Well, here we are in December already. Where has this bloody year gone I wonder?
It is therefore time to turn my attention to what I consider the best album releases of the year, but the White Room rules clearly state that I can only include new albums, not reissues regardless of how well they have been remixed, remastered or repackaged. So the following represent those albums that cannot feature in my final 'best of 2013' list.
It has been a great year for new albums but likewise it has been pretty wonderful for reissues also.
Early in the year, Family marked their 40th anniversary live reunion with a boxed set of all of their seven studio albums plus a live album from 1970, three singles and two CD's of alternate versions and studio outtakes. All nicely packaged with a 70 odd page book.
You can read my thoughts here:-
http://eddie-graham.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/box-sets-4-family-once-upon-time.html
and here:-
http://eddie-graham.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/family-once-upon-time-hands-on-verdict.html
Bob Dylan reissued what many consider one of his worst ever albums, yet 'Another Self Portrait' demonstrated that stripped of all the adornments that helped to ruin the original album, there were some very fine songs there. Additionally this package was boosted by the inclusion of some alternate versions of songs which later featured on 'New Morning'.
And speaking of Dylan, The Band brought out 'Live at The Academy of Music 1971' a four CD set which documented all of their performances at that venue in '71. If you can bear the repeated performances of various songs, there are some absolute gems in there.
In an earlier post which can be read here - http://eddie-graham.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/box-sets-7-john-martyn-island-years.html
I reported on the release of an 18 disc box set of all of John Martyn's recordings on the Island label. Plus an additional live DVD. Expensive but wonderful. (And I did grab myself a bit of a bargain with that one).
It has been a wonderful year for Beatles fans what with the voluminous 1st part of 'All These Years' by Mark Lewisohn (I am still working my way through the deluxe edition). Nineteen years after the release of 'Live at The BBC', the second volume, 'On Air' has been issued. While it may not be quite as essential as the first volume, it is still a fascinating piece of history and makes for some great listening. After all it is The Beatles!
However..... the absolute prize for the best reissue set of 2013 just HAS (in my opinion) to go to 'Hidden Masters' a six CD box set covering the career of Jess Roden. You can read my thoughts on that here:-
http://eddie-graham.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/jess-roden-hidden-masters.html
and here:-
http://eddie-graham.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/box-sets-6-hidden-masters-jess-roden.html
Look out soon for the White Room best albums of 2013.
See ya.
Showing posts with label John Martyn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Martyn. Show all posts
Monday, 9 December 2013
Friday, 11 October 2013
Box Sets #7 John Martyn - The Island Years
OK it's confession time, I don't actually own this recently released 18 disc box set, finding the £150 price tag a little too steep.. However, due to what I can only assume was a slip up by Amazon, I was able to download the complete 17 discs of music as MP3 files for the princely sum of.... wait for it..... £1.19!
Yes, that's right, 259 tracks for just over one of the Queen's English pounds.
So OK I didn't get the 18th disc which is I'm sure a very fine DVD and nor did I get the 120 page hard-backed book. However I can live without those having saved myself about £148.
So onto the musical content which features each of John (and where appropriate, Beverley) Martyn's twelve studio albums released by Island between 1967 and 1987. Additionally there are two previously unreleased live concerts from 1972 and 1977 AND a host of alternate takes, demo recordings and the complete recordings for the final unreleased album, 'The Apprentice'.
As is usually the case with such complete releases, there is a fair amount of duplication of songs but for fans of John Martyn's career, this is an absolute treasure trove of his music. And for the casual fan (and I'm assuming if you read this far, you fall into one of the above categories), there is plenty to get stuck into. If you find the repetitions tedious, there is always the 'skip' button you know.
Sadly the £1.19 offer has disappeared but as I write this, I see that the current price is £7.49. Surely this must also be a mistake. I therefore suggest you get it while you can.
Happy listening.
Yes, that's right, 259 tracks for just over one of the Queen's English pounds.
So OK I didn't get the 18th disc which is I'm sure a very fine DVD and nor did I get the 120 page hard-backed book. However I can live without those having saved myself about £148.
So onto the musical content which features each of John (and where appropriate, Beverley) Martyn's twelve studio albums released by Island between 1967 and 1987. Additionally there are two previously unreleased live concerts from 1972 and 1977 AND a host of alternate takes, demo recordings and the complete recordings for the final unreleased album, 'The Apprentice'.
Sadly the £1.19 offer has disappeared but as I write this, I see that the current price is £7.49. Surely this must also be a mistake. I therefore suggest you get it while you can.
Happy listening.
Friday, 30 March 2012
Harold McNair (flautist extraordinaire)
With my music player on shuffle as I am inclined to do when I can't decide what to listen to, I was suddenly stopped in my tracks by the strains of Donovan's 'Writer in the Sun'. It wasn't so much the song itself, though a fine song it is, but the accompanying flute that particularly attracted my interest. The musician in question was a certain Mr Harold McNair.
I first became acquainted with his work through hearing the track 'Dusty' by John Martyn featured on the Island sampler 'You Can All Join In' released in 1969. Or it might have been through Donovan when I bought the 'Donovan in Concert' album at about the same same. It was only later that I realised that McNair had been involved in most of Donovan's other work also.
Of mixed race, McNair was born in Jamaica in 1931 and first arrived in Britain in 1960 after a spell touring Europe with Quincy Jones. In London his reputation grew and he was soon a regular on flute and sax at Ronnie Scott's Club in Soho. In the early 60's he contributed sax to the James Bond movie 'Dr. No'. Possibly because of his Jamaican background, McNair was signed to Chris Blackwell's Island Records label and in 1965 he released his first album under his own name 'Affectionate Fink' utilising Ornette Coleman's rhythm section.
McNair first played with Donovan during the recording of the latter's 'Sunny Goodge Street' and he was then hired for subsequent sessions during which the Donovan album 'Sunshine Superman' was recorded in Abbey Road Studios with The Beatles recording 'Revolver' in the studio next door.
McNair went on to record with many other artists during the 60's including John Martyn, Alexis Korner, CCS and Davy Graham. His own album 'The Fence' featured Steve Winwood on piano and organ and the interplay between the two on the title track is superb. The album is now available on CD with bonus tracks and in my opinion is well worth getting - I'm listening to it as I write. One of the bonus tracks is the Lennon/McCartney song 'Here ,There and Everywhere', perhaps first heard by McNair when they shared neighbouring studios in Abbey Road. I used to possess his album 'Flute & Nut' on vinyl but sadly that went the way of all my other vinyl.
I only saw Harold McNair live once, probably around 1970 when he was one of a dozen or more musicians on stage at Newcastle City Hall as part of Ginger Baker's Airforce. Sadly I never got another chance to see him and the world was robbed of a fine musician when he succumbed to lung cancer on 7th March 1971. He was aged just 39.
At the time I write this I believe that the only record in his own name available on CD is the aforementioned 'The Fence'. Until that travesty is corrected, dig out his work with Donovan and others. I personally recommend 'Donovan in Concert' and 'The Tumbler' by John Martyn which features the great track 'Dusty'.
I first became acquainted with his work through hearing the track 'Dusty' by John Martyn featured on the Island sampler 'You Can All Join In' released in 1969. Or it might have been through Donovan when I bought the 'Donovan in Concert' album at about the same same. It was only later that I realised that McNair had been involved in most of Donovan's other work also.
Of mixed race, McNair was born in Jamaica in 1931 and first arrived in Britain in 1960 after a spell touring Europe with Quincy Jones. In London his reputation grew and he was soon a regular on flute and sax at Ronnie Scott's Club in Soho. In the early 60's he contributed sax to the James Bond movie 'Dr. No'. Possibly because of his Jamaican background, McNair was signed to Chris Blackwell's Island Records label and in 1965 he released his first album under his own name 'Affectionate Fink' utilising Ornette Coleman's rhythm section.
McNair first played with Donovan during the recording of the latter's 'Sunny Goodge Street' and he was then hired for subsequent sessions during which the Donovan album 'Sunshine Superman' was recorded in Abbey Road Studios with The Beatles recording 'Revolver' in the studio next door.
McNair went on to record with many other artists during the 60's including John Martyn, Alexis Korner, CCS and Davy Graham. His own album 'The Fence' featured Steve Winwood on piano and organ and the interplay between the two on the title track is superb. The album is now available on CD with bonus tracks and in my opinion is well worth getting - I'm listening to it as I write. One of the bonus tracks is the Lennon/McCartney song 'Here ,There and Everywhere', perhaps first heard by McNair when they shared neighbouring studios in Abbey Road. I used to possess his album 'Flute & Nut' on vinyl but sadly that went the way of all my other vinyl.
I only saw Harold McNair live once, probably around 1970 when he was one of a dozen or more musicians on stage at Newcastle City Hall as part of Ginger Baker's Airforce. Sadly I never got another chance to see him and the world was robbed of a fine musician when he succumbed to lung cancer on 7th March 1971. He was aged just 39.
At the time I write this I believe that the only record in his own name available on CD is the aforementioned 'The Fence'. Until that travesty is corrected, dig out his work with Donovan and others. I personally recommend 'Donovan in Concert' and 'The Tumbler' by John Martyn which features the great track 'Dusty'.
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