Much has been said about Amy Winehouse these past few days, thankfully many of the media comments and articles have focused on her incredible singing voice and musical contributions. Amy's addiction problems sadly seemed of more interest to the tabloid press in recent years and to often demonstrated how poorly understood these issues are by far to many people.
On a positive and more fitting note, somebody that did know her personally is the actor and comedian Russell Brand whose own website carried this thoughtful tribute from him, which I thought really worth repeating in full - When you love someone who suffers from the disease of addiction you await the phone call. There will be a phone call. The sincere hope is that the call will be from the addict themselves, telling you they've had enough, that they're ready to stop, ready to try something new. Of course though, you fear the other call, the sad nocturnal chime from a friend or relative telling you it's too late, she's gone.
Frustratingly it's not a call you can ever make it must be received. It is impossible to intervene.I've known Amy Winehouse for years. When I first met her around Camden she was just some twit in a pink satin jacket shuffling round bars with mutual friends, most of whom were in cool Indie bands or peripheral Camden figures Withnail-ing their way through life on impotent charisma. Carl Barrat told me that "Winehouse" (which I usually called her and got a kick out of cos it's kind of funny to call a girl by her surname) was a jazz singer, which struck me as a bizarrely anomalous in that crowd. To me with my limited musical knowledge this information placed Amy beyond an invisible boundary of relevance; "Jazz singer? She must be some kind of eccentric" I thought. I chatted to her anyway though, she was after all, a girl, and she was sweet and peculiar but most of all vulnerable.
I was myself at that time barely out of rehab and was thirstily seeking less complicated women so I barely reflected on the now glaringly obvious fact that Winehouse and I shared an affliction, the disease of addiction. All addicts, regardless of the substance or their social status share a consistent and obvious symptom; they're not quite present when you talk to them. They communicate to you through a barely discernible but un-ignorable veil. Whether a homeless smack head troubling you for 50p for a cup of tea or a coked-up, pinstriped exec foaming off about his "speedboat" there is a toxic aura that prevents connection. They have about them the air of elsewhere, that they're looking through you to somewhere else they'd rather be. And of course they are. The priority of any addict is to anaesthetise the pain of living to ease the passage of the day with some purchased relief.
From time to time I'd bump into Amy she had good banter so we could chat a bit and have a laugh, she was "a character" but that world was riddled with half cut, doped up chancers, I was one of them, even in early recovery I was kept afloat only by clinging to the bodies of strangers so Winehouse, but for her gentle quirks didn't especially register. Then she became massively famous and I was pleased to see her acknowledged but mostly baffled because I'd not experienced her work and this not being the 1950's I wondered how a "jazz singer" had achieved such cultural prominence. I wasn't curious enough to do anything so extreme as listen to her music or go to one of her gigs, I was becoming famous myself at the time and that was an all consuming experience. It was only by chance that I attended a Paul Weller gig at the Roundhouse that I ever saw her live.
I arrived late and as I made my way to the audience through the plastic smiles and plastic cups I heard the rolling, wondrous resonance of a female vocal. Entering the space I saw Amy on stage with Weller and his band; and then the awe. The awe that envelops when witnessing a genius. From her oddly dainty presence that voice, a voice that seemed not to come from her but from somewhere beyond even Billie and Ella, from the font of all greatness. A voice that was filled with such power and pain that it was at once entirely human yet laced with the divine. My ears, my mouth, my heart and mind all instantly opened. Winehouse. Winehouse? Winehouse! That twerp, all eyeliner and lager dithering up Chalk Farm Road under a back-combed barnet, the lips that I'd only seen clenching a fishwife fag and dribbling curses now a portal for this holy sound. So now I knew. She wasn't just some hapless wannabe, yet another pissed up nit who was never gonna make it, nor was she even a ten-a-penny-chanteuse enjoying her fifteen minutes. She was a f****** genius.
Shallow fool that I am I now regarded her in a different light, the light that blazed down from heaven when she sang. That lit her up now and a new phase in our friendship began. She came on a few of my TV and radio shows, I still saw her about but now attended to her with a little more interest. Publicly though, Amy increasingly became defined by her addiction. Our media though is more interested in tragedy than talent, so the ink began to defect from praising her gift to chronicling her downfall. The destructive personal relationships, the blood soaked ballet slippers, the aborted shows, that youtube madness with the baby mice. In the public perception this ephemeral tittle-tattle replaced her timeless talent. This and her manner in our occasional meetings brought home to me the severity
of her condition. Addiction is a serious disease; it will end with jail, mental institutions or death. I was 27 years old when through the friendship and help of Chip Somers of the treatment centre, Focus12 I found recovery, through Focus I was introduced to support fellowships for alcoholics and drug addicts which are very easy to find and open to anybody with a desire to stop drinking and without which I would not be alive.
Now Amy Winehouse is dead, like many others whose unnecessary deaths have been retrospectively romanticised, at 27 years old. Whether this tragedy was preventable or not is now irrelevant. It is not preventable today. We have lost a beautiful and talented woman to this disease. Not all addicts have Amy's incredible talent. Or Kurt's or Jimi's or Janis's, some people just get the affliction. All we can do is adapt the way we view this condition, not as a crime or a romantic affectation but as a disease that will kill. We need to review the way society treats addicts, not as criminals but as sick people in need of care. We need to look at the way our government funds rehabilitation. It is cheaper to rehabilitate an addict than to send them to prison, so criminalisation doesn't even make economic sense. Not all of us know someone with the incredible talent that Amy had but we all know drunks and junkies and they all need help and the help is out there. All they have to do is pick up the phone and make the call. Or not. Either way, there will be a phone call.
Beehive Candy remembers Amy as fans of her music and concert performances. The following are all soundboard or FM/TV audio recordings.
Part One - Summer Sundae Festival, Leicester, 15th August 2004 (FM stereo mp3@217kbps).
01 Best Friend
02 Take The Box
03 Mr Magic
04 Stronger Than Me
05 Brother
06 In My Bed
07 You Sent Me Flying
08 Interview
Part Two - Live at Astoria, London, 19th February 2007 ( Soundboard stereo mp3@248kbps).
01. Cherry
02. Tears Dry On Their Own
03. Just Friends
04. Addicted
05. He Can Only Hold Her
06. I Heard Love Is Blind
07. Wake Up Alone
08. Back To Black
09. Me and Mr Jones
10. You Know Im No Good
11. Rehab
12. Love Is A Losing Game
13. Monkey Man
14. Valerie
Part Three - Live at Glastonbury 2008 (TV audio stereo rip mp3@200kbps).
1. Addicted
2. Tears Dry On Their Own
3. Back To Black
4. Love Is A Losing Game
5. Hey Little Rich Girl
6. A Message To You Rudy
7. You I'm No Good
8. Me & Mr Jones
9. Rehab
Many thanks to those who recorded and shared these memories.
This is the probably the earliest Ramones studio material in circulation. 'Judy's In The Basement' was released by Hit & Run Records originally as a 10inch vinyl record and made in East Berlin. The liner notes state that the songs were produced by Tommy Erdelyi recorded September 19th, 1975 at 914 Studios, Blauvelt, New York. CD versions have also circulated using the vinyl artwork.
From wikipedia - The original members of the band met in and around the middle-class neighborhood of Forest Hills in the New York City borough of Queens. John Cummings and Thomas Erdelyi had both been in a high-school garage band from 1966 to 1967 known as the Tangerine Puppets. They became friends with Douglas Colvin, who had recently moved to the area from Germany. Jeffrey Hyman was the first lead singer of the glam rock band Sniper, founded in 1972. The Ramones began taking shape in early 1974, when Cummings and Colvin invited Hyman to join them in a band. The initial lineup featured Colvin on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Cummings on lead guitar, and Hyman on drums. Colvin, who soon switched from rhythm guitar to bass, was the first to adopt the name "Ramone", calling himself Dee Dee Ramone. He was inspired by Paul McCartney's use of the pseudonym Paul Ramon during his Silver Beatles days. Dee Dee convinced the other members to take on the name and came up with the idea of calling the band the Ramones. Hyman and Cummings became Joey Ramone and Johnny Ramone, respectively.
A friend of the band, Monte A. Melnick (later their tour manager), helped to arrange rehearsal time for them at Manhattan's Performance Studios, where he worked. Johnny's former bandmate Erdelyi was set to become their manager. Soon after the band was formed, Dee Dee realized that he could not sing and play his bass guitar simultaneously; with Erdelyi's encouragement, Joey became the band's new lead singer. Dee Dee would continue, however, to count off each song's tempo with his signature rapid-fire shout of "1-2-3-4!" Joey soon similarly realized that he could not sing and play drums simultaneously and left the position of drummer. While auditioning prospective replacements, Erdelyi would often take to the drums and demonstrate how to play the songs. It became apparent that he was able to perform the group's music better than anyone else, and he joined the band as Tommy Ramone.
The Ramones played before an audience for the first time on March 30, 1974, at Performance Studios. The songs they played were very fast and very short; most clocked in at under two minutes. Around this time, a new music scene was emerging in New York centered around two clubs in downtown Manhattan—Max's Kansas City and, more famously, CBGB (usually referred to as CBGB's). The Ramones made their CBGB debut on August 16. Legs McNeil, who co-founded Punk magazine the following year, later described the impact of that performance: "They were all wearing these black leather jackets. And they counted off this song...and it was just this wall of noise.... They looked so striking. These guys were not hippies. This was something completely new."
The band swiftly became regulars at the club, playing there seventy-four times by the end of the year. After garnering considerable attention for their performances—which averaged about seventeen minutes from beginning to end—the group was signed to a recording contract in late 1975 by Seymour Stein of Sire Records. Stein's wife, Linda Stein, had seen the band play at CBGB's; she would later co-manage them along with Danny Fields. By this time, the Ramones were recognized as leaders of the new scene that was increasingly being referred to as "punk".
Source: Studio sessions
Sound Quality: Good stereo mix mp3@192kbps.
Genre: Punk, new wave.
Session List:
Side A
"I Don't Wanna Go Down To The Basement"
"53rd & 3rd"
Side B
"I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend"
"Judy Is A Punk"
"Loudmouth"
This is Suzanne Vega recorded live in Albisguetli, Zurich, Switzerland on May 18th 1993. Following the concerts broadcast on FM radio, German bootlegger Arriba! released a CD version in 1994 (ARR 94.055) from which this version is sourced. Other version have also been in circulation most notably 100° Fahrenheit in Montreux and Dancing Girls however the audio rip for the Arriba! version appears to be regarded as the best.
Suzanne Vega was born July 11, 1959 in Santa Monica, California. Her mother, Pat Vega, is a computer systems analyst of German-Swedish heritage. Her father, Richard Peck, is of Scottish-English-Irish extraction. They divorced soon after her birth. Her stepfather, Ed Vega, also known as Edgardo Vega Yunque, was a writer and teacher from Puerto Rico. When Vega was two and a half, the family moved to New York City. She grew up in Spanish Harlem and the Upper West Side. At the age of nine she began to write poetry; she wrote her first song at age fourteen. Later she attended New York's prestigious High School of Performing Arts (now called LaGuardia High School). There she studied modern dance and graduated in 1977.
While majoring in English literature at Barnard College, she performed in small venues in Greenwich Village, where she was a regular contributor to Jack Hardy's Monday night songwriters' group at the Cornelia Street Cafe and had some of her first songs published on Fast Folk anthology albums.[6] In 1984, she received a major label recording contract, making her one of the first Fast Folk artists to break out on a major label.
Her self-titled debut album was released in 1985 and was well-received by critics in the U.S.; it reached platinum status in the United Kingdom. Produced by Lenny Kaye and Steve Addabbo, the songs feature Vega's acoustic guitar in straightforward arrangements. A video was released for the album's song "Marlene on the Wall", which went into MTV and VH1's rotations. During this period Vega also wrote lyrics for two songs on Songs from Liquid Days by composer Philip Glass.
Her next effort, Solitude Standing (1987), garnered critical and commercial success including the hit single "Luka", an international success. "Luka" is written about, and from the point of view of, an abused child—at the time an uncommon subject for a pop hit. While continuing a focus on Vega's acoustic guitar, the music is more strongly pop-oriented and features fuller arrangements. The a cappella "Tom's Diner" from this album was later a hit, remixed by two British dance producers under the name DNA, in 1990. The track was originally a bootleg, until Vega allowed DNA to release through her record company, and it became her all-time biggest hit.
Source: Originally FM radio broadcast.
Sound Quality: Very good stereo variable approx mp3@192kbps.
Genre: Alternative rock, Folk rock.
Set: Full Set.
Set List:
01. Fat Man & Dancing Girl [0:04:41.86]
02. Rock in This Pocket [0:04:19.37]
03. Marlene on the Wall [0:04:45.66]
04. 99.9 Fahrenheit [0:03:39.96]
05. When Heroes go Down [0:02:23.86]
06. Small Blue Thing [0:05:34.24]
07. Tired of Sleeping [0:04:00.56]
08. Blood SIngs [0:03:32.33]
09. As a Child [0:03:34.53]
10. 'Child's Traditional' [0:02:26.84]
11. Neighbourhood Girls [0:03:25.86]
12. (If You Were) In My Movie [0:04:29.00]
13. Left of Centre [0:04:23.16]
14. Blood Makes Noise [0:03:55.97]
15. Liverpool [0:06:21.66]
16. Luka [0:03:57.00]
17. Men in a War [0:04:13.56]
18. Tom's Diner [0:03:04.10]
19. Room off the Street [0:03:01.22]
Background:There is a distinct difference between good and great. With stellar musical track records that include work on renowned studio projects, world tours, Broadway musicals, performances in top-notch clubs and festivals, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, TV and film soundtracks, and production on two Grammy nominated albums, it’s clear which side of the good/great split Liz Queler & Seth Farber are on This husband and wife duo are lifelong professional musicians who literally grew up in the business and are now sharing the same great tradition with their 12 year-old son Joey Farber, who is also a budding musical star in his own right.
Released back on April 8th, 2011, The Edna Project is an album of original music set to the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay, and began with a book given to Liz by Seth’s mother a few years ago. While frustrated with a spell of writer’s block, Liz decided to pull the book down and compose to a poem, just as an exercise to get the creative matter moving. It clicked, really clicked for her, and before long she had ravenously consumed every word written by or about Edna. Deeply inspired, she and Seth set off on composing a full collection of songs set to Edna’s poetry. The Edna Project is musically rooted in Liz & Seth’s signature folk/rock/bluegrass sound, but also shows the playful tendencies of their jazz and blues backgrounds, and includes performances by fellow artists/friends Shawn Mullins (“Rock-a-bye”) and Larry Campbell (Bob Dylan, Levon Helm). Joey also appears on vocals and percussion, making it a true family affair.
Liz & Seth are among the rare artists who have been fortunate enough to spend their entire lives in music. As children of musical parents, parents of a musical child, and individuals who are musicians through and through, sharing thoughtful and exceptional music with the world has been their breath in/breath out. It’s not surprising that music blossoms from their every pore, and it sure is good. For many years past, and many years to come, Liz & Seth will be doing the work they love and illustrating the difference between good and great.
2011Candy Says: A fine alt country, come folk feel to their music that is well worth a listen if you have just a passing interest in such musical styles. Great vocals and music. Listen:Rosemary. Web:Official.
________________________________________
Background:Eastern Phoebes began as the home recording project of a Long Island, NY, couple: multi-instrumentalist/producer Ry Smith and holistic health guru Meg Bayley.
In January 2010, Ry started recording songs he had been writing in their loft apartment. He asked Meg to help sing and clap on a bunch of tunes, and the band was formed.
Eastern Phoebes released their self-titled five-track EP that summer a CD-R in a handmade cardboard envelope with artwork by Andy Drake. A second EP, “Rods of Energy,” was released digitally in December of the same year. Through the group’s alternative means of self-promotion (random endearing posts on Craigslist), the EP began to attract listeners both regionally and nationally. In February 2011, Ry and Meg recorded “Wampum,” their debut full-length. Written and recorded entirely within the month, the album was he band’s entry for the RPM Challenge. It was released on March 1st as a free digital download. Recently, Ry and Meg joined forces with two of their dearest friends, guitarist/bassist Rick Kattermann and drummer Frank Filipo, to create the performing version of Eastern Phoebes.
“Gypsy Paw” offers 5 sunny folk-pop tunes that are catchy and charming. Eastern Phoebes have a way of being touching and comical in the same breath.
2011Candy Says: Yep this is definitely sunny folk pop music that can only lift you up. Nice songs and singing for the summer. Listen:Old Toronto.Web:Official.
________________________________________
Background:Jenn Bostic’s career as a singer and songwriter began when she was 10 years old, in the back seat of her father’s car with her older brother on the way to school. A horrific crash that killed her dad, a hobby musician who taught her folk songs like “Sunny Side of the Street,” and turned her on to Emmylou Harris and Bonnie Raitt, changed the 25-year-old’s life forever.
“God must need another angel/Around the throne tonight,” she sings on “Jealous of the Angels,” a song on her second album, the follow-up to her promising debut, Keep Lookin for Love. “Your love lives on inside of me/And I will hold on tight.”
Born in Philadelphia, but raised in Waconia, Minnesota, a small town 30 miles west of Minneapolis, Jenn grew up singing with her family around the piano. Her father, a CEO of NordicTrack, played a variety of instruments, including accordion, while his daughter picked up a love of folk, blues, R&B, soul, show tunes and, eventually, country. Seeing her father die in front of her made her angry with God at first, but she later found an outlet for her sorrow in music and writing songs. Jenn went on to perform wherever she could, taking voice, piano and acting lessons, singing in choirs and school musicals. She would sit in with a local roots band, Traveled Ground, that consisted of teachers from her middle and high school, and once included her father on accordion.
2011Candy Says: Jenn delivers on both performance and songwriting. Well mixed songs with enough of her own individual style to carry things off in a crowded musical market place. Listen:Missin A Man. Web:Official.
_______________________________________
Background:Austyn Sullivan is a 20 year old self-titled ambient project currently residing in Baltimore, Maryland, originally from Mandeville, Louisiana. Sullivan experiments with murmured vocals beneath the surface accompanied by repetitious melodies which creates a wave of thought and emotion. Sullivan’s music makes for a perfect late night/pre-dawn listening.
Over the past year Sullivan has been prolifically creating music in all mediums from atmospheric piano to ambient full-band projects. Sullivan is currently working on a full length album titled Recollections Become Phantoms. It’s a highly textured album of concepts and ethereal sounds. Along side of his self-titled project, Sullivan occasionally works under the stage name Portraits of American Firing Squads and is currently playing drums for Dead Mellotron.
2011Candy Says: This is really well crafted music, that is part haunting and atmospheric however the rhythms really drive the piece along and the vocals are just right.
Background: Started as a solo project in 2000 by accordionist and drummer Jeremy Barnes (formerly of Neutral Milk Hotel) and named after a line in Cervantes' Don Quixote, A Hawk and A Hacksaw became a duo in 2004 when Barnes met violinist Heather Trost. The pair began an adventure that took them to Zece Prajini, Romania and then to Budapest, Hungary where they lived for two years, staying with trumpeter Ferenc Kovacs who taught them much about Hungry and its music, when not hunting wild boars and making wine.
While there, they toured Europe with Kovacs and some of Hungary 's finest folk musicians. They have made countless U.S. & European tours on their own and with big names including Portishead, Calexico and fellow New Mexico resident Beirut (whose Gulag Orkestar album they were key collaborators on). Joined by an ever-evolving line-up of musicians, A Hawk and A Hacksaw seeks to create and document an ecstatic sound much like the village bands of old, with the communal aspect of folk tradition and musicianship the key factors.
2011Candy Says: This is really superb and fans of Beirut will I expect be intrigued to say the least. The featured track is only one dimension of their music. Miss this at your peril. Listen:Cervantine. Web:Official.
_______________________________________
Background: Acclaimed Australian acid-jazz / groove / funk band Directions In Groove (DIG) are back with the original DIG lineup - featuring keyboardist and vocalist Scott Saunders, saxophonist Rick Robertson, guitarist Tim Rollinson, bassist Alex Hewetson and drummer Terepai Richmond, alongside new guest vocalist Laura Stitt.
The band, which hailed from the suburbs of Sydney, honed their live set with a residency at Kinselas back in the early 90’s. They self-financed their first EP, which at the time was the highest selling release of it’s kind, and with an ever growing audience, set out to tour nationally. They released several distinctive acid-jazz / groove / funk albums through the 1990s, including the much lauded "Speakeasy" and "Deeper" which both went on to achieve double platinum status. Tracks such as "The Favourite", "Reinvent Yourself", and "Hip Replacement" were radio and television staples, the band garnering widespread critical acclaim, including this from Rolling Stone magazine: "DIG are the future of Australian music. They know what to do and how to do it."
With extensive JJJ airplay, great press support and consistent touring, dig crossed over into the mainstream with their mix of jazz/dance/old school funk and electronica, and evolved to incorporate new grooves, melding drum'n'bass and trip hop into the mix. They took their unique style across the globe, touring Asia, North America and Europe including the Montreux Jazz Festival, North Sea Festival, and Phoenix Festival on the same stage as Herbie Hancock, Bootsy Collins and The Roots. Dig also played in the Acid Jazz scene supporting Us3, Galliano, The Groove Collective, Corduroy, The Young Disciples, appearing at club and festival shows with Norman Jay and Giles Peterson.
2011Candy Says: Loads of style and substance, if you like to groove then this is spot on. Listen:Clearlight. Web: Official.
__________________________________________
Background: From the mountains of central Pennsylvania comes Philip Masorti’s second record Another Year. The sound is American roots all the way as the storytelling blends with the local landscape in this thought-provoking record. “I’m walking down a dirty, dusty farm road…” Masorti sings in the title track and the record seems to be a journey through past and present. The journey does not last long however because Masorti can “get there in half the time” as the Great Indoorsman claims on track six. The record is equal parts satire and sentiment and has a surprising depth of feeling which will move the listener. While his first record Father’s Eyes reached #34 on the Americana Music chart and #20 on the College Jam Band radio chart, and drew comparisons to Warren Zevon and Leonard Cohen, the latest record further establishes Masorti as a solid songwriter -by night. By day, Masorti is a trial lawyer telling stories to a different audience. “Trying cases is an exciting experience” Masorti says when describing his chosen career and “I thoroughly enjoy the creative process, developing the facts, the theory, the argument.” The story telling aspect of songwriting seems to come natural to him perhaps as an extension of the day job. “There is no doubt that the practice influences the song. I hate to admit it but there are times when strong feelings seep into my music, particularly when a legal matter gets so ingrained that I cannot separate myself from it.” Masorti started writing songs in 2006 when his father passed away. “I started playing my guitar again and songs began to form as an expression of what I was going through. And I began to feel better. That was the purpose; to express myself and to feel better.”
After recording the first record in NYC with producer Delmar Brown (Sting, Miles Davis, Gil Evans) Masorti had long-time friend Mark Ross produce Another Year at a local studio in Stormstown, Pennsylvania. “Mark was the driving force behind Queen Bee and the Blue Hornet Band and I was a big fan of his creative energy. He’s all about the song and he has been awesome to work with.” The record has more of a roots/rock feel and, according to Masorti, he was again “fortunate to have musicians who added considerably to the mix.” Masorti’s sound is somewhere between Dire Straits and Johnny Cash. When asked about the comparisons Masorti takes it in stride “it’s very flattering to be compared to established artists and I think, creatively, we are moving in the right direction.”
The fan base is growing as reflected by attendance at the last few shows. Masorti hopes the new record will add an element of interest to his music and he looks forward to more live performances, “I am anxious for people to hear the new band.” Writing, rehearsing, and arranging the songs, then performing them live, it’s grueling but Masorti seems to enjoy it. “There are no short cuts. It’s going to take years of hard work to be the next overnight sensation,” Masorti jokes.
2011Candy Says: From the opening bars of this song I new I would enjoy and when Philip starts to sing it just gets even better! Listen:Fathers Eyes. Web:Official.
_________________________________________
Background: British Icon John Martyn's Legacy is Reimagined by Thirty Artists on Johnny Boy Would Love This...a Tribute to John Martyn. Among the contributors are David Gray, Paolo Nutini, Beck, Swell Season, and Robert Smith
In the late '60s, the late British guitarist and songwriter John Martyn broke ground by leaping from acoustic folk into highly successful experiments with tape delay, wild recording scenarios, and jazz-inspired arrangements. He became a cult figure among British musicians. A list of his admirers reads like a who's-who of rock, pop, and even trip hop: Eric Clapton, The Band's Levon Helm, Lee "Scratch" Perry, The Cure's Robert Smith, Beck, Morcheeba.
To honor his life, thirty artists reveal the full breadth of Martyn's creativity on Johnny Boy Would Love This...A Tribute to John Martyn (Hole in the Rain; August 16, 2011). The package will include a double CD digi-pak, 40-page booklet, and DVD that will feature interviews with a number of the contributing artists, performance videos, and rare live performances by John himself. Adding to this unique audio experience is the inclusion of John's actual guitar work on two of the tracks.
Musicians from several generations take on Martyn's intense, sometimes joyful and sometimes despairing, but always influential work. They come from the fertile acoustic fringes (Vetiver, Beth Orton) and from the heart of rock and pop (Robert Smith, Phil Collins). They are elders of blues (Clarence Fountain and Sam Butler of the Blind Boys of Alabama) and young up-and-comers (John Smith and Sabrina Dinan).
2011Candy Says: Plenty of fine folk putting their own interpretation on John Martyn's musical legacy. Robert Smith brings elements of The Cure to the featured track and is a taste of how Johns music can be reworked. Listen:Small Hours (Robert Smith). Web:Official.
__________________________________________
Background:Kevin Devine has a new full length album, 'Between the Concrete and Clouds', that will be released September 13th, 2011 via Razor & Tie / Favorite Gentlemen. Devine will head out this fall on a headlining tour with The Features as direct support on its first leg. The tour will kick off on September 6th in Pittsburgh, PA at Club AE and make stops nationwide, concluding in Upland, CA at The Wire.
Between The Concrete & Clouds is a record full of firsts for Devine, both sonically and technically. Perhaps best known for his solo acoustic musings, this is the first record he's made that is fully backed by a band. After settling back home in Brooklyn after being on tour for most of 2009 and '10, Devine spent time in his rehearsal space playing around with ideas on his own, bringing shape to the songs by recording them as acoustic demos, something he hasn't done since high school.
Produced by longtime collaborator Chris Bracco and mixed by Rob Schnapf (Beck, Elliott Smith, Dr. Dog), Between the Concrete & Clouds was recorded in 10 days over a span of a month. The 10 track album features musicians Brian Bonz (keyboard), Chris Bracco (bass, keyboard), Mike Fadem (drums, percussion), Russell Smith (electric guitar), and Mike Strandberg (guitar, mandolin). This is the first recording Devine's done with his version of this band, and it had an inspired impact on the final product.
2011Candy Says: Kevin has delivered a solid sounding album based on the strength of this song. It's the only track I have heard so far and a fine taster. Listen:Concrete and Clouds. Web:MySpace.
________________________________________
Background: Putting all the pieces together. It's what Manchester's Blind Atlas excels at, and it's what makes their music so unique. They've assembled a band of multi-instrumentalists to synthesize disparate influences: The Rolling Stones to Townes Van Zandt right through to artists such as Calexico and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy to create a "melting pot of British and American Rock N' Roll." Even the band's name was a jigsaw puzzle assembled from distinct sources. "We just got together, got drunk and chopped up lots of words à la Bowie or William Burroughs," says singer Ross Thompson. "Then we just pulled them out of a hat and Blind Atlas was born."
Their latest EP, "Iron Wall," recorded with Christian Madden from the Earlies, at Modern English Studios, showcases the band's team writing style in the three tracks, which range in sound from the dark tribal title track, to the decidedly country "Mary Anne" to "My Proud Mountains", originally written and recorded by Townes Van Zandt, reinterpreted with sweet harmonies and delicate electric guitar. This last track has a special meaning for Thompson, a transplant to Manchester from Denver roots. "Iron Wall" will be released July 25th.
Hailing from Denver and disparate points around the U.K., Blind Atlas came together in the bohemian suburbs of south Manchester, united by a shared preoccupation with drinking, failed relationships and the Flying Burrito Brothers. They've received airplay on BBC Radio 2's Whispering Bob Harris and BBC6 Music. They have also notched up headline slots at some of Manchester's most iconic venues, as well as supporting the likes of Lucy Wainwright Roche, The Deadstring Brothers, The Features, The Acorn, The Travelling Band, Blitzen Trapper, Buffalo Tom and The Bees.
2011Candy Says: A fine song to finish this round up with. Great harmonies and musicianship. Superb! Listen: Mary Anne. Web:Official.
___________________________________________
This is Rush live on the 7th November 1991 at The Arena, St. Louis, MO, USA from a bootleg double CD titled 'Row the Boats', which is linked to the Roll The Bones tour. Rush have been together since 1968 with a consistent band line up since 1974.
More than 40 years of activity has provided Rush with the opportunity for musical diversity across their discography. As with many bands known for experimentation, changes have inevitably resulted in dissent among critics and fans. The bulk of the band's music has always included synthetic instruments in some form or another, and this is a great source of contention in the Rush camp, especially the band's heavy reliance on synthesizers and keyboards during the 1980s, particularly on albums Grace Under Pressure, Power Windows, and Hold Your Fire.
The members of Rush have themselves noted that people "either love Rush or hate Rush", resulting in strong detractors and an intensely loyal fan base. In July 2008, Rolling Stone commented that "Rush fans are the Trekkies/trekkers of rock".
Rush started to deviate from their 1980s style with the albums Presto and Roll the Bones. Produced by record engineer and musician Rupert Hine, these two albums saw Rush shedding much of their keyboard-saturated sound. Beginning with 1989's Presto, the band opted for arrangements that were notably more guitar-centric than the previous two studio albums. Although synthesizers were still used in many songs, the instrument was no longer featured as the centerpiece of Rush's compositions. Continuing this trend, 1991's Roll the Bones extended the use of the standard three-instrument approach with even less focus on synthesizers than its predecessor. While musically these albums do not deviate significantly from a general pop-rock sound, Rush incorporated traces of other musical styles. "Roll the Bones", for instance, exhibits funk and hip hop elements, and the instrumental track "Where's My Thing?" features several jazz components. This return to three-piece instrumentation helped pave the way for future albums in the mid-90s, which would adopt a more straightforward rock formula.
Source: Soundboard.
Sound Quality: Good stereo mp3@128kbps (audiophiles - don't be put off, this is a fine and beefy recording).
Genre: Hard rock, heavy metal, progressive rock.
Set: Full Set.
Set List:
DISC 1
01 - Thus Spoke Zarathustra - Force Ten 5:31
02 - Limelight 4:26
03 - Freewill 4:07
04 - Distant Early Warning 4:31
05 - Time Stand Still 6:15
06 - Dreamline 5:10
07 - Bravado 7:02
08 - Roll the Bones 6:21
09 - Show Don't Tell 6:18
10 - The Big Money 6:10
11 - Subdivisions 3:34
DISC 2
01 - The Pass 5:23
02 - Where's My Thing ? 5:15
03 - The Rhythm Method 7:12
04 - Closer to the Heart 4:53
05 - Xanadu 6:50
06 - Superconductor 5:15
07 - Tom Sawyer 5:55
08 - Medley: The Spirit of Radio 5:12
09 - 2112: Overture 3:23
10 - Finding My Way 2:09
11 - La Villa Strangiato 3:17
12 - Anthem 1:43
13 - Red Barchetta 1:36
14 - The Spirit of Radio (reprise) 2:21
This is two concerts from Blind Faith from 1969. The group debuted at a free concert at London's Hyde Park on 7th June 1969. This version of that concert comes from a 'Mid Valley Records' CD bootleg and in our opinion has a better audio track than the DVD film of the concert released in 2006. The second concert was recorded at the Konserthallen/Liseberg, Nöjespark/Göteborg, Sweden, on the 18th June 1969. The audio source was an audience based reel to reel tape recorder, and considering the age etc is really very good quality.
The beginnings of Blind Faith date from mid-1968, with the break-up of Cream. In retrospect as the first "super-group", Cream had become a financial powerhouse, selling millions of records within a few years and raising the group's (and each member's) repertoire to international popularity. Despite that success, the band was crumbling from within due to frequent animosity between Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, with Eric Clapton doing his best to mediate. In addition, Clapton had been tired of being coerced into playing commercially driven blues, and hoped to move forward with a new, experimental, less straitjacketed approach to the genre.
Steve Winwood was facing similar problems in The Spencer Davis Group, where he had been the lead singer for three years. Winwood wanted to experiment with the band's sound by infusing jazz elements, but left due to his musical differences, instead forming a new band — Traffic — in 1967. That band split temporarily in 1969, and Winwood started to jam with his good friend Clapton in Clapton's basement in Surrey, England. Winwood and Clapton had previously collaborated on the "Powerhouse" project.
Eric Clapton was pleased with the jam sessions, but was hesitant to start a serious group. Ginger Baker turned up one day to sit in with them in 1969, and the band took near-final form. Clapton questioned letting Baker in the band, because he had promised Jack Bruce that, if they were to work with one another again, all three of them would play. Moreover, Clapton didn't want to reunite with Cream barely nine weeks after the break-up, and also didn't want to deal with another "Cream-like" super-stardom situation. Winwood ultimately persuaded Clapton to finalize Baker's inclusion in the line-up, arguing that Ginger Baker strengthened their musicianship and that it would be hard to find an equally talented drummer.
By May 1969, Ric Grech, bassist with Family, was invited to join them (leaving Family, mid-tour). Andy Johns (engineer) recorded most of the Blind Faith backing tracks at Morgan Studios, and the album was finished at Olympic studios with Alan O'Duffy (engineer) who recorded some further tracks, all of the overdubs and who mixed the album. This was done under the supervision of producer Jimmy Miller. Jimmy Miller provided focus to the band, who often preferred jamming over the standard commercial 3–5 minute track. By then the group was known collectively as Blind Faith, a slyly cynical reference by Clapton to his outlook on the new group.
Source: London - soundboard, Stockholm - Audience.
Sound Quality: London good stereo mp3@320kbps. Stockholm very good audience recording mp3@224kbps.
Genre: Blues-rock, hard rock, british blues.
Set: Full Set.
Set List:
London:
01. Introduction
02. Well All Right
03. Sea Of Joy
04. Sleeping In The Ground
05. Under My Thumb
06. Can't Find My Way Home
07. Do What You Like
08. Presence Of The Lond
09. Means To An End
10. Had To Cry Today
Stockholm:
1. Well All Right
2. Sleeping in the Ground
3. Sea of Joy
4. Under My Thumb
5. Cant Find My Way Home
6. Do What You Like
7. Presence of the Lord
8. Means To An End
9. Had to Cry Today
Band Line Up:
Eric Clapton - guitar
Steve Winwood - piano, organ
Ginger Baker - drums
Rick Grech - bass, violin
This is Graham Parker & The Rumour back on the 17th March 1977 performing live in concert for BBC Sight & Sounds, in London. Fans of Graham Parker's music would do well to check out his website (link below) as he has been and continues to release a considerable amount of archive material from across his career.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Graham Parker sang in small-time English bands such as the Black Rockers and Deep Cut Three while working in dead-end jobs like a glove factory and a petrol station. In 1975, he recorded a few demo tracks in London with Dave Robinson, who would shortly found Stiff Records and who connected Parker with his first backing band of note, The Rumour. Graham Parker had one track, "Back to Schooldays", released on the compilation album, A Bunch of Stiff Records for Stiff Records.
In the summer of 1975, Parker joined forces with ex-members of three British pub-rock bands to form Graham Parker and the Rumour. The new group consisted of Parker (lead vocals, guitar) with Brinsley Schwarz (lead guitar) and Bob Andrews (keyboards) (both ex Brinsley Schwarz), Martin Belmont (rhythm guitar, ex Ducks Deluxe) and Andrew Bodnar (bass) and Steve Goulding (drums). They began in the British pub rock scene, often augmented at times by a four-man horn section known as The Rumour Horns: John "Irish" Earle (saxophone), Chris Gower (trombone), Dick Hanson (trumpet), and Ray Beavis (saxophone).
The band's first album, Howlin' Wind, was released to acclaim in April 1976 and was rapidly followed by the stylistically similar Heat Treatment. A mixture of rock, ballads, and reggae-influenced numbers, these albums reflected Parker's early influences (Motown, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison) and contained the songs which formed the core of Parker's live shows – "White Honey", "Soul Shoes", "Lady Doctor", "Fool's Gold", and his early signature tune "Don't Ask Me Questions", which hit the Top 40 in the UK. Graham Parker and the Rumour built a reputation as incendiary live performers: the promotional album Live at Marble Arch was recorded at this time and shows off their raw onstage style. Like the pub rock scene he was loosely tied to, the singer's class-conscious lyrics and passionate vocals signalled a renewal of rock music as punk rock began to flower in Britain.
Source: TV audio soundtrack.
Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@320kbps.
Genre: Rock, new wave, pub rock, rhythm and blues.
Set: Full Set.
Set List:
01. Heat Treatment
02. Silly Thing
03. Fool's Gold
04. Pourin' It All Out
05. Gypsy Blood
06. Don't Ask Me Questions
07. Hold Back the Night
08. Not If It Pleases Me
09. Soul Shoes
10. Kansas City
