James Grant

 

From Friends Again, through Love and Money and into his solo career I have always admired the voice, guitar playing and songwriting of James Grant

James Grant’s career began in the early eighties, when he formed Friends Again with Chris Thompson (The Bathers). They preferred Supertramp to The Velvet Underground and whats more, were not afraid to admit it.

Although short-lived, their influence was huge, helping to define the emerging sound of the Scottish bands that followed them.

 

“Lullaby No 2″ – Friends Again

It was in Love and Money that James Grant found more widespread recognition; four albums, working with legendary producers such as Gary Katz(Steely Dan) and Tom Dowd(Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton, Aretha Franklin) several hit singles, a world-wide following and silver discs in the UK helped seal his reputation as one of the best songwriters in the country.

In 1996 he contributed four songs to the solo album of Capercaillie vocalist Karen Matheson, including the title track The Dreaming Sea. He has written extensively on all of Karens’ solo albums and continues to work in her band.
Working with musician and producer Donald Shaw and a stellar cast of players he delivered the stunning debut solo album Sawdust In My Veins, followed by the equally acclaimed follow-ups My Thrawn Glory, I Shot The Albatross and Holy Love.

Strange Flowers, his fifth album as a solo artist was released in March 2009.

 

“The Hallowing Touch” – James Grant

 

To buy the music of James Grant click HERE

 

Bonus Track:-

 

“I’ll Comb The Tangles From Your Hair” – James Grant

Mott The Hoople with Lloyd Cole

Glam rock heroes Mott The Hoople stole the show at this year’s Tartan Clefs in Glasgow.

In the era of instant access illegal downloading the role of music in society has been diminished. Pouring out of every bar, club, taxi and window it is often easy to take for granted the life changing role music can have.

Nordoff Robbins is a music therapy charity, an organisation which helps to encourage the development of often severely disabled children by using music.

In the past such stars as Paolo Nutini and Orange Juice have become involved with the charity, often leaving deeply moved by the hard work and dedication shown by those involved. Operating on a shoestring budget the charity held their massive fund raising event the Tartan Clef awards in Glasgow on Friday night (November 27th) featuring a star studded cast.

After a memorable speech from fundraisers those in attendance at the SECC were treated to a vital performance from The View. Currently at work on their third album the band blazed through their recent single ‘Shock Horror’ before paying tribute to those involved in the charity.

Glasgow based hit merchants Lloyd Cole and The Commotions performed two of their classic hits before glam rock titans Mott The Hoople took to the stage.

Cult heroes in the early 70s the band are led by Hamilton born singer Ian Hunter. An inspiration to punk acts such as The Sex Pistols and The Clash, the band were on ferocious form.

First playing their classic hit ‘All The Way To Memphis’ the band then had the crowd on their feet for a rendition of the David Bowie penned ‘All The Young Dudes’.

Leaving to massive applause Mott The Hoople completed their first Scottish show in over thirty years by paying tribute to the work done by Nordoff Robbins.

Watch out for more interviews from the event soon! For more on the work done by Nordoff Robbins click HERE.

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Source www.clashmusic.com

“All The Young Dudes” – Mott The Hoople

To buy the music of Mott The Hoople click HERE

“Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken” – Lloyd Cole and the Commotions

To buy the music of Lloyd Cole and The Commotions click HERE

Return of the Rich Kids

 

Sex Pistols off shoot Rich Kids have reformed and confirmed details of their first show in some 30 years.

One of the main songwriting forces on The Sex Pistols incendiary debut album, Glen Matlock’s role in the band was downplayed after his departure in 1977. Making way for prime anarchist Sid Vicious, the bass player was famously jettisoned for liking The Beatles.

In love with mid 60s British pop, Glen Matlock gathered some of London’s prime punk faces around him to form Rich Kids. Borrowing the talents of Midge Ure, Rusty Egan and Mick Jones the band’s line up never quite settled into one formation.

Lasting just long enough to release one cult classic album and a slew of singles, Rich Kids then splintered as various members went on to enjoy success with others acts.

Invited to re-join The Sex Pistols on their reformation, Glen Matlock has been re-introduced to the punk fold. However the bass player has always kept his solo career going, recently completing a short acoustic tour.

With the Public Image Limited tour set to begin in December, Glen Matlock has been inspired to reform his own post-Pistols project.

Rich Kids announced their reformation last week, intending to play a one off reformation show in aid of former member Steve New who is fighting ill health. The line up has not been confirmed, although a number of special guests are promised.

Rich Kids have confirmed the following show:

January
7 London o2 Academy Islington

Click here to buy tickets to Rich Kids!

Source www.clashmusic.com

“Rich Kids” -Rich Kids

 

Graham Parker

A posting on Graham Parker has been long overdue on this site so here we go but don’t ask me questions.

“Don’t Ask Me Questions” – Graham Parker

Crimson autograph is what we leave behind, everywhere man set foot.
War mongers laughing loud behind a painted face
Throwing titbits to the crowd then blowing up the place.

Chorus

Hey lord dont ask me questions, hey lord dont ask me questions
Hey lord dont ask me questions please!
Hey lord dont ask me questions, hey lord dont ask me questions
Hey lord aint no answer in me. (solo)

Well I stand up for liberty but cant liberate
Pent up agony I see you take first place.
Well who does this treachery I shout with bleeding hand
Is it you or is it me well I never will understand.

Chorus then solo

Well I see the thousands screaming rushing for the cliffs
Just like lemmings into the sea, well well well
Who waves his mighty hand and breaks the precious rules?
Well the same one must understand who wasted all these fools.

Chorus

Aint no answer in me no, aint no answer in me
uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh..

The above track was taken from his 1976 debut album “Howlin’ Wind” which as you can see was credited purely to Graham Parker

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Graham Parker sang in small-time English bands such as the Black Rockers and Deep Cut Three while working in dead-end jobs like a glove factory and a petrol station. In 1975, he recorded a few demo tracks in London with Dave Robinson, who would shortly found Stiff Records and who connected Parker with his first backing band of note, The Rumour.

Graham Parker had one track, “Back to Schooldays”, released on the compilation album, A Bunch of Stiff Records for Stiff Records.

In the summer of 1975 Parker joined forces with ex-members of three British pub-rock bands to form Graham Parker and the Rumour. The new group consisted of Parker (lead vocals, guitar) with Brinsley Schwarz (lead guitar) and Bob Andrews (keyboards) (both ex Brinsley Schwarz), Martin Belmont (rhythm guitar, ex Ducks Deluxe) and Andrew Bodnar (bass) and Steve Goulding (drums) (both ex-Bontemps Roulee). They began doing the rounds of the British pub rock scene, often augmented at times by a four-man horn section known as The Rumour Brass: John “Irish” Earle (saxophone), Chris Gower (trombone), Dick Hanson (trumpet), and Ray Bevis (saxophone).

As noted above the band’s first album, Howlin’ Wind, was released to acclaim in 1976 and was rapidly followed by the stylistically similar Heat Treatment. A mixture of rock, ballads, and reggae-influenced numbers, these albums reflected Parker’s early influences (Motown, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison) and contained the songs which formed the core of Parker’s live shows — “White Honey”, “Soul Shoes”, “Lady Doctor”, “Fool’s Gold”, and his early signature tune “Don’t Ask Me Questions”, which hit the Top 40 in the UK.

Parker and the Rumour built a reputation as incendiary live performers: the promotional album Live at Marble Arch was recorded at this time and shows off their raw onstage style. Like the pub rock scene he was loosely tied to, the singer’s class-conscious lyrics and passionate vocals signaled a renewal of rock music as punk rock began to flower in Britain.

It was 1977’s “Pink Parker” EP which first caught my attention which was supported by this 1977 TOTP performance of The Trammps classic.

It was undoubtedly as a live performer that Parker came into his own though his 1978 live album “Parkerilla” didn’t quite match up to expectations.

Three sides were live, with no new songs and with versions of previously released songs that added nothing to the prior studio cuts. Side four was devoted to a “disco” remake of “Don’t Ask Me Questions”. The 2-disc record was regarded by some as a ploy to fulfil Parker’s contractual commitment to Mercury records, and as a ripoff for fans. Others think it one of the better live albums of the 70s on a par with Thin Lizzy’s Live and Dangerous. (not me!).

Energized by his new label, Arista Records, and the presence of legendary producer Jack Nitzsche, Parker followed with Squeezing Out Sparks, widely held to be the best album of his career.

For this album, The Rumour’s brass section, prominent on all previous albums, was jettisoned, resulting in a spare, intense rock backing for some of Parker’s most brilliant songs. Of particular note was “You Can’t Be Too Strong”, one of rock music’s rare songs to confront the topic of abortion, however ambivalently.

Squeezing out Sparks is still ranked by fans and critics alike as one of the finest rock albums ever made. Rolling Stone named it #335 on their 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In an early 1987 Rolling Stone list of their top 100 albums from 1967-1987, Squeezing Out Sparks was ranked at #45, while Howlin’ Wind came in at #54.

The companion live album Live Sparks, sent to US radio stations as part of a concerted promotional campaign for Parker, showed how well the songs worked on stage, and included another snapping r&b cover, the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back“.

The jettisoned brass section, incidentally, would continue to play on other people’s records credited as The Irish Horns (on the album London Calling by The Clash) or The Rumour Brass, most notably on Katrina and the Waves‘ 1985 hit “Walking On Sunshine“.

Here is a track from the album.

“Local Girls” – Graham Parker

Sit by my window and look outside, wonder why the sun don’t shine on me

What’s wrong with you, you stupid child, don’t you think that I’m the one

you’re waiting to see?

Don’t talk too much ’cause she falls for the suckers, makes her feel

everything is secure

Don’t ever leave a footprint on the floor

Chorus: Don’t bother with the local girls, don’t bother with the local girls

They don’t bother me

She’s probably half-wit, she must be straight,

or bound to have a mother who knows nothing but hate

Don’t want to love her, I’d rather knock her down

Standing at the busstop where she waits each morning

So isolated that she thinks that the army is the place where a man ought to be

Don’t bother with them, they don’t bother me

Chorus

They got the walk, they got the talk, right down without a flaw

At 6:00 I got to stop my dreaming at the counter of the store

Chorus

Without a doubt I got to intercept, must be time someone ran and shouted in

their head

You look all right in the cheap print dress,

but everytime you swish it ’round you make me disappear

I’m aware of exactly what I’m doing, making everything a mystery

Don’t bother with it, it don’t bother me

 

To buy the music of Graham Parker click HERE

Jack White & Wanda Jackson

Nashville based producer Jack White is set to hook up with Rockabilly queen Wanda Jackson.

Jack White has always loved music from the past. Previous albums by The White Stripes have been dedicated to the likes of Son House and Blind Willie McTell, while the guitarist even produced an album by his idol Loretta Lynn.

Now the Detroit guitar slinger is set to step into the recording booth again to helm a forthcoming project with Wanda Jackson. The singer helped pioneer rock ‘n’ roll before the name had even been coined, touring with Elvis Presley when the pair were cutting seminal sides at Sun Records.

Now into her 70s, the singer has agreed to work with Jack White on a new project. In a recent interview Wanda Jackson claimed that she had been inspired by the 2004 Loretta Lynn project ‘Van Lear Rose’.

“They had a super album, but he didn’t have her do anything different, you know,” the Rockabilly legend told The Oklahoman. “She just did her little Loretta Lynn songs. But he (White) told me he’s gonna stretch me some, so we’ll see. We’ll talk later.”

The pair apparently met through the manager of Wanda Jackson’s website. The Rockabilly star was overwhelmed by Jack White’s interest, labelling him “one of the biggest stars on the planet”.

Of course, this isn’t the only project Jack White has on the go. The White Stripes are set to record a new album soon, with The Dead Weather still fulfilled touring commitments.

It is not known if the new Wanda Jackson album will be released through Jack White’s label Third Man Records.

 

Source www.clashmusic.com

 

“Hard Headed Woman” – Wanda Jackson

Remember Remember…the 5th of November

Guy Fawkes

Penny For The Guy

“He’s My Guy” – Peggy Lee

The fireworks I remember as a kid rarely produced a display like the one above, however, some of the photos below can still trigger some happy memories from cold nights in the back garden.

The Brock's Big Box

Jack In The Box

Standard Fireworks Box

“Fire Brigade” – The Move

 

Ian Dury and the Blockheads

I have for awhile been meaning to post about Ian Dury and the Blockheads the debut album “New Boots and Panties” was a particulat favourite of Fiona’s.

The title derives from Dury’s habit of buying clothes second hand, and refers to the only items he insisted on buying new, according to Ian Dury & The Blockheads: Song By Song the name was chosen by Dury from a list of 20 drawn up by compere Kosmo Vinyl. The album is not credited to “Ian Dury & The Blockheads” as the band was not formed until Stiff’s Live Stiffs, click HERE for my post on this from last year, tour some months after its recording, and two of the band do not play on the album.

It features Ian’s son Baxter on the front cover.

“Sweet Gene Vincent” – Ian Dury

The article below is taken from The Rising Storm Blog

In the wake of pop’s rediscovery of itself, prompted by the blitzkrieg success of punk, 1977 proved to be a splendid year for debut albums, indeed perhaps the best since 1969 kicked off the Golden Age Of Prog Rock. Most of the artists concerned were promising newcomers, but a fair number were veterans in new guises. In the UK, musicians who had cut their teeth in the back-to-basics pub-rock bands of 1973-75 recombined into new units or declared themselves solo artists and, riding on the New Wave of energy generated by punk, sought to combine their established chops with its novelty, brevity and audacity. While the younger hardline punks disdained all previous genres for ground-zero three-chord originality, the second-time-around outfits leavened the new energy with earlier styles; the Stranglers displayed a clear Doors streak, Elvis Costello evinced more than a pinch of Gram Parsons, and the Motors borrowed heavily from both the Beatles and the Byrds.

Former Kilburn & The High Roads frontman Ian Dury took his lyrical influences from the music hall performers of the thirties and the Carry On films of the fifties, filtered through Ray Davies’s wry observations of London society in the sixties, to produce a uniquely English, witty product which nonetheless chimed with the impending social upheavals of the late seventies in true punk fashion. Like the Kinks’ mid-term catalogue, Dury’s songs portrayed contemporary suburban characters and their lifestyles but, eschewing Davies’s gentle, rose-tinted, middle-class mockery, Dury unashamedly painted his subjects in stark black-and-white with all the sexual innuendo, scatology, and profane language of the working-class Cockney. The contrast was heightened by the presence of the Blockheads, a killer backing band who could deploy their formidable and highly danceable playing skills effortlessly in the directions of jazz or art-rock, soul or reggae, disco or doo-wop as befitted the song in hand. Guitarist-keyboardist Chaz Jankel also provided the music and arrangements to Dury’s lyrics; bassist Norman Watt-Roy and drummer Charley Charles were a fearsomely tight rhythm section, whilst seriously leftfield saxophonist Davey Payne took his deranged cues from Roland Kirk and Ornette Colman.

The debut album New Boots And Panties and non-album single “Sex And Drugs And Rock And Roll”, credited only to Dury but featuring the Blockheads throughout, immediately scored glowing music press reviews in Britain, the scribes praising their originality, energy, theatricality and occasional unbridled venom (New Musical Express journo Roy Carr described the album as “Max Wall with a backbeat: Max Miller on mandies”). “Billericay Dickie”, “Clevor Trever”, “Plaistow Patricia”, “Sweet Gene Vincent” and “My Old Man” are all affectionate and occasionally bawdy portraits to characters of Dury’s acquaintance – some with names changed to protect the guilty – while “Wake Up And Make Love With Me” and “I’m Partial To Your Abracadabra”, along with “Sex And Drugs And Rock And Roll” and its B-side “Razzle In My Pocket”, both included on the deluxe CD reissue, are funny and inoffensive (depending on how sensitive you are) homages to Dury’s favourite vices. For an example of Dury’s poetic lyrical talent, in the MP3s below contrast the lazy, loping alliteration in “Trever” with the stroboscopic acapella parts echoing the “black, white, black, white” theme in “Vincent”. The cover art shows The Man posing archly in appropriate Doc Marten footwear outside a typically seedy East End men’s outfitter’s; the equally cocky-looking urchin with him is his son Baxter, who would become a singer himself.

Whilst very much of the New Wave, the highly original, uniquely theatrical and impressive musical qualities of New Boots And Panties render it apart from the best of the rest. Though yielding many more individual gems, notably the tremendous hit singles “Reasons To Be Cheerful, Part 3” and “Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick”, the consistency of Dury’s subsequent work would suffer from the departure of Chaz Jankel, whose relationship with the frontman had always been somewhat spiky, and from Dury’s own physical deterioration as his uncompromising rock’n’roll lifestyle took its toll on his polio-weakened body.

To buy the music of Ian Dury click HERE

The Kinks

“Recorded Live at the Glasgow Apollo” adorned many an album sleeve, less common was “Live At Kelvin Hall” yet it was here, a venue better known at the time for the Christmas Fairground and Circus that The Kinks chose to record their concert on 1st April 1967 for their first live album release in January1968.

“Sunny Afternoon (Live)” – The Kinks

For more information on the Kelvin Hall click HERE

 

To buy the music of The Kinks click HERE

 

Born To Boogie

"The Day That Pop Came Back"

The 70’s answer to Beatlemania was without doubt Marc Bolan though his boast that ”we’ve done in a year what took The Beatles four years” was more ego than fact but let’s not let that spoil a good story.

With his transformation from being a mod through a folkie phase with the original Tyrannosaurus Rex to pop stardom with the re-formatted and re-named T-Rex complete it was no surprise that Ringo Starr, then Managing Director of Apple Films Ltd put forward a film  proposal to him in 1972.

It was agreed that the film should be built around two live concerts to be performed at The Empire Pool, Wembley on 18th March 1972.

The shows were recorded by Tony Visconti on The Rolling Stones Mobile Studio.

Between the opening “Cadillac” and closing cover of Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues” were all the glam hits

plus three acoustic numbers reflecting his continual love of his musical history.

“Spaceball Ricochet” – T-Rex

In order to make the film more than just a record of the concerts additional sketch material was filmed together with an Apple Records basement jam  which included Elton John and Ringo Starr.

“Children Of The Revolution” – T-Rex with Elton John and Ringo Starr

The film was premiered on 14th December 1972 and for many years the film was presumed lost then come 2003 272 cans of footage were located in a warehouse near Heathrow and with Ringo Starr’s approval Sanctuary Films carried out extensive restoration work from which the 2005 double CD and double DVD sets were sourced.

For more information click HERE

To buy the CD and/or DVD click HERE

Thunderclap Newman

Thunderclap Newman are without best known as a one hit wonder following the No1 hit success in 1969 of “Something In The Air”

In 1969, Pete Townshend, The Who’s guitarist, created the band to play songs written by the former Who roadie, drummer/singer/guitarist John ‘Speedy’ Keen (miscredited as “Keene” on the single’s label). Keen wrote the opening track on The Who Sell Out album, “Armenia City In The Sky”. Townshend produced the single, arranged its strings, played its bass guitar under the pseudonym Bijou Drains, and hired for it GPO engineer and Dixieland jazz pianist Andy ‘Thunderclap’ Newman (born Andrew Laurence Newman, 21 November 1942, Hounslow, Middlesex) and the fifteen year old Glaswegian, Jimmy McCulloch.

Originally titled “Revolution”, but later renamed because the Beatles released a single of that name, “Something in the Air” captured post-flower power rebellion, marrying McCulloch’s sweeping acoustic and glowing electric guitars; Keen’s powerful drumming and falsetto, Newman’s legendary frostbite in boxing gloves piano solo and Townshend’s (uncredited) electric bass.

The single was Number One in the UK Singles Chart for three weeks, holding off Elvis Presley in the process. The scale of the song’s success surprised everyone, and there were no plans to promote Thunderclap Newman with live performances.

Eventually a line-up, augmented by Jim Pitman-Avory (bassist) and McCulloch’s elder brother Jack (drums), played a handful of gigs. Personal records say the band played live only five times, although Keen referred to a two-month tour, playing “everywhere”. Jimmy McCulloch and Newman have appeared on television to comment upon the anniversary of the first Moon Landing, to describe the extended concert that Thunderclap Newman were playing that evening.

“Something in the Air” appeared on the soundtracks of the films The Magic Christian (1969), Kingpin (1996), Almost Famous (2000), The Dish (2000), The Girl Next Door (2004), and The Strawberry Statement (1970); the last having helped the single reach Number 25 in the United States. The song also appeared in the deluxe edition of the Easy Rider CD. In the UK and US, a follow-up single, “Accidents”, came out only in May 1970, and charted at No. 44 for only a week, but not charting at all in the US.

An album, Hollywood Dream, again produced by Townshend and released the previous year, peaked in Billboard 200 chart at No. 163.

The members of the band had little in common. Newman once commented, in a 1972 interview with the NME, that he got on with Keen’s music but not with him personally, whilst it was the exact opposite with McCulloch. Two more singles followed before the band split.

My personal favourite from the album is “The Reason” which despite the presence of Jimmie McCulloch on guitar the track has the Pete Townshend acoustic and electric signature all through it.

“The Reason” – Thunderclap Newman

Newman recorded a solo album, Rainbow, in 1971 and appeared on Roger Ruskin Spear’s first album, playing assorted instruments, whilst McCulloch had stints with a dozen or more bands, including Stone the Crows and Wings. McCulloch died of heart complications due to a heroin overdose in 1979, at the age of 26.

Keen reappeared with a solo album, Previous Convictions, for Track in 1973, and began recording a double album as a follow-up. Frustrated at his lack of progress at Track, he took the demos to Island Records, which pared it down to the single album Y’know Wot I Mean? and released it in 1975. Its single, “Someone to Love”, received plenty of airplay but failed to sell.

Discouraged, Keen ceased recording after one more single in 1976. He tried the record producer’s seat, working with punk band Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers on their debut album L.A.M.F. in 1977, and also produced Motörhead’s first album before leaving the music industry. He appears on several tracks on the Best of Motorhead double CD All the Aces, as part of a live set originally performed under the name The Muggers. The set includes five songs written and sung by Keen, only one of which had appeared on his solo albums.

Keen suffered from arthritis for several years, and was recording his third solo album; however he unexpectedly died at the age of 56 on 12 March 2002.

Andy “Thunderclap” Newman has in recent times been touring a “version” of the band performing “Hollywood Dream” in its entirity, for more information click HERE

 

To buy the music of Thunderclap Newman click HERE