The Afterword

Musings on the byways of popular culture

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Paul McCartney – The Biography

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Author:Philip Norman

Soufflé Speak. I don’t know if Philip Norman himself coined that expression, but it crops up countless times in this biography of Paul McCartney. It’s an unflattering term referring to Macca’s ability to charm his way through any interview situation with seemingly open and friendly answers, while simultaneously remaining diplomatic and giving away very little of value.

Thankfully this book manages to dig much deeper than Paul’s Soufflé Speak to come up with one of the most readable and searching McCartney biographies on the market. Philip Norman has been here before of course, authoring fine books about the Beatles, Stones, Jagger, Lennon, and others. But it was Norman’s 1981 Fabs biography Shout which very nearly scuppered this entire project. It seems McCartney wasn’t happy with the way he saw himself portrayed in the book, which he called “Shite”. It was the familiar picture: John the cynical rocker vs Paul the soppy ballad writer. Some snarky quotes from Yoko didn’t help, either. It took some doing, but Norman eventually won McCartney over and eventually received tacit approval to write this book.

I don’t know about you, but I never get tired of diving into what is, let’s face » Continue Reading.

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Dylan digs DONOVAN

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Whilst I was on my annual Irish Roadtrip I had a good afternoon watching the Criterion Blu-Ray of ‘Don’t Look Back’, all scrubbed up again – never looked better and with sound taken from the original tapes for which they had to reconstruct a player as they were on a format used for about 5 minutes in 1965.

One thing that jumps out at you in the much clearer conversations is that after Donny plays his rather slight little ditty , he actually ASKS Bob to play ‘It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue’ which of course puts a completely different spin on events. I was trying to work out who Bob is addressing his sly looks to on his right as he sings ie away from Donovan.

If anyone is wavering about double (or triple / quadruple) dipping for this new edition I’d say go for it. The extras from previous edition are pretty much intact and new interviews with Pennebaker, Nerwirth, Greil Marcus and others including Patti Smith illuminating plus some extra out-take bits and bobs I hadn’t seen before.

Currently several retailers are doing 2 for 25 quid on Criterion title so its £14 most places but why » Continue Reading.

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Please sir, can I have some more?

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There are a couple of bands who have never officially split up yet have not released any albums for quite a while.

If I had a wish list for 2017 I would like to see new albums from: Guillemots – their last album Hello Land was their best and now complete silence and a moribund website. Was not was – Okay so Don Was is an in-demand producer but they never split up. New album please or better still some live shows? Fountains of Wayne – some new activity more than welcome guys.

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What a flipping rotter

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This Bill Grundy interview took place 40 years ago today. I was in Leeds at the time, getting ready for the Anarchy In The UK tour to come to town in a few weeks, so was not able to see the interview shown in the London area. The following day everyone knew about it as the tabloids only had one story taking over their front pages. The Filth and The Fury! Needless to say the shit hit the fan but we stood our ground and refused to cancel. It also made it easier to sell out the venue.

Any regrets from that time? I wish I had kept the bundle of tour posters delivered to my flat instead of flyposting them around Leeds. They are worth a fortune now!

We did quite well out of the whole fiasco. Most punk bands of that time wanted to play Leeds Poly after that. It ruined Bill Grundy’s career though. He was probably more pissed than the Sex Pistols & chums on the night. Michael Parkinson describes him as,

“A difficult man to keep sober, but not to produce. He was one of the best front men I ever worked with…At » Continue Reading.

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Wolf Creek 2

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Year: 2014 Director: Greg McLean

The original ‘Wolf Creek’ in 2005 ruled my world with its slow, stealthy build-up, brilliant use of environment, brutal kills and none-more-nihilistic outlook. The story of backpackers meeting grisly ends at the hands of an Outback serial killer, it didn’t do much that was new, but did it with a brio, cynicism and nastiness rarely seen since ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’.

Fast-forward to 2014, when I was among those curling my lip at the very idea of ‘Wolf Creek 2’. It had been a long time. And after all, ‘Wolf Creek’ didn’t need a sequel. It is what it is. Reviews decrying it as a workaday retread lacking those very things that made the original unique served only to reinforce my ‘Wolf Creek 2’ prejudice, and I waved it off the boat.

Click forward two more years to October 2016, when among a treasure trove of birthday gifts was a box set of the ‘Wolf Creek’ TV show, something I didn’t even know existed until that moment. The idea of a series treatment of ‘Wolf Creek’ intrigued me way more than a straight-up sequel, particularly since the cover shows a kick-ass chick with a » Continue Reading.

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Testimony

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Author:Robbie Robertson

This is Robbie Robertson’s autobiography and goes up to the Last Waltz and the breakup of The Band. Although it’s a long book to cover 33 years, it’s an interesting story, even in the parts which aren’t to do with music, because of his unusual background. He was brought up by his mother and father in Toronto, but still paid regular visits to his mother’s Mohawk relatives on the Six Nations Reservation. When his parents divorced, he found out that his real father was a professional gambler who had died in a road accident; his father’s brother welcomes him into the family, but then turns out to be heavily involved in deals with the Mafia. He writes perceptively about all of this.

The main story is the music, though, and as he points out, he started out playing rock and roll just as it was starting, and he had a big role in some of the changes it went through. Lots of interesting stuff about the life of touring with Ronnie Hawkins, but the main character here is Levon Helm, who Robertson regarded as an elder brother and describes with great affection. There is no mention of Helm’s » Continue Reading.

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DONOVAN – Performs Sunshine Superman at the Royal Albert Hall – DVD

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What does it sound like?:

Donovan comes in for a fair amount of good-natured derision here on the Afterword, much of it well deserved. He does tend to take himself far too seriously, after all. But look beyond the hubris and self-importance and you’ll find a unique talent and some truly timeless songs.

This double DVD set comes in a CD sized card sleeve and looks to be the product of a busy cottage industry which sells merchandise from Donovan’s base in Ireland. I say “cottage industry” because, although nicely designed, these appear to be the kind of blue discs you’d copy at home. I guess that’s the way it works with small production runs from independent record labels these days. And yes, my copy is hand signed by the man himself.

Recorded at London’s Royal Albert Hall in June 2011, but held back until now (presumably to tie-in with the 50th anniversary) what we have here is the full US version of the Sunshine Superman album, plus extras, performed live with a full orchestra, backing singers and a rock band including a handful of big-name guests. The London Contemporary Orchestra is conducted by Don’s long-time arranger John Cameron. » Continue Reading.

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Hit singles with titles that have nothing to do with the song

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Calling a single by the lyric in the chorus is a tried and tested route to success. She Loves You, You Spin Me Round (Like a Record), Agadoo are just three of many hundreds of hit songs that hit paydirt doing just that. Other big songs may have a title that refers in some way to what’s coming up – Unchained Melody, An American Trilogy, New Song by Howard Jones.

Thinking about New Order earlier made me reflect on their contrarian ways. I can imagine a delighted Tony Wilson and Rob Gretton listening to this new single – assuming it to be called “Morning Sun” and excitedly imagining how they’d promote it, only to learn that it’s called True Faith. Similarly, Bizarre Love Triangle, Round and Round and Fine Time. All singles with unhelpful titles. The titles don’t refer to the song’s lyric in any way.

After a brief period of brain-wracking, I am struggling to come up with many more – unless of course you know different. I’m talking hit singles with lyrics here – not enigmatic album tracks or instrumentals (there’s loads of those).