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Living The Beatles Legend – The Mal Evans Story

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Author:Kenneth Womack

Even if you don’t recognize the name, you will have seen pictures with him in. According to Kenneth Womack, Evans was quite deliberate, sticking close to his charges, knowing there would be a very good chance he’d end up in the finally published picture. Hard to miss at 6ft 3, he’s ever present throughout the 8 hours of “Get Back”, the man with the guitar picks, tea and toast. Getting arrested at the end of the rooftop concert was a perfect encapsulation of his role – the friendly giant who always stood between the Fab Four and those that wanted to get to them.

Author Womack has written numerous books on the Beatles and was chosen by Evans son Gary and daughter Julie to tell their fathers story. Womack was given Evans diaries, the autobiographical manuscript Evans never managed to get published in his lifetime, and a treasure trove of memorabilia that he had squirreled away having worked with The Beatles from their days at the Cavern to beyond the split and the collapse of Apple into their solo careers.

Hired at George’s suggestion because of his imposing presence, Evans was unusual as a bodyguard and roadie » Continue Reading.

Heavenly Cream: An Acoustic Tribute To Cream – Various Artists

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What does it sound like?:

Six years in the making, this album celebrates Pete Brown’s involvement with Cream, offering up 15 acoustic interpretations of Cream songs with a fairly stellar cast of contributors, including Joe Bonamassa, Deborah Bonham, Maggie Bell, Clem Clempson, Neil Murray, Paul Rodgers and Bobby Rush. Sadly, in the time it’s taken to get from recording to release, it’s also seen the passing of Pete Brown himself earlier this year, as well as Bernie Marsden, Mo Foster and Ginger Baker. Malcolm Bruce is the only person to perform on all tracks, either on bass or piano, plus a vocal on “We’re Going Wrong” that has more than a hint of his father.

Brown’s songs provide the backbone of the album but there are omissions such as “SWLABR” as well as songs he had no hand in such as “We’re Going Wrong” and “Born Under A Bad Sign”. Whilst acoustic albums allow / necessitate a degree of reinterpretation, the songs are presented fairly faithfully. The switch to acoustic has minimal impact to the bass and drums, so it’s the vocals and the way in which Clapton’s guitar has been replaced that gives the songs a new » Continue Reading.

Absolute Beginner

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Author:Kevin Armstrong

I’m not sure of the date – middle of 1974 possibly. I was back in Orpington spending time with my mate Mark, on the street where we’d both grown up, now aspiring rock stars at the heady age of 14. Mark had upped the ante by getting a black Les Paul copy, a 15w amp that had dire mains hum, and a Cry Baby pedal. The only thing holding either of us back from stardom was a total absence of talent plus in my case, a total absence of an instrument. Several of Mark’s mates had formed a band, and we spent a day watching them practice. Mark seemed enthralled no doubt hoping to be asked to “sit in” whilst I was bored out of my gourd, manifesting a thumping headache born out of becoming massively de-hydrated (refreshments were only for the band, OK?). The only thing that made it interesting was the presence of a local guitarist called Kevin who had agreed to watch, play a little and offer a few tips. He was slight, friendly if a little distant, perking up when I mentioned Frank Zappa. It was clear that Kevin could really play and keep » Continue Reading.

Joe Bonamassa – Blues Deluxe Volume II

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What does it sound like?:

For his second release of 2023 Joe returns with an album (mostly) of cover versions billed as the sequel to Volume I, which was released back in 2003. He also releases a remastered of Volume I at the same time.

Joe explains “On Blues Deluxe Vol. 2, I asked my great friend Josh Smith to produce a record to be a companion to the anniversary edition of the first album, and hopefully demonstrate a bit of how I have progressed over the last 20 years,” Bonamassa adds. “The contrast between a cocky 26-year-old and an established 46-year-old is considerable. Does the fire still burn like it did? Am I still playing hungry? Am I even good enough to pay tribute to my heroes all over again? The answer lies somewhere in this album.”

Well …..

Both albums feature some fairly deep cuts as well as a few originals. Volume I covers some slightly more familiar ground – BB King’s “You Upset Me Baby”, Jeff Beck’s “Blues Deluxe”, T Bone Walker’s “Long Distance Blues”. This time round there’s Pee Wee Crayton’s “Win-O”, Bobby Parker’s “It’s Hard But It’s Fair” and Albert King’s “You » Continue Reading.

Anymore For Anymore – The Ronnie Lane Story

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Author:Caroline and David Stafford

I saw Ronnie Lane live just once; January 2nd 1976 at the Great British Music Festival held at Olympia in London. Sandwiched mid bill, on before Nazareth and Bad Company, but after The Pretty Things and Be Bop Deluxe, their country flavoured, good time rock n roll wasn’t done any favours by the aircraft hanger acoustics, or the harder rock tastes of the crowd. The only memory I have of their set were the can-can dancers (led by Ronnie’s then wife Kate) that took to the stage towards the end.

By the time I saw him, Lane was fully invested in performing and recording on his own terms, a wandering troubadour who had eschewed the glitz and glamour that had been the hallmark of his time with the Small Faces and Faces, swapping limos for caravans and stadium gigs for a tent. An act that was the very embodiment of what Glastonbury would subsequently become but never got the chance to be part of.

Authors David and Caroline Stafford have written quite a catalogue of music / media biographies, including Kenney Everett, Lionel Bart, The Police, Billy Fury and Adam Faith but this isn’t cash for » Continue Reading.

Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2023

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Venue:

Various

Date: 11/08/2023

This started as some notes that would serve as a reminder of what I’d seen across 10 days at this years Edinburgh Fringe as you no longer have ticket stubs to remind you, and I thought I might as well fill it out a little and post it here. It’s something of a mammoth post – apologies if it’s too much but I thought it better to be a single review rather than split across several. I had a great time there, I hope some of the following is of interest to someone.

The best Ahir Shah – Ends : a few weeks before the festival Shah offered ticket holders a 1/3rd refund because he thought the show wasn’t fully ready. And then went on to win the Edinburgh Comedy Award with it. Inspired by watching “Goodness Gracious Me” with his grandparents, he packs an enormous amount into an hour. He weaves between the changing face of multiculturalism in the UK – “thrilled” that Sunak has become PM whilst being “politically furious”, and straight forward observational gags like discovering what his name means in Arabic. His reflections on the sacrifices made by his grandparents are » Continue Reading.

Bernie Marsden

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Obituary

I’ve just seen an announcement from Bernie’s family that he passed away last night, having had a spell of illness following an operation last year.

I’ve always had more interest in his solo work than the Whitesnake years. He released 3 cds in 2021/22 which focused on the Chess label, Albert/BB/Freddie King and some more rocky cover versions in turn, all of which I play regularly. He was a frequent guest when Gov’t Mule and Joe Bonamassa came to the UK, his playing always sharp, his voice understatedly excellent, as the video below shows.

I met him a couple of times, a brief chat after a show in Banbury and then at a private gig he played for some well off friends of my my ex wife. I’m still pissed that the photos the “official” photographer took of us on the day never showed up. He showed up at my house in 2017, delivering in person his autobiography. I was out. It’s a marvelous read nonetheless, and reviewed on this site (twice as it turns out).

RIP

Joe Bonamassa – Tales of Time

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What does it sound like?:

It’s an understatement to say that Joe is a driven individual, acknowledging his early struggles fuel his relentless recording and performing schedule. By the age of 14 he had appeared with BB King and Danny Gatton, been on national TV, signed by Premier Artists – but still couldn’t get a solo recording deal. So Premier made him the focus of a band they called Bloodline where he played alongside Erin Davis (son of Miles), Waylon Krieger (son of Robbie), Aaron Hagar (son of Sammy) and Berry Oakley Jr (son of … ). They made one album in 1994 before “musical differences” saw Joe and the band go their separate ways.

Manager Roy Weisman opted to stick with Joe, and things haven’t worked out too badly. Roy is the “R” of “J&R Adventures”, the management company that he and Joe set up as a way of taking control of Bonamassa’s third album. Since then, it’s grown to incorporate concert promotion, meaning J&R decide what to record, when to release it, and they book and promote the venues where Joe performs. It’s a time-consuming, hands-on approach, but Joe believes his time in the spotlight is limited, » Continue Reading.

Gary Rossington / Michael Rhodes / Tom Stephen

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Obituary

What a miserable week – three musicians have passed who I’d seen live and whose studio work I’d enjoyed for many years.

Gary Rossington – the last surviving original member died on Sunday the 5th. I saw him play just once, when I caught part of the never ending farewell tour back in 2019, shortly before he was sidelined with heart problems which no doubt accounts for the subdued performance I saw. He broke both arms, legs, wrists, and ankles, and his pelvis in the infamous crash of 1977. He recovered and played with steel rods in his right arm and right leg but in the suffered a serious addiction to pain killers in the following years, although this didn’t stop him from forming his own band and well as one with fellow Skynyrd original Allen Collins. I played the double live “One More From The Road” until my copy nearly wore out and Rossington’s guitar on “Give Me 3 Steps” and slide on “Freebird” stand out moments.

Tom Stephen – Tom was the drummer and » Continue Reading.

ATM – Replacement for a Verbatim Media Player

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Over the years this little gizmo proved useful – it created a wi-fi hotspot and then allowed you to watch films etc from USB sticks or SD cards on an iPad. The app they provided to do this now just crashes and VLC demands domain names and passwords so I think we’ve reached the end of the road.

Does anyone know of anything that could replace it?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Verbatim-98243-MediaShare-Wireless/dp/B00CZ0P0PS

Gridiron fans?

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Are there any other NFL fans among us? This weekend sees the final games of the regular season; after this it’s the playoffs culminating in the Superbowl 57 in Arizona on Feb 12th (half time entertainment from Rihanna).

I first became interested when Channel 4 showed a weekly highlights package back in 1982. They took some trouble to explain what was going on (pretty simple really – 4 attempts to run or throw the ball forward at least 10 yards) and in highlight form, the action came pretty thick and fast. Whilst some teams ground out games with one punishing run after another, some of the passing plays seemed to defy physics. How could people catch the ball whilst running, jumping and twisting? Live coverage in the UK was initially pretty lumpy, with UK presenters struggling to be ready each time there was a commercial break and the time difference could sometimes mean games not starting until 1am here. But it’s got better and although behind a paywall, for those that can afford it, Sky’s coverage is comprehensive and good quality.

During the 80’s I even tried to take up playing in one of the new UK leagues, but » Continue Reading.

Aynsley Lister – Along For The Ride

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What does it sound like?:

“Along For The Ride” finds Lister in a reflective mood. Although his blues roots are never far away, this release sees a further evolution from material that tended to showcase his guitar playing to a songwriter who also plays guitar. Rather well as it turns out.

Lister was getting ready to record the follow up to 2016’s “Eyes Wide Open” when the first lockdown struck and most of the songs that were ready then are presented here. “Is This Really Happening Now” and “World Is Falling” relate directly to the pandemic, but Lister writes from the heart and inevitably the last 2 years have added some colour to some of the other songs.

Guitar and bass drum kick things off with Lister taking a swipe at the perfidious nature of social media. The sparse beginning is clearly just a ruse to pull you in, and before you know it, we’re off and away. If this doesn’t have you tapping your foot it’s probably too late to call 111. My only complaint is that the breakdown at the end just doesn’t last anywhere long enough. One of the best cuts on the album.

“Bide My » Continue Reading.

Deep Purple / Blue Öyster Cult

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Venue:

Utilita Arena, Birmingham

Date: 25/10/2022

The tickets were a 60th birthday present purchased in 2019, held in lockdown for 2 years by which time I’d divorced the person that bought them for me and moved 150 miles from the venue. I had a host of reasons why it wasn’t worth going – it’s a huge arena, the view and sound will suck, it’s 5 hours driving for a 45 minute BOC set. But then I got over myself and went.

Blue Oyster Cult With the show listing a 7.30 start I assumed an 8pm kick off, but a trouble free journey meant we were seated by 7.20 which was just as well as BOC took the stage exactly 10 minutes later. I was expecting a set that would combine promotion of “The Symbol Remains” along with the closest thing BOC have to greatest hits for 45 minutes. A pleasant surprise therefore to get a 60 minute show that included “Transmaniacon MC”, a thumping “Harvester of Eyes” as well as “Train True” and “That Was Me” from “Remains”. Richie Castellano worked hard to engage the crowd for not a great deal of return (at least at first), but the » Continue Reading.

Massive Wagons – Triggered

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What does it sound like?:

I can’t think of a band more suited to a live sing a long whilst stamping your feet and the dent the lockdowns must have made in their progress. Still, it doesn’t seem to have daunted them and “Triggered” (album number 6) picks up pretty much where “House Of Noise” left off back in 2020.

The Wagons play pounding hard rock where guitar solos are secondary to a belting chorus and clever word play. There’s more than a dash of AC/DC in what they do, but there’s plenty of Slade and The Darkness in the mix too. They have more “H’s” than Line of Duty – heavy, harmonies, hooky, and humorous.

The album kicks of with “Fuck The Haters” – so it will be Mike Reid’s pick of the week for sure – a vast, anthemic endorsement of doing your own thing that for me is trying just a bit too hard. “Please Stay Calm” has the Wagons in a slightly more restrained Def Leppard frame of mind, before they hit the bullseye with “Generation Prime”, “A.S.S.H.O.L.E”, and “Triggered”.

“Generation Prime” takes a swipe at the demand for instant gratification and disposability (“I » Continue Reading.

Alter Bridge – Pawns & Kings

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What does it sound like?:

Tapping my foot to a song is usually as far as I’ll go in terms of expressing my enthusiasm. Getting up and dancing? Well, that’s confined to a highly selective playlist – “Gimme Some Lovin” by Spencer Davis, “Lady Marmalade” by Labelle, “Get Into The Groove” by Madonna. And “One Day Remains” from Alter Bridge’s debut album of the same name. If there’s not enough room to throw some shapes playing air drums has to suffice, although it’s hard to keep up, the song a glorious aural avalanche that creates the feeling of being hammered into the side of a mountain whilst simultaneously sledding down it.

Alter Bridge are a post grunge metal band that emerged from (and still occasionally re-incarnate as) Creed, having built a strong following in the US and Europe from extensive touring and recording – this is their 7th studio album. Guitarist Mark Tremonti creates towering walls of sound, and AB’s trademark mix of melody and out and out heavy riffing is still very much in evidence.

Opener “This Is War” has an epic feel, leaning further towards thrash metal than they have in the past, a sci-fi film » Continue Reading.

Blue Öyster Cult

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Venue:

Sony Hall, New York

Date: 23/09/2022

Blue Öyster Cult celebrated their 50th anniversary with 3 nights in New York, playing their first 3 albums in full (one each night) followed by a set that mixed deep cuts with their better known stuff. The final night, showcasing “Secret Treaties” sold out quickly (so quick in fact I had to sell a kidney to get a ticket from the secondary market) – the other nights selling out about a month ahead of the gigs.

The Venue – it sounds a lot grander than it actually is, located on in the basement of the Paramount Hotel. Renovated in 2013 at a reported cost of $20m, with state of the art audio but seemingly nothing left over for the seating which remain the very essence of cramped and uncomfortable (although I’m grateful that it wasn’t 3 nights of standing gigs). VIPs were seated around the edge of the hall, with the plebs cammed onto tables in the middle of the hall. Most of us ended up looking sideways at the stage, but walking around it was hard to see anywhere that didn’t have a great view.

The Band – since 2004 BÖC » Continue Reading.

Rory Gallagher – Deuce 50th Anniversary Edition

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What does it sound like?:

Few artists have had a decade as prolific as Gallagher’s was in the 1970’s. 10 albums in as many years, of which “Deuce” was his second as a solo artist. After a disappointing first album “Deuce” intended to capture the rawness and energy of his live shows although ultimately fared little better than it’s predecessor, sitting in the Top 20 for just a week. But within a year Gallagher’s reputation as one of the finest blues guitarists of all time was established with the release of “Live In Europe”.

This is the third mix of the original – a remix released in 1998 added a bonus track “Persuasion” which curiously doesn’t make it onto this box set. However the 4cd format (there’s also a 2cd version and 3LPs) adds a raft out takes, demos and perhaps most valuably two live sets taken from Bremen in 1971 and a BBC set recorded in 1972 at the Paris Theatre in London.

Gallagher would become famous for his highly charged live performances but his studio albums always contained more variety. Listening to this 50 years on it’s a remarkably raw, intense and confident, even if it » Continue Reading.

Sex Pistols – I Wanna Be Me

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Author:Dave Simpson

A quick look on Amazon suggests that as subject matter for a book, the Sex Pistols are already well served to the point of saturation. There are the autobiographies from band members (only Paul Cook has yet to cash in), the sound engineer’s story (Dave Goodman), the inside (?) scoop (Fred and Judy Vermorel), the bands legacy in it’s wider social context (Jon Savage), books devoted to single gigs, the 90 days at EMI, the US tour and so on. There’s even a colouring book and the TV series of “Lonely Boy”. But with the sort of hyperbole that Malcom McLaren would surely have approved of, we are told “this book is the definitive history of the Sex Pistols”.

Written by Dave Simpson (Guardian music critic, author of “The Fallen” and consequently according to Mark E Smith “a fucking twat”) while it might be covering familiar territory, Simpson makes the most of being so late to the party, comparing and contrasting the different accounts already on the record. There’s a somewhat inauspicious start, with the Grundy interview laid out (once again) verbatim, but thereafter a fairly pacey narrative benefits from the various perspectives and disagreements. Simpson does » Continue Reading.

These Streets

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Author:Luan Goldie

This is Goldie’s third novel and she returns to East End of London, the backdrop to her debut “Nightingale Point”, where she grew up and taught in a primary school. Written during lockdown, Goldie paints a sharp picture of post Olympic Stratford, the dust is settling on a legacy that seems to be mainly a huge Westfield shopping mall, and West Ham’s former home the Boleyn Ground flattened to be replaced by a housing estate.

Goldie specializes in believable characters that push the story along with a gentle undercurrent of humor. There aren’t any sudden plot twists or shocking revelations – indeed it was perhaps a little too easy to see how the story would end. That said, single mother Jess, anxiety ridden Ben and Jess’s oddball father Wolff are always credible, often funny and drawn with enough sympathy to keep you hoping things will turn their way.

The publicity around the book has leant on Jess’s fight to avoid homelessness (first novel “Nightingale Point” was cited for it’s parallels to the Grenfell Tower disaster) and whilst Jess’s struggle to keep a roof over her head is the thread that holds the story together, it’s really much » Continue Reading.

Ru$e

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Author:Robert Kerbeck

Kerbeck’s story mixes something fairly familiar – actor wanabee who doesn’t make the grade, with something I’d never seen written about before – making money by “rusing” major corporations; conning them into handing over details of their top performing employees and selling this data to head hunting firms. On paper, it may sound a bit niche, but after a slightly slow start, Kerbeck’s punchy, no nonsense story telling makes it a real page turner.

Kerbeck knew he didn’t want to join his father’s car dealership. He sought creativity over commerce. Despite being a natural at selling cars, he set his sights on becoming an actor. To keep a roof over his head while he waits for his big break, instead of bartending or waiting at tables, he accepts a gig working for a woman who employs a couple of actors. Their job is to ring Wall Street firms and talk them in to handing over the names, job titles and performance figures of people working in their biggest revenue generating departments. This data on so called “passive candidates” carries a premium value because it features people who aren’t already on headhunters books and their performance figures come from » Continue Reading.

The man who sold his catalouge (sort of)

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Bowie’s back catalouge fetches an alleged $250m. Somewhat less then Springsteen’s $500m deal last month. I’d be interested to understand why Bruce’s stuff was twice as valuable.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/dec/16/bruce-springsteen-sells-entire-back-catalogue-of-music-to-sony-for-500m-report

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/jan/03/david-bowie-publishing-rights-to-song-catalogue-sold-for-250m

Joe Bonamassa – Time Clocks

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What does it sound like?:

Releasing a new studio album every year poses a challenge to Bonamassa’s marketing team, challenging them to explain how this one differs from what went before, why this one is the one you need. The pitch this time is that this is Joe’s most adventurous recording to date, the songs having morphed from recording as a trio. Having played this back to back with his last two studio releases – “Royal Tea” and “Redemption” – I’m finding it hard to see the difference other than Joe seems to have been unlucky in love – surely the perfect premise for a blues album?

So intensive is Joe’s production schedule that he’s now rotating his playing squad. Off the bench comes drummer Anton Fig, whilst Steve Mackey (bass), Lachy Doley take over from Michael Rhodes and Reese Wynans on bass and organ.

A 54 second opener “Pilgrimage” invokes John Mayall before giving way to “Notches”, a pulsing mid tempo rocker co-written with Blackberry Smoke’s Charlie Starr. Bonamassa seems to be in a rueful frame of mind, singing about having travelled the world, and being double crossed. A sparse riff treads a fine line between earworm » Continue Reading.