sights and sounds if not the smells of the Seventies. Heralded by the famous
AC615 theme 'Stone Fox Chase' there's a wealth of great footage from great
bands from the seventies on the DVD including some revealing interviews,
particularly precious is a great John Lennon interview which conclusively puts
to bed the notion that the John/Paul rift was anything other than temporary.
Another highlight for me is to see Emmylou Harris (of these very pages) with
not only Rodney Crowell on guitar but also Telecaster-meister James Burton
doing his magic licks on the same guitar he used with Elvis! Meanwhile Bob's
book gives a great written insight to the backstage life of a journo,
broadcaster and above all a fan of all those acts.
A few things I didn't realise before, - Well firstly I didn't know that Bob
came from Northampton (Turns out I know people from the street he was brought
up in), secondly it was Bobs' father who arrested P.J. Proby after a
trouser-splitting appearance at the local ABC Cinema. Thirdly it became
apparent why he's outlasted so many in his field, - hard work, the respect of
many a rock luminary, a genuine enthusiasm and sticking to his guns, he still
hand-builds his shows and maintains a huge private collection. In other words
while other jocks give in to pre-formatting and computerised playlist
selection, he's the real thing with a show that is 100 percent his own. He
continues working on Radio 2 and has a good website http://www.bobharris.org/
The back-from-obscurity boysJames are back again with
a new album 'Pleased to meet you'. A sterling effort with some great obscure
sound-bite lyrics and funky production. As always Mr Baynton-Powers' drumming
is truly excellent and Mr Booths singing is at times truly soaring. A definite
thumbs up. This and Wonderlove's 'Getting off the Revolution' are the only two
albums of 2001 that I can't fault in any significant way. Many of the
production values here seem very close to those of the New Order album
mentioned below. Does that mean they're both really contemporary, or does it
mean that they've finally defined the essence of mock-hip corporate rock.
Whatever, its a pretty good sound.
Whats else is in the In Tray?, well I do declare it's New
Order, reunited and with their first album in eight years. Titled 'Get
Ready' I think eight years is plenty long enough to achieve a state of
readiness and very welcome its final arrival is. I've read some rather guarded
reviews, but I'm personally very happy with what I hear. The first single
'Crystal' is immediately centered in their distinctive
sound and currently you can hear it all over the TV, I even spotted it as
background music on this evenings episode of Coronation St. Fame at last.
Highlights for me are 'Primitive Notion' and 'Someone like you' both superbly
produced and as good as anything they've ever done to date. It all puts me in
mind of the good old days (of Joy Division, mind you)when you used to hear
John Peel playing stuff like 'Transmission' and 'Love will tear us apart' on
weekday evening Radio 1. Fantastic.
"... Why Ask Why was composed by an old friend of mine, Ken Lauber. I
produced an album with him before 615 with some of the same players. It is his
only LP and it was on Polydor. It is very nice to know that my work is
appreciated years later and by someone who bought it rather than those that
just grab things from napster."
Later on Ken himself got in touch and here is what he had to say
"Good of you to write and be so kind with the words. It's been a life time
of music and if you want to check out my site go: kenlauber.com You can
download some music for free and enjoy. By the way Norman Gimble wrote the
lyric that never has been recorded and has received half my royalties for all
these years. So goes the life of a composer. W.A.W was composed for the
paramount feature film,"Fade In" starring Burt Reynolds, Johanna Petite and
Barbara Loden. It was directed by Judd Hirsh. That's all I remember about that
one. Somewhat of a 'b' movie but i still tried to write my ass off on that
one. Maybe, by now, there's a video out of it but I haven't found it as of
yet."
Ken actually played keyboards on the AC615 album. I've checked out his
website and he's still an active writer So it turns out that Ken is not a
forgotten writer or rock business casualty but has enjoyed a long and
succesful career scoring movies. From the evidence of 'Why Ask Why' I would
say deservedly so. All of a sudden rootsy bluegrass sounds are all the rage
again, for some genuine Nashville recollections check out Ken Laubers comments
on his recordings with some of the top Nashville Sessioners of the late 60's -
Ken Lauber and Area Code
615
My continual quest for old and great music took a bizarre twist tonight as
I dusted off an old vinyl record by Area Code 615 without its original cover.
I think I must have bought about 20 years ago, hoping that it had the theme
tune to 'Old grey whistle test' on it. I must have played it once and cast it
aside. I put it on while checking my e-mails and was stunned when a number
called 'Why ask why' came on, its simply a stunningly beautifully peice of
music, definitely with my much vaunted x-factor, - the hairs on the back of
the neck go up when this track comes on. I've since done a bit of surfing
armed with the credit "gimbel-lauber" and it appears to be the work of Norman
Gimbel and Ken Lauber, couldn't find much about Norman, but Ken has his own
site, kenlauber.com. So I've e-mailed him to say how much I love that peice of
music. After all, credit where credit is due!
Coldplays 'Parachutes' - A good slightly trippy debut in the old style,
lots of tape echo effects used on the guitar sounds. give 'em a few pills and
they could be the next Pink Floyd.
Giant Sand - my mate Mr Sefton gives this lot a big thumbs up
You wish to view the bottom of this page?, Why don't you just read your way
there? Bottom of
Page
Slate Roof Collective is an outlet for my music and songwriting and
recording. There is no fixed line up and no fixed style or genre, stuff just
seems to crop up now and again. Check out the CD and upcoming reviews, then
buy it, go on.
Slate Roof News
Slate roof just keeps grinding slowly on. Work has commenced on some tracks
which may or may not end up as a cohesive album;
Feb 2001
Second Story Blues Backing track recorded 13/1/01, -
This is a very grim angst-ridden slow blues in 6/8. Should give Pete Boulter
nightmares. As it happens I'm rather chuffed with the level of grimness
acheived so far. Dan the studio man is booked to try lead vocals on 9th March.
Update - Jan 2004 - I ended up doing the vocals myself, for better or more
likely worse. Transferred it from 2" tape to Cubase, added some low guitar
skulduggery with the aid of a vintage tonebender and me and max mixed it down.
Turned out nice.
Bad time in a Bar Acoustic-ish track in non-grim mode
also recorded on 13/1/1. Cheery chorus planned , singist yet to be located.
What else? Well I'm going to sink a pint with Mandy Tatum and her Hubby Les
on Friday so maybe we'll get round to thinking about how to follow You made me
Sing the Blues. Maybe just get drunk.
Dec 2000
Caroline is an Instrumental with Guitar, Hammond, Bass
and Drums, with a few treaments such as Auto Wah and backwards echo guitar.
Some people have called my albatross, they're probably right. Young Victoria
was about suspicious about the title being a girls name until I explained that
it's intended as a bit of a tribute to Radio Caroline, those lovely offshore
hippies who beamed into my radio so much great music in the 70's. Not sure
what excuse I'll come up with next time I use a girls name for a song.
Advice For Travellers American 70's style road song.
What I said then;Not finished yet, I tried and botched the vocals, needs some
extra Hammond swirls and the vocals sorting, then I think it will be one of
the better things I've done. Oh and a note to find some 'road' sounds. Now; -
Jan 2003 - Finished Jan 8th. - took off inappropriate guitar solo and instead
sprinkled slide guitar around the place. plus a bit of 'Small Stone' phased
guitar in the 3rd Verse. Passed on the road sounds. Sound ok now.
Slate Roof Collective - Loaded Tomatoes SRCCD001
The first CD titled 'Loaded Tomatoes' is out now (Sept. 2000), details
below.
1, Bleep 336 The album is a genre-busting romp thats big on real sounds, - live guitars,
bass, drums, brass and real swirling Hammond, - and small on record company
'market-led' narrow-minded, dead-end, play-safe compromises. The strength of Slate Roof output is that its always diverse, there is no
fixed line up and no fixed musical genre. One track may be retro blues, the
next rock, the next an instrumental. Hopefully the only constant is quality of
writing and performance. The real great news is the inclusion of Now Who Loves
You, - a fine Barnes/Bray composition (See below for more about them).
If you want to get hold of a copy its available at ;
Spinadisc Records, 75A Abington Street, Northampton UK. Phone 01604 631144.
Price £10 Or you can e-mail me (see top or bottom of this page) and I can let you
have a copy direct
But first you may want to check out the following places for forthcoming
reviews;
IndieBlues Magazine Here are a few other honest responses from listeners; ________________________________________
You Made Me Sing The Blues
This song has done very well at garageband.com , click on the link below to
go to its page at garageband where you can listen to it and read some of its
recent reviews.
Listen to
You Made Me Sing The Blues and read the reviews
"I love the vibe I get from this song. The vocals are so easy to listen
to...simply beautiful; all the time. The music is performed expertly and also
is a comfort to the ears. There really isn't anything i'd think to improve in
this song. The music simply is awesome; all the pieces fit together perfectly,
its tightly done. I personally don't consider this type of music my favorite,
but this song really does something for me. I could see hearing this on the
radio and saying "yeah, thats good stuff", if you know what I mean. A
wonderful job on all counts - Ann Hopful , Wirtz, Virginia
"Burt Bacharach - Eat Your Heart Out" - 'Raremusic' Sydney,NSW,Australia (
I rather liked that comment - ed.)
A little about the writing of "You Made Me Sing The
Blues", - I was introduced to Mandy Tatum by a mutual friend and
listened to a few of the things she'd done recently. These were up to date
R&B type things which were good but not a genre I could ever write in.
When I heard her voice I immediately wanted to hear it against an old style
soul arrangement, so thats what I attempted to write. The idea that came
straight away was to have a fairly impassioned Chorus, which would show how
she could 'belt out' a song, but to combine it with a more mellow, sweeter
verse. So thats how I ended up with a verse based around A major, and a chorus
that starts with A major but turns to A minor for the next time round. One of
the difficulties was matching the verse to the chorus, not so much chordally
but melodically. Quite some time was spent at the piano, but eventually I got
it 'right' and I'm pleased that several people have said that for them their
favourite part is the bridge!. Alan Lineham took an 8 track demo of the
results and scored brass parts and worked up the keyboard parts from my
amateur attempts on the demo. He also added the middle eight chords. Recording
was hard work and as usual relied on the Passengers rhythm section doing me a
favour but it was a song that fell together happily which is always a good
sign. Favourite moment was Mandy ad libbing a long wail at the end of the
middle 8 with a fantastic vibrato towards the end. It put a big grin on mine
and Alans faces at the very moment she did it. The finished article is not
perfect in my opinion, there's things I'd change about dynamics and the mix
and to be honest the vocals (and everything else)could have been even better
if we'd had more time - I'd love to record it on a decent budget rather than
the few hundred quid actually squandered. All donations gratefully accepted...
but I'm happy that its got a great reception on garageband.com if not anywhere
else, ....yet! P.S. For those who wondered, the Brass is real, the Timpani is
sampled!
________________________________________
Strange Houses
"Killer arrangement! I love the keyboards and guitars. The performance
sounds flawless. The vocals are different and fresh for this day and age. I
like the lyrics. I really dig the guitar solo. the arrangement is just
bitchin!!! Keep up the good work guys!"
- Chris Engel , Elliot , Illinois ( Garageband Review )
Like your keyboards. Reminds me about Deep Purple sound, but only the
keybords, not the rest. The rest is very good also. Guitars: Increase the
volume !
- ETBand , Malilla Hultsfred, Sweden.
________________________________________
Now Who Loves You
"Reviews of Now Who
Loves You"
In My Bed Alone
"Minimal guitar opening and sparse drum hits and then organ kicks in and
Dave's distinctive voice - vocals a bit thin at times - I'm not sure its the
right key for Dave? Very effective keyboard solo's (incidentally the keyboard
player/sound was ace!). Good stuff indeed, but at 5 minutes I thought it was
too long." - Pete Boulter - Indie Blues Magazine Issue 41.
________________________________________
Riverside Blues
"Bluesy but Santana style with Rob singing on what I assume is his own song
(it is - Ed). Forget Santana - this is more like John Hiatt, or recent Leonard
Cohen. Fine introduction and keyboards - a bit Bachified at times? Hold on -
its Neil Young lurking about here as well. I didn't think this was quite as
'finished' as Someday Baby (not featured on this album) but it's a great story
song with a bit of a refrain - not so sure about the guitar though." = Pete
Boulter - Indie Blues Issue 41.
Further Comments;
"The tracks here benefit from clear uncluttered production. I keep telling
Rob to put his own band together - he loves music, he's got ability and plays
in other bands that play regularly." - Pete Boulter - Indie Blues Issue 41.
________________________________________
Sharpened
______________________________________________________________________
Now onto; __________________________________________________________
Soul/swing/Jazz The godfather of soul. Practically invented the stuff
Rock/Roots american. Brilliant Writer. Not Dropped from Geffen for refusing
to do dumbed-down country offal like Maria Mckee was. Very difficult to
describe what a major talent she is, except perhaps to say that she easily
stands comparison with Maria Mckee, but then you've probably heard the
singles, if not where have you been?
Best Tracks - Everyday (is a winding road), Riverwide, My favoutie mistake,
Anything but Down, The difficult Kind Best Album - All of them. (Tuesday nite
music Club, Sheryl Crow, The Globe sessions
Free are so good they get their own page Free Yes, he of the Waterboys fame. Although 'Whole of the Moon' was Ok, it
never grabbed me that much, until I realised that it was a case of a brilliant
track being totally over-produced, in fact it was Uber-produced. So then I got
hold of Fisherman's Blues and raved over it and then got 'Dream Harder' and
raved some more. Among other gems it includes 'The Return of Jimi Hendrix'
which is the best stream-of-consciousness, rambling-but-getting-to-the
heart-of-the-matter intuitive appreciation of what Hendrix was about that I've
ever heard. Upon hearing this track I elevated Mike to genius status. No one
else seems to be with me on this one.
I've simply got too much to say about this guy. So I won't bother for the
time being, maybe when I retire..., Its probably fair to say that he equals
Bob Dylan in terms of genius, and probably surpasses him in terms of longevity
and downright street credibility at a sustained level over a long period.
Through his relevance to the seattle revolution, collaborations with Pearl Jam
and indeed 'Godfather' status to the grunge scene I reckon more younger music
fans around the world have discovered and explored his back catalogue than
Dylan. and thats a compliment to Young and no disrepect to his Bob-ness.
Throughout the years Neil has been able to conjure up songs and music to
which people can emote, which engages the listener and to which they can
relate. Whats more special is that he can do this with or inspite of lyrics
that are often obscure at the first or even umpteenth listen. Regardless of
the subject matter, his songs are nearly always invloving. Never afraid of
self revalation, or risk taking in the way the music is made, or recorded,
Young is mostly a pioneer.
In the meantime whizz over to the Old Grey Cat for more.
Best Album, - 'Harvest'(See its entry in my Top 50 albums),'Zuma', or
better get the whole lot. A lifetime of genius on some 30 albums. Best tracks - How long have you got? - How about 'Cortez the Killer',
Hurricane, Alabama (a personal super-fave), Words, Country Girl ( A stunning
midi-epic from the CSN&Y album 'Deja Vu'), I've been waiting for you
(obscure first album), all of 'tonights the night', Cinnamon girl. Oh I give
up, - there's too much.
I've managed to see this man live three times, most recently with Crosby ,
Stills and Nash. David Crosby/Steven Stills
Maybe a bit unfair to lump them together. I'll sort this out soon.
Do get the first album, 'Crosby, Stills and Nash' and the second, 'Deja vu'
with Neil Young while you're at it. This album includes one of Youngs finest
early moments the epic three-part 'Country Girl' a glorious intimation of
Youngs genuis in the atmospheric/lyrical vein. I was lucky enough to catch
CSN&Y live in March 2002 - see the live reviews section.
In Brief (Latest 17/01/03)
Jesse Nason phoned in to say that having
borrowed Wonderlove Drummer Dicki Flizar, the new Decca Tree album is nearly
done, and Bryan McIntyre advises that the new Wonderlove album is close, very
close. Looking forward to hearing both of those.
Hot Tips
Robert Plant -
'Dreamland' Mercury 73145869632. His best solo outing yet, possibly due
to the number of great interpretive covers rather than the original numbers.
Rose's 'Morning Dew', Dylan's 'One more cup of coffee' are excellent covers,
whilst the covers of Skip Spence's 'Skip's Song' and Buckleys' 'Song to the
Siren' are transcendent. Meanwhile he pays homage to his blues roots with
great re-workings of Bukka White's 'Fixin to Die' and my goodness a medley
made out of 'If I ever get lucky,Milk Cows Calf Blues,Crawling King Snake' and
'That's allright'. Wow!. A great album and many flashes of the genius that
helped make Zeppelin the leviathon that it was.
'You're the Girl' by Dan
Farrow, a great simple go-ahead fun song if ever I heard
one.
'Popular Teenage Disease' by Pet Engine which I
have playing presently and is definitely rather good.
'Billboard' by Grain USA is another beaty up-tempo fun song that's extremely
catchy.
'Resurrection Day' by the Jim Hubbard Band
out of Honolulu is notable for some fantastic vocals by the eponymous singer
and
'Heart Attack' by GTO from Sydney Australia is
very contemporary power-pop. It should be on the radio now in my opinion!
Finally 'She Waits' by Matthew Harrison from Las
Vegas is a great song with a soaring refrain. All these songs are world class
records. They deserve to live long and prosper, but with the current state of
the industry? who knows?.
In Brief (Latest 06/04/02)
"Well, I'm Back!". Which famous work of
fiction ends with those words?, Clue - you should see them spoken on the big
screen in about 18 months time.
More on Area Code 615 and Why ask Why
Back to last months quest for information about "Why ask Why" from the
AC615 album. I got confimation from Elliot Mazer that Ken Lauber had indeed
written the track, here's what Elliot had to say;
Black Sabbath, Anysley Dunbar and the birth of 'Eavy
One of my other
net quests of the moment is to find more about the number 'Warning' on the
first Black Sabbath Album, this is one of the few numbers on the album not
credited to sabbath, but instead to dunbar-moreshed,dmochowski,hickling. My
furtling seems to indicate that the track was first recorded by 'The Aynsley
Dunbar Retaliation' and released as a single in the late 60's. This is a great
bluesy track with a forbodeing air about it, It seems to encapsulate so
perfectly the Sabs quest from electric blues into heavy rock that I can hardly
beleive they didn't write it themselves. At any rate their treatment of it
seems to define the very moment that through the cranking of the volume knob
on an old valve-powered Laney amp Brit-Blues metamorphosed into the heavy rock
that the sabs pioneered. What a moment. Now I need to get my hands on a copy
of the Aynsley Dunbar original. For research purposes you see. I may yet learn
to distill the 'essence of rock' (cue maniacal laughter).
Coldplay - 'Parachutes'
Giant Sand
Track listing is;
2, Riverside Blues
3, Morning after the Party
4,
Strange Houses
5, Started Again
6, Sharpened
7, Stalled Again
8,
You made me sing the blues
9, Ymmstb (reprise)
10, Now Who Loves
You
11, In My Bed Alone
12, Mystery Fake Intruder #3
13, Take my
Car
14, Long lonely xmas
15, Strange Houses
Featured singers
include Amanda Tatum, Dave Upson, Martin Gardner and Myself.
Pied Piper Records, 293 Wellingborough Rd, Northampton, NN1 4EW,
01604 624777. Price £10
Ray's Blues & Roots Shop, 180 Shaftesbury Ave,
London, WC2H 8JS, 0207 240 3969. Price £14
and
The Old Grey
Cat
(In several cases
reviewed 'blind' by listeners on garageband.com)
Usual Heroes
Here then is all the
Classic Rock, Blues and Soul that I love, - I couldn't resist listing a few
familiar heroes. You should find plenty of dedicated sites for any of these.
If any of these are not familiar to you then be sure that they've got some
merit, - hopefully you can find something that gets you there; Home
Best Album -
Difficult!
Most
Underrated Album - 'Hawks and Doves'
Do try and get hold of his 'MTV Unplugged' concert. Which
is a great one for copping chords and tunings from. For instance once you see
his tuning for 'Pocahontas' (CGCFAD) it becomes very easy, and satisfying to
play.
Top 50 Albums
1,Deep Purple, Made in Japan. On Vinyl TPSP351. By the time I got to hear this album in the mid seventies it was already being reviled by the 'Soul Boy' element of my school. I didn't care. As a budding musician all I wanted to hear was cranked up Marshalls, a screaming Hammond organ and a band grooving for its very life. This is what you got with live Purple in the early seventies. To my mind the proving of a real band is in the live performance. Purple passed the test with ease. Cast aside your preconceptions of seventies rock and remember the early excitement of its pioneering days. Never before had we heard call and reply guitar and organ interplay. Never before (or since) had such exciting sounds been coaxed from an Hammond organ/RMI 368 hybrid playing through Marshall stacks, Jon Lord being (even now) the premier Rock keyboardist and the only one to generate sounds that challenge or surpass the average rock guitarist in terms of excitement. Only Hendrix had explored crazy vibrato techniques like Ritchie Blackmore now did, moreover this was using the early Marshall plexi amps that sounded much better than anything he used up until his Rainbow days, you hear the playing, the warm distortion of a cranked up valve amp and shreiking of overdriven speaker cones not the sound of pre-amp fuzz. Again no-one at the time could challenge the mastery of Ritchie Blackmores strat-playing technique. He packed a masterclass of techniques and sound into every ounce of playing. I've spent a long time trying to unravel his technique and can tell you its more difficult to penetrate than say Henrix's playing, by a factor of n. Ian Pace drummed for his life and the whole thing grooved like hell. Ian Gillan wrote the rule book of rock yowling. This band was about the music, not fashion, - no platform boots just jeans. I don't care to come over like a hippy, just tell me the record that has more excitement coming over in the playing, be prepared to argue why and i'll go buy it. One little known fact about the Jon Lord sound, gleaned from the pages of Sound on Sound magazine ('Retrozone' December 2001) is that he had the guts of an RMI 368 Electra-piano installed into his Hammond. When sufficiently cranked up this is responsible for the screamingly exciting organ sound on the keyboard break a couple of minutes into 'Highway Star'. Once you recognise this part you'll hear the RMI sound liberally sprinkled throughout 'Space Trucking' and elsewhere. Thanks to Gordon Reid for this discovery.
2, Jimi Hendrix - The Jimi Hendrix Concerts. Vinyl CBS22177 As with the above its the live playing that does it for me. My first Hendrix was the polydor 'Smash Hits' album. I bought 'Johnny Winter and' the same day and thought it was far superior. Apart from probably being a poor pressing I didn't get any inkling of the power of a live Hendrix performance until one night listening to Radio Caroline under the covers at night I heard 'Red House' live. Two verses into a standard sounding blues track Jimi introduces the guitar break with 'But thats Ok Baby I still got my guitar' , stomps on a fuzz box and absolutely lifts the roof. He then procedes to Mars returning via the far side of the Sun and then casually tones it right down into the final laid back verse. What a trip. After several years of wondering what the fuss was all about I'd been converted in about 90 seconds of interstellar overdrive. When I heard Mike Scotts 'The return of Jimi Hendrix' I knew he'd taken the same trip.
3, Led Zeppelin - Four. Vinyl (US)SD7208, (UK) K50008 Released 8 November 1971 I'm not at all ashamed to rank this classic so highly. Okay so the guitar shop in 'Waynes World' has a 'Playing Stairway to heaven is Strictly prohibited' sign up. But lets face it, classics that become self-parodies are victims of their own success. If it was released today, Stairway would still cause the stir that it did back then. It is stupendous and always will be. Robert Plant rightly self-deprecates the lyrical content, but then it was written in a less cynical time which spawned a less neurotic approach to such things. Regardless of the lyrical content, (which I believe still stands proud) the musical acheivement of a mini epic predates queen's similar feat in 'Bohemian Rhapsody' by quite a few years. Elsewhere the album sparkles and glitters like the gem it is, right up to the closing track 'When the Levee Breaks'. This reworking of the original by Memphis Minnie has a terrifying majesty about it. From the cataclysmic thunder of the opening drum riff (famously recorded in the stair well of the crumbling, haunted stately home of Headley Grange) through the compressed, backward-echoed, multi-layered guitar and reverb'd harmonica to the passioned vocal delivery this track is a true giant. Having taken the standard blues format to a new height on Zep III, in the form of 'Since I've been Loving you' , leaving the impression that there could never be a better modern day white interpretation on the idiom, they went one better with the 'Levee' and proved they could push back the boundaries even further. Since the demise of Zep it is as if a big curtain that they opened has once more closed, their acheivements in progressing the blues format have yet to be surpassed. I await the day that they are but I have no indication of anyone with the inspiration to do it. See here for some details on the recording of this seminal album The Recording of Led Zeps' "Fourth" Album
4, Neil Young - Harvest. Vinyl Reprise REP54 005 For me this is THE album I wish I was present at the recording of. The sounds are mainly down-home scratchy rock, with a couple of rather grand orchestrated pieces mixed in. The back cover is of the band playing in a barn on Youngs' Broken Arrow ranch. Whilst 'Heart of Gold' is and was the radio-hit of his career, its tracks like 'Alabama' and 'Words' that really get me. I love the almost lo-fi way these tracks sound, as if (indeed they probably are)recorded in one take or two takes right there in the barn. This was the ultimate garageband before the term , let alone the website was ever thought of. If you ever wanted to be in a funky-sounding american guitar and pedal-steel band this is as real as it gets. As part of Youngs band of the time 'The Stray Gators' Kenny Buttrey is on drums here, I guess a couple of years after his sessions for Area Code 615. It seems to me that he and Elliot Mazer who co-produces here are the key to that earthy down home sound that speaks of the american country through and through and which like Bob Dylans stuff is so difficult to explain to someone who just don't 'get-it'. A fine album by any standards. If I had the budget to blow, I would love to record an album that has the sound that this album has. If I had to choose a Neil Young album other than this it would be 'Zuma'
4, The Enid - In The Region Of The Summer Stars. (Vinyl INS 3005)
Simply my favourite Instrumental album and pretty high in the all time chart. See the section on the The Enid for the reasons why.
10, Wonderlove. "Getting off the revolution" CD No Cat. No.
As yet unsigned success story waiting to happen , I mention them here on the off chance you've managed to miss them elsewhere on this site. As if.
11, Pearl Jam - Vs. CD EpicEPC4745492. They got their act together didn't they. They worked hard, jamming, working it out. Eddie got busy with a notepad and scrawled some more of his disjointed lyrics, paring the emotions down into bite sized, efficient snippets. Thus came about hard hitting no-nonsense nuggets such as 'GO', 'Animal' and hidden toward the end 'Drop the Leash'. I beleive this album surpasses '10' and cite the previous tracks in my defence, but the clincher is the gem which goes under the name of 'Rear View Mirror'. Never before was the horror of abuse within the family more starkly articulated, both in the urgency of the music which supports the theme of flight, and in the supreme economy of phrasing with which Vedder narrates the tale. Its a stunning flight of freedom and a reflection of Pearl Jam at a high which they have yet to regain.
In December 1970 the group assembled at the new Island Studios in West London. The engineer for most of the albums gestation, as with Led Zep III was Andy Johns, I'm still looking to confirm details of all the tracks recorded there, but Stairway to Heaven definitely was. Many accounts seem to conflict over where it was conceived and recorded but from everything i've researched it seems that the story is;
Jimmy Page during the writing of Zep III formed the idea that they should try to construct a track that moved through a whole series of sections, movements if you like, each with their own separate moods and dynamics but with a coherent overall srtucture. Indeed a proper little rock concerto. It seems likely that their 'back to the country' sojourn at Bron-y-Aur gave them time to consider how to approach the acoustic-based elements of such an undertaking, while their ability to undertake the heavier elements bound to appear in such a varied track could be taken for granted. Many accounts credit Headley with being the place where, as Jimmy threaded his way through the chords of the song in front of a roaring fire, Robert Plant scribbled the lyrics out on a scrap of paper in a few minutes flat. This story is no doubt true, but neglects to mention a couple of facts. Jimmy had located Headley Grange quite some time before the Zep IV sessions. They had used the place as a live-in rehearsal studio and during 1970 had recorded 'Friends' there for Zep III. It follows then that Plants lyrical inspiration in front of the fire at Headley Grange was at some point during 1970 and that some time after that they recorded the multitrack tape at Island Studios. Its a romantic notion to believe that Plant heard the track, wrote the lyrics and perhaps later that evening they recorded the whole thiing, but it is of course not true.
Another misconception is that jimmy used a Gibson Les Paul to record the solo to 'Stairway', but Jimmy has gone on the record as saying that he used his old Telecaster for the job. Interestingly in an interview with Guitar Player magazine Jimmy also stated that the multitrack tape has two alternate takes of the lead solo! It was often his practice to just wing his way through the solo's with a few rough ideas in his head, tape three takes and then use the best one for the final mix. Although he assured the interviewer at the time that the one that made it to Vinyl was the best take, how great would it be to hear the alternate solo's?
After only a few days recording the group decided to look for somewhere with an atmosphere more conducive to the job in hand, they wanted to get away from London and out of the claustrophobic confines of a commercial recording studio. The answer was to hire the Rolling Stone mobile studio and head off down to Headley Grange (with possibly a couple of days at Mick Jaggers Stargroves residence on the way).
Headley Grange is a formidable, decaying country house in Hampshire, that in Victorian times was actually used as a workhouse ( a home where in those times the penniless were forced to live and work if they had no other means of supporting themselves ). At the times Zep were there the fabric of the house was at an all time low, - damp and decrepit, but whatever crazy atmosphere the old house had, and the fact that the band weren't working against the clock or up against the threat of other bands arriving if they overran their recording slot, all contributed to the creation of a number of career-high recordings. And when you're talking about Zeps' career high, you tend to run out of superlatives.
Tracks recorded here included Black Dog and When the Levee Breaks, tracks written here included Misty Mountain Hop and The Battle of Evermore ;
On the recording of "Black Dog" Andy Johns commented in "Guitar World" in the early nineties, on how they acheived the sound on the main guitar riff, "That was a trick I learned from Bill Hawelson, who worked with Buffalo Springfield. We plugged Jimmy's sunburst Paul into a direct box and from there into a mike channel. I used the mike amp of the mixing board to get distortion. Then we put two 1176 Universal compressores in a series on that sound and distorted the shit out of it and compressed it to hell. So that's two compressors in a row and we're cranking them like crazy. The only problem with that was , the second Jimmy would stop playing, a huge amount of background noise would come surging up, which we had to try and fix in the mix. (remember this was before the days of automated mixing - ed). It took an hour to get that to sound right, and I recall triple-tracking the riff with it.... At the time I thought it was damn fine and a novel effect" The mixing desk Andy refers to is of course the one in the mobile studio parked outside the grange. I haven't yet found out what make it was.
One track which came gloriously to life in the magic atmosphere of Headley Grange was "When the Levee Breaks". Page commented "We tried to record that in a studio before we got to Headley Grange, and it sounded flat. But once we got the drum sound at Headley Grange, it was like boom, and that made the difference immediately. It was very exciting to listen to that drum sound on the headphones." The sound they acheived is rightly reputed to be the most sampled drum sound ever, however a misconception that rears its head is that the drum sound was untreated. In fact there is a small amount of echo added from a Binson echorette which was patched into the mixer. Another misconception is that only one mike was used. Well, actually it was two used as a stereo pair two flights up from the hallway floor. Andy Johns gave a detailed account again in Guitar World;
"The other guys were out having a drink, and John Bonham and I were at the house. He still complained that he wasn't getting the sound he wanted. Now it always seemed to me that you couldn't get a proper sound out of the drums by sticking mikes two inches away from them, so I finally said to him, "I've got an idea." We got his drums and put him in the hallway and then hung two MI 60 mikes from the staircase and pointed them towards the kit. His kit was very well-balanced internally - each drum's volume was consistent with the others'. In the truck I put him into two channels and compressed the hell out of the drums. Jimmy had this Italian echo unit called a Binson (echorette - ed) that used a steel drum instead of a tape - it had a real special sound - and I used that as well. I remember sitting there thinking it sounded utterly amazing, so I ran out of the truck and said "Bonzo, you gotta come in and hear this!" And he came in and shouted, "Whoa, thats it! That's what I've been hearing!" It's a technique I've used ever since: room mikes for the main drum sound, and then close-mikes mixed in."
Jimmy has said that whenever Bonzo was recorded playing in the hallway John Paul Jones and Jimmy would be in there as well, with a mix through their headphones. I can only guess that this was the case for the "levee.." . If only someone had had a camera and used it at that moment, - What a picture.
As to the rhythm guitar sound, this much I know, the tuning used is non standard, It is in effect an open F tuning, again I've heard conflicting versions, but it is probably FCCFAC, with the 5th and 4th tuned the same. Try it, it sounds right. Again there is some severe treatment going on, what sounds like severe compression with a very heavy initial attack and what sounds like a backwards echo created by recording tape delay (Binson again?) onto the temporarily flipped multitrack. The resultant sound is magnificent, and you can hear the savage bite of the compressor best on the solo chimes before the slide pattern that precedes the 'Don't it make you feel bad' section.
..to be continued
Top Dansette Singles
1, My Generation - The Who. The Ultimate teen rebellion song. Never
Bettered.
2, Heard it through the Grapevine - Marvin Gaye. When you're
tired of the original version, check out Creedence Clearwaters garage band
version and learn to love it again via this stripped down version.
3, Let
it Be - Beatles. My Karaoke favourite.
4, No More Heroes - Stranglers. No
one threatens better.
5, Big Ship - Cardiacs
6, Behind the Painted
Smile - The Isleys
7, Like a Rolling Stone - Dylan
8, Baby Lets Play
House - Elvis
9, Jumpin Jack Flash - Stones
10, We Gotta Get Out Of
This Place - Animals
11, She's Not There - Santana
12, Matthew And Son
- Cat Stevens,
In compiling the list I've realised I've fallen a bit of a victim to nostalgia, apart from Cardiacs' Big Ship everything on the list was probably available at a time when you could also buy the Dansette to play it on at the same time, from the same shop, brand new. Oh well. In fact hold on...that reminds me;
13, Oh Well (Part I and II)- Peter Greens' Fleetwood Mac
14, The Green
Manalishi - Peter Greens' Fleetwood Mac
15, Hold Your Head Up - Argent
16, The Letter - The Box Tops
17, Everything I Own - Ken Boothe
18, Why Ask Why - Area Code 615. Except I don't think it ever was a single
:(
19, Dear Prudence - Souixsie and the Banshees
20, Crazy - Patsy
Cline
21, Hawks and Doves - Neil Young
22, Man of the World - Peter
Greens' Fleetwood Mac
23, Across 110th Street - Bobby Womack
24,
Hanging Around - Stranglers
25, Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division
26, Eight Miles High - The Byrds
27, Across The Borderline - Ry Cooder
28, September Skies - Brian Setzer Orchestra
29, He Ain't Heavy, He's
My Brother - The Hollies. Inspired by the statue outside a progresive boys
school in Nevada.
30, Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who.
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This Weeks most Hated Album
And this weeks Most hated Album is;'Swing when you're Winning' By Robbie Williams.
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Live Reviews
Eric Clapton "The Usual Band" New Years Eve Tues 31 Dec 2002 - Woking
Leisure Centre
Here was an offer not to be turned down. A friend of mine could get me tickets for an established but low-key New Years Eve benefit event. The cause is a worthy one (Alcoholics Anonymous) and the featured band for the last several years is none other than Eric Clapton and friends going under the unassuming moniker of "The Usual Band" . Clapton having been on the scene for so long I was not quite up to date with what he has been doing lately, - you tend to take it for granted that he's always around somewhere doing some classy blues, but this was a chance to see him up real close and get up to date with how he's sounding right now.
Thus I spent the evening in the close presence of the man who almost single handedly started the Surrey Delta Blues explosion, and brought the Blues back to America. Line up for the nite was EC, Gary Brooker (Kybds/Vox), Andy Fairweater-Low(Gtr), Henry Spinetti (Drums) and Dave Markee (Bass). What was it like? Excellent. Despite being a non-paying gig and a relaxed fun gig, the band gave it their all. Opening number was the evergreen 'Knock on Wood', followed by a middle tempo number that took me quite a while to recognise. I knew it was familiar as I used to play it with the lemonsqueezers. Then it dawned on me, it was the old Elvis number 'Reconsider Babe'. Then it was over to Gary to lead a couple of numbers, he served up 'Good Golly Miss Molly' followed by 'Shake Rattle and Roll'. He made a good job of livening up the audience who were (a bit like myself) in danger of watching their hero(s) too intently and forgetting to party!
Next up was 'Wonderful Tonight' and then Andy F-L gave us a rendition of his old hit 'Paradise'. Unfortunately my memory turns to mush as far as the rest of the playing order goes for the first set, but I recall that Eric turned up the god level impressively as he started to wring out some great impassioned playing towards the end. I recall 'Can't Judge a Book' being sung by Gary Brooker, and one maybe called 'Gin House'.
The second set started just after the stroke of midnight as the confetti and balloons rained down upon us and the band struck up appropriately with Wilson Picketts' 'Midnight Hour'. This was followed with 'Have you ever been mistreated' and then again my memory is not to be trusted but it may have been 'Cocaine'. In full flow now, it was great to see Eric stretching out as he is wont to do over 32 or even 48 bars of soloing. This is when you appreciate the total mastery of the man. - I've watched enough wannabes torturing Clapton material over the years to almost put me off the genre, however seeing it done properly by the originator is a much different experience. Time stands still when EC takes you through one of his solo's. I must also add that his playing was probably more dextrous than ever, - playing right up on the top frets, he never once choked a note and runs up and down the neck were deft in the extreme. Most importantly the passion was most definitely there. 'Stormy Monday' (A song I have grown to hate when covered by dodgy bar bands) came alive in front of my eyes under the hands of EC.
Somewhere around here was a number featuring some excellent slide playing, other tracks that I remember from the night include George Harrisons 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' which he dedicated to 'An old friend who isn't around anymore' and it was a real treat to see Gary Brooker singing 'Whiter Shade of Pale'. Layla closed the set and it was amusing to see Clapton smile to himself as he almost made a mistake fretting the chords whilst singing the second verse. So he is human after all! We had one encore, Gary Brooker singing 'Little Queenie' and that was the end of the performance. Credit must go to Henry Spinnetti's powerhouse drumming that was spot on the whole night through and to Dave Markee's thoroughly appropriate bass playing. It's plain to see why Clapton uses them as they gave precisely the right backing at all times. A thoroughly excellent nights entertainment and what a treat to hear the blues rescued from the amateurs and done properly for a change. Clapton seems to be still at the height of his powers, good luck for many more years and if I get the chance I'll be back next new years eve.
Trainspotter guitarist note : Clapton played his familiar 'Crashocaster' custom strat with the multicolored body (Orange,green,silver over a white base). Lace sensor pickups no longer seem to be in vogue as the ones on his guitar were totally conventional in appearance. His amp looks like one of the mainstream varieties of reissue tweed Fender Bassman, but in fact is a Custom made unit by Denis Cornell with a nameplate in the Fender Tweed style saying 'Cornell'. It took me quite a while to figure this out 'cos at the time I thought it said 'Corbell', but I tracked down Denis Cornell's website after having found an old ad in the back of Guitarist magazine with his logo on it, I got in touch with him and he replied 'Dear Rob Thank you for your interest, I need all the help I can get its a big world out there and the little hand built custom amp maker like my self is always shadowed by the big boy's like Fender, after all why buy one when you can get one free? The Tone Tubby speakers have a great sound but not quite like any thing else, If you like blues /rock you will love um. All the best Denis Cornell' For details of the Cornell range, see the website - http://www.dc-developments.com/eric_amp.htmor pick up a copy of Feb 2003 Guitarist magazine. Its worth noting that Denis can build you the exact same amp that Clapton uses. What better endorsement could an amp have?
Most of the time he used the neck and middle pick up in the out of phase combination, occasionally switching to back pickup for added treble during the course of a break. This sound is what I would call contemporary-treated, being obviously gated and slightly compressed allowing all notes to ring out very clearly. Rhythm sounds used a tasteful amount of chorus. In short it sounded glorious. No doubt the Tone Tubbies contribute to this.
Crosby Stills Nash and Young - Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim Sat 30th March
2002
This night was everything that you hoped it might be. All four were on top form and ably helped along by Donald 'Duck' Dunn on Bass and Booker T. Jones on B3. We made it to our seats just as 'Carry On' thundered out and what followed was all the best of the CSN, CSN&Y and Neil Young solo catalogues. The sound system was impeccable but The Voices are of course the big story here. I'm glad to report they were all present and most definitely correct. The flat out ranges may have a dipped a tone or so, but so what. Stills seems to have some real gravel at his disposal these days and Crosby, who could so easily be six foot under instead seems full of renewed vigour and still in command of some of the sweetest tones in the business. A real pleasure to behold him do 'Guinevere' with just Mr Nash and a solo guitar. Other highlights were mostly Youngs, - 'Southern Man' got a truly ecstatic reception, as did 'Let's Roll' his 911 tribute, and 'Keep on Rockin in the Free World seems just to be perma-poigniant and sounded simply majestic. Of the several times I've seen Mr Young in action this was one of the best. He definitely drew power from the presence of his long time sparring partners, and I'm sure the presence of Mr Stills and the memory of those lick trading sessions of over thirty years ago at the Whiskey inspired him to keep it hot tonight. The dry humour was ever-present. On one oaccasion he took a swig from his cup of coke and proclaimed 'Time machine juice'. Putting down the coke he deadpanned 'Allow us to demonstrate once more our exclusive time-machine feature' before riffing into 'Woodstock'. A cool starry evening in Orange County, some ageing hippies on stage and a sweet herbal smell in the air. This aint the story of Johnny Rotten. Punks go home. A night to savour.
Carnival of Fools - Various Artists, The Space,Long Beach Fri 29th
March
This was a very funky nights' entertainment. Countless bands - electric and
acoustic acts, strung across three stages and, deep joy, lots of old but comfy
settees, Jugglers, Clowns and a roaring fire, this was a very interesting
nights entertainment. I couldn't help thinking that this was as near to a 60's
'happening' that someone as young as your correspondent could ever hope to
experience.
My only criticism was that there didn't seem to be any printed
program of events (except for one taped by one of the mixing desks) so we had
to keep checking back to find who was on when and where. I think the first
band we caught on the 'Black' stage was 'The Dibs'. Regulars of the Orange
County circuit I liked their power and commitment and fairly straightforward
rock ethos. They appeared to me to be in the Springsteen/Petty mould and
enjoyed their act very much.
Next we caught a quirky acoustic foursome
including spaced out lyrics, occasional flute and conga's, - they would fit
right in at any flower-child happening such as, oh say, this one.
Not all
the following acts were my cup of tea, although I rated the drummer from a
band called 'Halo ...' something or another. I told him so, which pleased
him.
High spot of the night was Wonderloves' performance. The opening riff
of 'Fork In The Road' tingled the hairs on the back of my neck and heralded an
energetic set by my favorite unsigned band. Bryan managed to jump on his
tremelo pedal in time for that special sound right at the end. 'Dirty'
followed and was in turn followed by 'Lucid' all of which as expected worked
well live. I'm not sure of all the numbers that followed but one of the new
numbers 'My Submarine' was definitely in there. Incidentally I think this song
was born for Ozzy Osbourne to sing. If you hear the song you'll know what I
mean. I also think this song may be a bit naughty, but they assure me that its
about organized religion. The organised religion of what, I ask. I was
impressed with Bryan McIntyres ability to play his Gibson SG note perfect
whilst stomping around, strutting, gurning, pouting and headbanging like a
proper rock star. Chris sang his heart out and Dicki thumped a mean tub. David
Beste impressed me with his intelligent and fluid bass playing , combined
effortlessly with demanding backing vocal duties. A great performance. Much
lauded by an enthusiastic audience who obviously wanted to hear a lot more
than the tight set times allowed, and who exactly was the, erm, Unicorn woman,
what was that all about?. The very next day they played at the Orange County
Music Awards at the Galaxy Theatre and scooped 'Best Live Band' (justifiably,
from my experiences), and Best Indie Rock Band. At about 1:30 we made our way
home, via a quick viewing of Sean Bestes magnificent '65 Buick convertible and
the handing over of his bands ('Square') Cd, 'This Magnificent Nonsense'.
The Gypsy Lounge - Various Artists, Lake Forest Tue 19th March
2002
A trip to the Gypsy Lounge was in order to see Jesse Nason do his thing
with Chris Karns' Decca Tree.
The Gypsy Lounge is a very comfy venue in
Lake Forest with a great selection of beers, a nice relaxed atmosphere and
that sign of a great west coast music venue, - big 'ole snuggle up settees.
First up was Jay Buchanan, a highly regarded Orange County Singer
Songwriter. His short set was strong on impassioned vocals but rather light on
lyrical content, a good performance though.
Decca Tree On next were 'Decca Tree'. Decca Tree are Chris Karns band, Chris being a darling of the OC music scene and having already had one critically acclaimed album released on Capitol. Now with the added spice of Jesse Nasons sonic armoury we can expect some great stuff.
Earlier in the week Jesse gave me a copy of some demo stuff,- 'Belong' is a track with a massive hook and an equally big or should I say detailed production. Chris is now signed to Atlantic and it would seem likely that this would be the 'big' single. The second track 'Always' has an even more expansive feel to it. Perhaps a little long to be a single this track grows in a very pleasing fashion, with an almost symphonic musical swell about 2/3rds in that reminds me of the best of genesis and Yes' catalogue. A lovely song. Both these tracks benefit from playing on a good system to hear the loving attention detail which has been invested into the production. The other two tracks 'Angel' and 'Stalking'are works in progress. 'Angel' a nice piano type number, a little close (but forgiveably so) to 'Dreamweaver' and 'Stalking' being a nice quirky number but very close to the Beatles 'On our way home'. The rest of the night was a bit of a blur due to the combined effects of a late night, residual jet-lag and chatting to people rather than listening to music. Towards the end of the night Rocco DeLuca was playing with his band. Me and Bryan McIntyre agreed that he had an enviable guitar sound and I 'dug' his slide guitar playing. A nice act, and a nice note on which to end our night at the Gypsy Lounge.
Robert Plant & The Priory of Brion - 18th October 2000
This was an unexpected treat, in two respects, firstly because an old friend phoned up at short notice to tell me about the gig, and secondly because it was such a good evening in many ways. For some reason I wasn't expecting anything too great because of the lack of other Zep cohorts, and because I'd heard that the whole premise of the band was a bit of a thrown together type of affair. In the event it turned out to be an excellent evening. The venue (the Colosseum in Coventry) is the size of a old small cinema, and I would guess the capacity at no more than 250 or so. Being such a small venue it was obvious from the start that this would be an intimate gig, even better there were long balconies down either side of the hall which gave an excellent vantage point down onto the stage and no restrictions as to where people could stand along them .
The first good omen was when we were approached by Roberts' Tour Manager. He told us that if we wanted to he could arrange for us to stand on a small raised ledge behind the front of house desk where my friend (who is in a wheelchair) could get a much improved view of proceedings. We said "Yes thanks" and so it was arranged. The support act, "MoMo" ("Music of Morrocan Origin!") were a Morrocan trio who were 'the real thing' as far as that kind of music is concerned, producing authentic sounds from a variety of distinctly primitive looking instruments, one particularly aincient instrument of note looked like a gourd with a stick tacked on to it with a tuning peg on one end and a piece of string strung across it. In fact I think thats probably exactly what it was. However, the lack of up to date MIDI interfaces didn't prevent it being used extremely effectively by its player. Like wise I was impressed by the range of tonality available from a large bodrun-like instrument being wielded by one of the singers. In all an object lesson of the relative importance of musicianship versus quality of instrumentation available. I did however suspect that certain of the longer songs were mainly improvised and they were no doubt having a bit of a musical in-joke at the audiences wide-eyed acceptance of every line they were fed. It all reminded me of seeing Phil Guy wowing a train-spotter blues audience with his spoof song "garbage man" - ( I caught my baby making love to the garbage man, etc, etc ).
The main event was a kind of revelation. Singing a variety of covers, from the great so called psychedelia of Love's "Forever Changes" to Buckleys "Song to the Siren" Robert was plainly enjoying the opportunity to sing Only the stuff he wanted to, - no pressure to compromise with other band members wishes or the expectations of a back-catalogue-hungry audience. Looking around the venue, numbers attending and the stage set up I guessed that the whole evening would probably earn robert very little money. I quickly came to the conclusion that he must be doing it for the love it and that was indeed a heart warming revelation. Another great facet to this sort of small venue gig that he so plainly enjoys is the opportunity to interact with the audience, or at least enjoy some of the heckles. He certainly had to take some stick for the Wolves getting stuffed a few days earlier by I think the Baggies(West Bromwich) but he took it in good part. It was also good to see a bunch of muso's (all I'm told associated with the music college in Kidderminster) enjoying themselves playing with the old lemonsqeezer himself.
I'm sure he enjoyed this gig in 'his' part of the world, I imagine the journey home (assuming he's still based around Kidderminster) would have been around 40 minutes, so a nice local gig for him.
I thoroughly enjoyed an evening in the close presence of the great man himself, its not every day you get the opportunity of a what is virtually a pub gig given by one of the Legends of rock. - Good on yer Robert.
If you would like to e-mail Neville Jordan click here and replace the (at) with the @ symbol - rob3(at)hod3.fsnet.co.uk
