Varulven Records P.O. Box 2392, Woburn MA 01888
Edited and Published by Joe Viglione
We've returned! Sometimes one has to step back, despite all my writings for Club Bohemia newsletter, Somerville News Weekly, TMRZoo.com and other publications. This popular site ...www.joevigtop40.com should have been front and center! It's my own personal web aggregator - of sorts - incorporating the Rock Journalist Joe Vig, Rock 'n' Roll Central (Clubbohemia.club,) Visual-Radio.net, etc. etc. etc. So much rich content, but that's ok, we can play catch-up!demodeal{@}yahoo.com is still the easiest way to get ahold of me.
#1 Record This Month from Marianne Faithful
Out on YouTube right now, to be released in early March 2022
##2 June Millington Make Me Happy
https://clubbohemianews.blogspot.com/2022/02/june-millingtons-snapshots-featuring.html
Make Me Happy 2:51
1)June Millington’s Snapshots CDs starts off with a pure pop confection that sounds as if Laura Nyro and Paul McCartney decided to create a combination of their skills. At two minutes and fifty-one seconds it would fit on 2022 radio as easily as it would the year 1965. Fun production too.
http://www.tmrzoo.com/2022/75274/inside-the-hotline-to-the-underground
#3 Laura Nyro
Here is the studio version of Tree of Ages, I am reviewing the live album, but I like people to compare: https://youtu.be/2L0DoF9RaAs
Here's a good link: https://tinnitist.com/2021/07/16/albums-of-the-week-laura-nyro-trees-of-the-ages-live-in-japan/
#4 Author Stephen Davis DURAN DURAN
5)David Bieber Book for David Bieber Archives
OFF OUR BACKS
from Boston legend David Bieber
184 Pages, full color interior
https://invasionmerch.com/products/david-bieber-archives-t-shirt-book
Softcover 8.5” x 11” with “french cover flaps”
Co-publishers: David Bieber Archives Publishing / Dignified & Old
[ISBN 978-1-7365025-0-1]
Weight: 2 lbs, 2 ounces
Acclaimed archivist and media insider David Bieber (WBCN, The Boston Phoenix, WFNX) has collected thousands of T-shirts over the past 50 years, from limited-edition film release promos and rock band concert tees, to self-promotional shirts for muffler shops and political campaigns. From this world-class stash, a crew of three brave men chose 150 for this first glimpse into the impressive collection.
Some have been unearthed after four decades in storage; others are more recently acquired. But each of them tells a story. And although the David Bieber Archives is proudly based in Boston, this is not just a Boston book. There are enough local throwbacks to make any Masshole swoon — from the J. Geils Band and Aerosmith antiques to extraordinarily scarce WBCN listener promos — but there are many more T-shirts that are national and international in scope. It’s a selection meant to fuel nostalgia and discussion, and bring smiles with the turn of every page.
This is the first book produced directly from the David Bieber Archives.
6) Anne Peebles - first, a sad word from her publicist
1. If I Can’t See You
2. Part Time Love
3. Didn’t We Do It
4. I Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody’s Home
Side Two
1. I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down
2. I Didn't Take Your Man
3. (You Keep Me) Hanging On
4. Let Your Love Light Shine
5. I Can’t Stand The Rain
#7 Bird Mancini THE ONE DELIGHT
purchase here: https://birdmancini.com/album/2043055/the-one-delight
https://thesomervillenewsweekly.blog/2022/02/07/bird-mancini-going-track-by-track/
GOING TRACK BY TRACK
1)Space Between Two Worlds: – I’m glad this up-tempo rocker starts the disc off. Robin Lane put together a brilliant album of songs scattered across the decades, were the eleven titles on The One Delight constructed in the same time frame, or are they from different moments along your musical road?
Billy Carl Mancini: Several of songs on “The One Delight” were written with the new release in mind. Others were from our back catalog of songs and were updated or rearranged. “Space Between Two Worlds” is one of the new ones. I had just been listening to the latest remix/remaster of John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band CD. I was thinking about the song “Remember” and the way it moves, bounces, grooves. My fingers fell on some new chords and a melody. The words “life’s a mystery” spilled out of my mouth. Ruby said, “we must have a better title than that” and wrote a whole set of lyrics. A new song is born.
Ruby Bird: Yes and no. The first 4 tracks, plus “The Last Good Day” and “Just Carry On” are totally new for this project. The other songs were taken from, as you say, “across the decades,” some with new lyrics and all newly arranged.
2)Man Plans God Laughs: the melody and playing are superb, but why the Devil’s Advocate sensibilities? The attitude feels like Al Pacino in that film with Keanu Reeves where Pacino is the petulant adolescent angry because he’s not having fun. Is this the sentiment, or is it parody?
BCM: It’s not a parody. We all make plans and have desires that don’t always work out quite the way we want them to. I heard the phrase, “Man Plans God Laughs” on some television show and it struck a nerve. I knew I wanted to write a song with that sentiment. The verses reflect Ruby’s and my life. The first verse is me and my teenage dreams, the second verse is about Ruby and the third verse is about us together. http://www.tmrzoo.com/2022/75259/music-review-bird-mancini-the-one-delight
#8 Kenny G "G"
#9 Ricky Byrd
Three minutes and fifty-six seconds of tender guitar playing on "Just Like You," not a sequel to Paul Revere and the Raiders "Just Like Me," it's a tune about damage transformation. Byrd's vocal is strong and effective. Great production on the final track of the Sobering Times CD https://youtu.be/S8soJa7r5c4
The first track, on the other hand, does have a driving "Just Like Me" Rolling Stones punching opening track, "Quittin' Time Again." It is one of my favorite tracks I've ever heard from Ricky, like those nuggets that Ian Hunter always puts on a CD, instantly memorable, danceable, in the pocket. - from forthcoming review of Sobering Times CD for Somerville News Weekly, TMRZoo, Medford News Weekly and ClubBohemia.club https://youtu.be/0hDBp-mSXzs
https://clubbohemianews.blogspot.com/2020/11/three-minutes-and-fifty-six-seconds-of.html
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Ricky Byrd Sobering Times - press kit Kayos Records 25 September 2020 |
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RICKY BYRD Continues His Journey As A Recovery Troubadour With The September 25 Release Of New Album SOBERING TIMES New York, NY (August 24, 2020)--On September 25, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer (2015 inductee with Joan Jett and The Blackhearts) and guitarist/singer-songwriter Ricky Byrd presents Sobering Times (Kayos Records). Pre-orders are currently available at www.rickybyrd.com. Sobering Times is an honest and intimate reflection of recovery delivered through his signature brand of Rock ‘N’ Roll. As Goldmine Magazine states “...The Faces and The Rolling Stones with a dash of Otis...It rocks like a b*tch. His vocals are the best of his career...early indications make it seem likely that this will be his career statement.” Following the path he carved with his 2017 album Clean Getaway, Sobering Times (produced by Ricky Byrd and Bob Stander) continues his mission to deliver the message of hope to those recovering from addiction. He expresses the roller coaster of emotions and every day trials of recovery, from hitting rock bottom, to the gratitude of surviving and thriving in a sober life. On Sobering Times, Byrd is joined by an all-star cast of musicians: Bob Stander (bass guitar, percussion), Jeff Kazee of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes (keyboards/ accordion/background vocals), Steve Holley (of Wings / Ian Hunter / Joe Cocker, contributed drums to most of the album), Liberty DeVitto (Billy Joel, drums), Rich Pagano (The Fab Faux, session drummer), Thommy Price (Joan Jett, Billy Idol, Mink DeVille, drums) and Christine “The Beehive Queen” Ohlman (vocalist, Saturday Night Live band). Additionally, he collaborated with Richie Supa (“I Come Back Stronger”) and Willie Nile, who duets with Byrd on “Recover Me”, in addition to Emily Duff, who co-wrote “Ain’t Gonna Live Like That.” Fittingly, he also recorded a cover of Merle Haggard’s “The Bottle Let Me Down”. Byrd chose the Sobering Times release date of September 25 as it’s also the 33rd anniversary of the day he started his sober journey. Having lived through the disease of addiction himself, Byrd has made it his mission to help others as a recovery coach and drug/alcohol counselor, who visits schools, rehab facilities, and detention and detox centers to perform, talk, and lead recovery music groups. In fact, he gave away almost 2500 copies of Clean Getaway at these facilities, so clients could take the message of recovery home with them. He dedicates Sobering Times to all of those who struggle with addiction, as well as the recovery warriors who help those who are struggling, those that support a clean and sober lifestyle, and of course, those that still love loud and proud Rock ‘N’ Roll. “As far as third acts go, I couldn't be more grateful for mine,” says Byrd. “I get to use the undeniable power of R'n'R to spread the recovery message to those that are struggling....pretty... pretty... pretty good.” “I Wanna Sing About How Lucky I Am You’re Looking At One Grateful Man I Should Be Long Gone Yet Here I Stand Hear My Song”
10. The Bottle Let Me Down 11. Life Is Good 12. Just Like You Although best known for his time with The Blackhearts, Byrd has also recorded and played with Roger Daltrey, and toured with Ian Hunter and Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, respectively. He is also proud to have shared stages with such music royalty as Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Alice Cooper, Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt, Smokey Robinson, and Mavis Staples, among others. www.RickyByrd.com | |
2017 Review: LIFER http://www.tmrzoo.com/2013/48407/music-review-ricky-byrd-lifer
Music Review: Ricky Byrd – Lifer
None of the 11 titles on Ricky Byrd’s solo debut, Lifer, goes over 4:40 and no title is under 3:10, the veteran guitarist giving compact pop bursts taking the listener pretty much through his personal musical journey with his voice telling the narrative. “Rock ‘n’ Roll Boys” is so reminiscent of the early days of post-Mott the Hoople Ian Hunter and, no surprise, Byrd backed up Hunter onstage. The first time Ricky appeared on this writer’s radar was when he replaced eventual Ben Orr (of the Cars) guitarist John Kalishes in a powerful album-rock band known as Susan.
Susan was a bit out of place in the grunge and new wave punk of The Rat in Boston (now the Commonwealth Hotel, go figure), a professional, machine-like band with a cover of the Head Over Heels tune “Right Away” that was amazing. They appeared on the Live At The Rat album (with Kalishes on guitar) along with DMZ, Willie “Loco” Alexander, The Boize and others. The debut album, Falling In Love Again on RCA Records, had Ricky joining the Leland Brothers and Tom Dickie. Byrd brings in a multitude of influences sounding like Al Green on the very Memphis-like “Ways of a Woman” to the Fine Young Cannibals on “Things To Learn”.
Perhaps my favorite track is “Turnstyle ‘01”, a ballad that has a sincere vocal and soulful, electric folk guitar. “Dream Big” could have hit for Foghat or even Aerosmith back in the day with “Harlem Rose” going into the realm of pre-Foghat Savoy Brown featuring exquisite guitar work (well, what do you expect?) and a solid vocal. “Married Men” is almost a Steve Cropper answer to “Rock ‘n’ Roll Boys”, ten years on, perfect for Joe Jackson’s comeback, if he ever plans on having one. “One Less Love” is a pensive groove that slinks along like the Pink Panther. All in all, a good and respectable outing for someone known for being a reliable foundation for so many front people.
“Rock N Roll Boys” RICKY BYRD
Joe Viglione is the Chief Film Critic at TMRZoo.com. He has written thousands of reviews and biographies for AllMovie.com, Allmusic.com, Gatehouse Media, Al Aronowitz’s The Blacklisted Journal, and a variety of other media outlets. Joe also produces and hosts Visual Radio, a seventeen year old variety show on cable TV which has interviewed Jodie Foster, director/screenwriter David Koepp, Michael Moore, John Cena, comics/actors Margaret Cho, Gilbert Gottfried, Gallagher, musicians Mark Farner and Don Brewer of Grand Funk Railroad, Ian Hunter of Mott The Hoople, Ray Manzarek, John Densmore, Felix Cavaliere of The Rascals, political commentator Bill Press and hundreds of other personalities.
#10 Double Star
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5th track on Double Star CD With a hook as intriguing as its theme, "Holding Hands is for Lovers and Small Children" has all sorts of elements that combine and make for a questioning, driving pop tune that clocks in just under 4 minutes. Hear on Bandcamp: https://doublestarband.bandcamp.com/album/say-something-now-ep  11)Bert Berns That Jimi Hendrix's current publicist is also handling
this is a tribute to Mr. Berns indeed. When record labels had as much
charm as the musicians they preserved and promoted, it's great to have
the history properly recorded. More info on this amazing disc soon. Want to give it justice with a proper review  ___________________________________________ I've
got a surprise interview for author Stephen McCauley in my computer, so
much to do, so much to document....lots of new music and CDs pouring
in...God Bless the Go Go's, Ricky Byrd and two from Bobby Womack, 40th
Anniversary Edition of The Poet and the Poet II, from the original
tapes, new liners, all very delicious. Glad my Mazda2 has a cassette
player so I can hear all these gems. |
12) Jimi Hendrix Live in Paris
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DAGGER RECORDS TO RELEASE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE: PARIS 67 FOR RECORD STORE DAY
‘Official Bootleg’ Label Offers Expanded Vinyl Edition of Legendary 1967 Performance
Dagger
Records is proud to release Jimi Hendrix Experience: Paris 67 for
Record Store Day (November 26). This 150-gram red-and-blue colored vinyl
LP presents the original Jimi Hendrix Experience lineup--Hendrix,
bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell in peak form at the
famed Olympia Theater in Paris on October 9, 1967.
This
live recording documents Hendrix’s triumphant return to Paris almost
one year to the date of their 1966 showcase as a burgeoning support act
for Johnny Hallyday. Now in place of Hallyday’s audience were more than
14,000 screaming Jimi Hendrix Experience admirers. In his own inimitable
fashion, Hendrix graciously acknowledged his audience for their early
support. “Thank you very much for last year, for letting us play here,”
prefaced Hendrix before starting “The Wind Cries Mary.” “Instead of
booing us off the stage you gave us a chance, so thank you very much.”
Hear “The Wind Cries Mary” from Paris 67: https://youtu.be/a3kYJy7mcsM
These
recordings capture the verve and exuberant spirit displayed by the
group. Jimi kicks off the performance with a rousing “Stone Free,”
known to his fans as the flip side of his debut single “Hey Joe”. “The
Wind Cries Mary” finds Jimi in fine voice, showcasing his deft touch
with slow ballads. The raucous “Catfish Blues,” Jimi’s unique hybrid of
Muddy Waters’ classic “Still A Fool,” was another early-stage favorite
of the Experience.
For the first time, tracks from this
Paris concert that were previously only available on The Jimi Hendrix
Experience box set from 2000 (aka the purple box) are re-integrated with
several other tracks recorded that night, making Jimi Hendrix
Experience: Paris 67 the most complete official release of the October
9, 1967 set to date.
Dagger Records was founded by
Experience Hendrix, L.L.C. in 1998 as an ‘official bootleg’ label,
providing fans throughout the world with additional live performances,
home demos and studio recordings not issued on commercial albums. With
over a dozen vinyl and CD titles to date, the imprint is an invaluable
resource for devotees who want to dig deeper than the standard Jimi
Hendrix catalog. Apart from special, limited edition vinyls such as
this release, Dagger titles are not available in retail stores or via
digital services such as Amazon Music, Spotify and Tidal but only
via jimihendrix.com.
Titles in the Dagger series are
intended to provide Hendrix’s fans with new appreciation and insights
for his songwriting explorations, found on each of Dagger’s Morning
Symphony Ideas (a collection of 1969 and 1970 demo recordings), Hear My
Music, and Burning Desire. The live albums in the series include
historically significant events such as his final concert at the Isle Of
Fehmarn on September 6, 1970 and March 1968 Capitol Theater performance
captured on Live In Ottawa that Jimi himself recorded. Dagger also
offers a peek into Jimi’s pre-Experience days as a member of
Harlem-based R&B musician Curtis Knight’s band with Live At George’s
Club 20 1965-1966 and No Business: Curtis Knight & The Squires: The
PPX Sessions, Volume 2.
These informative ‘bootleg’
releases are properly annotated, complete with photos, liner notes and
the best possible sonic quality available and offer invaluable exposure
to Hendrix’s musical mastery.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Paris 67 tracklist
Side One
1) Stone Free
2) Hey Joe
3) Fire
4) Catfish Blues
5) The Wind Cries Mary
Side Two
1) Rock Me Baby
2) Red House
3) Purple Haze
4) Wild Thing
Compilation produced by Janie Hendrix, Eddie Kramer & John McDermott for Experience Hendrix, L.L.C.
ABOUT
EXPERIENCE HENDRIX,
L.L.C.
Founded
by James 'Al' Hendrix, Jimi's father, in 1995, Experience Hendrix, has
been managed since its inception by the family members handpicked by Al
during his tenure as Chairman. It is the official family company charged
with managing the music, name, image and likeness of Jimi Hendrix. As a
part of their daily operations, Experience Hendrix and Authentic
Hendrix oversee Jimi's timeless legacy on a worldwide basis.
http://www.jimihendrix.com/
http://www.daggerrecords.com/
13)ROBIN LANE
The first of 16 compositions, “It’s Your World,” is a delightful story/song and grand opening for the Instant Album CD – (a disc that, according to the press release) “…has all sorts of songs that have not been on any albums save one. It also includes tunes Robin put together with lyrics from young girls she worked with at Camp Runoia in Maine. “
If you love “Tomorrow Never Knows” from the Beatles’ Revolver album, the sixth selection – “You’re So Special” – recreates the timeless sounds from the pop masters and goes a long way towards exhibiting the importance of this highly listenable project. That it came to us via the imagination of one of the most significant songwriter/singers in New England pop history makes it all the more endearing.
The approach on “You’re So Special” is very different from the first song on the cd – each track distinct and separate, perhaps a product of the fact that these essays traveled the years – from 1991 to 2012. However, you’d never know it as the music sounds so contemporary …as if it were recorded recently from start to finish. And as unique as each episode is, they work together in a cohesive, fun way. You can check the years out next to the songs on the lyric page online: https://www.therobinlane.com/lyrics
“City of Lights” proves that point. Patti Smith should be deeply envious of “City of Lights,” borrowing from Lou Reed’s “Heroin” riff and infusing Top 40 – ready-pop majesty into this beautiful excursion. It’s just too bad that Top 40 is something we dreamed a long time ago on a planet far, far away. It’s track two and the band is a fusion of Face to Face and Robin Lane and the Chartbusters. Powerful.
“Kitty Kat” from 1996 features Four Piece Suit, a jazz/pop selection that truly explains one of the directions that this album could have successfully gone to. “Something’s Wrong” feels like a full band, but it is Dave Doms on bass and Robin on guitar, recorded in Dom’s apartment in 1992. Think “Cowgirl in the Sand” after the fabulous sixties made their exit, thirty years on. Instant Album is a bountiful banquet of music that offers different perspectives and vibrations. “From A Goddess to a Doormat” with its simply elegant piano playing and voice, the segues perfectly placed though it would work just as well on shuffle. “Casey Bye Bye” is to Robin’s doggy and is a 1992 beautiful country-pop song. Instant Album is John Lennon’s Instant Karma in reverse. Lennon wanted to roll out of bed, record, press, and issue the record magically and as quickly as possible. He came out with a masterpiece. Lane took over two decades to come up with her instant classic. And it certainly is. See RobinLane.com http://www.tmrzoo.com/2021/74444/hotline-to-the-underground-robin-lane-its-your-world
14) JOEY MOLLAND BE TRUE TO YOURSELF
Hotline to the Underground: Joey Molland – Be True To Yourself
On July 12, 2021, the vinyl release of Joey Molland’s Be True To Yourself lp will emerge on Record Store Day. Pick it up as it is an instant collector’s item with every track stellar and memorable. Produced by Mark Hudson and featuring Julian Lennon, Micky Dolenz, Jason Scheff, and Steve Holley the work is brilliant artistically and a resounding musical success.
The four minutes and fifty-eight seconds of opening track “This Time” sweep in with majesty and authority. Joey Molland’s vocals appeal and this Mark Hudson production feel like it would be a perfect duet with George Harrison…or Paul McCartney…or Ringo. Molland consistently writes contemporary (keyword) music that we adore from the era as does the daughter of Denny Laine (nee Brian Hines) of Wings with her Karmacar band. Molland and Heidi-Jo Hines (Karmacar) are the best purveyors of the sound established by the Beatles out there, original music that excites, generates interest, performances that leads to repeated spins. There is a huge market for this delicious stuff, the key is finding all those in the appreciation society lost and spinning in the quagmire that is the internet. Someone hit them over the head with this and they’ll love you forever.
Be True To Yourself is no revision of past glories, the ten songs take you to a place in the future where the Fab Four would have gone. Exemplified with the dignity of “Rainy Day Man,” resplendent in Beach Boys harmonies and George Harrison riffs. Molland was there when the magic happened, was part of the magic, and there on the past glories for all to hear. The majestic melodies, vibes and solid construction in these digital (and now vinyl again) grooves need to find a film soundtrack to launch this wonderful work into the stratosphere.
Like Deep Purple, the Rolling Stones, Elton John, and Paul McCartney, you can find much of the music free on YouTube. These stalwarts of the ever-evolving Rock and Roll music genre now utilizing the YouTube platform the way AM radios in the 1960s got the music out. Remember hearing your favorite song and hitting the cassette player? Of course, you don’t, that was time on a planet long ago and far far away. Be True To Yourself is out there on the “tube,” front and center, and you’ll want the repeated spins without the darn commercials that proliferate these days inside that venue. But that’s OK, AM radio had too many advertisements as well, what is important is that the download platforms are our new radio in 2021.
The aforementioned Rolling Stones have a magnificent song entitled “Heaven,” find it on Tattoo You. Molland’s “Heaven” is a sensation counterpart to Jagger/Richards excursion, though the sounds are separate and different from the Stones; it’s truly All Things Must Pass Volume 3, for 2021. There is no doubt in my mind that this music, played and performed with Karmacar’s Heidi Jo along with Ringo and Sir Paul would usher in a new era of Beatles’ magic. All four of them were there, Heidi around the McCartney farm, Badfinger on the right track with “Baby Blue,” “Come and Get It,” and of course the Nilsson masterpiece “Without You” (power ballad from Tom Evans and Pete Ham of Badfinger.) “Shine” has Mark Hudson truly pouring all the elements into the kettle and pouring out dreamy, creamy moods.
“All I Want To Do” is power-pop reinvention. Hudson’s sublime production and the essential talents of McCartney/Elton John/Ian Hunter drummer Steve Holley, Julian Lennon, Mike Nesmith, and Jason Scheff providing exquisite backing. It is a wall of sound, perfectly spaced and so very exciting from track to track. Indeed, this long-time rock journalist doesn’t hand out mere platitudes, I’ve got better things to do. Be True To Yourself is the real deal, a merry-go-round of borderline psychedelia, a Magical Mystery Tour for 2021. If you feel that this essay dips too much into the Beatles’ bag, it is only for the fact that the fans of the Fab Four, the Kinks, and yes, the highly popular Monkees, need to absorb this series of compelling sounds.
My review of 2001 This Way Up on AllMusic.com is similar to how I feel about this new album. There are millions and millions of fans still out there on the planet, and somehow they need to be alerted to this album that brings the music they love into the 21st century.
CD / DIGITAL TRACKLIST:
1. THIS TIME
2. BETTER TOMORROW
3. RAINY DAY MAN
4. HEAVEN
5. ALL I WANT TO DO
6. I DON’T WANNA BE DONE WITH YOU
7. ALL I DO IS CRY
8. LOVING YOU
9. SHINE
10. BE TRUE TO YOURSELF
Cat: OV-402
http://www.tmrzoo.com/2021/74440/hotline-to-the-underground-joey-molland-be-true-to-yourself
15)Bobby Womack The Poet
read the Pitchfork review until I can play this in my car!
This latest reissue from the legendary soul singer features some of the greatest love songs ever made. It also reminds us of a tall and tarnished legacy left behind.
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/bobby-womack-the-poet-the-poet-ii/
16)Bobby Womack The Poet II
https://www.urbanvinyl.org/products/bobby-womack-the-poet-ii-remastered-reissue-vinyl?currency=USD&variant=39497904554032&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Google%20Shopping&gclid=Cj0KCQiAjc2QBhDgARIsAMc3SqR7rMcuwUGGWAYuP2f4gX8Fo_gPqaE8NciRZmjaQ33w_UppyhAaI1caAh3wEALw_wcB
17)Richard X Heyman
In these days when the extended-play (E.P.) is more in vogue, Alice Cooper delivers 15 tracks, an album and a half back in the old days, which is nice and creative. So it is fitting that long-time Cooper guitarist Steve Hunter – who gave a Leslie West twist to Lou Reed’s immortal theme to a genre – “Rock ‘n’ Roll” – returns after Mitch Ryder’s Detroit album spawned The Reed/Bob Ezrin masterpiece that was Berlin and one of the great rock tours of all time, the Rock and Roll Animal Tour. And, of course, Alice obtaining that great group of musicians (for the most part guitarists Hunter and Dick Wagner with Penti “Whitey” Glan on drums,) pays tribute here to the classic arrangement that brought it all together. Give a listen to the classic The Alice Cooper Show(Las Vegas at the Aladdin Hotel on August 19 and 20, 1977,) four years after Reed’s live album, it is truly Part 2 to that original Rock and Roll Animal album from Lou. This 2021 version has Bob Ezrin on cowbell. Nice. “Mississippi Queen” indeed!
Track 3, “Our Love Will Change The World” is one of the most complete and fun tracks, which is hard to say with so many delights on the platter, but it is Alice Cooper’s reinvention. It is pop derived from Speedy Keen and so many others. A superb march that stomps politically. Where Alvin Lee would have loved to have changed the world, the Coop is more assertive with a solution rather than a wish.
http://www.tmrzoo.com/2021/74410/the-long-awaited-book-the-rock-and-roll-animal-tour
“Throw My Bones,” the first single off of Deep Purple’s 21st album, Whoosh, is classic DP and as you dig deep into Whoosh you’ll find the band delivering an amazingly consistent set of material. Song after song you feel youthful energy from the classic rockers, and a polish that gives the album the feel of a major onstage production. Had this been released at the end of the ’70s it would have been a multi-platinum monster.
Take a random track, the still-photo images of “Man Alive” (which can serve as a title track with the word “whoosh” instilled in the grooves at around the five-minute mark.) 1,544,262 views since May 1, 2020 – let me spell that out for you – One Million Five Hundred and Forty-Four Thousand, Two Hundred and Sixty Two views from 5/1 to 10/14, when I’m finally finishing up this review, five months later. The album impressed me the moment I started the hearing process, but months later it is truly majestic and masterful.
“And the Address” is sublime with a big Don Airey organ sound coming out of my right speaker, rugged Steve Morse guitar in the left…which is interesting because this update from Shades of Deep Purple, their first sojourn, gives a taste of life after Richie Blackmore and the late Jon Lord on guitar and keys, respectively. For those hardcore fans, of which there are many, who are about to throw exclamation marks at me for having the nerve to explain instrumentation keep in mind, many of our readers don’t follow the groups like the rest of us obsessive/compulsive collectors do. The inclusion of the Ezrin-produced “And the Address” is actually key for longtime followers of this ensemble. From album 1 to album 21 we get to compare notes…a quite enjoyable thing to do as both renditions are superb – and get a feel for how the group still has its essential element from the Tetragrammaton days in 1968 to the brave new world of 2020…dare I say it, fifty-two years after! With drummer Ian Paice as the “sole survivor,” to quote the Stones.
The original “And the Address” launches like some space-age rock tune, with a splash of their “Hush” hit record sound, and bits of Ted Nugent’s Amboy Dukes and even a dash of Sky Saxon’s Seeds flavored in their slyly. So you fast forward these five-plus decades and get the Ezrin produced take, the enormous sounds condensed and less experimental, more like a straight-ahead display of musicianship in the fun environment of a very well constructed instrumental.
“Dancing in My Sleep” changes style…and it is this quasi-reinvention of Purple …not too distant from their core sound, but being playful with their enormous fan base and stretching the Deep Purple envelope. It starts out spacey and goes orchestral, all within the confines of hard rock. Not that this is new territory for the boys, they just do it in a more pointed way this time around.
“No Need to Shout” opens with an Ozzy Osborne flair, a mix of Purple/Ozzy sensibilities.
___________________________________________
We interrupt this review to give you some background information on “And the Address”
“And the Address” from Shades of Deep Purple
Associated Performer, Vocalist, Organ: Jon Lord Associated Performer, Vocalist, Bass Guitar: Nick Simper Associated Performer, Guitar: Ritchie Blackmore Associated Performer, Drums: Ian Paice Studio Personnel, Engineer: Barry Ainsworth Producer: Derek Lawrence Studio Personnel, Mastering Engineer: Peter Mew
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“The Power of the Moon” and “Remission Possible” give the album the science fiction rock theme that the cover art promises, but make no mistake, this is not your daddy’s King Crimson or early Pink Floyd, this is Purple creating an outer space passion play of sorts. With Bob Ezrin at the helm you might think Pink Floyd’s The Wall and Lou Reed’s Berlin, or perhaps Welcome to My Nightmare and you’d be spot on. This being Bob Ezrin’s third project with Deep Purple, you can put it on the bookshelf next to the aforementioned Alice, Lou and Floyd classics. It more than makes the grade.
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From the publicist:
Whoosh! marks Deep Purple’s third album produced by Ezrin (Alice Cooper, Pink Floyd). The first — 2013’s Now What?! — charted at #1 in five European countries, as well as Top 10 in over 15 countries worldwide. Cementing itself as one of their most successful albums, inFinite, released in 2017, broke chart records the band accumulated over their 50+year history. With chemistry this electric, it only made sense for Deep Purple and Ezrin to collaborate a third time.
www.joeviglione.com
20)Ray Paul & RPM
"Tears," / "Little Darlin'" and "Won't You Take a Ride"
21) Goats Head Soup Boxed Set
http://www.tmrzoo.com/2020/74171/goats-head-soup-part-1
22)AN INTERVIEW WITH STEPHEN WADE
http://www.tmrzoo.com/2020/74113/an-interview-with-stephen-wade
23)TRIBUTE TO BOBBY HEBB
24)ROB BENSON, UNDER THE WHISPERING TREE
http://www.tmrzoo.com/2020/74156/hotline-to-the-underground-9-1-2020
25) MICHAEL CORLEONE: THE GODFATHER III REVISITED
“Politics and Crime, They are the Same Thing” Michael Corleone, Godfather III
26) GG Allin Blood Orange Records
http://www.tmrzoo.com/2020/74249/hotline-to-the-underground-joe-viglione-relives-life-with-gg-allin
Hotline To The Underground – Joe Viglione Relives Life With GG Allin
GG ALLIN – Rock and Roll Terrorist
The Graphic Life of Shock Rocker G G ALLIN
+ a second GG ALLIN Rock and Roll Terrorist Activity and Coloring Book – both written
By Reid Chancellor
The Bizarre World of GG Allin resurrected in print, and here in the Hotline to the Underground which gave GG some of his very first ink!
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Iggy Pop writes on the cover of the main book: “Reid Chancellor brings a Real America story to your eyeballs, one you can’t put down. The key is the affection and respect he gives his subject.”
Funny for the Igg to use the word “respect” to the highly disrespectful G.G. Allin.
When GG Allin walked into my kitchen in the early 1980s to give me his first 45 RPM from Destiny Studios, up the road in Wilmington, he was in his suit and tie to talk to me about his new release. I was probably writing it up for Hotline to the Underground, this very column over forty years ago. GG was not yet the character portrayed in this book. He was the politest rock and roller, in fact, because no one showed up to my office/home on Dragon Court in Woburn in a suit and tie. The paradox is stunning four decades later.
The 192 pages from Microcosm Publishing, Portland, Oregon are both an enigma as well as a very logical extension of GG’s odd, bizarre and intentionally insane life.
Proverbs 23:7 In the King James Version, “… as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”
I never thought that the suit and tie guy in my kitchen REALLY BELIEVED he was Iggy Pop incarnate rolling around on broken glass. When GG performed with my band at The Paradise Theater, Boston’s Best Concert Club, he was still tame, taking a beer bottle, euphemistically self-abusing the bottle, and spraying the ale into the audience which included little old ladies and little old men watching their relatives in rock bands on stage. It was a memorable and unexpected moment, but tame in comparison to what GG would become.
The book is humorous in that to me it is not the guy I knew who autographed his Always Was, Is and Always Shall Be and gave me two extra copies. The black and white journey which the author claims is “Based on true events, hearsay and some of the weirdest things I’ve ever read” is something that GG’s sick mind must be appreciating down there somewhere in the depths of hell. This is a true labor of love, with GG crucified somewhere towards the last 1/8th of the book. But Jim Morrison did it first on the cover of L.A. Woman…Jimbo as the savior on a telephone pole. GG – to this critic – was not as much an original as someone who took Morrison and Iggy antics as far as he could push such stage acts. Would there be a Marilyn Manson without Alice Cooper? A Lady Gaga without Madonna? GG definitely had a need for infamy that led to inelegant decadence. In bringing out of control to a new level his life is reflected upon in this black and white graphic novel,which is something for him to be proud of. Seeing the “rumors” come to life naked, both middle fingers in the air and a big F.U. to the audience, is antiseptic, actually. You can read it like an Archie or Daredevil comic in the safety of your home and not getting sprayed by the beer bottle at the Paradise. The emerging thoughts of taking the envelope and pushing it hard.
Recently I helped Blood Orange Records, the label issuing GG music, with some promotion to college and internet radio. My God the hostility I received from some DJ’s, absolutely refusing to play anything GG. Through that experience I realize that some people will find these two books abhorrent. They won’t even crack the covers in a book store. They will RUN from them which only adds to the GG Allin legend. He got a response, like Howard Stern…whether positive or negative, GG Allin in wanting so much to be known, achieved his goal. Problem is, dead and buried, unless he is watching from that very warm place down below, was the cost of fame worth the price?
Hey, William Shakespeare plagiarized the Bible with his “as a man thinketh in his heart so is he.” Many rock and rollers idolize those who came before. GG Allin was playing the part and suddenly, it stopped being play and became him. Scary. So take out your blood red crayons and have some fun with his coloring book.
27) A Top 20 from 2020
1)”Add the Address” Deep Purple This track from the new Whoosh album is a remake of a track from 1968’s Shades of Deep Purple album. A real study hearing producer Bob Ezrin work with this outrageously popular group 52 years after the first impression Truly great stuff, the album is solid, every track has the magic. See my review below.
http://www.tmrzoo.com/2020/74283/hotline-to-the-underground-2020-top-10
28) COMING 2 AMERICA ZAMUNDA RETURNS
#JoeViglioneMedia www.joeviglione.com
Joe Viglione is the Chief Film Critic at TMRZoo.com. He has written thousands of reviews and biographies for AllMovie.com, Allmusic.com, Gatehouse Media, legendary writer Al Aronowitz’s The Blacklisted Journal, and a variety of other media outlets. Joe also produces and hosts Visual Radio, a twenty-seven-year-old variety show (established 1995) on cable TV featuring A-list celebrities from all walks of life.
Eddie Murphy’s magical place that resembles a chaotic land of Oz has returned! After the first Coming to America landed in 1988, the thirst for these Zamundans is quenched with a touching story arriving thirty-three years after the original film made fans, waves, and a critical court case. Buchwald vs Paramount (1990.)
That the estate of the late columnist, Art Buchwald, is thanked in the closing credits warms the heart as much as this film does.
Lines like “morally bereft woman” and “I was happy you would put a stem on an apple of your own” – sexually suggestive at every turn, garnered this movie a mere PG-13 rating, which is shocking in and of itself.
That the audience enjoys the salty language and cheap sex talk is part of the fun, balanced with Cleo McDowell’s maturity, his daughter Lisa McDowell, and Eddy Murphy himself.
The shock, though, is on us who saw and loved the original. The cast has aged! The acting skills are fine, and the story is terrific. Murphy and director Craig Brewer keep the first film’s theme (directed by John Landis) in Landis’s flavor. What does jolt, though, is on us. Thirty-three years on, these royals can’t stop the clock.
There’s James Earl Jones on his deathbed again, like in 1992’s Patriot Games. I don’t think it is unintentional. Not only does this new film, Coming2America, make sport of its original 1988 incarnation, but it also reprises elements of The Birdcage, Trading Places, Nutty Professor, and the double bang of your feelings for the original AND those other films a calculated play, which works.
To be redundant: John Landis directed both the original Coming to America and Trading Places, so this approach of referencing much of the original’s magic with audience memories of other motion pictures turns out to be a delight.
King Jaffe Joffer gives himself a memorable send-off as he passes the crown to Akeem. At the same time, Vanessa Bell Calloway as the left-at-the-altar bride-to-be, Imani Izzi, comes back as the sister of Wesley Snipes’, General Izzi. With Shari Headley’s Lisa McDowell having to put up with the lady-in-waiting from 1988 as well as the newfound fling, Mary “moms” Junson, mother of the new Prince of Zamunda,
Lavelle Junson, the plot is easy to follow, with the fun as expected as The Golden Girls’ episode. Louie Anderson, as Maurice is stuck in Groundhog Day, the perpetual employee of McDowell’s. The in-your-face product placement, from McDonald’s to Pepsi, Sabrett Hot Dogs, Madison Square Garden, Ray-Ban Aviator Men’s Sunglasses, Puma Men’s Jacket to another famous brand that escapes me at the moment. It’s all mixed in …real-life marketing devices to fragments of films you’ve seen before, some that had nothing to do with the Zumanda thread, like the aforementioned The Birdcage.
With Beverly Hills Cop IV on the horizon, after Shreks 2 and 3, sequels are Hollywood gold. This writer’s opinion is that the 33-year wait between the Coming to America film and sequel is one that will be highly popular all involved didn’t cross too many lines that can’t be ignored.
But as the Lethal Weapons series and Die Hard sequel after sequel gradually shows us the aging process, Coming2America hits you hard with the stark reality.
Star Wars bringing back the old cast and crew had us expecting that Luke Skywalker and his sister would age gracefully – after all, Star Wars is about mortality with more gunshots than The Godfather (note: I watched both the Godfather and Star Wars back to back this past weekend, Feb 28, 2021, and there is MORE violence in Star Wars than the Godfather and its sequels. Think about THAT! …(it’s just done more politely)
Seeing Eddie Murphy as the older man that he is, and Cleo and Lisa and Oha (Paul Bates) and Semmi (Arsenio Hall), what Murphy and director Brewer (and earlier director Landis) have done is shown us a reflection of our maturing process. It’s an unintended consequence of waiting so long, and it, magically, brings the audience even closer to the film.
The story, this time, is wide open for sequel after sequel. The sooner, the better.
http://www.tmrzoo.com/2021/74356/film-review-zamunda-returns
29)The Black Widow
A Film Review -The Black Widow Interesting that Marvel/Disney goes out of its way to tell potential ticket buyers on the internet that the Black Widow is “A film about Natasha Romanoff in her quests between the films Civil War and Infinity War.” You could have fooled me.
One of the lesser Marvel characters, Scarlett Johansson, has appeared (by my count) eight previous times as the Widow since 2010, the thirty-six-year-old making her ninth appearance in this opus which should firmly establish the star worldwide as a major part of the Marvel pantheon. The Black Widow as a motion picture is calculating and, actually, the filmmakers do to the audience what the master villain (and he’s perfect) Dreykov (played by Ray Winstone) is doing to the women he kidnaps. Mind manipulation and control.
Marvel comics reinvented Black Widow in April of 1964, just about when this writer started buying the Marvel product, and whether the Widow’s crazed Dreykov went on his mad spree of world domination first, or if it happened to be Ian Fleming’s Blofeld in the On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (part of the Bond/Blofeld trilogy, written in April of 1963 (I’ll put my money on Bond,) both stories were custom made for the #METOO movement over half a century later. Women controlled by men are turning the tables on the oppressors! Dreykov’s kidnapping and abuse of women in Black Widow echo the accusations made against Harvey Weinstein and others. Men of power controlling subordinate female kind. The subliminal message, if it exists, or the feel of it muddies the waters. Muddies them as much as the over-action with things exploding and two sisters acting like Joan Collins and Linda Evans slugging it out in the Dynasty swimming pool. Only this time with knives and stabbing weapons to paraphrase Arnie in the Terminator.
Punching, car demolitions, planes, and citadels collapsing, crumbling, and making for some dizzy, dizzy viewing – borrowing heavily from the Mission Impossible series, is the height of redundancy. The Black Widow is one film where Marvel is counting on its vast following to gobble it up for some summer fun without following the elastic plot in dire need of a scorecard.
30)Temple of Karma Going Track by Track
Going Track By Track with John Geary of Temple of Karma
JV: We’re talking to John Geary of Temple of Karma The self-titled Temple of Karma’s date on Reverb Nation says June 27, 2020. John, when did you launch Temple of Karma?
JG: During the first months of the 2020 pandemic. I had plenty of free time while collecting unemployment and I had just acquired a Tascam digital 8 track recording device. A neighbor in my apartment building moved out and left me his Casio CTK-720 keyboard. So, with all of my gear (guitar, bass, amps, several hand drums) I started recording all of the tunes I had written during my time in (the Boston band) Mad Painter.
JV: Let’s go deeper with the background info. The Temple of Karma is from Arlington, Mass. What about you, John?
JG: I am a 1985 graduate of Musicians’ Institute in Hollywood, CA. I am the former bass player for Boston band Mad Painter. The instruments I play on this album: Electric Guitar, Bass, Keys, Congas, Dumbeck, Maracas, Tambourine and Wood Flute
JV: How did the two albums come about?
JG: The debut consisted of material that I had composed when I played bass in Mad Painter from 2015 to 2018. Lady Kryptonite and Mohawk Sunset (the 2nd originally titled Mojave War Path) were performed live at McGann’s Irish Pub and Hennessey’s.
http://www.tmrzoo.com/2021/74679/going-track-by-track-with-john-geary-of-temple-of-karma
31) The Matrix Resurrections
While Hollywood has beaten the Terminator series into the ground with too much “market research” and not enough of the core story – A.I. taking over the universe, fans of the Matrix have been obsessed with climbing down the rabbit hole again.
Sure, Trinity and Neo have a bit more chemistry as older folk rather than the cold, machine like loveless “marriage” they endured in the previous iterations, yet there is a far more inviting undercurrent between Jonathan Groff as the new “Smith,” and his polar opposite, Neo (Keanu Reeves.)
The previous Smith, Hugo Weaving, was sexless and boring. In these worlds created by Artificial Intelligence, anything goes, so the story line is actually a moot point as it can travel over, under, sideways or down and still make sense. Shake up the snow cone and let the particles fall where they may. Read more here: http://www.tmrzoo.com/2021/75102/film-review-the-matrix-resurrections
32)Film Review: No Time to Die
The opening sequence to NTTD seems longer than the usual bait and switch routines from previous Bond films, and it drags the way a 1950s science fiction movie would irritate its young audience waiting for giant ants, giant people, or dinosaurs. As stated above, Billie Eilish’s stylish “No Time to Die” theme works beautifully, but you knew it would. Just as you knew the cinematography would be top-notch. Bond films are always eye candy, and I am talking about the scenery and the spectacular depth that are the trademark of Michael J. Wilson (whose father was the first Batman on screen, Lewis Wilson, born in Massachusetts. I reserve the right to continue the trivia in all my film reviews.)
http://www.tmrzoo.com/2021/74770/movie-review-james-bond-no-time-to-die
33) The Wolf Howls When I Scream Your Name
34)Jesse and the Hogg Brothers LIVE IN HARLEM
April 9th at the Midway in Boston, 2022 3-7 pm
At the O's in Western Mass, Sunderland on July 15th
35)Rock Journalist Joe Vig on the Passing of Jo Jo Laine
http://joevigrockjournalist.blogspot.com/2014/01/till-death-do-us-part.html
36) Ian Anderson Interview / Jethro Tull
From Gatehouse Media September 2019
*Note. On November 19, 2019 Gatehouse merged (took over) Gannett and kept the Gannett name. They claimed that they wouldn't slash local reporting but 2 1/2 years later they are doing just that, plus, old stories are being taken off of the web, which is absurd. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/gatehouse-gannett-merger-is-official-creating-largest-us-newspaper-chain-2019-11-19
Now on Jethro Tull Proboards
https://jethrotull.proboards.com/thread/2001/ian-anderson-interviews?page=22
Ian Anderson talks about theater, the internet and Jethro Tull
By Joe Viglione Posted Sep 13, 2019 at 12:49 PMJethro Tull with leader/vocalist Ian Anderson hit with “Hymn 43” on radio in the Boston area though, strangely, it topped out at #91 on the Billboard charts. But along with that airplay and concerts back in the day, those shows courtesy of promoter Don Law, the group had fantastic word-of-mouth (as did Led Zeppelin) in the high schools of the time.
An Anderson interview that ran on Newton’s WNTN - AM in the 1970s (yes, the station that had Howard Stern as a young disc jockey) was totally inspiring. It was this writer’s mission to share some words with the founder of the eclectic blues/folk/progressive/pop ensemble. I’ve been fortunate enough to have two discussions with Mr. Anderson, the second on July 12, 2019 in advance of the Sep. 11, 2019 date scheduled for the Chevalier theater in Medford.
The interview:
We’re speaking with Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull about his work and the upcoming show at the recently reactivated Chevalier Theater in Medford, Massachusetts where the band is performing on September 11, 2019.
Hello Ian.
Ian: Hello there to you.
JV: As of September 2019, Jethro Tull will be added to the list of great names playing The Chevalier - Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Lou Rawls, even a speech by John F. Kennedy... Welcome to Medford.
Ian: Very exciting, and I suppose I could throw in a few more venues where it’s fairly obvious we’ve shared a stage with the good and the great of history. Like playing in Ephesus (Istanbul, Turkey), a 2,000-year-old Roman amphitheater where famously St. Paul the Apostle addressed the crowds to try and persuade them of the virtues of Christianity, and...having performed there, sharing the stage there with St. Paul, I have to say, we actually got a better reception than he did, he kinda got booed offstage so we did better than that in 1991 when we played there.
Lots of places I’ve played, they’re very special...whether it’s a little theater somewhere or some grand ancient monument I do try to...upon the history and the feeling of the other people who walked out on the stage there to do whatever it is they do and take their life in their hands to go out there and try and entertain and win approval of an audience.
So you have to take that example. Never assume that it is going to be easy. Never assume that everybody in the crowd is actually a dyed in the wool fan. I think you always got to have that feeling that you’ve got to go out there and win them over just like the first time you ever...the first time I ever stepped foot in the USA when I came in the, the early part of 1969, because you have no idea what to expect. We could only go out there and do our best, keep our fingers crossed and hope that we didn’t make fools of ourselves.
JV: 69′ was that around the Boston Tea Party time?
Ian: Indeed. The Boston Tea Party was one of the very first shows we played. We opened up in New York and then went up to Boston where our equipment failed to make it. It was a scary show because we had to borrow equipment locally and it wasn’t necessarily what we were used to. But, yeah, you kind of got used to the difficulty along the way when you’re a lowly opening act. And the Boston Tea Party, run by one of the USA’s great promoters, Don Law, that’s a very memorable part of Jethro Tull’s early success. So between Bill Graham’s shows at the Fillmore East and Don Law in Boston, these were the early shows that got Jethro Tull talked about, and then we suddenly found out that promoters in the mid-west and on the west coast were talking about Jethro Tull too. So that early success through Bill Graham and Don Law was very important in getting the early word about Jethro Tull out there on the big stage of America.
JV: I worked for Don for about 18 years so he has my respect, and saw many a Jethro Tull show that he put on. The beauty of the Chevalier is that it was dormant for so many years, so it is great to see you in this venue because it is historic, beautiful but there was nothing happening there - after all those great acts so this is very special, Jethro Tull coming to this little area.
Ian: It’s very important that theaters like that, when they get a new lease of life, that they can build up a loyalty from an audience that - perhaps - has not had the opportunity to enjoy them. So, we can only hope that our concert and other concerts at the Chevalier Theater will bring in an audience who will be loyal to the theater. Because that’s the great advantage of having a great venue - is that people will choose to come there to see a whole bunch of other acts. It’s not just about you, it’s about the theater - it’s about what that represents and becomes in terms of being a cultural and socially important part of any given neighborhood.
Just as the Fillmore East had its day and its huge loyalty; just like the Isle of Wight Festival even to this day still has loyalty and fans who will go there regardless of whose on, it’s very important to keep that spirit alive and regeneration of old theaters from the great period of theater building in the 20s and 30s, that’s a very important thing to support, for the acts who played there and for the audiences who buy the ticket.
JV: There’s a trend in Massachusetts that more cities and towns are booking concerts away from Boston. These little movie theaters have been reactivated like the Chevalier. Are you seeing this around the country and around the world?
Ian: Oh we’ve seen it in quite often in different parts of the USA. There are theaters of that era which have struggled to keep their doors open - some of them, regretfully, have ended up closing, some of them have had support from the community, from those who would help to fund it and open their doors to performing arts centers, and managed to make ends meet, which is great to see.
But it’s kinda happened in the U.K. as well - we have some great, classic venues that most of which I have to say have not closed their doors. They were the ones I played in 1969 when we started playing the English theater venue circuit and pretty much all of them are still around today - all those great classic venues, they’re still there. In some cases they’ve been revamped and improved, in some cases they are in need of a little coat of paint and and a little plumbing attention in the toilet backstage but, they’re all still there, very few of them have closed their doors.
JV: We have one, just the next town over, the Regent (in Arlington, Massachusetts) which in the mid-60s would only play movies. But when I was in school, they had Little Anthony and the Imperials (circa 1964) - just out of the blue - and then in the 2000s they went to Bollywood, and now they’re doing concerts again. It’s great to go in and see in a smaller venue, Big Brother and The Holding Company.
Ian: Sure.
JV: It’s really nice that you can go and talk to David Getz (of Big Brother) in person. It’s a great feeling.
Ian: Yeah, and one of the good things about playing - why I have always enjoyed playing theaters - I’m much happier playing to 1500 people in a theatrical context because it’s a little bit more, for me, suitable to the kind of music we do. I have a proscenium stage, there are wings to retreat into, you can make a theatrical presence and - above all - you can’t reach out and touch everyone in the audience but it’s certainly more of an intimate and direct experience than playing in Madison Square Gardens, or indeed, in the old Boston Gardens which was the kind of venue where you really didn’t feel connected to the audience at all.
JV: The Rolling Stones just played (July 7, 2019) at Gillette Stadium this past Sunday (July 7, 2019); I was at home reviewing their Bridges to Bremen DVD...it was a lot more fun for me not to be with 60,000 people.
Ian: Well, of course there are people who love that experience and being with a whole lot of other people and...enjoying things in a mass experience but I think a lot of us folks who actually really do like the feeling of being something a little more special.
Back in the early 70s when Jethro Tull was playing arenas and then in stadiums...like Shea Stadium, for example, in New York, then it wasn’t exclusive. I was still playing theaters whenever I could. And telling our manager, please, I want to play in 2000 seat theaters, I don’t want to play in the sports arenas or in football stadiums. I’ve always enjoyed playing theaters, and outside of the USA, most of the time that’s what we’ve done. But, of course there are some times we find ourselves standing outdoors in the summer as I will be several times in Europe this year -- staring at a large crowd at some festival somewhere. Which, it’s OK once in awhile; it’s OK, but not every week let alone every night, that would drive me nuts. I like my theaters.
Joe V: The Jethro Tull website is amazing. I’m always looking for a clean and easy to read website. It reads like a virtual newspaper, was that the intent?
Ian: Well, it was set up really to be an informational website not only for the fans but also for the media. So it’s always been constructed and revamped along those lines. It’s not a...it’s certainly not a piece of social media where I invite comment or communication with fans because...I’m a bit of a loner, I don’t really enjoy communicating one to one with people, I do that through my music.
I have no interest in entering into spirited or, indeed, unpleasant communication with those who use social media to vent their villainous spleens and use, to raise usually a very unpleasant language.
You know I’m afraid your President sets a very poor example in using social media to attack people in very unpleasant terms and I think, unfortunately, that does encourage others to do the same...and so I think whether you are just a member of the public or you are POTUS himself or, perhaps, herself, then I think you should behave in a statesmanly manner regardless of whether you are a true statesman or a member of the public communicating with somebody else.
I think it’s important to have some manners and some decorum, and that’s the way I try to be, and I never let our website become a voice box for my more controversial feelings and opinions which I tend most of the time to keep to myself.
JV: Well, I agree with you, but what I like about the site is that it’s a resource - it has information that I can use as someone who appreciates Tull.
Ian: Yeah, and that’s really the part that I think is important for media; I always said that there’s so much on there that you can draw upon - and you’re welcome to copy and past it because most of it is stuff I’ve written.
So, 95 percent of what is on our website comes from me tapping at the keyboard of a computer. That,...is in itself one big set of information and recollections and stuff that I have written. I’m very happy if people copy and paste and utilize that material and download photographs and images which will help them with their journalistic aspirations.
When I set out, when I was a teenager and thought seriously about being a journalist, we didn’t have that sort of stuff we could draw upon; we had to find things out the hard way back then. So journalism, back then, was a much harder trade than it is in today’s world of copy and paste.
JV: That’s so good to hear because I’m nervous about using anyone’s photos in my stories, but we can use them from the Jethro Tull website?
Ian: Absolutely, you can download a whole bunch of stuff there with my great approval and with my compliments, and indeed you can copy and paste anything you find there. It’s there for you and other professionals in the media as well as the rank and file public. I sign endless photographs that I know, I recognize all too well, because they’ve downloaded them from our website.
I’m more than happy when people do that because that’s what they are there for.
Indeed, many of them are there because they have areas of lighter tone for me to be able to sign those photographs or prints with a black Sharpie. I’ve made many a mistake in my early years coming up with album covers that had nowhere where you could actually sign them...to be legible...so...
Joe V: Are we talking about Stand Up?
Ian: Well that’s a tricky one, yes, Stand Up’s particularly difficult, and there have been a few others where it would be difficult to write on and find a clear space. Like the Thick as a Brick album, for example. Aqualung has got some clear space to sign on, but there have been a few that weren’t terribly good from that perspective - and quite often when you’re doing merchandising, it’s very tempting to just stay in the world of black T Shirts, because as I keep telling the guy who does our merch designs... leave me a little space to sign my name. I have endless boxes of black T Shirts, Jethro Tull t-shirts in our warehouse that are impossible to sign.
JV: The entire Stand Up album is on YouTube for free. There’s advertising on it. I’m wondering if the advertising revenue compensates for the lack of monies the internet offers, compared to radio and TV?
Ian: Well the problem with all of that is, you can chase YouTube and have things taken down, but as fast as you do it they get put up by somebody else using a different address. It is - it’s the world we live in. It doesn’t bother me as much as it must bother young artists who are struggling to make a living and who don’t realize that the income they can derive from recorded work, audio and video is going to be virtually nothing compared to the glory days of record sales back in the 70s and 80s - that’s just not possible anymore for artists.
It’s only the absolute...the crème de la crème in commercial terms - people like Ed Sheeran - who will make a lot of money out of streaming and downloads, and perhaps some associated advertising from the people, those who put things up on YouTube and elsewhere. But trying to monetize stuff, the cost of doing it, the cost of administering all of that is, in manpower and fee terms, greater than your income, in most cases. So I don’t think...really it pays to do...it’s only if something is thoroughly objectionable...or something really deeply unpleasant that I would probably go to the trouble to have things taken down.
A week later, they pop up again. Just like people who go on and alter your Wikipedia entry in scurrilous fashion, tossing in something that is either completely wrong or just meant to be a little joke. It’s necessary for me once a year to go through my Wikipedia entries and make sure that they haven’t been doctored for somebody’s amusement. These things happen, unfortunately.
37) MR CURT AND FRIENDS
from Somerville News Weekly
https://thesomervillenewsweekly.blog/2021/06/07/hotline-to-the-underground-mr-curt-and-friends/
{New Home Demos 2020]
Mr. Curt & Friends
Kernels for the Birds
HOTLINE TO THE UNDERGROUND
Essay by Joe Viglione
From the Kids to the Real Kids to Mr. Curt solo on Euphoria Records, the Mr. Curt catalog of music is a long and important, historic part of the New England Rock and Roll Story. His bands Pastiche and The Exis made their mark from the 1970s to the 1990s if my memory serves and somehow a couple more decades developed to the year 2021, a half a century, and welcome to his newest CD, Kernels for the Birds.
Dave Godbey from Fox Pass co-writes the first minute and two seconds entitled “In a Haze.” It’s the intro to a collection of Space Age Bachelor Pad music meets the avant-garde side of the New Wave, Track two is about breeding heroes and includes a hypnotic mantra if you will, “Ripped,Wrecked and Excited” would raise the eyebrows of Roxy Music’s Eno and Velvet Underground’s John Cale. There are a number of college radio stations which should embrace this, most notably the Record Hospital over at WHRB, Harvard and WZBC Newton, bringing us truly back to the future. I’m surprised Curt didn’t invite members of Wet Pizza https://soundcloud.com/user-785838058 and Free Pizza https://soundcloud.com/bufurecords/free-pizza-boston-ma to join in on his two minute and forty-six second “Where’s the Pizza?” It’s innovative enough to have three bands clashing in stereo. George Harrison’s “The Inner Light” (flip of Lady Madonna 45 and on Past Masters and the Love album from the Beatles.) With Andy Hollinger on impressionistic guitars and Ed Morreau on assorted keys/fx, it’s actually a quite intriguing look into Lennon’s pop jolt that Beatles fans did not expect.
“Soups on the Table,” “Day Lilly” and “First is the New Leaf” segue into each other like a trilogy while Curt’s track on the tribute to the late Asa Brebner (of Robin Lane and the Chartbusters/Modern Lovers) album I Am Not Gone, similarly titled “He Is Not Gone” is included here. It’s very well done.
Also included is an exotic rendition of Bobby Hebb’s “Sunny,” recorded for the maestro’s Facebook SUNNY page. Bobby would have been very proud to hear such a different version of his popular song, one of the top 100 songs of the 20th Century for BMI. “A Monk in a Ninja Suit,” “Gaslighting,” “Wannabees (that never were) right up to “The Last Night on the River” are sixteen tracks that are entertaining, inviting and in some cases make your head spin. Let Kernels for the Birds be your secret treat to surprise people with at parties.
38)MOONFALL GOT A BAD RAP...BUT ROLAND EMMERICH DID HIMSELF NO FAVORS PLAYING THE SAME FORMULA AND A CAMEO FROM DONALD SUTHERLAND WAS A WASTE OF TALENT.
JOE VIG'S REVIEW ON TMRZOO.COM
http://www.tmrzoo.com/2022/75262/movie-review-moonfall
For those who enjoy extreme drama and outer space battles, Moonfall will fit the bill with some captivating moments that outweigh the excesses.
Where current The Matrix Returns utilizes Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit within its soundtrack to amazing effect, a true highlight of the film, Moonfall (sounds like a James Bond title, doesn’t it?) utilizes the band Toto’s “Africa” with less audio impact. Patrick Wilson proves he’s no Grace Slick – the intro sputtering a bit, Moonfall scrambling to find itself maybe thirty minutes into the run time.
This generation probably has no idea of the mega-disaster films from previous maestro Irwin Allen, the “Master of Disaster” of the big screen blow-everything-up genre some decades back. His name was everpresent in 1960s television for Land of the Giants, Time Tunnel, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Lost in Space maybe gave a hint that Allen would graduate to making fortunes on small budgets. According to Wikipedia his The Poseidon Adventure made 125 million in 1972 on a less than five million dollar budget; the follow-up, 1974’s The Towering Inferno made $203.3 at a fourteen million dollar cost. These are huge numbers for the time (the early 70s) without the massive worldwide returns on investment found today.
39)The Huffington Post: The Great Aggregator
https://archives.cjr.org/cover_story/six_degrees_of_aggregation.php ag·gre·ga·tor
- 1.COMPUTINGa website or program that collects related items of content and displays them or links to them.
Before its purchase by AOL in February 2011, HuffPost was not a property that had produced much in the way of revenue; it had posted a profit only in the year before the sale—the amount has never been disclosed—on a modest $30 million in revenue. Aside from scoops from its estimable Washington bureau, it did little in the way of breaking stories, the industry’s traditional pathway to recognition.
Huffington Post, which had mastered search-engine optimization and was quick to understand and pounce on the rise of social media, had been at once widely followed but not nearly so widely cited. But that is likely to change now that it can boast of a Pulitzer Prize for national reporting—the rebuttal to every critic who dismissed HuffPost as an abasement to all that was journalistically sacred.
40)Emerge The Litter
https://clubbohemianews.blogspot.com/2022/02/music-reviews-werewolves-2-albums.html
41)RICHARD LEE OF EDEN'S CHILDREN
Interview: Richard Lee of EDEN’S Children
The first “fast” rock guitarist I had heard.
RICHARD LEE (RICHARD ‘SHAM” SCHAMACH)) and EDEN’S CHILDREN
JV: We’re talking to Richard Lee (nee Schamach) of Eden’s Children – see the Ed Symkus mini-bio in the Music Museum of New England https://www.mmone.org/edens-children/
Richard, what was your original inspiration for becoming a musician?
RL: I didn’t start doing any band work until the 60s, but as a sub teen, I tuned in right away when Rock and Roll started creeping onto the airwaves. When I heard the jangly augmented chord Chuck Berry played on the intro to School Day on the radio, it was like feeling a jolt of electricity. Same with I’m Walkin’ by Fats Domino. I know this sounds like a long time ago – and it was! When Elvis came on TV, forget about it – no turning back. I had the embarrassing experience of having a school friend bust me in my room while miming in the mirror to Elvis with a ukulele – but the desire comes first, the skill comes later. The thing that sealed the deal for me was when I saw one of the older students at a school talent show playing Peggy Sue with a guitar. I went home and told my folks I wanted to get guitar lessons! I got a summer’s worth of lessons, and I was off and running after that. My first performing experience was playing The Lonely One by Duane Eddy at a talent show at 14 – just me and the guitar. Now, I will tell you this – when the ’60s came around, none of us were clinging to the 50s. R&R had faded, and R&B was getting play. At night, radio stations with powerful transmitters like WLAC in Gallatin, Tennessee, and XERF from Mexico with Wolfman Jack in his first incarnation playing strictly R&B, could send signals far and wide across the nation. This is how a lot of the generation that heard those stations became aware of that music in the first place. It became commonplace for young startup bands to include Jimmy Reed songs in their repertoire, along with Freddie King, if they could handle it. Lonnie Mack was an early Blues Rock guitarist that I especially liked, and patterned myself after – the first “fast” rock guitarist I had heard.
JV: What bands were you in and when did Eden’s Children form?
RL: In high school, we had a band called The Chaparrals, with uniforms and matching guitars and amps, along with lots of other bands playing the same sort of repertoire: Surfing, R&B, the British thing.
The Chaparrals Photo courtesy of Richard Lee
Three years of this, and then off to college at CSU, where I got into a band called The Nocturnes that nabbed a house gig at the local hot spot – and it was goodbye to college.
The Nocturnes
We got a summer job at the college resort town of Estes Park, Colorado, and following that, got a booking in Honolulu, playing 5 sets a night, 7 nights a week. When we came back, I was visited by someone I had met at one of our gigs, and this was Bill Glasser from Boston, inviting me to come there to play in a band he was putting together. I agreed, and after several permutations, this band became Eden’s Children. This was in 1966, and to get to Boston from Fort Collins, Colorado, I went “On The Road” style, with my girlfriend and two friends who were driving nonstop to New York, then planning to leave the car and take a plane to Europe. There were adventures along the way, one of which was that the driver fell asleep at the wheel going through an intersection, there was a collision, and the car was totaled. Other than that, we were alright, being apparently bulletproof. They picked up a cheap 56 Chevy with gold metal flake paint that couldn’t go faster than 40 mph, and was dubbed “The Turtle”. When we got to the coast, I bought the car for $50 – my first car – and drove the rest of the way to the BU dorms. We put the band together, originally a 5 piece, in the basement of the dormitory. Our first gigs were at the lounge of the dorm, at the BU student union, and our first club gig was at the Rathskeller, “The Rat”, in Kenmore Square.
JV: The G Clefs, The Tune Weavers in 1957 with “Happy Happy Birthday Baby,” Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon, Moulty, and the Barbarians got Boston on the charts in the 1950s and early 1960s. What was the scene like in the ’60s with the Prince and the Paupers, Orpheus, and Eden’s Children?
RL: Well, there were bands everywhere, notably The Lost, with Willie Alexander and Walter Powers, The Glass Menagerie, with Rusty Marcus, who became our last bass player, and Doug Yule, who later replaced John Cale in The Velvet Underground – and eventually, Lou Reed, who bowed out with the band still owed an album [editor’s note: the last album was Doug without Willie, Walter, and original drummer Maureen Tucker- the Squeeze album which may have had Deep Purple’s drummer Ian Paice as legend has it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squeeze_(The_Velvet_Underground_album) ]
“Other bands at that time were Orpheus, not to be confused with The Orphans, both mainstream pop-oriented groups, Ultimate Spinach. At the Wurlitzer’s music store across from the Boston Common, you could have Jeff “Skunk” Baxter ( Steely Dan, Doobie Brothers) and Reeves Gabrels ( The Cure, Bowie) attend to your needs. Other prominent bands at that time were Ultimate Spinach (Baxter’s group), Beacon Street Union, with some all-out production on their recordings, Ill Wind, sort of a Beautiful Day type group we happened to run into at The Cheetah in New York when visiting there. The Hallucinations were an early blues band on the scene, gradually morphing into the J. Geils Band. Local venues thriving at that time were The Boston Tea Party in Roxbury, The Psychedelic Supermarket, off Kenmore Sq., and The Crosstown Bus in Alston – all of these hosting national acts, along with locals. Smaller venues were The Unicorn, The Catacombs, and Lucifer’s and The Rat in Kenmore Sq. In Cambridge, Club 47 presented a fantastic array of major blues acts in an up-close and personal situation ( Muddy, Wolf, Butterfield, Buddy, and Junior, etc.).
As for ourselves, we were running up and down the coast, and playing all the Ivy League colleges. Did you ever see Eddie And The Cruisers, when they were playing at the college? It makes me think of that. I have to tell you about this one: We had been sent to Rhode Island – Providence maybe – to fill in for another band that couldn’t make it. There were two acts on the bill – one was The Shades Of Blue, who had a very appealing hit tune called “Oh How Happy”- a clean-cut singing group with matching pastel blue cardigan sweaters. The other group that had been slated to play was The Cowsills, the family band that The Partridge Family was based on. Now, for those who don’t know, Eden’s Children was what was called a power trio – loud in person, with liberal fuzz tone application. So now, instead of the Cowsills, they got us! It was not heaven made match, and there were, of course, requests to turn down. Well, life is like a box of chocolates….
:JV: How did the clubs react to original music and did most of the bands – including Eden’s Children – play the popular music of the day as well?
RL: Well, if originals were expected, they were provided. As you know, there was a rush to sign Boston bands when it looked as though this was going to be the new, happening scene, as San Francisco had been. Bands that had been playing club tunes but had now gotten signed were called upon to deliver original music to the record companies, and this was also expected of them when they played at larger venues as recording artists. They couldn’t get up now and play Louie Louie, though they probably had before, or something like it. Your question might have had more to do with whether there was resistance to originals when audiences may have preferred to be hearing their favorite radio hits. Well, there were places they could go for that, but when they’re seeing the newly anointed on some large stage, they would be anticipating a program of the band’s own music. We had been playing tunes from albums by The Kinks, The Yardbirds, and especially the Stones. We loved the Aftermath album and played a number of tunes from their previous albums. When we started we were a five-piece group, then down to four, and we sort of styled ourselves after them. After seeing them on Ed Sullivan’s show in their new, stylish gear, we found a place in the Combat Zone where we could pick up some outfits like that. When we went to LA to record we found a great rock clothing store where the Strawberry Alarm Clock was inside shopping. We knew this was the place, and stocked up! I’m telling you this because the look was part of the deal. Anyway, we couldn’t go to the recording studio and play Stones songs, and neither could the rest of them, so we wrote songs that would make the record companies happy because they could have them published by somebody they had a tie in with.
JV: The Boston Groupie News had a nice write-up on Eden’s Children and Music Museum of New England http://www.punkblowfish.com/EdensChildren.html
Where are the members of Eden’s Children today?
RL: I haven’t seen the BGN piece, but I’d like to. Your friend Paul “Blowfish” Lovell was a great supporter of ours, and that is appreciated. Drummer Jimmy Sturman had the misfortune early on of suffering a stroke which left him unable to play. Bass player Larry Kiely also had a stroke that led to some cognitive impairment and wasn’t able to play after that. Founder Bill Glasser, who retired from the band before recording, lives in LA and works with a telecommunications company. Our last bass player Rusty Marcus lives in upper Massachusetts and has his own lighting company which handles large scale projects. Interestingly, he has devoted himself to the playing of the Dobro lap-style guitar, with results that deserve to be heard. The other member in the original lineup was Bill Robar, now deceased, who became a tour boat captain in Florida. It turns out that I’m the only one who has stayed in the game.
JV: What’s going on musically these days for you, Richard?
RL: For the last five years I’ve been playing in a variety band that does mainly 70s, 80s, and 90s material. I’d like to do a little light solo work now if the opportunity presents itself. I like playing fingerstyle acoustic guitar and jazz and blues flavored piano. The standards that are often heard in jazz situations appeal to me, as well as rockabilly, classic country, blues, reggae … not so much greatest classic rock hits now, though. I’ve played a lot of styles over the years. After Eden’s Children, I went out to play with Edgar Winter when he was putting together White Trash. When Rick Derringer became available to Edgar I made a hop to Boston again and played with Vern Miller’s (The Remains) group Swallow, with George Leh. YouTube shows me George is still performing. Over the years I’ve played with country bands, blues bands, 50s groups, agency variety bands, and had long term solo situations. Generally speaking, anything that doesn’t involve a heavy setup has my approval.
JV: Do any videos or films exist from back in the day?
RL: No, that was uncommon back then. There are audio clips though of a mob interview session with Eden’s Children and the Ultimate Spinach at the Brandeis University radio station – was that WBCN? This can be found somewhere in the labyrinth of the Boston Sound Museum. I don’t recognize any of the voices though, including my own.
JV: What was the “demo” that got “the deal” for Eden’s Children – or was it a live show?
RL: Actually, it was both. Our manager was Jonathan Whitcup (living in Amsterdam for some years now). His cousin Lenny was our publisher, and he arranged for us to use facilities at the RCA building in New York to make a four-song demo. This was shopped around, and executives at ABC asked us to come up to their offices and audition for them there. There was a small room provided for this, and we were a loud band, so we had to try to scale down the level while still making our point. It worked out though, and we got the deal
JV: Did Bob Thiele or any other producer make demos prior to recording the first album?
RL: No, and maybe they should have to get the feel of things. I think we may have been the first rock band they had recorded, and they weren’t used to dealing with high volume playing. They had a little difficulty with that, but the recording was not a great sounding audio product in any case. The instruments were close-miked, which gave no feeling of dimension, and contributed to a flat sounding, bass-heavy recording. Bob Thiele was the most pleasant of men, but his input was minimal. This is a good place for me to shed some light on the roundly criticized “thin” sound of the instruments on the second album: Again, Bob Thiele was back in the booth, along with Brooks Arthur, who had been recording Janis Ian (Society’s Child, At Seventeen). This time, to avoid the difficulties they had before with the volume, they plugged the guitars directly into the board (!) where they could have more control. What they got was a thin-sounding record, for which even the reviewers pointed their fingers at “the guys in the booth” who had “let the band down”.Brooks Arthur did succeed however, in adding an element of polish not present the first time around.
JV: Did you ever meet Moulty and the Barbarians?
RL: One night in 66 or 67, the band and I were taking the MTA back from someplace, and the only other passengers were a crazy looking crew that turned out to be The Barbarians. We went back to their place to smoke weed, a common activity in those days, as you know, and were given some Pango Pango Purple, strongest weed ever for us. When we left, one of the guys wanted to go to the park with his girlfriend and see the city lights, so we left him and went home, and he went to the park and got busted! He was out later that night, with no serious repercussions – and that is the story of our total association with Moulty and crew. Of course, we had seen the TAMI show., and knew “Moulty!”, and “Are You A Boy Or Are You A Girl.”( not like we never heard that on the street as we went by)
JV:: What were some of your favorite moments in the studio and who was at the production helm?
RL: Well, at the ABC studios in New York, Tom Scott of the LA Express stopped by, and I was glad to meet him. Bob Thiele took us out to dinner and introduced me to George Cates, who was Lawrence Welk’s music director, and I thought my mother would be pleased about that. Years later, I realized that at just about the same time he was dealing with us, Bob had written What A Wonderful World and recorded Louis Armstrong – maybe you didn’t know Thiele was the composer of that song.. There was a day when he took me out to Rudy Van Gelder’s famous studio in New Jersey to finish some tracks. People who are in the know about jazz are aware that many great sessions for Blue Note records had been done there, featuring the top-flight players of the idiom. In other words, these were hallowed halls, and to have me out there doing this rock album was essentially like cursing in church. Rudy didn’t say that, but I could tell he wasn’t pleased about this. Well, what are you gonna do? We were also taken around to the Ampeg factory in NJ to look at amplifiers for an endorsement deal. I wasn’t that crazy about the amps, but when I found out we had to pay for these – discounted, – but still, I really wasn’t too crazy about them, and said no thanks!
JV: What are your favorite moments onstage?
RL: Not so hard. This was at the time when Blues was as hot as it had ever been, and we were booked to do the opening set for Howling Wolf at Steve Paul’s The Scene in New York. This was the well-known club where Johnny Winter and Jimi Hendrix would jam together – this type of thing; a hipster’s hangout to see and be seen. On this particular night there were many celebrity musicians who had turned out to see the Wolf. Heavyweight drummers Mitch Mitchell (Hendrix), Jim Capaldi (Traffic), and Dino Danielli (Rascals) were there, making our drummer Jimmy nervous, I’d Imagine. Rascals guitarist Gene Cornish was there too, as well as the Chambers Brothers (Time Has Come Today). This was a booking to get us noticed. I was excited to see Howling Wolf sitting at the bar, and naturally cruised over to say a few words, but found out he wasn’t the most congenial individual I could meet. The Chambers Brothers were great though, and we went across the street with them later on for some coffee. While we were there in the greasy spoon though, some off-center individuals began throwing coffee cups and salt shakers at the wall, and we all headed for the exits. I think of this as a New York experience. And I can’t wrap this up without telling you that we stayed at the notorious rock hotel, The Gorham. The walls outside were covered with graffiti-like, “I love you, Mick!”. Inside, we saw the Who’s road crew checking in, carrying a drum head with The Who painted on it. I got into the elevator by myself with my Firebird guitar, and the door opens and Eric Clapton gets in. Me and him, and he wants to see my guitar, so, sure, you bet,.Eric Very nice, I might add. Still at the Gorham, I’m sitting in the lobby with the guitar, and I see Jose Feliciano walking past with his retinue and his guide dog. Jose says, ” I hear an electric geetar – keep playing man!” So, this was just a special time and place, when the music business was exploding, New York was a music Mecca, and celebrity musicians were everywhere. Boston was great, but not like this.
Other notable moments that should be mentioned, without too much elaboration: Muddy Waters played at the Club 47 in Cambridge. I went down with our agent John Sdoucos, who later turned out to be a major concert promoter, and he arranged for me to get up and play a few tunes with Muddy. I did, and was tolerated, but didn’t know how to get down from there since no one was telling me to. I finally figured it out though!
Also worth mentioning was the Brown University Spring Weekend with high profile acts on different stages over a couple of days. The Yardbirds with Jimmy Page played, The Shangri-las were there (Leader Of The Pack), we were there, with Walter Powers on bass for this one, and the final act of the event was the great James Brown. We played to 6,000 people – not quite arena numbers, but enough to make for a memorable experience!
Thanks for your time, Richard
http://www.tmrzoo.com/2020/74065/interview-richard-lee-of-edens-children
42)Steven Mark
http://www.tmrzoo.com/2020/74259/interview-steven-mark-ep-the-long-goodbye
BONUS TRACKS
7:33 7:33 #February 21 2022 #Monday #HEARITCLEARIT #MUSICSUPERVISION #SantAntonioTX #DominiquePreyer York Beach #Maine photo #JoeViglioneMedia The Salt Water Summers in Spain on #OnlyRockRadio Thanks
Joe Viglione speaks to Dave Godbey and Ragin’ Contagion
Dave, who is the Ragin’ Contagion? And why? It’s clear that this CD was created by you during the lockdown. What does the album mean to you, and do you care to take us track by track through the CD?
Dave Godbey:
Thank you, Joe, yes, thank you for the opportunity! When the lockdown kicked in March of 2020 due to covid 19, all of us were left with a lot of extra time on our hands, weren’t we? My personal path since I played bass in Fox Pass (1975-1977) and with The Rubies (with Wally Jay in 1978, aka Wally Baier of the Road Apples), led me to college in Berkeley California. While there I played acoustic guitar recreationally, and bass briefly in a surf music band known as Two Peters and a Dick. Many years later, 2015-ish here I am, with a family and two kids, and playing my Martin guitar once in a while to maintain my sanity. My youngest was leaving home for college, leaving me time, and a desire to get back into music. And I even remember the moment. The movie Hunger Games came out, and there is a brilliant song at the end by Taylor Swift and The Civil Wars called Safe and Sound. And I thought, “I want to play that guitar part.” So I started practicing my guitar daily for an hour or more. In 2016 I started playing open mics in Baltimore and Bel Air. Baltimore and surrounding areas have a very active music scene. Teavolve in Fells Point was a real hotbed of acoustic musical activity, led by Rob Hinkal who was the master open mic host and leader of the band ilyAIMY. He also was a rich source of inspiration for me. As I got more comfortable playing out, playing fingerstyle and other guitar techniques, I started collaborating with other artists. I played bass with a local songwriter and guitarist Derrick Credito, and I started to get my writing juices flowing again. A song here, a song there. I even had a minor hit in the Baltimore area called Alternative Facts inspired by Kellyanne Conway. The song was recorded and can be found on my youtube channel.
