There has been a shortage of posts over the past two weeks as I have been relaxing in Spain. While I was there a friend kindly notified me of the reunion of Family that is taking place at the Shepherd's Bush Empire next February.
While still at what would today be known as High School, a few of us would spend lunchtimes hanging out in the music room when it was too wet outside to play football. People would take in recently purchased albums and I can still recall walking in one day to hear what I believe was 'Me My Friend'. Whatever track it was, it came from the debut album by Family, 'Music in a Doll's House'. Being unable to afford to buy many albums in those days, I managed to borrow a copy and record it onto my Philips reel to reel tape recorder. From then on, I was a devout fan of Family and eagerly awaited every one of their releases. I also made sure that I saw them live on almost every occasion that they happened to play in the north east of England.
Although I never really took to their final album 'It's Only a Movie', I was still devastated when they announced their decision to split in 1973. Now, forty years on they are to reform for what is I believe to be a one-off reunion concert. Featuring a line up of Roger Chapman, drummer Rob Townsend, Jim Cregan and John 'Poli' Palmer, they will also be augmented by Geoff Whitehorn on guitar, Gary Twigg on bass, John Lingwood on drums and percussion, Paul Hirsh on keyboards and Nick Payn on sax and harmonica. They will perform a selection of material from each of their seven albums released between 1968 and 1973.
It is a little sad that the line-up will not feature John 'Charlie' Whitney who was the songwriting partner of Chapman and who played some great guitar throughout the career of the band. In fact, Chapman and Whitney continued their partnership beyond Family, in what became known as The Streetwalkers. Unfortunately something went wrong in their relationship and since Streetwalkers split in 1977 after releasing four studio albums, the pair have never played together.
Despite the passing of the years and the absence of Whitney, I am excited by the prospect of hearing the band play live again. My ticket has been secured so expect to hear more on this subject in February 2013.
Patti Smith and her band took to the stage at Newcastle Academy on Tuesday evening (4 September 2012) and launched straight into 'April Fool' from her current album 'Banga'. It sounded fine to us in the audience but clearly Patti was not happy with the sound and apologised at the end of the number, even suggesting they play it again later (they didn't).
Here we go again, I thought recalling the last time I saw Patti live, at The Sage, Gateshead about four years ago. Then she was clearly not a happy bunny as she constantly complained about the sound and the fact that the audience remained seated for most of the set. My concerns were unfounded however as whatever was niggling Patti disappeared and she and the band gave us a superb performance. Three tracks in and the familiar piano intro to 'Free Money' brought a cheer from the crowd. Soon the band were rocking and Patti was spitting and snarling as she belted out the lyrics. In between songs she talked at length about her experiences in our great city. A photo shoot earlier in the day in which she had to pose with a 1976 copy of NME in which she appeared on the cover. The irony, as Patti explained, was that inside, the paper had slated her album 'Radio Ethiopia'. Another rap was about her visit to the hairdressers. She fingered her long unkempt hair as she told the story, obviously very much tongue in cheek. Patti will take the piss out of anything, including herself.
Obviously the tour is to promote her latest record and selections from that were bound to feature throughout the set. Patti told us that she didn't care that only about ten copies had been sold. Frankly she didn't care what we listened to as long as we were happy. And we sure were happy when she treated us to old favourites like 'Gloria' and 'Power to the People'. At the request of someone at the front of the audience she dedicated 'Pissing in the River' to Janis Joplin while during 'Banga' the band had us all barking and yelping like dogs. Guitarist Lenny Kaye brought a cheer from the Newcastle crowd by making mention of Kevin Keegan and north east punk outfit, Penetration.
Finally the band encored with a rousing rendition of 'Rock'n'Roll Nigger' that almost brought the house down. As she ripped the strings from her Statocaster to hand out to folks in the front row, Patti said that she had had fun playing in Newcastle. I, for one, believed her.
Bronco - Bumpers West
Bronco unfortunately only released two albums during the early 1970's, 'Country Home' from which this track is taken, in 1970 and 'Ace of Sunlight' the following year.
They were fronted by vocalist Jess Roden who early in his professional career joined white soul outfit The Alan Bown Set. Moving to a more psychedelic pop format, the band changed their name to The Alan Bown! and with Roden released only one album, the imaginatively titled 'Outward Bown'.
Despite recording a second album with the band, Roden decided to leave and his vocals were re-recorded by his replacement, Robert Palmer. Incidentally the original version of the album with vocals by Jess Roden was released in the US and today it is pretty hard to come by.
Roden then spent a couple of years with Bronco before joining forces with two members of The Doors, releasing an album under the name The Butts Band. He then formed his own outfit but after a few highly regarded albums he left the music scene altogether and turned his attention to graphic design. His re-emergence in the mid 1990's as Jess Roden & The Humans was sadly short lived and he now appears to have retired from the music business. In my opinion, it is a sad loss as he possesses one of the finest and most soulful voices I have ever heard. Listen to the track and let me know what you think.
To the best of my knowledge both Bronco albums have been deleted but I managed to obtain an import copy of both albums on one CD.
There will be more about Jess Roden in a future blog and for other fans of his music out there, some very interesting news!!
Meanwhile, enjoy this hidden gem.
Incredibly it's been a full nine years since the last album of new original material from Little Feat. Admittedly they followed 2003's 'Kickin' at the Barn' with 'Join The Band' in 2008 but that was something of a stop gap being a trawl through their back catalogue with a host of guest vocalists and musicians. Now they've released 'Rooster Rag' which features mainly original songs and happens to be the first album with new drummer Gabe Ford who replaced Richie Hayward following his death two years ago.
I happen to be one of the many who believe that Little Feat were at their best during the ten year period (1969-1979) that Lowell George fronted the band. Since then their output has been somewhat patchy but I believe this new album is something of a return to form. With only Bill Payne surviving from the original 1969 line up and Paul Barrere, Kenny Gradney and Sam Clayton surviving since 1972, the trademark Little Feat sound remains intact. Additionally I should add that Fred Tackett remains present from the 1987 line up and on this album he adds some very fine mandolin, slide guitar and trumpet.
It has always been hard to categorise the music of Little Feat as they freely switch between blues, boogie, jazz-funk, country and good old rock'n'roll. This album is no exception with Mississippi John Hurt's 'Candy Man Blues' getting things off to a rollicking boogie-woogie start. This is quickly followed by the bluegrass style title track. And so it goes on.
The sensual 'Church Falling Down' features lush mandolin and spooky organ and vocals aside could almost be mistaken for a recent offering by Dr John. 'One Breath At A Time' seems to hark back to 'Rock and Roll Doctor' from 1974's 'Feats Don't Fail Me Now' and one could be forgiven for thinking that it and 'Salome' were out-takes from the 1970's line-up.
I know I'm making a bold statement by daring to make comparisons with the Lowell George incarnation of the band but I really do think that with this album, Little Feat have come very close to producing another great album. Not quite up to the standard of the 70's material but not far off.
It's been a long time coming but it's been worth the wait.
Writing in The Observer recently, Catherine Bennett raised some worrying news for those who have so far resisted the temptations of Facebook. It appears that James Holmes the killer of 12 people in a Colorado cinema and the Norwegian mass killer Anders Breivik, were both 'resisters'. This is concerning news indeed for while I am not a total resister, I do have resisting tendencies. It seems that those who seek to share their most embarrassing photos and random thoughts and actions can now proudly wear the badge of normality.
I initially registered with Facebook for two reasons. One was to access photos posted by my son while he was travelling in South East Asia though this was admittedly short lived while he was experiencing a problem posting pictures on his blog. The second reason was out of idle curiosity. I just had to see what everyone else was going on about. The experience left me unimpressed and it was not too long before my account was deactivated.
Then I found myself feeling excluded while sharing a pint with friends who rattled on about various Facebook related activities they had shared. I must be missing something I thought to myself. I was aware of some people who appeared to be constantly posting comments on one of the many social networking sites so consequently my Facebook account was re-activated. How could I knock it if I had not given it a fair trial?
Now I have experienced three months of being bombarded by notifications of people posting photos, people commenting on photos and people commenting on comments. Occasionally something makes me smile but generally I feel that the time I spend on Facebook is time wasted. Recently that time has diminished to the point where I thought why bother. I should add hastily that this is very much a personal opinion, lest I offend anyone who finds Facebook, interesting, useful or just entertaining. However I have also recently witnessed the less tasteful side of Facebook where two people I know and who deserve better have been subjected to what can only be described as cyber bullying. Shameful and very sad but I guess if it goes on in the real world, then why should we be surprised when it also goes on in the "cyber world" where people can more easily hide their own true identities.
I know that rather than taking the drastic step of closing my account, I could remain as a member and just take a peep every now and then to see what, if anything, is going on. This seems a little bit voyeuristic for my liking, so while considering whether to deactivate my account for the final time, I chanced upon the comments of Ms. Bennett. I hesitated. Would people think me weird, or should I say, more weird than they do now? Would I suddenly feel the urge to grab an AK47 and eliminate a few politicians or bankers? Would I suddenly feel lost and alienated from the world of social networking?
Well, today I have done the deed. My account is now switched off. And the answers to the above questions?
Probably
Occasionally
Not a chance.
Pale And Precious
This is the first in what I intend to be a series of "hidden gems".
From The Dukes of Stratosphear, this is 'Pale and Precious' a pastiche of 'Pet Sounds' era Beach Boys.
The Dukes of Stratosphear was a side project of the band XTC and was intended to pay homage to some of the finer psychedelic bands of the late 1960's.
Listen and enjoy.
Plaudits must go to Free Reed records and music for coming up with some of the best box sets available in the folk music genre. Among the finest must be this 5 disc set from legendary singer/songwriter/guitarist, Richard Thompson.
Housed in a sturdy box, four of the CDs come in jewel cases and represent Thompson at his very best. One disc covers essential Richard Thompson as voted for by fans, friends and fellow musicians. Another features some lengthy improvisational workouts in a live setting. The third disc contains his version of songs by other artists, while the fourth disc has twenty songs by Thompson based upon real life events, real places and real people.
The final disc in the package comes in a mini replica album sleeve and contains fifteen real rarities. Unreleased songs drawing on live recordings, demos and studio out-takes spanning the period between 1971 and 2005. Add to all of this glorious music a superb 172 page book written and researched by Nigel Schofield, and you will realise what great value this package represents (the book alone sells separately for £12.99). Incidentally you also get a replica 1952 Vincent brochure. Fans of Richard Thompson will understand the significance of this.
Oh and I almost forgot to mention that as a purchaser of one of the first 5,000 of these sets, I also received a unique bonus CD drawing together Thompson contributions to Free Reed packages by other artists including Martin Carthy, Ashley Hutchings, Albion Country Band, Elvis Costello and of course, Fairport Convention.
You can read the full details of this wonderful set on the official Richard Thompson website, Beeswing. (http://www.richardthompson-music.com/boxedset.asp)
The package is still currently available from Amazon at £48.47.
Put it on your Christmas list.
