A bit surprised no one else has posted this but, in case you missed it, there is a Bowie digital EP being drip fed over the next few weeks and a (wouldn’tyerjustknowit) Record Store limited edition LP/CD release in April of unreleased material.

This version of The Man Who Sold The World is rather good….!

https://www.davidbowie.com/blog/2020/1/7/parlophone-to-issue-unreleased-bowie-tracks

I know we have been here before on here, and I’ve been moaning for years about RSD and its creation of overpriced releases, but this article makes the case better than I can. A friend used to run a small indie record shop and he hated the whole thing – he was not allowed to sell beyond a certain price and had to watch buyers hoovering stuff to put it on eBay, so it did very little for his turnover and led to disgruntled regulars.

This also makes the case for all of this driving up prices generally, even in chazzas ….oh, and No Parlez gets a mention, so is the author an Afterworder by chance..?

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/dec/04/a-very-black-friday-how-the-fetish-for-vinyl-is-sending-prices-soaring?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Bit of a surprise to see this scheduled for next February, but seems reasonably priced.

Track list…

DISC ONE – OCTOBER 4, 1968 – Oakland Coliseum, Oakland (previously unreleased, except *)

White Room * Politician * Crossroads Sunshine Of Your Love Spoonful Deserted Cities Of The Heart * Passing The Time I’m So Glad

DISC TWO – OCTOBER 19, 1968 – Los Angeles Forum, Los Angeles (previously unreleased, except *)

Introduction by Buddy Miles White Room Politician * I’m So Glad * Sitting On Top Of The World * Crossroads Sunshine Of Your Love Traintime Toad Spoonful *

DISC THREE – OCTOBER 20, 1968 – San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego (previously unreleased)

White Room Politician I’m So Glad Sitting On Top Of The World Sunshine Of Your Love Crossroads Traintime Toad Spoonful

DISC FOUR – CREAM FAREWELL CONCERT NOVEMBER 26, 1968 – Royal Albert Hall, London (first time released on CD)

White Room Politician I’m So Glad Sitting On Top Of The World Crossroads Toad Spoonful Sunshine Of Your Love Steppin’ Out

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07ZWBMD3D/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I got a sniff of this happening a week or so ago – apparently someone got in touch with our local venue saying that Robert Plant wanted tò do a tour of small venues. The tickets went on sale on Froday and there are a few left if anyone else is down this way. Hilariously, the Exmouth Pavilion have had the emphasise that this is NOT a tribute act….that indicates the usual offerings here!

There is very little on the internet about this new band, setlists etc. Has anyone caught them?

https://www.ledleisure.co.uk/exmouth-pavilion/book-now/saving-grace-featuring-suzi-dian-and-robert-plant

Had this email today….at least it isn’t a wallet threatening mega box!

TRAVELIN’ THRU, 1967-1969: THE BOOTLEG SERIES VOL. 15 Available November 1 1967 saw a profound transformation in Bob Dylan’s musical evolution. Withdrawing from public view following his July 1966 motorcyle accident, he re-emerged in 1967 with John Wesley Harding, recorded in Nashville with a core trio featuring bassist Charlie McCoy and drummer Kenneth Buttrey, the resulting album had a sublime, minimal sound. Follow-up Nashville Skyline, also recorded in Nashville, featured the stirring “Girl From The North Country,” a duet with Johnny Cash. The album would reach number 1 in the U.S. and the U.K.

Now, Travelin’ Thru, 1967-1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 15 revisits Dylan’s pivotal journey to Nashville. This 3CD or 3LP set features outtakes from both albums, including the first release of Dylan and Cash’s joint studio sessions. The package also features Dylan and Cash’s performance on The Johnny Cash Show, two Nashville outtakes from the Self Portrait sessions and tracks recorded in 1970 with Grammy Award-winning bluegrass banjo legend Earl Scruggs for a PBS television special.

Well, well…there has been a deafening silence…until now. Surely this means there WILL be an Abbey Road box..?

Giles Martin Tweet

No, not the Springsteen song (as such) but the record shop. I have been in Cheltenham where I went to college exactly 50 years ago. A lot is the same – a prosperous town with a shopping centre to match, and now with added food and drink outlets. I found they have an HMV in one of the shopping arcades and investigated to see how they are shaping up these days – this branch had racks of vinyl records on the ground floor with a large selection of CDs also very prominently displayed. I didn’t buy anything, but came away far less depressed than after visits in recent years.

Then…down a side street I came across Badlands. I remember the name from a few years ago and had bought things by mail order, but they had gone off my radar. I never even realised they were in Cheltenham (for 33 years, apparently), and it was a real treat to go into a proper record shop again. I had a lovely time going through the racks and chatting to the young chap behind the counter. They sell a lot through eBay now by all accounts, but only have the one, small, » Continue Reading.

I had an email from Spotify yesterday saying that there had been ‘suspicious activity’ on my account and I should change my password. I wasn’t locked out or anything, but my recent activity list clearly shows music I have never played! An internet search shows I’m not alone and techy sites report many users have had this email.

Obviously I have changed my password, but has anyone any thoughts on this..? The implication from my ‘activity’ is that someone has used my account to listen to some music, but I don’t quite understand how that would work, and also this seems to be a large scale problem rather than one just personal to me, so it doesn’t quite add up in my little brain.

I have used Richer Sounds on and off since the 80s when I first discovered their London Bridge shop. As a customer I always found them helpful and obliging, and enjoyed the slightly quirky approach. They seemed to move from the bargain basement approach to embrace listening rooms and decent mid-range gear and the shops gradually smartened up over the years.

It appears that Mr. Richer is indeed something of a model employer and is giving his employees a stake in the business as he retires, instead of selling up and riding off into the sunset. Good for him I say!

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/may/14/richer-sounds-staff-julian-richer?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

This month’s MOJO has a big article on the Rolling Thunder Revue and a casual mention of a 14 CD box set and a new Martin Scorsese documentary…has this slipped past the Afterword hive mind while we were arguing about Game Of Thrones?

I heard this from the kitchen on the 6o’clock news, and got all excited….then I rewound the item and couldn’t believe it. People are getting all in a lather about 11 seconds of film of someone’s tv in 1966 showing the Beatles only ‘live’ appearance on TOTP, playing Paperback Writer. The original BBC video recording was, of course, wiped, but this was discovered in, of all places, Mexico.

Now, I’m as big a Beatles nut as anyone, but to describe this as ‘the holy grail’ seems a bit rich. There was a long piece on the later News as well, with an interview with someone eulogising about it in Liverpool at the Beatles Story exhibition (by the way, that’s a bit crap anyway).

Is it me…? There is loads of great quality footage of the Fabs, so I really can’t see the significance of this besides a faintly interesting story about how this was made and survived, but it adds close to zero about what we know.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-47854806

Endorsed by his widow, so that’s OK then. They’ve dug poor Buddy up now with the excuse that it is 60 years since his last recordings and it will realise ‘what Buddy woulda wanted done’, according to his older brother Larry. The irony that Buddy died in that plane crash because he coudn’t get hold of royalties is probably lost on these grave robbers.

Pretty pissed off about this – paid £99 per ticket last year, booked accomodation etc. and they’ve just announced that the charity that runs it has gone into administration. The Term and Conditions state that there will be no refunds in the event of cancellation, so that’s nearly £200 down the swanny and a long weekend in Looe with no music!

Just popped into my inbox – Steely Dan and Steve Winwood are doing 4 dates next February. You can register for a pre-sale on 6th Sept and on general sale on 7th.

Wednesday Feb 20th – Glasgow Thursday Feb 21st – Manchester Saturday Feb 23rd – Birmingham Monday Feb 25th – London – The SSE Arena

https://www.livenation.co.uk/show/1204541/steely-dan/london/2019-02-25/en

The bastards have been at it again. First they came for Elvis, then poor old Roy Orbison…..and now the Beach Boys have the honour of being slathered in string arrangements. I love the Beach Boys, so much so that this has made me mad as hell. What next? The Kinks? The Small Faces?? I guess anyone who feels they need to wring just a bit more out of their recorded legacy will go for this treatment.

Oh, and the snippet of Fun, Fun, Fun you can here via the link sounds just awful…

https://ume.lnk.to/BeachBoysOrchestralEm?utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_medium=email&utm_content=https%3a%2f%2fUMe.lnk.to%2fBeachBoysOrchestralEm&utm_campaign=22143509&utm_umg_et=313042290

Last night I witnessed this for the first time. I guess this is because I don’t usually go anywhere near the sort of band that attracts this sort of audience, but we were at a gig last night headlined by Ferocious Dog as we like and support Sam Green, who was supporting. We had seen FD at a festival and really like their stuff – fiddle led, sort of like the Pogues, quite political, with a dash of punk and reggae. I actually had a word with the lead singer at a festival, and he is the nicest bloke you can imagine. They even had people bring donations last night for the local food bank, so they are pretty right on.

But…thank the Lord we were in the balcony seats as the smallish standing area at the Exeter Phoenix became a seething mass of blokes with their shirts off throwing themselves at each other. Clearly this was expected behaviour and was all part of their evening’s entertainment, but from above it was just about the most frightening thing I’ve ever witnessed, with guys frequently disappearing to the floor under a mass of bodies.

I’ve obviously led a very sheltered gig » Continue Reading.

After what must be one of the longest ‘lives’ of any band, the Searchers are finally packing it in after 55 years (at least). I suspect many of you won’t care very much, but for me they are a very special group as they were one of the first loves of mine after The Beatles grabbed my attention in 1963. I never really took to Gerry and The Pacemakers, The Swinging Blue Jeans, Billy J. Kramer et al – not enough to invest in their records anyway – but this lot were different. Their early records smacked of energy and urgency – Sweets For My Sweet, Sugar & Spice, Needles and Pins, Don’t Throw Your Love Away were the first four singles and they were number 1,2,1,1 respectively. Astonishingly, in a year spanning mid 1963 to mid 1964 they released those 4 singles plus 3 hit LPs – they were second only to the Beatles at this point. Unfortunately for them, in retrospect it is easy to see that the reasons that this couldn’t last – most significantly, they didn’t have strong songwriters and relied largely on Chris Curtis to identify material. They did have a decent producer in Tony » Continue Reading.

Reports around this evening that Lyndsey Buckingham is no longer in Fleetwood Mac – some say he has quit and some say he was fired.

This would seem to be a fairly fatal blow to the ticket sales for that projected farewell tour! Like them or not, he is pretty indispensable I would say.

Well, well, well….Brian Wilson at a folk festival!

Cropredy 2018